Lessons

Lesson Info

Day 17: Marketing & Shooting - Family First Demographic

Today's challenge is all about the four marketing demographics and we are at family first. This is anybody that is with children. That means Mum went from the top of the shopping list to the bottom of the shopping list. Kids come first. It's all about the family first demographic. I'm gonna show you how I market to and shoot this genre. How I include and double and triple my sale by bringing in the family, by bringing in Dad, by bringing in the children, by bringing in Mum, three generations, and I'm gonna showy you today how that all maps and works together so that you can start marketing to this demographic. Hi, everyone. Well done on the challenges so far. The work that I'm getting sent is just blowing me away. This is a really great challenge today and it's starting to touch on the marketing. So we can take as many beautiful pictures as we want, but you know you can't sell them until you learn about sales and product. You can't market yourself until you learn about marketing. Marke...

ting is one of the hardest things to confront when you first start your business. It's one of the hardest things to keep fresh when you already have a current business, as I know both of those aspects very, very well. So let me talk about getting you excited about marketing, getting your communication absolutely perfect so you are speaking very loudly to your audience database and you're attracting amazing clients that are coming into your studio. So, today's challenge is called Family First. There are four marketing demographics globally of women shoppers. And that is girl power, and that is the age group between 18 and 30. And then there is independent woman, which is the age group between 30 and 50, with no children. Then there is the open age group, and it is the mothers demographic and it's called family first. Now, the reason that's called family first is she has gone from the bottom of the, the top of the shopping list to the bottom of the shopping list. So statistics show that she's now shopping for everybody in her family above herself. And this shopping demographic is a really big shooting demographic for a lot of studios, portrait studios, newborns, maternity, et cetera, in our world of photography. So I wanna talk just about her today, how to market to her, how to get her as a client, and how to win her over. Okay, the fourth demographic is 50 and fabulous. So she's grown up out of the independent, she is still in the family first because she, sorry, she's still a mum, but she's no longer family first. And I'm going to address every one of these demographics as their own challenge. And today, family first is the first one. So don't worry, all four of them carry something amazing, something different, and all four of them bring us business. And if we're smart, we need to speak to these women. Now, we know nowadays in marketing that shouting, shouting out loud, does not work anymore. So the bigger companies that could afford the loudest advertising, no longer get work. Now, our marketing is about connection and it's about service, returning to connection and service, and it's about speaking to the demographic that you want to shoot. And so you must identify which of your demographics are the ones that you want and then create really impactful, powerful communicative marketing around that demographic. Family first, the family first demographic. as you can see by my first slide here, the family first demographic is pretty much anybody with children. Okay, so she is a really good shoot, if you're gonna get the whole family in and you're gonna do the husband and the kids. So what we did today with the shoot that we're going to cut to throughout the day is we photograph, we marketed to the family first demographic. When I asked my client the question in her consultation of how she would like to be photographed and who she would like to bring, she mentioned that she had a husband and three children. So, her daughter is 14 years old and her other daughter is nine. So we got the girls in first for a hair and makeup session and a girls' morning, we spent a good two hours with them, the little girls got a little bit of lip gloss and a few curls in their hair, we took some beautiful shots of the girls just having a special girls' day, and at the end of the shoot, husband and son joined us and we finished off with a beautiful family portrait. That, typically, is how I would market, shoot, and sell this demographic. Going back to my first slide, family first, there's a couple of options. This woman also comes with three generations. Generally, if she's got children, she still has Mum. If she does still have her mum, then she definitely, I definitely want you to get Mum in. If Mum comes in and Mum sits in the 50-plus demographic, then Mum's going to spend as well. Now, it's not just about spend, spend, spend. Yes, you're going to capture incredible images that will be one day priceless for her family. And, but the idea is that you're building on your shoot, you're building on the value of your shoot, and you're building on your sale because you're in business. This