help and advice desperately needed.

[photoworks]

New business looking for advice.

i created my business in march 2010 and i am basically looking for advice on how to attract client and get more exposure for my business.

Advertizing wise, i must says that i have no budget at all, paid advertizing is unfortunately out of the question at the moment. i could possibly sign up for a one off advertizing space in my local or regional publications, but i doubt it would help me as i was told that advertizing only works in the long term after a consistant and long campaign to bring awareness).

I have thought of joining general business organizations or specialized groups in my particular field, however i am a bit frustrated since membership is not free and generally they demand the yearly fee to be paid up front. Those fee, i cannot afford now.

In short my finances are a mess at this point.

i tried to get financial support for my business through business gateway (financial support would allow me to advertise and fund the purchase of some gear that would allow me to get a better offering for my services), however my business being in the life style category and being myself in my forties, there is not financial support scheme available for me.

I have tried to get online expopsure. i advertised on web directories, i have a online presence on facebook, Twitter,linked in. i have a website (pwks.net)and i have a blog (fashionbug.org.uk/newsbug).

However all those attempts to get exposure and turn it to sales have been a miserable failure. in 7 month, i must says that i have only got two clients.

I must says that i have had a lot of inquiries (a lot of spam or bogus emails, especially lately) but i was unable to turn the few serious email inquiries to real sales.

Having kept my main job at the moment, i am unable to go places where i could find customers, as my job is in a very inconvenient location, far from any significant urban center.

I must confess that i am at a loss on what to do next as so far, nothing seems to pay off.

[deniser]

We have an arrangement with our local photographers whereby they do our product photography for half price in return for our advertising their services with our customers and handing out their leaflets and gift vouchers. This way we give them a lot of business because the photography is affordable and cost effective for us and they get more business from our customers.

[amphis software]

I'd suggest...

pay the membership fee for UKBF
add a link to your web site in your signature
submit your web site for review

that way you'll get lots of great feedback about your web site and about your SEO, both of which will improve your sales.


Tom

[Eagle]

Where do you currently network online?

[MH1]

Get onto a market and drum up some business, quick, effective and instant money.

Two clients in 7 months? That suggests to myself you have simply sat back expecting people to come to yourself. I was speaking to a guy yesterday, he was selling photo packages in a sainsbury store entrance from a simple stand, he was very busy.

Get out and start selling.

[bdw]

Your website has not been optimised properly for the search engines. Someone has taken the time to dig out hundreds of keywords and put them in the keywords meta which is no longer used. Time wasted.

But more importantly, you have made some basic errors on the website that may be discouraging people who do arrive there to contact you.

fully equipped profesionnal photography studio in central GlasgowYour website looks OK (if a bit homemade) but it has some grammatical and spelling errors which may turn some people off. You display no contact details other than a mobile phone number. If you have a studio in central Glasgow why not provide the address?

[photoworks]

Your website has not been optimised properly for the search engines. Someone has taken the time to dig out hundreds of keywords and put them in the keywords meta which is no longer used. Time wasted.

But more importantly, you have made some basic errors on the website that may be discouraging people who do arrive there to contact you.

Your website looks OK (if a bit homemade) but it has some grammatical and spelling errors which may turn some people off. You display no contact details other than a mobile phone number. If you have a studio in central Glasgow why not provide the address?

Well, i do not own the studio, i hire it when i have works. So i am not sure if it would be judicious to put the address on my website since the location is not mine. Am i wrong ?

[bdw]

People who hide their address on websites and sometimes those who do not have a landline telephone generally have a reason for this and it is not always the right reason. People are becoming more alert to this and more suspicious. Personally I seldom deal with companies who are not transparent about their location and who they are. I don't think I am unique.

Having said that, it is unlikely that someone in your line of business would be involved in anything suspicious but there is no reason why you cannot be a bit more transparent. Regarding the studio you use, you don't have to tell people you own it and you don't have to provide the full address. You could say something like "our studio in Argyll Street". If you hire the studio then it is yours for the duration of the hire just as it would be if you rented it.

