Photography Marketing Magic - 3 Mistakes Photographers Make When Meeting With New Clients

There is probably nothing more important to your photography business than conducting a successful meeting with a new client.

After all, if your meeting goes well, not only will you get a new client… that client could ultimately lead to dozens of referrals in the future.

But if your meeting goes badly, it not only means a lost client… it could be a potential blow to your reputation that could cost you dozens of new clients in the future.

And without clients… your business will go nowhere.

So make sure you avoid these 3 deal-breaking mistakes when meeting a prospective client for the first time:

Not dressing professionally. Unless you’re talking with a punk-rock band or an avant-garde artist… dress like you would for any job interview. This doesn’t mean stuffy… it just means dressing well. In other words, because you’re a professional photographer… focus on the word professional when picking out your outfit.

Being late for your appointment. As a photographer, your time is valuable. For example, if your model is 30 minutes late for a photography shoot, that’s 30 minutes of time you could have spent marketing your business, or taking photographs, etc.. So it’s costing you actual money. Keeping that in mind, always respect other people’s time as much as you’d like them to respect yours.

Not doing your homework. If you’re being hired to shoot a water purifier for the H20 Filtration Company, don’t show up to work unprepared. Before you even go onsite with your client the first time… get on their website and do your research. Figure out what the product looks like (to solve any lighting concerns, for instance). Also, research the person you’re meeting with. Knowing a few personal tidbits (he loves to golf, for instance) can do wonders when it comes to negotiation… or even getting the job in the first place.

Look, in this lousy economy, trying to land new clients is even tougher than it was 9 months ago. People’s budgets are tighter. Businesses are bringing their projects in-house. Families are postponing things like family portraits. New brides who might have had a $3,000 photo budget one year ago might only have $750 today. And so on.

So when you find somebody who is even considering hiring you for a specific photo shoot, make sure you do everything you can to convince them that you are the right person for the job.

James Robert Gratiot is a photography marketing strategist and author of the groundbreaking new PhotoMarketingMagic system. If you’re truly interested in transforming yourself from “starving artist” to “successful photographer,” please check out his PhotoMarketingMagic site today.