Is there a right time to stop pursuing a non-responsive Client?

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve battled this question in the past.  The answer is YES! That timeframe may differ for you, of course, but I found that if you don’t give yourself the OK to discontinue the pursuit of an “MIA Client” you are only taking away from your already contracted Clients and burning precious energy that should be used to creatively build your business.

The answer (for me) has been a five times rule.  I make it a point to communicate with a new lead/Client, at every stage, at least five times, using a combination of phone calls and follow up emails.  Most of the time you won’t exhaust your “five times” as eager Clients will quickly respond to your phone calls and/or emails.

If you ever hit a point with a Client where you were on track and everything seemed to be cool – then all of a sudden it feels like they fell off the face of the earth - the five times rule will help you eliminate emotions that can cloud your judgment and cause you to spend too much time on Client’s that are no longer responding to you.

Yes, you can and should ask the question “what went wrong?”, was it your pricing, personality or shooting style? Sadly though, most of the time you’ll never know exactly why the Client just stopped communicating with you.  Always try to be honest with yourself and evaluate what you could be doing better, but also know that not everyone is your ideal Client. 

Next time you feel like you’re going a little bonkers waiting for a Client to contact you back, try the five times rule, or find a number that you feel comfortable with.  After that, give yourself the OK to stop pursuing that particular Client and focus on what you can do for your existing Clients or new leads to come.  (Oh, and don’t be surprised if out of the blue that Client contacts you again weeks later – I’ve had that happen many times)

Its not always obvious when you're making a mistake...

I've compiled a list of 9 common mistakes photographers (and videographers) make, that can easily be avoided. Let it be known that I will never, ever blame you if you are guilty of any of the following – I was guilty of every single one of these puppies at one point or another. Here goes...

Using a gmail, hotmail or other free email account

"If its free, its for me!" is one of my all time, favorite phrases in the universe! But using a free email account as your business email address sends a "you're not established" message to Clients and potential Clients. Always use an email address that includes the full URL to your website. Of course gmail is cool - but it’s robbing you of an opportunity to communicate your brand to YOUR Clients.

Money is NO excuse! Go Daddy offers personal email plans for only $1.20 a month - go, get... pronto.

Not having an email signature

This is a super easy fix and it will only take you two minutes to complete. Find a way to put this on the top of your to-do list immediately! A proper email address should be included in every single one of your outgoing emails and consist of your full name, title, company name, address, contact information and if you have one, a mini tag line or branding message. Mine looks a little something like this:

--
Natalie Sousa
VSM Team Lead

Virtual Studio Manager
c/o Webster Hill Inc
580 California Street, 5th floor
San Francisco, CA 94104

virtualstudiomanager.com | This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it | 866.977.5300

Getting Photographers behind their cameras, not their desks!

Not responding to Clients promptly

I know what you're thinking... "Of course you should, who doesn't"? Believe it or not, this isn't something that most of us do consistently. By following up with Clients quickly, you're more likely to have a potential Client become a contracted Client, and gain valuable, word-of-mouth recommendations from your existing Clients.

Virtual Studio Manager makes it easy to follow up with one, or more Clients with a click of a few buttons!

Using a P.O.Box address

P.O.Box addresses are for large corporations with payment processing centers. If you're a small business owner, and you're including the words "P. O. Box" in your address, its sends an uncomfortable feeling to your Clients - and you don't want that!

If you're not comfortable using your personal address, use the full street name for your local post office and list your P.O. Box number as a suite number.

Not having a toll free number

This is really useful for a number of reasons! Not only can you route your toll free number to any phone, therefore never having to change your business phone number, it also sends a professional, established message to your Clients. There are lots of low cost solutions out there for you… run a search on the web and you’ll be amazed at all of the toll-free goodness available.

We use gotvmail, its a voice mail management system that also includes a toll free number.

Not accepting credit cards

Being able to offer your Clients multiple ways to pay for your service, is not only convenient but also provides additional security for your Clients. There are low cost solutions out there for you to help get you started.