[photoworks]

Your website has not been optimised properly for the search engines. Someone has taken the time to dig out hundreds of keywords and put them in the keywords meta which is no longer used. Time wasted.

But more importantly, you have made some basic errors on the website that may be discouraging people who do arrive there to contact you.

Your website looks OK (if a bit homemade) but it has some grammatical and spelling errors which may turn some people off. You display no contact details other than a mobile phone number. If you have a studio in central Glasgow why not provide the address?

What would be the alternative option regarding keywords, if any ?

[photoworks]

i have modified the text on the front page as follows :

Welcome to Serge Chabert Photography.

I love what i do and so will you.

Are you looking for Great photos for yourself ? Do you need to promote yourself or create a portfolio ?

With a wealth of experience, i pride myself on providing friendly, yet professional Studio photography services.

From portraits, actor/model portfolios and makeovers to commercial photography, browse my website to see just what i could do for you.

My photo sessions take place in a fully equipped professional photography studio located in Queen street, Glasgow.1, Orangefield Place
PA15 1YX GREENOCK
Phone : 07939597293
Email :info at pwks.netI have also modified the FAQ page accordingly.
Is it better that way ?

[bdw]

What would be the alternative option regarding keywords, if any?
You would have to learn about SEO and I can tell you that there is more to it than keywords.

[gemd89]

www.net-model.com (http://www.net-model.com)
www.purestorm.com (http://www.purestorm.com)

Try the UK photographers forum as they may be able to offer advice. Have a wedding package, contact local wedding venues and ask about advertising with them for weddings?

Alot of amateur models get portfolios done for free TFP on sites like net model and purestorm so dont think you will get so much work from that, unless you go down the same type of route as venture/models direct.

Do you photograph babies? Get out to your local toddler groups and speak to mothers, post a free post on the netmums.com noticeboard for offer of a shoot £15! Thats what mothercare do and then sell the pictures from that? Offering a framing service and get your own studio!

Good Luck
Gemma

[photoworks]

Your website has not been optimised properly for the search engines. Someone has taken the time to dig out hundreds of keywords and put them in the keywords meta which is no longer used. Time wasted.


I just need to remove those keywords then ?

[photoworks]

Try the UK photographers forum as they may be able to offer advice. Have a wedding package, contact local wedding venues and ask about advertising with them for weddings?

Alot of amateur models get portfolios done for free TFP on sites like net model and purestorm so dont think you will get so much work from that, unless you go down the same type of route as venture/models direct.

Do you photograph babies? Get out to your local toddler groups and speak to mothers, post a free post on the netmums.com noticeboard for offer of a shoot £15! Thats what mothercare do and then sell the pictures from that? Offering a framing service and get your own studio!

Good Luck
Gemma

Thanks for your post.

As you say, a lot of models gets portfolios done for free TFp on the site your mentionned. i am a member of those site. paradoxically, most of those models charge for their services.
It turns out that everyone expect a photographer to work for free when they themselves do not work for free.

you mention that i should get my own studio. Unfortunately, at this point i do not have the finances to invest in a studio and as i am not eligible for financial support. Hence the resorting to hiring a studio as an alternative.

Photographing babies? doing weddings ? I am not sure that would viable options as i would need to get necessary lighting equipment (we are hitting again the point of my lack of finances) and there are already a swarms of photographers covering that service in my area.

I do believe that the quality of my photography stands out. the few client (the ones i mentionned earlier) were very happy to pay my rates and were subsequently very happy with my services. one of them mentioned to me that a previous photographer with who he worked before charged him much more than i do for a photo shoot that took 15 minutes (as opposed to almost three hours when working with me) and the photos that were delivered by that photographer were pitiful regarding the quality.

To be fair, i do not think that my prices are quite excessive comparing to the competition that offer the same services as i do.

being unable to invest in a studio or lighting equipment (cost too prohibitive for me at this point) i found that hiring a studio for my work is the most viable way to operate at the moment.

