The Daily Mentor Minute Blog | Bruce Hudson

Happy Halloween!
Friday, Oct 31, 2008

Today’s Mentor Minute is going to be a short one because I have to head home and start making my famous chili for this weekend’s “Portraits in the leaves” Portrait Safari. It’s going to be a long weekend but extremely profitable with 7 sessions tomorrow and 8 sessions on Sunday! Part of the fun is having my home made chili, Terri’s incredible pumpkin spice cookies, hot cider and plenty of candy for all of my little clients! As I’ve always preached, “it’s not just a portrait session; it’s the experience AT the portrait session!” It was raining most of the day today but it looks as though it might hold off tomorrow. I hit the color of the leaves perfect this year! Wish me luck!!!!!!! BH

R.O.I.
Wednesday, Oct 29, 2008

I hope you enjoyed my 8 part series on handling the cold call. Thanks for all the thoughtful emails and positive responses! For today’s Mentor Minute I want to talk about R.O.I. Have you ever heard of this term? If not, it stands for Return On Investment. Your R.O.I. is a great way to measure how well your marketing is doing. One of the complaints I hear the most from my fellow photographers today is, “The marketing that used to work a few years ago is not working today!” I totally agree! Tomorrow night Josh and I will be sharing a form of marketing that has the highest R.O.I. we’ve ever encountered! It’s what we call on-demand marketing with e-newsletters. We will show you during this webinar just how easy it is to put together an e-newsletter in mere minutes and send it for only 1.5 cents per client! The R.O.I. with this type of marketing is truly amazing. If you’re tired of not seeing measurable results from your marketing, then I highly recommend you spend some time with Josh and I tomorrow night @ 7pm CST. For more information and to register, go to www.marathonpress.com/education/webinars. It still amazes me that the first time we did an e-newsletter a few years ago, literally within minutes we had 3 clients call to book a spot for one of our portrait safaris that month! We knew we were on to something and on-demand marketing has been a staple of our studio’s marketing mix ever since. Hope to see you tomorrow! B.H.

The Cold Call -The Final Step!
Tuesday, Oct 28, 2008

Congratulations, you’ve made it to the final step of the process! In this final step you will find out that the more positive and proactive you are during the booking process, the easier your life will be down the road with this “client” of yours now. Remember back at the beginning of the cold call process I mentioned that your only goal should be to book the consultation? Now that you have accomplished that, here’s how we continue with the process in between the cold call and the actual consultation date. (1) Get their name, address, all phone numbers, and email. (2) Find a time and date that works for both parties. (3) Inform your new client that you will be sending out directions and some more information they can study before the consultation. (4) Create a letter that thanks them for the opportunity to work with them and how excited you are to meet! The letter should also confirm the time and date of their appointment. ****Side Note**** Make sure this letter contains 2 key things: (a) Personality. (b) Sincerity. This letter concept came from my amazing late wife Sue. She was extremely efficient and yet conveyed a special warm, very bubbly, personality through her very sincere correspondence with clients. Make sure your letter doesn’t look generic, add a personal touch! (5) Send a packet of information with this cover letter. We send ours out in very classy Hudson’s folder that contains: (a) Clothing brochure -Available through Marathon Press #705 (b) Wall portrait brochure –Available through Marathon Press #704 (c) Our current newsletter (d) Studio directions (e) Hudson’s tri-fold mini brochure (f) Our portrait safari card. So there is how you do it! Just to recap, you’ve learned how to: (1) Greet Your Cold Call (2) Build Rapport & Ask Questions (3) Explain Your USP & Benefits (4) Explain Your System (5) Volunteer Price (6) Trial Close (7) Handling the Objections (8) Booking the Consultation and Follow-up! I hope you enjoyed this 8 part series on the cold call! If any of you want to get copies of all our telephone scripts and consultation letters, check out our Studio Support Materials under the Education Investments page on the site! Take care everyone! B.H. –PS. don’t forget about our webinar on Thursday, it will cover On-Demand Marketing: The Magic of E-Newsletters! Go to www.marathonpress.com/education/webinars for more information

