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Are You Ready for this Year’s Holiday Season – Part I

A few weeks ago, on my own blog, I started a series called “The Road to Seasonality.” Well, now is the time for you to be pulling together your plans for the fourth quarter of 2021!  See what you think of some of the ideas.

Blog Content: If you’ve got a blog, it’s the perfect vehicle to plant the seeds of gift ideas in photography with your clients. Here are some topic ideas:

  • Start sharing some of your older images to help get Mom thinking about the timing for a new family portrait. Throwback Thursday is a classic way to deliver the message.
  • Be helpful: There are things you do every day as a photographer that you take for granted. Start a series of tips to help your readers capture better images. Become the expert in your community on photography.
  • Start a community calendar sharing events in the community. It’s a great way to show you’re involved.
  • Share ideas on your services: For example, I love “Day in the Life” shoots with families, children, and even pets. You don’t have to spend the entire day with a client, but just a few hours in their environment gives you the ability to tell their story and, in turn, create a small album.
  • Plant the seed now for a video holiday card. This is a 30-60 second piece combining video, still images, and great music. Check out Suzette Allen’s YouTube channel to see more ideas.

Direct Mail – alone and with partners: I’m a huge fan of relationship building with other vendors. While you can do a direct mail campaign alone, with two partners, like a florist and salon, you’ll reduce your costs to 1/3 of what it would be if you flew solo. Now is the time to get out in the community and look for partners. And once again, Marathon is loaded with ideas and creative support to help you pull together a mailing.
New products for gift ideas: Check out the quality of Bella, along with gift cards and holiday cards for your clients to send out. You’ve got all the skills to help them pull these ideas together and turn them into reality.
Community Involvement: In the top 100 things guerrilla marketers need to be doing, base on Jay Conrad Levinson’s list many years ago, is to be involved in the community. People like buying products from companies they perceive as giving back. Now is the time for you to be raising your hand to be involved in activities in your area. And remember, this is about people getting to know you, and it doesn’t always have to involve your camera. Even working at a Friday night football game, filling ketchup and mustard containers for the Booster Club, is a way for you to be involved.