[Dawg]

I think you have to consider what sort of photographer you want to be.
From the look of your folio you want to take pictures of girls, so that would be fashion photography. And from your lack of interest in weddings and portraits of babies it would seem that High Street photography is out.
So; fashion. On the whole this incredibly competitive area is centered on the large cities, mostly London, with some Manchester and tiny amounts elsewhere. If you are going to earn a living in Fashion photography that's where you'll have to go. (On the bright side they have good professional hire shops so you can hire kit as and when you need it, and very, very few fashion photographers have their own studios.)
But if you want to stay put you might need to broaden your portfolio. Having a decent array of product shots will generate more, better paying work than a large number of fashion shots. This in turn will enable you to buy some kit, and grow your practice in a virtuous circle. (Have you made the connect between being cheap and not being able to afford equipment?)
Your site hasn't got a visual phizzazz. In the visual trades this is essential. I'd have a look at a Wordpress install, and there is a Smashing Magazine guide to making a Wordpress portfolio site here. (http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/04/29/ultimate-guide-to-using-wordpress-for-a-portfolio/) Try and get pictures which will enthuse people to use you as a photographer onto your site, rather than pictures you like. Do some businessman portraits, some babies. (If you haven't got the kit at the moment blag about loving available light for it's soft, natural qualities.) Get some product shots done, including a simple shot on white to be used for ecomm. Do buildings not trees. Amateurs do trees.
HTH

[akirk]

Serge - your prices are not expensive - and going down the very cheap route can be a way of killing a business - so your thinking is good.

Alasdair

[gemd89]

Lets face it your not going to make millions photographing women/models so you need to explore another avenue.

Have you checked out chrisrout, toynutley and mcgillicudy on that site - one earns money for commercial/lifestyle shots selling them on istock etc, one earns money from being best glamour photographer in UK and selling his training courses and the other produces TV programmes like sharpe. There is plenty of options for you but you are going the wrong way at the minute.

If you want to make money you need to change the photography you are doing at the minute

Gemma

[photoworks]

Serge - your prices are not expensive - and going down the very cheap route can be a way of killing a business - so your thinking is good.

Alasdair

not sure what you mean Alasdair. Is it supposed to be sarcastic ?

My prices are on par with my competitors in my area.

[photoworks]

i have updated my website. it is still a work in progress at the moment but what do you guys think.

pwks.net

Am i in the rignt direction now ? Please feel free to share your thoughts.

[bdw]

Serge, you need to be realistic.

I am afraid your website will just not do in its present form. The images are all over the place and most of them are off the visible screen. Your page titles are all the same and there is hardly any text on the pages. This means that you will not be found for the keywords you could have used.

This is your business so don't chase away any visitors that you do get with a site that is not working. Get someone who knows what they are doing to build you a functioning, optimised website. You should be able to get this done for between £500 and £1K.

[photoworks]

well, i guess being a website designer (as i see from your profile) could not expect any other comments. eh !!

if you look below the images, there is a menu with arrows and numbers, if you click on the numbers or the arrow, you will see (oh mighty coincidence) that the images are sliding to the left so that the images on the right side become visible.

Also, as i said previously, this is a work in progress.

and believe , if i had 500 to 1000 GBP to spend, i would rather invest in portable lighting equipment so that i could become mobile.

[bdw]

well, i guess being a website designer (as i see from your profile) could not expect any other comments. eh !!Look, several people have taken the time to advise you on several aspects of your business. Your website is not well designed and the SEO is non existent. I was only trying to help you.

if you look below the images, there is a menu with arrows and numbers, if you click on the numbers or the arrow, you will see (oh mighty coincidence) that the images are sliding to the left so that the images on the right side become visible.Well believe it or not, I missed this and so will many others. IMO it's a bad layout and a bad design. Some people may conclude from this (rightly or wrongly) that you are a bad photographer.

I am sorry if you don't like what you are hearing but don't worry, you will hear no more from me. :p

[stugster]

Serge,

Send me a PM and we'll set you up with a sexy Wordpress website and a nice photographic-based theme to go along with it.

You're far enough away from our other photographic clients for it not to be an issue. I have a really good friend from Greenock so I'm feeling rather generous :)

[Brian McIntosh]

Serge, That's a brilliant offer from Stu. BIte his hand off!!