A really convenient and popular option is PayPal all you need is an email address to get started.

Not knowing what you REALLY make per hour

Many photographers have NO idea what they actually make per hour! Take the time to explore your cost and profit margins, then implement tools that will help you save time - allowing you to maximize your hourly rate.

I'm a huge fan of time management systems that are effective and make life easier for every party. In this case however, you'll just have to set some time aside to really determine how much time you spend obtaining, maintaining and processing a Client/Assignment. Once you confirm what you're making per hour, look at implementing time saving tools that will help you streamline your business.

Not having a meeting plan!

Getting a Client to meet with you is a great - and you should be thrilled that you are moving them along the process to becoming an actual Client! Once you land the meeting, know the steps needed to covert your potential Client to a contracted Client.

To start creating an effective meeting plan, check out the The Do Not Sell Photographers Guide to Booking Clients.

Not having a business plan!

When you don't have a destination point clearly stated, you are less likely to make decisions that will help you reach your goals. Dedicate an afternoon and put your business plan in writing. You'll be surprised at what you learn and what you realize you need to work on when you sit down and evaluate what’s you have in store for your business.

Years of being in the industry and lots of research helped us accumulate tools, tips and resources to help us build our business!

--

about Natalie... She’s a photographer + mom + entrepreneur on a mission to help professional photographers save time and do more of what they love.

I woke up and smelled the coffee this morning, then brewed up a little something I call a Workflow Guide.

What is a workflow guide you ask?  It's a delicious and creamy outline of how I use Virtual Studio Manager to manage new Client inquires.

Since VSM allows you to add new custom email templates (limited to the Pro Plan only) and import data from your database, there are many different ways you can communicate with your Clients. This Workflow Guide is simply a suggestion, but it'll give you a few ideas on how you can use the features available and when.

Develop a system that works best for you! Tailoring emails allows you to get creative and generate different templates that can save you lots of time and makes it easier to keep in touch with your Clients.  As an example, I recently created 2 new graphic emails that I use as monthly newsletters!  One newsletter is sent to “non contracted” Clients, while the other is sent to our contracted Clients. It’s a great way to keep folks interested and up to date with your services.

This is just one more way you can creatively use the features within Virtual Studio Manager to streamline your business.  For more details and suggestions, remember to visit the Support Center.

This week the local library was crazy enough to let me borrow “Book Yourself Solid”,  by Michael Port.

It came highly recommended by a fellow photographer/entrepreneur, Andrew Funderburg, who created one of the speediest, most convenient album design programs in existence.

Only a few chapters in I had what Oprah likes to call an “Ah-ha” moment.  I usually refer to them as my “holy crap, why didn’t I think of this before” moments.  (when I finally start publishing “N” magazine, maybe I’ll get people to adopt this term, but for now, I’ll use Oprah’s).  While discussing self branding in Chapter 3, Port walks you through two questions you should ask yourself to help you communicate to the world: What do you do and why you do it?

Before I go any further, let it be known that I’ve been annoyed by the term “self branding” lately.  Its over used and over hyped - which I secretly blame twitter for - but, Port’s perspective felt sincere.  Its not about being flashy, instead its about finding the words to simply describe what you do, effectively, and most importantly – WHY you do it.

Most of your competitors will share a similar answer to WHAT you do, for example “I’m a wedding photographer”,  but no one will have the same answer for WHY you do it.  That’s what stirred up the HCWDITOTB moment!  This statement alone can make potential clients fall in love with you without you even knowing it.

If you’ve ever felt discouraged by competition, confused about how to “market” yourself/company or  frustrated by all the fluff statements you find floating on the internet, I encourage you to spend time thinking about your WHY.  Its empowering knowing that your reason is uniqe and true to you.

You can check out our Michael Port inspired About Us page here.

This week it came in the form of a warehouse.

I’m a huge fan of Costco. Some people - who are married to me -  might even say I’m strangely addicted. But I can’t help it! Where else can you purchase a 16 pound jar of peanut butter, an inflatable Halloween witch and a back up Canon Speedlite in the same transaction?