is all about being smart. This is about marketing to make money. So what we're gonna do then is look at the third one on slide one. And we're at girls' pamper day, wine and cheese. I find this demographic will either want to be photographed with her children or she will want to be photographed on her own. Meaning, she wants a day off from the family. So you have two choices: You can market to those women and say, come in and get your hair and makeup done, bring in some glam clothes, you're worth that, have a beautiful makeover and photoshoot, and then bring the boys in and the kids in at the end and have a family portrait. Go a bit down to casual jeans, and then you get the best of both worlds. Or you can say, bring your beautiful glam clothes in, you're worth it, have a pamper day, bring your best girlfriends, wine and cheese, have a girls' day out, you deserve a break from the family and a pamper session. This is about your children one day having an incredible photograph of you looking fabulous. Aren't you always the one behind the camera? Or, you can say, make this whole shoot about you and your family. It's a perfect opportunity to get a gorgeous photograph of you, the kids, and your husband that you can keep forever. Come in and have your hair and makeup done, he can take the kids for an hour while you get pampered in the chair and then the family can come back and you can have gorgeous photographs. Or, come in and have your hair and makeup done, bring your mum and your daughter with you, the girls can have a little girls' day out, the boys can come in later. You know, there are so many options to market to those women and when I say all of these options to them, you wanna see them light up. You have a fourth option. The fourth option is this: Kate, come in, enjoy a beautiful pamper session with me. I'm going to take gorgeous photographs with you. You can share this with your girlfriends, you can share this with your sister, you can share this with your mum, you can share this with your partner and your children, or you can just do this on your own with your best friend or completely on your own. What you wanna do is win her over. Because if you win her over, then theoretically, you get Mum, her girlfriends, her husband and kids, you know, you get all of those networks. Not only that, if you win her over and make her feel special you win over her workmates as well. If she's working part time, if she's a mum at home, you win over her best friends, you win over all the other school mums, you win over her network. Now, you must learn one really important thing. And that is, your network of people, whether she buys one or 10 shots, she is a network opening you up to 20 other people, including more of her own. This network here, family first, is the best one. Why? Let's look at the roles. She is the biggest internet researcher of all four demographics. Even more than 50 and fabulous, her second. That means that she can't often leave home. So she's doing all of her research online. She's the one that's looking at your blog and she's the one looking at your website. She's the one emailing you for prices and asking you questions. So she is the most interactive client online. She is also the most time poor of all four demographics. So what does that tell you? If you are a newborn photographer, if you're a family photographer, if you are a maternity photographer, any of those photographers where you have a mum, a family first demographic, that means she needs the fastest shoot, the fastest turnaround, the fastest viewing session. She doesn't have evenings to spend drinking wine. If she takes a day out for you to have a pamper session, away from her children, it will be in school hours, between this time, or, if she's lucky, she'll have a network of someone who can pick up her kids and make it about her. But the biggest draw, I think, for this demographic is this woman wants to be pampered. She wants to be pampered. She will be the lowest buyer of all four demographics, well, she'll probably compete with the 18 to 30, and we're going to talk about that, but she won't compare to the 30 to 50 independent woman because she's the most in debt and she won't compare to the 50 plus because she's holding the world's wealth. But she is a incredible network client, probably the best you'll have, and if she's spending a lot of time on the internet it stands to reason that she will be plugging you on Facebook, she will be plugging you all over Pinterest. If you give this woman a good experience, then she's going to give you lots of kudos online. Okay, just for you, Mother's Day, really big draw card for this demographic. Mother's Day is about, obviously, one time a year we have this Hallmark holiday, Mother's Day, and it's a good one. We can also market to family first on Father's Day. So twice a year, you get an international Hallmark holiday. I want you to mark it now on your calendars. Mother's day is in May, we are just about to approach April, you are going to do a four to six-week run up for Mother's Day, campaign advertising, marketing Mother's Day and all the reasons you can market to this woman. Because you're worth it, because you