Selling This Holiday Season:  Advice from the Experts.

Selling This Holiday Season: Advice from the Experts.

Looking for a way to close out the year with a big boost in sales?  The holidays are the perfect time make that happen. We recently shared 11 Ways to Rock Your Sales This Season, and today we’re going a step further and hear from those who do it best. These 7 photographers not only sell successfully throughout the year, but they know how to close out the season with a bang. A big bang. Read on for their tips for selling this season.

1. You need to get out there – Scott Thompson

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Promoting my art sales through the local art galleries is something I always try to do, but having good SEO, blogging and posting online promotions on social media sites this time of year especially brings people back to my website where they can make purchases or order prints.

This is not the time of year to become a recluse. People may like your photography, but they are more likely to purchase if they meet you and like you. So get out there! Go to art events and business events, and don’t be afraid of self promotion.  

2. Be authentic and never burn bridges – Edwin Remsburg

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The holidays tend to be a time when work slows and our clients put projects on hold until things settle down. That makes it a really important and convenient time for us to reach out, engage, and tend to those relationships. A key value at Remsberg Inc. is to never burn bridges. Our number one source  for new business is happy clients who spread the word. This time of year we are sure to reach out to our former clients who we may not have done much business with recently because they have different needs, job titles, etc.

How you treat the least important client speaks volumes about the authenticity of the relationships you build.   

The kind of clients we want to work with notice and value that authenticity.  Everyone we work with has value at every stage of their career or cycle of their business and I can’t tell you how many times that has opened a door for us where we did not expect it. That is the real difference between shallow, back slapping “networking” and authentic relationship building. Our experience is that bridge burners always end up drowning eventually. This is the time of year when we remember that and reach out to those folks we have not seen in awhile.

3. Send cards with a personal touch – Philip Bedford

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It’s important to continually search for methods that work for you and your business.  Stay busy, and make sure you’re posting so you stay fresh in your audience’s mind.  There are always ways your business can improve so work towards finding new ways and promoting your business.

One thing I make sure to do every year is send out Christmas cards with a personalized photo to my clients.  This helps remind them of me and makes them more likely to recommend me to their friends.

4. Be active, be inspired, and be creative – Eugenio Marongiu   

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You’ve got to be active.  I’m going crazy with social media right now.  I experiment every day to find new solutions to promote my work via Facebook using their ad tools and creating campaigns–and it works!  I’m at 11,000 followers and rising.

I’ve recently started using Instagram which is a great place to gain inspiration.  And while it’s great to be inspired, use your talent and creativity to try and find an original and memorable way to speak to your audience.  

LinkedIn is also another interesting social network that sometimes falls off the radar, but can be a great way to reach a large audience.  I think these three tools are the best way to promote your work, gain inspiration, and stay in the loop with news and current events.  We have the a stronger visual connection and education than ever before and the only way to be seen in this saturated industry is to create and emerge from the crowd.

5. Connect with your clients and make it personal – Cory Silken

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Do your best to get everyone who’s shown interest earlier in the year connected to your marketing avenues.  That way, they’ll think of you when they’re considering their holiday purchases.  I often have a sale of 10% or 15% off all orders that I promote in all my channels–my gallery, website, Facebook, and newsletter.

Selling art is something the customer has an emotional reaction to.  They want something beautiful and unique that they’re going to enjoy for years to come.  And if they want yours, and if you’ve made a connection by making your promotions personal, the sale is going to be made on the value, not the price.

6. Don’t make it only about sales.  Offer rich content your audience will appreciate, and know who that audience is – Neil Weaver

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Definitely promote your products regularly through social media.  With each post I make sure to inform/remind viewers that my images can be purchased from my website, so I typically have all the products I sell along with a link to my website at the bottom of my posts.  Use engaging and relevant posts at busier times of the day to reach a larger audience and drive more potential customers to my site.  I also have a email newsletter that I make sure is rich in content.  So, along with the promotions I offer, I also include photography tips and some of my latest images with stories of how I created them.  People love the behind the scenes stuff, and it also gives you a connection to the photographer.

You also need to know your audience.  For me, Facebook gets the biggest results–hands down.  I’ve spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to build a following there and in doing so it has resulted in a significant percentage of my sales.  Instagram, Twitter and Google+ are great but those have younger users. Most of my customers are in the 40-65 year range and Facebook is what they primarily typically use, so that’s where I spend the most time.

7. Treat each client like your closest friend – Mark Johnson

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Taking pretty photos is the easy part.  Marketing is key to making money from this great photographic venture we are privileged to be in, and on that front, I’m still learning every day.  It’s nearly impossible for any one photographer to stand out from the crowd, so when I get a client, I treat them as if they were my closest friend.  I do my best to accommodate any request they have (within reason).  That kind of customer service seems to be pretty rare these days, and it keeps my clients coming back for more.

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Questions?  You know where to find us!

 

 

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