Please C&C My First Business Letter

[TopGear1Ds]

Hi everyone. For anyone who didn't see my earlier thread on the subject, I'm going to try to start selling sports photos to local parents. Could you please offer some C&C on the letter I'm planning to send to prospective customers? I want to sound professional, but not over the top since this is my first 'real' photography job outside of the paper. I'm planning to send this to AD's/Principals/League Coordinators.

Is there anything you would change? Is the letter a bad idea in the first place, and I should just cold-call the local schools and leagues? Should I make less mention of my work at the college? Please rip away. I'd rather have criticism from the forum than silence from the local sports leagues! Thanks in advance!

Dear Somebody;

My name is ______ and I'm a local student and photographer at _____ College. I'm a sports photographer and co-editor of photography for the student paper, and have also had images featured on the college website and used for other on campus publication. Beginning this spring I will be photographing local youth and high school sports and offering prints and digital images for sale to parents on a fully automated website. There will be no charge for me to come to a sporting event and parents will be able to browse all the images online for free with no obligation to buy. I can also password protect any team's gallery if there are any privacy concerns so that only members of a team will be able to access their photos.

If your (fill in the blank team/league/school) would be interested in my services, please contact me at your convenience by replying to this email, or calling me at (insert phone number). Thanks for your time. I look forward to hearing from you!


Sincerely,
_________



Thanks again everyone. I really appreciate the help.

[Gary_Evans]

I would suggest that you telephone first and then send a letter basically confirming everything that you said. Dont email at first as it is too informal for selling and runs the risk of being deleted. A letter has to be handled. Then I would follow up the letter with another phone call - basically giving you three initial contacts with the booker so as to become familiar to them.

Dont mention you are a student, you are a photographer. They will want to hire a photographer. I would also say that you would like to offer your services from next spring (or is that the start of the new season?) and this is what you offer. I would get to the point, for instance there are (to me) to many "will be"s.

Keep your text concise and with three paragraphs - opening, body of text (what you wish to say) and a close, in which you ask for a reply if interested but also that you will follow up by telephone in about 10 days.

[TopGear1Ds]

Thats all great advice, thanks. I really like the idea of sending a real letter vs. email. Being from the internet generation, that never occurred to me.. I'll call first also.

I didn't notice how many times I said "will be" but now that you point it out it is very annoying! I'll definitely fix that.

You say not to mention that I'm a student, but my work with the paper is the only real experience I have. Do you think I should just not mention experience at all?

Thanks for for the help!

edit: Could you really dumb it down for me please? What should I say when I first call someone? I have no experience selling anything, and I'm more comfortable with something pre-written like this letter.

[Gary_Evans]

Dumb it down? You really are from the internet generation!!! :lol::lol::lol:

Just say that you are a/the photographer at St Mary's College. They will probably put two and two together, but you have emphasised that you are a photographer.

Selling is very simple, it "Features" and "Benefits", ie what you offer and how it benefits the client. Saying you are a student equates to being young and doesnt benefit the client, but saying you are a photographer (which is a feature of you) will benefit the client because they will have a proable need for a photographer.

Keep your phone call short and to the point. Bear in mind that the other person may be busy, may have a huge pile on his desk etc and so you really only have 90 seconds to get your point over.

Thank them for speaking to you.

Have they considered using a photographer?

Do they currently have one? If so point out where you are different to the others.

Most importantly - is the person you are speaking to the person who actually books photographers? You dont want to waste your time talking to someone who ultimately cant help you.

Briefly explain what you can offer. Onsite printing? Web ordering? Free publicity shots for the league? Offer to send some sample prints.

Say that you will confirm your proposal in writing and then check the spelling of his/her name plus the address etc. If things are going really well ask for a face to face meeting.

Once again, thank them for speaking to you.


Your follow up letter again should be short and to the point. No more than one side of A4 Paper

Dear ???

We spoke earlier today about photography at your ??? events.

I would like to confirm that I (inset what you are proposing)................
Please find enclosed .........

If you have any questions please do not hesitate contact me on 01234 567890.

Yours



Then phone a few days later to see if they have had time to look thru' your proposal.

Do bear in mind that many events/leagues etc do already have photographers so a bit of patience is required.

[TopGear1Ds]

Dumb it down? You really are from the internet generation!!! :lol::lol::lol:

Guilty.. I completely blame technology for my inability to communicate like a 'normal' person. Whatever that is :p

Thank you so much though!!! You've really given me some invaluable advice!
http://forum.mazda6club.com/style_emoticons/default/77.gif http://forum.mazda6club.com/style_emoticons/default/77.gif http://forum.mazda6club.com/style_emoticons/default/77.gif <-- stolen out of another forum just for you!

I'm in a fairly rural area who's population centers around a large military base, so I'm hoping there won't be too many other local photographers. There certainly isn't enough action to pay anybody's full time salary here, but a couple high schools and a bunch of youth leagues would make great part time work for me.

[IndyJeff]

Besides agreeing with pretty much everything Gary said, I would add to drop the line about password protecting your galleries. If someone is concerned about their little baby being on the internet just assure them that the website you use is not on a search engine and unless you know the url, your chances of randomly running acroos it are very, very slim.
By leaving that line in your letter you will give them a concern about parents who may object and cause problems. Try not to leave anything in the letter which would install negative thoughts in the mind of the reader. You want them to be looking forward to using your service and not worrying if it will cause a problem and how they will deal with it.

[TopGear1Ds]

Very good point, I hadn't thought about it that way. Thanks, IndyJeff!

[PhotosGuy]

Besides what's been said... - opening, body of text (what you wish to say) and a close, Make it easy to read. Put a paragraph between ...other on campus publicationS.

Beginning this spring I will be photographing...