The Cold Call -Part 7 of 8
Monday, Oct 27, 2008

Handling Objections! Hope you had an awesome weekend! We had some friends over yesterday for dinner (teriyaki BBQ salmon- email me for the recipe) but I also had a quick family session at my favorite mountain viewing location just minutes from my home. You can see one of the shots from the session for this week’s image of the week we just posted. Check it out! The clients in the image came as a result of a cold call and handling objections after the trial close is the hardest part of the cold call process. Why is that? It’s because you’re being rejected and no one likes that, right? One thing you have to remember is you’re not going to book every call. If you go through all the steps I’ve outlined (including volunteering your prices) and you’re booking every cold call, guess what, your prices are too low! The simple fact that you are getting objections is a good thing. With all that said, how do you answer objections then? I’ve always been taught to answer a question (objection) with another question. “I have to talk to my husband and see what he says.” My answer, “What do you think he will say?” Here’s another classic objection, “Wow that seems expensive.” My answer, “How much were you planning on budgeting for this?” Trust me, I am not going to roll over and take the first objection, but I am not going to hammer away on the cold caller and beat them into submission either. I think we all need to find a balance and a sense of our own personality when dealing with objections. Yes it’s uncomfortable to be rejected; you just can’t take it personally. Tomorrow is the final installment of this 8 part series on cold calls. I hope you are enjoying this and will tune in tomorrow for booking the consultation! B.H.

The Cold Call -Part 6 of 8
Sunday, Oct 26, 2008

Happy Sunday! I am so excited today because one of my newest DVDs is almost finished! I have been editing all morning and I am almost done. It’s the first in a series called “The Art of Family.” In the first volume (which I am currently working on) Josh and I traveled across the Puget Sound on a ferry to photograph nighttime radio celebrity Delilah and her large family. In this DVD you get an inside look on how I work to create some beautiful family portraits and in this case, under some extreme conditions! 20 people ranging from 6 months old to 50, 5 dogs, horses, and utter chaos! Be watching for this all new DVD in the next few weeks! Ok, back to the cold call. So with step 6 we are at a point in the cold call where it’s the moment of truth. Do they want to continue the journey with you or not? A good way to find out is by asking after you have volunteered the prices using these magic words, “Does that sound like it fits within your budget?” Once again Charles Lewis gets the credit for sharing that with my 2 decades ago. As I mentioned yesterday, people just want to know if they are in the ballpark. If they feel you are way over their budget they will usually tell you at this time. This is ok, not every client in the world is destined to work with you. It’s better to find out at this point before we put my heart and souls into a session for them to purchase a 5x7 and some wallets. Trust me, its better knowing up front that they can’t afford the bear minimum. Plus if you get a response like, “Why is it so expensive?” You can say, “Why don’t you come in for a consultation and I will show you!” Another trial close is asking, “So does this sound like something you would like to proceed with?” Again, the trial close is testing the waters and finding out where they are at with the process and the phone call so far. One major word of advice is that when you do ask these questions you need to be as positive and as confident as possible. If not, the person on the other end of the phone will sense your hesitation and not be convinced in their decision to move forward in the process. Imagine you are about to go in to surgery and your surgeon looked nervous, would you be convinced that he was the right person for the job? All in all, if your cold call says, “Yes, let’s move forward”, his is a great thing to hear! But what if they say no? Then you proceed to step 7 in the process- Handling the Objections! See you tomorrow! B.H.

The Cold Call -Part 5 of 8
Saturday, Oct 25, 2008

First of all, I just have to say that we had some incredible crab last night at our Rotary all you can crab eat night for only $35 bucks! It also was a fundraiser that netted about $5,000 too! One of our Rotary members owns some commercial fishing boats in Alaska and has some amazing connections for getting fresh crab flown in just for our event! Yum! Alright, let’s get down to business with the cold call step 5. Yesterday I teased you with how we give the cold callers a reason to want to meet with us. What kind of motivation can you create? The answer I am about to share with you is so simple yet so hard for photographers to understand. Here goes- What’s in it for them! In order to persuade a cold caller to come into your studio, your home, or you going to their home, there needs to be some significant benefit for them. One of the most successful ways we have created this curiosity is by discussing clothing for the portrait. “One of the things we will be going over in the consultation is clothing. Did you know that just by wearing the right clothes you can easily take 10, maybe even 20 pounds off your body?” All it takes is giving them a reason that will benefit them. What woman (or guy for that matter) wouldn’t be curious about that? I can’t think of too many! Another question that is sure to come up in any cold call is price. How much is this going to cost me? Here’s another tip from my mentor Charles Lewis- Ballpark your prices! This is a great way to qualify your prospect as well. So when you are volunteering your prices over the phone, always give them in broad ranges. “Our session fees start at BLANK for an in studio session and are a little bit more for on-location. Our wall portraits start at BLANK and our gift sizes start at BLANK.” If you do the first 4 steps properly, most people will not dwell on specific prices, they just want to know if their in the ballpark. Is it going to cost them $200, $2,000, or $20,000? And always remember what I said yesterday, the only goal of the phone call is to book the consultation and move forward to phase 2 of the portrait process. Tomorrow is the “Moment of Truth” with going for the trial close and handling the objections. Have a great Saturday everyone! B.H.

