What got your business going?

-> 4 pages of blahblah
-> TL;DR:

I sure am getting the impression of what gets business going.

GerryDavid wrote in post #15222655
The OP is CameraMan. I thought this thread was a place to share ideas on how to get a business going, and I was just sharing one that was shared with me.

I'm sorry for pitching ideas for your place of work, I didn't realize that was a touchy subject for you.

Who is to say it doesn't work? It has worked for others, and I am still in the process of applying it to my business. I'm still working on the marketing material to use to present to the various places of business in town that I want to built a business partnership with.

I'm not saying this idea is the only way to go, its not, and it wasn't my intention to "keep going on and on". I'm just explaining things further against someone that seems to think their way is the only way to go.

I haven't had time to approach the cancer center yet. But thanks to another photographer's marketing tips that I learned yesterday I have a new approach to asking them that will be mutually beneficial to both of us, and build a good partnership with the them. The only problem is my schedule.

Understand your own thread's purpose, it says "What got your business going?" This thread has nothing to do with pitching ideas to anyone, or anyone's workplace. I decided to subscribe to this tread, and add to it because I thought it all had to do with sharing how we got our businesses started, not for you to pitch ideas. I have no problem getting out of people's way when they're right, or they're better than me. In fact, I look up to those who are better than me, I continually want to grow as photog, but stick to the topic. You misjudged my tone (I assume since you can't hear it... since this is all text lol...).

Allen K wrote in post #15236359
As my 88 year old mother would say "You don't look a gift-horse in the mouth" (I know what it means but never figured how it was derived).

People buying horses will look into its mouth to help determine how healthy it is and determine whether they want to buy or reject it. So the saying means someone who's being given a free horse shouldn't inspect it as if they're going to reject it if it's not healthy enough because it would be disrespectful and unappreciative.

In today's terms it's a bit like your parents giving you their old car and you taking it for a test drive to decide whether their generosity is good enough. The premise is "accept it graciously and shut up, you unappreciative douche."

cdifoto wrote in post #15239959
The premise is "accept it graciously and shut up, you unappreciative douche."

Yeah...that! Thanks for the history...interesting info.

Word of mouth and facebook...

I'm just now getting a website...after 3 years...So it's a blessing...I get so many wedding hits that I decided if I'm getting them like this locally then I need to launch a website.

brian, what host did you end up choosing? I'm moving from smugmug so I've been trying to decide which one to go for, right now I'm leaning towards hostgator and I guess there is a 50% off coupon on black friday the last number of years so I'm waiting for that to commit to a 3 year plan. But if there is something better I'm looking.

GerryDavid wrote in post #15265054
brian, what host did you end up choosing? I'm moving from smugmug so I've been trying to decide which one to go for, right now I'm leaning towards hostgator and I guess there is a 50% off coupon on black friday the last number of years so I'm waiting for that to commit to a 3 year plan. But if there is something better I'm looking.

if you've never heard of these guys it may be worth a few minutes to look into them:

www.ixwebhosting.com

GerryDavid wrote in post #15265054
brian, what host did you end up choosing? I'm moving from smugmug so I've been trying to decide which one to go for, right now I'm leaning towards hostgator and I guess there is a 50% off coupon on black friday the last number of years so I'm waiting for that to commit to a 3 year plan. But if there is something better I'm looking.

http://www.livebooks.c​om/

My conclusion with this thread:
WHO THE HELL CARES ABOUT BUSINESS OR PHOTOGRAPHY, LET'S ALL **** OURSELVES.
By the way, thanks for the first page, it was very informative.

brianodom wrote in post #15265450
http://www.livebooks.c​om/

They do nice work, but so expensive.

CameraMan wrote in post #15181442
I started with word of mouth. Now people that know others refer them to my web site.

I being a proponent of word of mouth as one of the least expensive and most effective way of generating leads went that route and to do so I aligned myself with a couple of on-the-air personalities knowing they are out in the community constantly.

It is a method that has worked out quite well for me.

Wayne

What kind of photography do you do channel?

I'm working on improving my word of mouth, trying to get testimonies, creating referral cards to give to the clients at the picture viewing, etc.

GerryDavid wrote in post #15744282
What kind of photography do you do channel?

I'm working on improving my word of mouth, trying to get testimonies, creating referral cards to give to the clients at the picture viewing, etc.

It's 90% video.

Wayne

GerryDavid wrote in post #15744282
I'm working on improving my word of mouth, trying to get testimonies, creating referral cards to give to the clients at the picture viewing, etc.

Now that everyone is gone home and I have a few moments to think undisturbed, I’m going to expand upon my reply.

The majority of my work is video and is divided into two primary channels, covering events and staged interviews.

The events are where I am hired by the sponsor and range from corporate shoots such as annual meetings, employee recognitions and new product releases and during election cycles political rallies.

The interviews are commonly long-form and or spot infomercials and organizational promotions.

As for testimonials, references of known people are always great to have, but the best testimonial one can receive is a client who mentions to someone else “then you need to use my photographer,” that’s a door opener and a stick of dynamite all in the same package.

It will usually get you in the door at your rate, but if you blow it up you can be assured your existing client will hear about and it could quickly end that existing relationship as well.

Wayne