Let us help make 2010 great

M.A.P. Your 2010 Plan for Success!

Now that you are to the end of 2009 it is time to look ahead to how you are going to maximize the success you had in 2010.

To help make the correct decisions on how to expand your success in 2010 you should consider the following:

· Identify your growth areas
o Where did you succeed?
o Where were your profit centers?
o How can you maximize your profitability in these areas?

· Cut out the deadwood
o Where were you not able to grow?
o Why? Can the reason be changed?
o If so, how if not, why?

· Get lean in your operations
o Where can you trim expenses?
o Focus on cost reductions
o Eliminate unprofitable products and services
o Evaluate price structures for profitability

· Produce products for your demographics
o Study you actual demographic
o Understand their buying habits
§ Don’t sell above your client’s reach
§ Don’t sell below their expectations

· Understand the new economy
o As with any economic change the market has also changed
o How has the new economy affected your clients thinking
o Create a plan to address the changes

We can help you find the answers to all of the above. We have put together our brand new

Marketing Adjustment Program

Here is what we are offering.
· A resource CD containing a series of worksheets and evaluation forms to help you with the assessment process.
· Instructions on how to utilize the resource CD
· Three hours of consulting time with us to review and help you lay out an action plan for addressing your findings.
· A written assessment of our evaluation and recommendations.
· Review of final plan.

All of this for just $350* Regular value of this plan $695

Bonus—Order this package before December 24 and we will include a copy of our Market Planning Calendar and Workbook CD free. A $119 value
May not be combined with previous contracts or other offers or discount coupons.

Putting money down a rat hole

Have you ever attended a seminar, convention or workshop and heard a great speaker. They filled you with great ideas about how to improve your business, get more customers, and make more money. You leave full of ideas and motivated to change.

Then you get back home and the notebook full of ideas and the marketing package you bought from the speaker gets thrown in a drawer and forgotten. Why, because you may not have any idea how to implement the ideas into you business.

Often it is because the speaker told you of their success but weren’t in a position to help you modify their ideas for your circumstances.

This is where we can help. We have worked with hundreds of small business owners to help them tailor a marketing program which works. We work one-on-one with you to learn about your business and your potential customers. From there we help you modify marketing ideas and strategies to attract your targeted clients.

We want to help you. Before you invest another dime in someone else’s marketing ideas only to toss them aside without putting them to use you need to call us. We will help you decide what marketing will be most beneficial for you and your business, create a plan for implementing the concepts and a process for reviewing how well they worked for you.

This year instead of investing in more ideas which get thrown in the drawer—call us—we will help you put together a plan which will address your business and maximize your success. Rather than buy a canned marketing program we will help you create your own customized plan. And we can do it for about what you would invest in the canned plan—contact us today.

To get started fill-out our online form or call us at 309-962-8143.

Redefining the traditional business model

Anyone who has been in the photographic industry for more than ten years can attest to the fact of how greatly the industry has changed. We have seen major changes in the way we capture and manipulate photographs. This in itself has caused a fundamental shift in the way professional photographers do business.

In recent weeks I have paid particular attention to what is happening in the consumer photography market. After all, like it or not, the changes in the amateur market are what drives change in the professional market.

Recently I was reading a trade magazine for photographic retailers. The article discussed the wave of new technology and how consumers would be flocking to embrace the new opportunities to save and utilize the photographs they had taken.

The one are which really caught my attention was the availability of digital press products, particularly press books. At first I was frightened by the idea that the consumer could walk up to a kiosk and walk away with a finished digital press product.

Then I began to think about how the professional photographer could embrace this technology. It occurred to me that there was a wonderful opportunity in this new technology. What if the portrait photographer was to present their customer with a more illustrative storybook concept in capturing the portrait session?

You can leverage the strength of the retail photography market to grow your portrait business by offering these creative portrait sessions. The children and family markets seem to be the most logical areas to promote the storybook concept however the concept can be adapted to other markets.

In the past we have looked to offer portrait package or wall print discounts to solicit sessions. With this new opportunity your lead marketing product could be in offering a portrait story book. Think of the opportunities you have to utilize your creative abilities to create custom storybooks for your clients. You may also want to consider creating theme books which can be used in promotions. For example you may want to offer several theme day promotions throughout the year where the storybook is the hook in the offer.

The price point of having these books printed makes them a very attractive lead marketing product. Once a theme is created it can be duplicated for other clients. You can personalize the books with their session images and incorporating them into the text of the story.

Yes it is true they can order similar products for themselves but what will set you apart is your ability to capture the emotions and poses which will help illustrate the storybook. With the low cost of duplicate books you have a great opportunity to sell additional copies for grandparents and other relatives and maintain a strong profit margin.

In addition you maintain the integrity of your print sales and it will also allow you to consider some great add-on sales. These items would include the new jewelry and other digital product. Another idea I really like is in offering photo charms as an incentive in your session promotions. This is an especially strong idea in your newborn and first year children’s promotions. What mom or grandmother would not love a charm bracelet with photo charms of their children?

So as we move into a new paradigm of marketing in the photographic industry we can either embrace the new technology or allow it to be an excuse for not succeeding. If you would like assistance please contact me for more information on how to utilize these new products in your business.