Expert Strategies: Boosting Business Through Effective Networking
/By: Stephanie Belton, St. Albans, Hertfordshire, UK / Associate Member of Headshots Matter
A few weeks ago, I was chatting with a few fellow Associate Members on WhatsApp about various methods to make connections, generate leads, and ultimately increase business. After sharing some strategies and showcasing what has worked for me, I was asked to compile a list of 10 helpful tips to enhance your networking and business development efforts. I also give you a bonus one for good measure.
We all have great ways to help drive our business. I hope you find these tips helpful and I encourage you to share your strategies with our community—every piece of advice can make a difference.
© Alistair Veryard
Here are my Top 10 Networking Tips for Photographers:. I hope they help you as much as they have helped me.
1. Make Sure Everyone Knows Your Profession
Make sure everyone you know knows what you do for a living. It seems obvious, but people who know you can be your best advocates. This includes school parents, your hairdresser, your sports team, and Facebook friends. They will be the ones tagging you on social media if an opportunity arises.
2. Connect with Other Photographers in Your Area
You may have different styles, areas of expertise, price points, and availability. If I can’t do a shoot, I always recommend someone else who I think would be a good fit. Ensure you respect boundaries (no copying, no poaching clients) to maintain that relationship.
3. In-Person Networking
Research the networking groups local to you; most will let you have a trial session before joining. Don’t expect to get any business from a trial session; this is just an opportunity to see if the format works for you and if there is synergy with attendees. These could be potential clients or, more importantly, the kind of businesses that can recommend you to their network.
4. Connect with Suppliers “Upstream”
Connect with suppliers who are “upstream” of you—the suppliers your clients will typically reach out to first. For wedding clients, this will typically be the wedding venue. For commercial photographers, this may be the brand agency or website designer. Find those who are a good fit for your style; they know their job will be much easier if the photos are on point.
5. Use Photography to Give Back
Photography can be a great way to volunteer for a cause close to your heart while doing something you love. This can mean capturing the work of a small local charity (very shareable content), a charity fundraiser attended by local businesses, or even just your kid’s school or sports events. People will get used to seeing you around with your camera, to see how beautifully you have captured an event, and make those positive associations.
6. Get Involved with Community or Personal Projects
Get involved with community projects, or personal projects which will resonate with your target audience. For example, covering a TEDx talk in your local area or a personal project on breastfeeding if you’re a newborn/family photographer.
7. Leverage Corporate Connections
After a corporate headshot session, wait a couple of weeks and connect on LinkedIn with all the employees who have updated their profile photos, especially those you connected with during the photo shoot. You will easily find them in the People section of the Company Page.
8. Always Request Reviews and Recommendations
Always ask for a review (Google, Yell) or a LinkedIn recommendation after a shoot, especially if the client is complimentary. This is a good reminder also to leave a review for any businesses that do an excellent job for you, from your optician to your window cleaner, just because!
9. Connect with Local Businesses on LinkedIn
Look up local companies on LinkedIn and connect with the marketing director, HR director, or executive assistant. Pre-qualify your connection by finding something in common, if possible. For example, doing a shoot in a nice office block, make a note of the other businesses sharing the building (this is as simple as taking a photo of the signage in the lobby), then connect with them, explaining you were recently at their premises taking photos for [insert client name]. This will automatically give you a lot more credibility.
10. Enter Photography Awards
Love or loathe them, you can’t deny that awards raise a supplier’s profile, and posts sharing wins always create a lot of engagement on social media.
My Bonus Tip / Be a Community Connector!
Remember, this isn’t just about you! Recommend people to each other and be a good person. What goes around comes around!
Thanks,
Stephanie Belton
www.stephaniebelton.com
We’re very grateful to Stephanie for her contribution with this post and also for all of her ideas and positive spirit on the Associate Member WhatsApp channel!
Follow Stephanie on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-belton-photography
and Instagram at: @stephaniebelton
If anyone has contribution ideas, I’d love to hear them! Just drop me an email at: dwayne@headshotsmatter.com
Cheers, Dwayne Brown
