Promos

Q:

I have some Zoom meetings with creative agencies coming up. Usually you can bring a few books and leave-behinds, and sometimes even cupcakes, when meeting in person. Obviously you can’t do that in a Zoom meeting. 

Any tips or suggestions to help stand out?

A:

Today’s Zoom meetings need a bit more awareness than in-person meetings as you don’t want to talk over others, or be too quiet, too loud, or speak too quickly. Definitely do some tests to see how you can be as crystal clear as possible. Get your lighting right and set up where you will be sitting. I do not suggest using those fake backgrounds as they will get all the attention and may prevent people from hearing what you are saying if they are looking more at your background. Treat the meeting as real as possible and no need to be nervous. Be yourself and listen to others. You can always send your cupcakes over after the meeting, 🙂

Q:

Are email promos welcome? Must they mention the pandemic or be relevant to it?

A:

Email promos are welcome right now, maybe even more than ever because people are home at their computers. The images don’t have to be relevant but you may waste the release of an image now since it won’t be used soon. Show an image with the goal to draw clients to your website. To not mention the pandemic now would be insensitive and could even be hurtful. The definition of “too salesy” would be to ignore what your audience is experiencing. Good sale is to know your audience and see it through their eyes.

Q:

Do you ever find photographers or directors on Instagram?

A:

Word of mouth tends to be the way I find people. It’s still pretty hard to find a photographer through random searching although there are always exceptions, of course. My advice is to try to get clients’ attention in every way possible, including targeted ads on social media, snail mail and email promos, setting up meetings, etc. 

Guest Post: Creative/Art Director
Dave Gassman

Q:

I love how you’re providing answers and guidance to photographers like myself! Is it ok to add people to your mailing list without asking or should you only contact people who have given you their email address directly?

A:

People can always unsubscribe to your mailing list, so make sure there’s an option to do that. Just make sure the work is applicable to the people you’re including. I find Agency Access and Yodelist to be very helpful in matching your area of specialty with the right clients.

Q:

I’m constantly frustrated about not being able to get a reply to emails or phone calls after sending out high quality printed promos to agencies or directly to a client. I’ve even started to create personalized 30 second video follow-ups in an attempt to get my personality across. I simply want to figure out if they want to be kept on the mailing list or not. 

Should I go back to the mass mailing approach or continue to send the printed promos?

A:

I wouldn’t waste your time and money on sending high quality printed work unsolicited. People are usually too busy to respond and their initial review of unsolicited work is likely to be from a digital source. Their lack of response is normal. The only quick responses I receive are via LinkedIn. So give that a try.

DO NOT send any promos to a client’s personal email, unless they have given you permission. Doing this crosses a professional boundary and could affect potential future work. 

If you’re emailing a client and they have a professional, official work email, do not use their personal email if you have access to that. Don’t do it. It’s rude and you could really piss someone off. Use the work email if you have one. It draws a line that we shouldn’t assume we can cross. Some people might not get angry about it, but a lot will, so be really careful about the personal and professional email. Keep it as professional as you can if that’s your purpose and relationship with them.

Q:

Can you include buyers and reps in your email list or do you have to ask for their permission before sending out promos?

A:

It’s usually better to ask for forgiveness than permission. It depends on the type of work you shoot, but in the commercial advertising world we send out promos regularly to client’s business email addresses. My theory for marketing is to throw the pasta against the wall and see what sticks. Personally, I receive lots of promos and emails that I didn’t sign up for and I don’t mind at all.

A handy rule for promos and portfolios is to never put the date on them. It makes them unusable pretty quickly.

I like how I mentioned a ‘handy rule’ because so much of what we do needs to be utilized for a while, and you don’t always know the time limit. When it comes to your branding and marketing materials, it’s better not to include a date. In fact, avoid including any unnecessary information. If it’s optional, leave it out—don’t limit yourself.

Q:

When cold emailing clients you’d like to work with, is it a good or bad idea to include an image or attachment of your work in the email? What are some things to avoid when cold emailing?

A:

Good or bad is not totally relevant in our world of marketing because to market your branding may be very different from what other photographers do. Try everything and see what sticks. Some companies block emails with images, most people do not open attachments for their safety, and others prefer just a link to click it. Try it all!

Q:

What are some things to avoid when cold emailing?

A:

I’d say the most important part of a cold email is not to sound cold. Don’t have it sound like a mass email. Be as personable as possible. Mention something they personally may be interested in. And spell their name correctly.