We’ve never met another photographer who hasn’t said, “I want to elevate my business” at some point. As you establish yourself as a professional and work towards increasing bookings, it is a natural desire to grow your business all around. The most difficult part is knowing where to start.
Today we’re sharing 3 simple steps you can take to elevate your business. They are practical, and we promise will help your business look more professional to potential customers and vendors. Each of them revolves around representing your business in a way that shows professionalism and intentionality. These are key factors in building trust with the clients & professionals you want to work with.
Pay for a “Real” Email Address
Nothing looks more unprofessional than an email that ends in @gmail.com or the like. With Google offering free upgraded emails if you purchase your domain with them. Even if you don’t, it only costs $6 a month to upgrade. Going from katieandalecphotography@gmail.com to info@katieandalec.com makes such a huge difference. Especially if you’re wanting to reach a higher market or begin to work with wedding planners. It presents you as more professional and shows your business is legitimate which builds trust in a practical way.
Build an Email Signature
Even if it’s a basic email signature, having something is better than nothing. The best part is, building an email signature doesn’t have to be expensive. There are tons of free programs out there, including one through our CRM Honeybook. Here is a link to it! If you have a Honeybook membership, you can actually create it and add it right to your templates and emails in moments whenever you need it. (If you aren’t a member but are interested, here’s a link to 50% off your first year)
Having an email signature can provide important information to potential clients like your office hours, phone number, and website. It also signals that you care enough to present your business well.
Update Your Website
Have you found yourself saying you’ll upgrade your website “one day” or asking people not to look at your site because it’s outdated? That’s a huge signal that it’s time to update or overhaul your website. Often, this will be where clients will come and form their first impression of your business. The last thing you want is to lose them because your website doesn’t accurately represent your brand. Research shows that it takes about 50 milliseconds (that’s 0.05 seconds) for users to form an opinion about your website that determines whether they’ll stay or leave.
Simple changes like updating your brand colors, rewriting bad copy, and updating your portfolio to show off your newest and best images will elevate your brand. Even if you start small and stay consistent in making positive changes you’ll be astounded by the difference. It will also have a bonus impact on your business by boosting your SEO over time.
We hope that these simple changes will help you elevate your business and to be able to raise your prices and increase your revenue. If you’re looking for more ways to help your business, we have an entire blog series specifically for photographers here!
Blessings,
Katie & Alec
