I need tips on advertising a portrait studio in a small town with none to little money.?

Question

I have invested all I had into a portrait studio I opened up in my small town. What little i had I put into advertising in our newspaper. Turns out no one really reads the paper as I haven't had anyone come and it's been over a month. We had a carnival out here two weeks ago and I put a stand up and gave out coupons and free chances to win portraits. Nearly everyone who came by said they had no idea there even was a studio. I really need help as to how to advertise my studio. I don't have any money to put into advertising at this time and I've been calling people and offering free 8x10's just to try it out but no one is calling back. HELP! I have worked to hard to come this far just to fall on my face. I know it' always slow starting out but I used so much money expecting a little to come back in that I don't even have enough to put towards rent for the building or my home. I know I am good at what I do, I just need ideas on how to get the word out there.

thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Pfft... market research in a small town? You are not a multinational corporation, and you need the business NOW... not when you've finished your research. Don't confuse the situation with complex analysis. Small-town marketing is simple, if not a bit frustrating.

You need community awareness, branding, and networking. All of this can be done relatively cheap and will bring about great ROI.

Community Awareness: (1) Consider a direct mail piece. Design the piece yourself in Microsoft Publisher or another cheap layout program, and print them at Kinkos. You can go talk to your Postmaster and negotiate a price and other details... sending out just 1,000 or 2,000 should be extremely cheap. (2) You might also consider sponsoring local events. Donate your time, your facility, or even a bit of extra money or some materials to your local Boy Scout group next time they need to have a banquet, help pay for uniforms for the girl's soccer league... whatever you do, make sure your logo is prominently displayed. (3) If you're in a small town, billboard space will be CHEAP! Get one or two well-placed billboards or roadside signs... but negotiate directly with the property owner, not a professional billboard advertising company. (4) Set up a search-engine-friendly website for your business. Include information about your hometown, the history of portrait photography, whatever... as much text as possible... and keep your site fresh with new information and pricing. That way when someone searches for your hometown online, whether or not it's for photography, your website will pop up. (5) JUST GET YOUR NAME OUT THERE ANY WAY POSSIBLE!

Branding: (1) Keep your ad in the local newspaper. It's important that people know it's there, and that YOU'RE there, so that next time they need a portrait photographer, they'll go grab the paper and call your ad. (2) Again, get your logo, address, and phone number on as many things around town as possible. It doesn't matter what it's on, as long as it says what you do and how to get ahold of you. (3) Consider web advertising on local or area websites. Same concept as newspaper... people will see it, and even if they don't need your service right then, they'll come back to get your contact info once they DO need your services.

Networking: It's all about who you know. Join the local Chamber of Commerce, start attending the City Council meetings, join Rotary or the Lions Club. The more people you know, the more people will know what you do. And, their friends will get your reference when they need a photographer, and their friends, and those friends' friends. There's no replacement for networking.

As an aside, you are in a tough industry. With digital photography and online print ordering, one-hour photos, and Kinkos... you are competing with the customers themselves! Think about expanding into other areas of photography.

I know a lot of people that make a KILLING simply taking real estate photos full time. I also know a few people that do nothing but shoot demo series for aspiring models.

You can do this. Just get your butt to work! :)

Good luck!

Answer 2

Congratulations on everything you've achieved. It takes a lot of courage to do what you've done.T

he first thing I think you should do is do some market research. Identify your target market. If you want to sell your portraits, you'll have to know who would be interested first, if you know what I mean. Find out everything you can about that market- where they shop, where they eat, what age they are, what they listen to and watch (ie. media), what their needs and desires are, etc. That is a step that comes before advertising. Once this is determined, then you can decide on an advertising strategy. Remember to keep the faith. Things will work out in time.

Answer 3

I own a small business too.  I know what your are going through.  You found out the hard way that people don't read the newspaper any more.

I'm not happy with the three previous answers either.  There are better ways to spend your money.

1.  Look around for an organization that meets monthly and has lots of activities, like the local chamber of commerce or professional association. (Real Estate Broker Association, merchant association, sports association, etc.)  Join the club and become active in the membership committee or something visible like that.  It will put you in front of people the same way the caravel did.

2.  Advertise in newsletters, not newspapers.  Go to the local church and advertise in the church bulletin, see if the local home owners associations have their news letters.  These are dirt cheep ways to advertise.

3.  Do something as simple as placing a sign outside your studio door. ... one of those stand alone signs, "A" frame.  

4.  If you have a car, put a sign on both doors. If you own a van, put signs on both sides and park it in a prominent place.

5.  Go to places where people have their photos taken as a part of the program, graduations (from anything from grade school through college and any trade school), weddings, other social occasions.

6.  Read: Guerrilla Marketing

7.  Start a photography club. Promote the idea of taking pictures, giving pictures as gifts, use the old fasion photo album and the online photo albums available.

8. Collect the name, address, phone number, and email address of everyone who enters your studio and every one you contact everywhere you go.   Send out a broadcast email every two weeks with a tid bit or two about taking pictures.

(The idea about starting the club or publishing hints about taking pictures is to establish you as an expert.  That gives you credibility as an artist)

Whew, how's that?