The Cold Call -Part 4 of 8
Friday, Oct 24, 2008

After sharing your USP and defining the benefits to your prospective client, I like to move to step 4 and explain our system at the studio. “Before we go any further, I would like to share with you our studio’s workflow”, I say. Then I explain that the next step is to set up a time to get together and go over in more detail their ideas for the portrait session. In most cases this is done at the studio where I can show them a slide show and examples of my work. If I need to do it in their home, I explain that this also a possibility as well. I then let them know that the purpose for this consultation is to brainstorm about the location of where we will create the portrait, what clothing will work best, where they might want the final portrait to hang in their home, and of course, an explanation of pricing. CAUTION- Don’t get to detailed with this step! Talk in generalities. If you talk about too much stuff, the cold call client will suffer from information overload and feel overwhelmed. At that point you will lose them! You will usually her something like, “That all sounds great, let me check with my husband and I will get back to you later, ok?” After returning from my first Charles Lewis workshop back in 1985 where I learned these valuable techniques, I was the worst at giving TMI (Too Much Information)! My goal at the time was to sell a 30x40 canvas print over the phone to a stranger that had no clue what a wall portrait was. This is SOOOOO important to remember: The ONLY goal of the phone call is to book a consultation, period. Ask questions, find out what their looking for, build rapport, and share why you are different and why they should come to you! Give them a reason to want to meet with you. Create some curiosity through generalities. I will discuss this and how we go over pricing on the phone tomorrow with step 5. Have an awesome day! SIDE NOTE-Tonight I get to attend one of my favorite Rotary events of the year; it’s all you can eat crab night! So much for dieting tonight! Hundreds of people from the community attend this event and it is a great win-win marketing and networking opportunity! See ya! B.H.

The Cold Call –Part 3 of 8
Thursday, Oct 23, 2008

***Creating YOUR Unique Selling Proposition or USP*** The 3rd step of the cold call requires some work on your part. What elements in your studio make you different and more attractive than the studio down the street? Why should your clients spend money with you rather than their neighbor at home who just purchased the Cannon Rebel? These unique factors or elements constitute your USP. Its one thing to have some unique factors but you must be able to transform them into benefits for your clients. Simply just saying “We have the best quality” doesn’t cut it because this is a subjective thing. What is quality? To someone who has no idea what a professional portrait should look like, it is hard for them to know what this means. Sears is quality too…right? So try to be specific. Here are a couple of examples of our USPs: (1) “Bruce takes the time to help you plan your portrait with a pre-portrait consultation and go-see.” –Benefit: You get exactly what you want, there are no surprises! (2) “Our senior sessions don’t have a limit on clothes changes or poses.” –Benefit: You will have a ton of variety compared to other studios! (3) “Brue will come to your home to help you with clothing, size, and color to insure that your portrait will harmonize with your homes décor much like a piece of artwork would recommended by an interior designer.” Benefit: The product you are buying is a one of a kind piece of customized art! These are just to name a few of our USPs, but developing and crafting your USPs is an ongoing task and part of doing business. You should have a set of USPs for each type of photography you do. Write them down and have them close to the phone so you can always reference to them at will. At our studio we actually have telephone scripts for cold calls in our employee manuals. It is always good to have your thoughts down on paper so everyone is on the same page when you get the cold call! See you tomorrow for part 4- Handling The Cold Call! B.H.

