Marketing

The Answer to All Your Problems: Marketing with Sal Cincotta

You read that title right. All other things equal, marketing is the reason I see most businesses fail. They ether don’t do it at all or, quite frankly, they suck at it. And no, running a Facebook Ad is not marketing. There are time-worn strategies that go into marketing. You don’t just do something and magic happens. You need a plan. You then must execute that plan. You then evaluate the results, make adjustments and re-execute your plan. Rinse and repeat.

02/01/2019

Marketing

Using Events as Marketing

For a long time I despised marketing because I did not have a strategy for our B2B video and photo company. Anything that I had tried, like posting on Facebook and Instagram or email marketing, did not seem to work for me. These strategies work when done well, but I did not figure them out and was getting frustrated. A mentor told me to look at my best clients—the 80/20 rule—and figure out the commonality between all of them. Were they all the same type of business? Did they all have the same product or service? Did they all find us through Google?

02/01/2019

In-Person Sales

Defeating the Dark Side of In-Person Sales

In-person sales (IPS) offers the number-one way to make real money as a photographer in today’s digital world. But lots of photographers still resist this proven strategy. Most people who refuse to implement IPS are terrified of it. That’s understandable. The idea of sales has such a negative connotation, especially for artists who already suffer from the “Am I good enough?” complex. Those photographers are expected to sit in front of their clients, confidently make eye contact and ask for thousands of dollars? Forget about it.

02/01/2019

Business

It’s Not About You, It’s All About Them

We’ve all been there. Things just aren’t working out. Jobs aren’t coming in. So you panic. You need work. You need to pay the rent. You need to keep your head above water. This is all about you, you, you. But it’s not about you. It’s all about them.

02/01/2019

Post Production

How to Edit Color for the Season in Lightroom Classic

When winter hits, being a photographer can bring a lot of challenges. Not just the obvious cold weather and clients who want to spend as little time outside as possible, but everything is dead except the pine trees. Especially in the Midwest where beautiful mountainous backdrops are rare. Not to worry. Sometimes we have to get creative when ideal lighting doesn’t show up—not only with our photography, but our editing too. In this article, I show you how to edit color for the season.

02/01/2019

Marketing

5 Tips for Updating Your Social Media Strategy

As a wedding photographer, social media is one of the strongest marketing and branding tools at our disposal. It’s also the most time-consuming task, taking us away from our passion of running our own photography business. It’s the end of engagement season, so marketing is a top priority for wedding photography businesses. Social media is where most newly engaged couples hang out digitally these days, but that’s not the only way to get in front of them. How can you make sure you’re doing your best job at marketing when everything keeps changing?

02/01/2019

Post Production

Beyond Presets: 5 Tips for Crafting Your Style

One thing I often hear from new photographers is how challenging it is for them to find their style. Initially, most people tend to reach for actions or presets in their favorite editing applications and adopt one. Sure, these bundles can give you ideas and narrow your focus, but in the long run, they are not the ideal solution.

02/01/2019

5 Tips to Become Better at Sales with Karen Bagley

In-Person Sales

5 Ways to Become Better at Sales

What exactly does it take to be a good salesperson? You can’t just be an artist. You have to know how to sell too. So, the million-dollar question is: How can you become a better salesperson? After many sales sessions, I’ve identified things that can hurt or help any sales session, and have compiled five key tips to help any photographer become better at sales.

02/01/2019

Business

How to Use the Cost of Doing Business to Price Your Work

In today’s photography market, too many new photographers charge based on what they think they are worth, combined with what they see other photographers charging in a rudimentary competitive analysis. This is no way to run a business. I didn’t realize what it cost to be in business until I got my hands on the PPA Benchmark Survey, and when I realized that professional photographers keep only a third of their revenue as profit, it forced me to look at what it was costing to be in business.

02/01/2019

It’s Time for Some House Cleaning with Skip Cohen

Business

It’s Time for Some House Cleaning: Easy Updates For Your Website

While February is right in the middle of what many of us refer to as the slow season, that doesn’t mean it should be a quiet stretch for you. Now is the time to do some serious house cleaning and stop procrastinating about the key elements on your website. You know the areas that need attention, but you’ve been hoping to skate by month after month. Well, there’s no reason to let that dripping faucet continue.

02/01/2019

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Behind the Shutter

Photography training and education for the modern photographer

In today’s competitive landscape, quality online photography training and education is priceless to your growth. Unfortunately, most publications contain a ton of fluff. No real meat to their content. Not at Behind the Shutter. We are committed to the photography community and improving professional photography by providing current, insightful, and in-depth educational content.

Training topics include photography lighting techniques, photography off-camera flash tips, photography posing guides, photography business concepts and marketing strategies, Facebook for photographers, boudoir and glamour photography training, high-school senior photography concepts, IPS (In-Person Sales) strategies, family photography, Lightroom tutorials, Photoshop how-tos, and much, much more.

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Behind the Shutter

Photography training and education for the modern photographer