shouldn't be hiding behind the camera, because you should exist for photographs for your children, because you are someone that I love and I want to capture you for all time, because I love my mother, because I lost my mother. Whatever reason that you want to talk to about people on your blog, whatever reason or story you want to connect with, make it about the relationship we have with our mum, make it about the relationship we have with our kids. Don't use every one of those slogans in one campaign. Just choose one and then choose another and then choose another and different shot, different campaign. Now remember, you want to keep it simple, keep the stories real, make them impactful but short, use them on your blog, use them on your social media, go to the local florist, ask if they will give away a gift with purchase for every Mother's Day package, every Mother's Day bouquet. Think of all the ways that you can market to this woman and then create it and make it happen. Create a beautiful Mother's Day voucher. Do one online. If you cannot afford the $130 to get them printed on an online resource, create an online one now. That will only cost you your time. You can practice your marketing designing on Photoshop and you can send out to your database. Just make it look professional and stylish and tell stories. So this woman loves to connect. She loves to feel good about herself. She doesn't get that opportunity very often. You know, this is for her about the makeover, it's about feeling good, and remember, for the women who are saying, no, no, just make it about the kids, not me, you've got to make her believe it. You've got to make her believe that she can have a beautiful photograph. I also go with the, you know, I always get the mums, when I lose 20 pounds, when I lose five pounds, when I lose 30 pounds, I say, no, you're beautiful now. Don't wait for your goal weight to exist in beautiful photographs for your children. You know, one day your children will be grown up and this portrait will be priceless. I've never, ever looked at a woman in the eyes and told her those slogans and not had her cry and book a shoot immediately. So, good guilt factor. Slide number two, I'm just gonna pull up the girl power slide. This is another challenge, but the girl power is pretty much 18 to 30. Interestingly enough, I also market to the 18 to for a mother and daughter shoot. And the mother and daughter shoot generally is the 50 plus. So I know that there's gonna be some confusion about the age of each girl and how it works so I'm gonna keep this demographic as simple as possible. The 18 to 30 is its own shopping demographic and its own challenge. The 50 plus is its own shopping. And so the mother and daughter shoot is not the same as the family first, okay? The 50 and fabulous is about the mother and daughter shoot, also the three generations, elegant portraits, and because you're worth it. But I'm just going to focus on that family first demographic, okay, that slide there that says family first. Husband and kids, three generation, girls' pamper day, just for you, or Mother's Day. Those are your big five marketing points for this woman. Your challenge today is to write five pieces of paper and put family shoot, husband and kids at the top and then put three generations and then put girls' pamper day, wine and cheese, and then put just for you, because you're worth it, and then put Mother's Day. Those are your five headings. I want you then, over this week, to write as many ideas, slogans, sayings, beautiful images that you love that you've taken of family first demographic, and I want you to write lots of ideas. And each page, each page should have at least 20 ideas. I want you to put your creative photographer brain on. If I was a mum with kids, what would I like to hear? What would I like to see? Where would I like to see it? Do not just do a generic Mother's Day special Facebook banner. It doesn't work. Speak to these women, blog about it, tell a story about your mum, tell a story about somebody else's mum, tell a story about, okay, I tell you what, this one worked beautifully, as well, I had a woman walk into my studio one day with this little photograph, like an old school photograph, and she held it up and she looked at me and she said, could you fix this photograph? And I said, yes, I could photograph it, enlarge it, retouch it, change the background. And she said, this is the only photograph I own of my mother. And it just broke my heart. I just, I thought about this tiny little photograph and I treated it and I looked after it for her and I photographed it. What a beautiful story that I could create a portrait and I could photograph and enlarge it. Maybe you do that. Maybe you send it out to people and say, do you have a portrait that you need restored? Don't wait to have beautiful photographs of you for your kids. I mean, there are so many beautiful avenues you can take this then in your marketing. I want you to prepare for Mother's Day now. Please write those five key phrases off this family first slide that you can see here. The images on the family first slide that you can see, the girl at the top did her glamor session