A cart full of photo gear, blowup ghouls and crushed peanuts isn't even the best magic at Costco.  The crown jewel of the Costco kingdom is the taste test.  If you're in the mood to be honest, you'll admit you've gone to Costco hungry, and come out stuffed full of tiny pieces of kielbasa, the cheeses of the world, and Go-gurt.  There's a lesson in here about cheapness and binge eating, but the real point is that many of us like to try something out before we lug it home, and we don't always have that opportunity.

So, in the middle of a mini-cup of trail mix, I got to thinking... the questions we find ourselves repeatedly answering about Virtual Studio Manger are: "What will my Clients experience?" and "How does a linked form work on my site?"

Well, we've slapped on our hairnets and put together a sample website.

I encourage you to explore the site for yourself – you’ll find a linked Contact Form and Pricing Form, along with a Client Gallery – and you can even check out a sample Shooting Day Details form.  Once you submit the form, you’ll also receive an auto-email reply that you can customize via Virtual Studio Manager.  Seeing how the tool works through your client's eyes will show you how seemless the process can be.  Our goal is that your clients will never know they left your site while they're filling out details and updating your VSM database for you.

If we can get the sample website to taste like smoked hickory, we'd be most of the way to matching our Costco inspiration, but for now we're content with trying to save you a ton of time, and making it easier for you to communicate with your clients.

100% of Clients who contact you want to see more of your photographs!

Today I’m happy to announce that you can send html emails through your VSM account!

Simply enter HTML code into your VSM Custom Email section (located in the Customize tab).

For details on where to put your code, visit the  Common Questions and Their Answers thread via the Support Center.

For those of you who are not HTML friendly, have no fear!

We’ve created a template (as shown) to help you get started.  There are 3 simple steps:

1Prepare your images

2Complete the online form

3Copy and paste into your VSM Custom Email section

To test drive this, we've set up a sample Contact Form and Pricing Form that you complete & submit to see what your Client will experience.

BTW - If you would like more templates, please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it a snapshot of what you have in mind! We'll re-create it and set up a form that will generate the code for you.

Did you know that a Krone, a Krona, and a Kroner are not the same thing?

It's true.  I learned this while trying to pay for a danish in Denmark (which isn't quite what you'd expect) and pulled out some money with "Kron" in the name and an old European dude on it - only to find it was from the wrong country.  What's the point of this story?  Well, for one thing, Scandinavia should embrace the Euro (just for my pastry-buying benefit) and for another, I've had money on the brain because...

We've just made Virtual Studio Manager pound and euro friendly!

Now people across the pond can also save time managing their clients - and save trees - by becoming virtually paperless.

In your Studio & Account information section, you'll find a drop down menu with the options of displaying  $, € or £ on your customized forms.

The $ is set by default automatically, so you don't have to do anything differently if you're a US user.

In other news, there are two new video tutorials available for your viewing pleasure!

One walks you through your Scheduled Events Calendar and the other shows you how to add links to your Client Gallery.

You can check them out here (and they're totally free, though I will accept tips in Estonian Kroons).

Here’s a photograph I captured at one of my first paid wedding gigs back in 1996.

I'd like to quickly thank Chad, Rosie, Cindy, Cheryl and Michael. Thanks for your great attitudes,  feedback and for being part of the VSM Community!

I've thought long and hard about whether or not I'd be able to keep up a blog.

There's this overwhelming responsibility to keep your audience updated - oh the pressure!

I have been one of "them there new fangled video bloggers" for almost two years, which I've grown quite used to.  Telling stories with cameras has always been my passion, and typing on keyboards... not so much.

I've decided to dive into the ocean of blogging anyway.   I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to keep our VSM Members informed of updates and new features that are coming to the service.  You'll also get a better sense of who we are as a company - which I think is a good thing.

I do have one tiny disclaimer for everyone who tunes into my little posts; be prepared for typos!  The dreaded keyboard is always waiting to betray me.  BTW, they say spelling has nothing to do with intellegence and I don't know who "they" are, but I'm glad they said it.