The Cold Call -Part 2 of 8
Thursday, Oct 23, 2008

Building rapport by asking questions, this is one of the steps that most people don’t do enough of. I really need to give credit where credit is due here. Charles Lewis, one of my mentors, gets a big gold star for his many insights for dealing with cold calls. I owe some of the techniques to him that I will be sharing with you during The Cold Call series. Thanks Chuck! The more rapport you build on the phone the more comfortable your client will be with you. How do you build rapport? I see this part of the process as the beginning of a long term relationship. Think of it as going on a first date, well, a first “blind” date where you’re actually blind throughout the process! What is the goal of any first date? It’s about finding out what you have in common. Chances are that your friends are friends with you because you have something in common. It is no different when you’re talking to a cold call on the phone. It’s always better to ask specific questions and then sit back and let your cold caller answer them. The key is to get them talking. Here are some of my favorite questions and once again, a lot of credit goes to Chuck for these! (1) Have we worked with you or your family before? (2) Why have you decided to do a portrait now? (3) When was the last time you did a family portrait? (4) Have you seen Bruce’s work before? If so where? (5) How do you visualize this portrait? (6) What do you like to do as a family? (7) Do you see this as a casual portrait or more formal? (8) Do you see this happening indoors or outdoors? After asking some of these questions you should get a pretty good feel for what your cold caller is looking for. You will also notice that most prospective clients have never thought about their family portrait this extensively before. Just the fact that you are asking questions and listening to their responses starts the relationship building process. This also shows them that you really care about creating something unique and timeless for them. During the process you are always able to find things that you have in common and thus build rapport. When in doubt of how to approach a cold call, just remember; handle it as a blind date! See you tomorrow for part 3- Developing your USP! B.H. –PS. There is a new Marketing Critique posted…check it out!

The Cold Call- Part 1 of 8
Tuesday, Oct 21, 2008

How do you turn a cold call into a client? This is what I am going to discuss during the next 8 days. In order for your marketing to truly be effective, you need to convert some of the calls into sales. Let’s start at square one- The Greeting! The minute you hear the phone ring start smiling and keep smiling! Your positive, upbeat personality is the most important part of any phone call. A person’s attitude will resonate over the phone. This is crucial because your phone presence establishes your studio’s image and identity. We use the very simple “Thank you for calling Hudson’s, this is Bruce!” I feel it’s nice to say thank you right off the bat. We do the same sort of thing when greeting our clients in the studio with a simple “Welcome.” On the phone we say Hudson’s so the person calling knows right away that they have the correct number as well as the employee’s name so they know who they are talking to. Once again you need to be smiling and sincerely happy to hear from this potential client that is inquiring about your services. In most cases I have found that the more upbeat you are, the more excited the person on the other end is going to be. Creating a positive and memorable experience starts on the phone. The right greeting can mean everything! Tomorrow I will discuss in Part Two the second step in the process for successfully converting a cold call- Building Rapport! See you tomorrow! B.H.

The "Big" Picture
Monday, Oct 20, 2008

Today is “Big” picture day! Not large 40x50 canvas portraits, although we did have one get delivered for my client, but looking at the “Big” picture in the business. What do I mean by that? Well for me, it’s stepping back a moment and looking at the status of my various projects that I am engaged in. With my office manager Debbie (who just returned from Cancun) it’s going over the books, balancing accounts, getting ready for payroll, and paying bills. With Kelly my production manager, it’s going over orders and their status. With Josh (my son, managing partner of this website, and overall pro-active dude that is in charge of multiple projects that his dad [me] throws at him on a whim everyday) it’s going over the new content for the Monthly Mentor Members Only area of the site and other new updates for the general site. All in all, we all need to take a day or at least a couple of hours to stand back and look at the “Big” picture. This is needed to evaluate what’s been done and needs to be done. If you don’t stop sometimes to assess the situation with your marketing, sales, image creation, or your business management, you will never figure out how to evolve. And in business you must be evolving at all times! It’s all about finishing one project and moving on to the next. It’s been a fun day of looking at all that we have accomplished and what they mean to the “Big” picture! See you tomorrow- B.H. –PS. I will have the image of the week as well as a new featured marketing critique tomorrow, check back for them!