and then she had a gorgeous couple shot with her husband, looking sexy, and then she had her son and then they had a beautiful family shot. That there was a absolutely fabulous $2200 sale for me. In the studio, it was about four years ago, I have since photographed them again. Beautiful family, but I really made it about her. I did not make it about him and the kids. I mean, her and her, her husband and son were cute, they came in, they really enjoyed it, but most men don't wanna watch the girls getting their hair and makeup done. The younger guys do. But the older guys, they're quite happy to go and take the kids and, you know, go to the park or go shopping or go and get a coffee. Encourage them to go away from Mum. I find when Mum's having her hair and makeup done, she just wants to make it about her, that complete alone time. And it's just such a beautiful session. Make sure you're hitting the relationship of the couple, you know, the kid, family, Mum, because one thing about the family first demographic, she wants to be the matriarch of the family, she wants to be the cook, the cleaner, the wife, the lover, the mother, the caretaker, but she doesn't want to be seen as one of those things. She wants to be seen as all of them. She wants to be a multi-tasking strong, beautiful woman that has support, that can look after her family and still feel gorgeous. That demographic there hits all of those words. And so try not to make it too much about the you're home with the kids and now we've got to make you look good, okay? Let her be strong and independent as well. It's really important when they did that demographic breakdown, that she didn't want to feel like she was being pigeonholed as a housewife. The four at the bottom is a woman with three daughters. I love that shot. I loved the whole shoot. They were such beautiful girls. The girls bought this for their mum. So if you're marketing, right, that can be another one of your marketing ideas and your generations, and that is a gift voucher to buy for Mum. So sell a gift voucher for cheaper than normal. For $290 would pay for a double makeover and photo shoot. You can sell a Mother's Day special for a $79 shoot on voucher or you can give a complimentary voucher with a $290 value for a mother and two daughters to all have their hair and makeup done, images start at whatever they start at after that. Okay, a really great marketing idea. And the image on the right bottom-hand side, the black and white of the mum and two daughters, that is a 30/45 in my studio. That is a big shot as you walk in the door. That is one of my most requested images. And when I ask people why they like it, they just said, well, I want a beautiful photograph like that of me with my kids. And I realized that what they identify with this image is how beautiful Kim is and how beautiful she is with her daughters and that it's not just a casual mumsy shot, it's kind of a really gorgeous shot and it is one of the biggest requests I have. All right, my next slide for me, this is sold in the consultation. What you display is what you attract. This slide here is talking about, I believe that you don't need to advertise on your website to mothers and daughters or to mothers and children. I believe you need to advertise, the images that you show is what you're gonna attract. But I believe that add-ons come in the consultation. So if you look at that beautiful PDF that I've created with Simona, my makeup artist Simona, and the video on my website with her and the little kids and her husband, and they wake up, and then the kids go to school, it's all about her, that video is incredible to speak to that demographic, the family first demographic. So if you go to my website and go to the video page, then that, you know, day in the life of Mum is a beautiful way to communicate. If you can't get a shoot like that done for your website, then another thing you could do would just be to shoot that in stills. You know, you can tell a story on an issue you can tell a story on a slide, but just tell a story with images. I believe that what you show is what you attract. So if you show a mother, a beautiful mother and daughter shots on your website, then yes, you're going to attract mothers and daughters. But the selling of that shoot is done in the consultation. So if you give away a gift voucher and you get somebody ring up and they say, what is this voucher? And the first thing you say is, this voucher is for a double makeover and photo shoot for you and your family, children, mum, best friend, sister, I believe it's that moment there that you plant the seed and sell the shoot. So going back to our consultation challenge, which was about getting the best consultation, I believe that's when it's done. So really, really important. This image here on the left, these two black and white images, twin sisters, and then a mother and two daughters, even though I'm a glamor photographer, this image exists on my website, both these images exist, it's more of a contemporary family portrait as opposed to a more casual, out in the park family portrait but what I show is what I'm going to attract. And that's really, really important. So