Marketing Resources?

Anyone know of any good photography marketing books or resources. I am specifically looking at HS Senior and Family portrait photography.

I really suck at all aspects of marketing/selling but I realize that if I want to grow I need to invest heavily (time) in this area. I've spent the last few years in learning how to take pictures, but that's only part of the equation.

Thanks in advance.

Try looking at sales and marketing from your library! Sounds too easy, but this isn't an art. People are looking for solutions to their problems (need picture) and you solve them. A few books address the exercise of translating features into benefits for customers-i.e.

You have a canon 10d and 5 clients that paid and are satisfied with your work (feature/fact).

Your experience and equipment easily produces flattering images that people enjoy (benefit).

The difference is 1000's of people have a 10d and have a few years taking photos and maybe have been paid, but why are you different from my mom that has never moved her camera out of the green rectangle?

You can come up with better, but that's the idea. Most people do not care about your artistic/technical/equ​ipment abilities-they want a simple transaction, I pay you and you give me images. Unfortunately there is no correlation between what they might expect and what they will pay. That's where you sell. You need to tell them, I'll make you happy and your happiness will cost you this. You can get away with a hollow sales pitch only a few times, so you better deliver what you promise them. Unfortunately, like true sales, it comes down to if they like you. So it's nice to be nice. Treat everyone as if they are a referral from a good friend and if you can't come to terms, thank them and move on.

Find out who's paying and sell them (parents if I read your post right). Look for negative town folks and subjects that will probably never take a flattering picture, evaluative if you should excuse yourself. Bad word of mouth is many times worse than good WOM will benefit.

Website/business cards

Finally. Network, network, network.