I've always had people look at these two images and say, oh, you do photograph children. But obviously, that's a certain style. So keep it how you want to photograph. On your website, you only show what you want to attract. If you're not showing what you want to attract, take it off now. You market to one woman and she brings more. That is the simple truth. I always thought, there are some children on my website, like that black and white shot, and there are sisters, there's two lots of sisters, three lots of twins, there are some couples, including older couples, on my website gallery, but the truth is, is there's not families, there's not babies, there's not little kids, and yet I shoot every single one of those genres. I believe I just have to sell the idea of what I do and then once I get them on the phone, I can say, Margaret, who would you like to be photographed with? And Margaret says, oh, can I have a choice? And all of a sudden, I've opened up a whole new avenue. But I'm doing that on the phone to her. I'm not trying to do that online with multiple genres of images on my website. I'm keeping it contemporary, I'm keeping it clean, and I'm having that conversation straight to them on the phone and then I'm selling it to them on the phone. Really, really important. This slide here is about two grown daughters and their mum. I know when I say to the girls, okay, who would you like to be photographed with? And she said, ah, my mum and my sister. Now, the sister on the right, she has two children. The girl in the middle, she has two children, husband and two children, husband one, two children. And then the mother of both girls. Now, first, these three are the ones I want to win over. Three reasons. Each one of these girls works with other women. Each one of these girls has her own family. Each one of these girls has her own children, yes, and partner, and so, and each one of these girls has at least five girlfriends that would easily want to do this when they see their photographs. So I look at getting these girls networking, get this network in, and I do not push the kids yet because I want these three girls first. Then, if they spend, when they spend, I will give them a $500, $300, whatever, credit towards a family portrait. Now, I don't mind giving a big credit because they know what I cost, they're already qualified, I know they're gonna come back because they enjoyed it, and then I've got three more shoots, just off these three girls. So inevitably, I market to the three of them as a beautiful photograph each, glamor shoot, but I want this shot here. And this is their shot. This is Mum and sister, a gorgeous photograph, and then they come back with their own children. And I think that there opens multiple marketing opportunities in every level. Now, you have to make Mum believe it. Okay, I hear so many photographers say, just the kids, just the kids, just the kids. And that's where I told you to do the whole, remember, you want to exist in photographs for your children. The best way to do that, for me, was before and afters. And the best way to do that for me was real before and afters. Okay, I want you to take shots of women, everyday women. Not just 22-year-old hotties. This is about marketing, advertising, blogging, real women, real stories, so that you can communicate to all women out there. I think it's really, really important that you shoot ages and that you shoot curves. And I know you want to put your best foot forward with your best marketing and your best images, but the truth is, is the best marketing is the one that communicates to your everyday person who just looks at that and says, I wanna have a beautiful photograph like that. I deserve a beautiful photograph like that. And you win them over as clients and then you make that rock because that works and it's perfect. Posting the mother. There is no more important person in a family portrait than the mother. She's the one that will choose an image and kibosh an image if she doesn't look good. She's the one that's gonna pick at her weight, she's the one that's going to dislike something. Use all of my posing tips for curves to make women look gorgeous. Pose her first, put husband and kids around. Remember to connect Mum and Dad in the image. Connect them physically, because it's about them first. And then work the children around them. Pose her, pose her in a beautiful angle, and then pose the children around them. Okay, if Mum looks good, you're selling portraits. It is that simple. Take photos of Mum on her own. Take photos of Mum with Dad as a relationship. Take photos with Mum and each of her children and with her children. Learn, go back through the posing, twos, threes, and fours, go back through family posing, posing the stacks, posting the triangles, lifting up, turning Mum, making sure everybody looks good. That is how you create good family portraits. And lastly, when it comes to here, let me just show you this one, it's really important that you not only pose Mum but that you look after Mum. So, when the family first in the 50 plus in the mother and daughter shoot, I learned a really long time ago, this is a really important tip, when my mother and daughter would come into the studio, obviously, the daughter has talked Mum into coming. And she can be any age group from 14 to 30 with an older Mum. And they would always bring in, the young girls bring in 30 outfits and Mum brings in four. And there's always kind of three Mum and daughter relationships that I see. One is where the daughter is bossy towards the mum and the mum is subservient and the daughter has control of the shoot, bought the shoot, told her mum what to wear, and is a bit grumpy with her mum and it's like, Mum, don't wear that, Mum, don't do this, Mum. And then the other one is when it's the other way around. When the mum is really dominant and she's doing that to the daughter. And the daughter's usually quiet and has chewed all her fingernails off. And the third one is when Mum and daughter are best friends. All three of them work exactly the same way. But I did learn one thing, and that is, even with the one where the daughter is more dominant, 99% of the time, Mum is paying. And if not paying, paying most of or 50-50. So two things, one is the mother and daughter special that I talked about on products and pricing and two is, make it about Mum. She might have less outfits, she might not be as cute, but I used to always photograph the daughter first and just leave two or three shots at the end for Mum and then take together shots. And then I realized that that woman is quieter, she's sitting back, she's not saying much, but the truth is, is she's the one that truly wants to be pampered. She's the one that will buy more photographs. And so I switched it out. I used to get Mum then in the makeup chair first and then while the daughter was getting her hair and makeup done, I would just schmooze with the mum and then give her an incredible experience, photograph her the best way I could so that she just looked absolutely gorgeous, and then I'd photograph the daughter instead of the other way around. And it really, really worked. So just make it about the mum. And as for the mother and daughter special, or the family first special, or the three generation special my package is $3300, my most desired package, and when I get a mother and daughter in or a three generations, or a family first, and they bring their parent in, instead of charging both the mum and the mum and the grandma $3300, I'd double the package, identical prints, for an extra $900. You can do 1500, you can do half price, whatever you feel comfortable with. But that's how I do a quick upgrade. It costs me about $175 to upgrade, and, or 225 plus prints, and then I make an instant $700 add on profit straight away just from doubling the package. The prints are done, the Photoshop's already done, all they have to do is order two of everything and then Mum gets a box, daughter gets a box, or grandma gets a box, family first gets a box, and everybody's happy. Enjoy this challenge. The footage that we've taken today is a great way just to show you a simple path. Now, remember the paths. I'm gonna go back to slide one. I want you to write down the five points, okay, that you're going to give me 20 ideas for. I'm going to test you on this. I'm going to get somebody to send to me the five sheets of paper with the most creative ideas you can write down. I've got a special prize for the person who can do this. I want you to write down family shoot, three generations, girls' pamper day, just for you, and Mother's Day. I want key phrases, ideas to market, avenues you can market, businesses you can connect with. I want you to give me at least 20 ideas on peripheral advertising to those five sections within the umbrella of family first. I want you to sit down and tell me how you can make this demographic an incredible marketing campaign in your business that spans over the next 12 months. And as you can see by the footage that you're about to see, I have followed number one, which is family shoot, husband and kids. I've photographed the girls, I have photographed the children together, I have photographed the girls on their own, individual shots, then the boys come in, I'm photographing a beautiful family shot. This is an easy $3000 package sale in my studio. And then there's three generations, girls' pampering, just for you, and Mother's Day. I want you to write those down for me. I will put a call out for entries on who's done this challenge the best. This is a really big one for me. I want you to start getting excited about your marketing. I want you to start creating marketing that is beautiful, that communicates, that works for you. I want you to start looking at your marketing, and instead of being something that terrifies you, that it's something you embrace and get excited about. Look at this incredible marketing I've designed to get people into my studio so I can photograph them and create portraits for a lifetime. If you feel afraid, go to YouTube, put in fear, Sue Bryce, 28 days, watch the segment that I did on fear, sort yourself out. There is no such thing as fear, only stupid mind blocks that are easy to tell to shut up. Get into it, get into this challenge. I cannot wait to see what you're gonna do here. Good luck, talk to you soon.