An Amazing Day!
Saturday, Oct 18, 2008

Terri and I just spent the day in Portland at a Send Out Cards workshop. To say the least, I was blown away! What an amazing company and group of people. There were approximately 250 distributors in attendance that rocked the ballroom from 9 to 5pm. “SOC” is the perfect marriage for my studio business. I can’t wait to share with my clients how they too can send customized, personalized cards from their computers that are delivered in a couple of days! These are real cards—not some ecard. My only regret of the day was that I didn’t start a year ago (when I signed up) to utilize the powerful SOC System! Spend ten minutes right now and go to www.SendOutCards.com/hudsons and send out a card on our nickel—see how cool this program really is. For more information, feel free to contact my wife, Terri @ 206-715-5006. She can give you a personal tour of the site. BH

Momentum is everything!
Wednesday, Oct 15, 2008

Wow, I just finished an awesome session just before the rain hit tonight. My clients are 20+ year veterans with me. I have done their various weddings and family portraits over the years. Tonight’s session was all about her, her husband, and his new 2009 Shelby Mustang 500, which she surprised him with a few weeks ago. All of us had a great time during the session! It is so important in this business to keep the momentum going. As soon as Josh and I got home, I uploaded this image and sent it with a thank you card to my clients. My favorite studio partner for doing this is Send Out Cards. This company is amazing! In a matter of minutes we created a personalized and customized thank you card that we sent from our laptop. Plus, it is only $1.35 including postage. As you know, I am an advocate of relationship marketing and thank you cards at every step of the portrait process is key, it is how you keep the momentum going until the sale. Send Out Cards gives us the tools needed to keep the “Mo” going. You guys want to send a free card? Go to www.sendoutcards.com/hudsons or call my wife Terri (the resident expert) at 206-715-5006! B.H. –PS- Hope to see to you tomorrow night for my Home for the Holidays Promotion webinar- Go to www.marathonpress.com/education/webinars to register!

Something in the air…
Monday, Oct 13, 2008

There was something going on at the studio today, something I have not felt since late September through October back in 2001. Weeks after 9/11, the studio was inundated with calls from both new clients and lifelong ones. It is almost like life’s uncertainty brings forth what truly matters to all of us…family. I took a call today from a new client; he was interested in our portraits in the leaves safari coming up next month. His family lives on Lake Sammamish and they first received one of our lake cards 3 years ago. Since then they have received 3 other marketing pieces. It just makes you wonder, why now? What changed? Was it the recent economic news or did they just up and decide to get a family portrait? Your guess is as good as mine. I always ask every client during the consultation, “Why have you decided to do this now?” I am curious to see what they say. In addition to this phone call today, I also had a consultation with another family that is interested in portraits in the leaves. They first saw my work at the Street of Dreams on display 3 years ago and have been getting our marketing pieces ever since. Why did they call now? You would think with all the economic doom and gloom out there, why are some people just now deciding to invest in family portraits? Lastly, I also received an email from clients that I photographed back in 1995. I did their wedding and they have been getting our newsletters, both hard copy and internet based ever since. Something was definitely in the air today and I can’t quite put my finger on it. Sorry, no answers today, I just wanted to openly share with you my thoughts. If anyone would like to email me about this, please feel free! I would love to here your ideas and theories about this! Send them to bruce@mystudiomentor.com. See you tomorrow everyone! B.H. -PS- I am excited to see all of you Monthly Mentor Members tomorrow night for our FREE Member Appreciation Webinar on The BIG Sale: The Secrets of the Affluent Buyer! Still haven’t registered? Go to www.marathonpress.com/education/webianrs, click on The BIG Sale, and enter the special registration code. Still need the code? Email Josh at josh@mystudiomentor.com.

A Non-Working Wedding!
Sunday, Oct 12, 2008

Last night I had the opportunity to see my daughter McKenna in her first wedding as a bridesmaid. It’s been a long time since I’ve attended a wedding that I wasn’t photographing. Terri and I did bring our Fuji “point & shoot” to take some images of McKenna and the bride. It was also fun watching the pair of photographers covering the wedding. Defiantly different strokes for different folks! The artist in me couldn’t STOP myself as I played around with the table arrangement @1600 ISO in very low light. All in all, the evening was a wonderful look at weddings from a non-working perceptive. It also made me feel a little old having a daughter at the marring age! BH

Keep Swinging!
Saturday, Oct 11, 2008

Thanks for all the positive comments we received from yesterdays ENewsletter-First Aid for your business! Working through these challenging times comes down to ONE thing; you HAVE TO keep swinging for the ball! That ball is not going to hit itself out of the park on its own, let alone into the infield unless YOU swing at it! The days of hoping to be put on base with a walk are gone. BE PROACTIVE. Go after the business. You can’t afford to wait to have the business come to you! BH P.S. If you haven’t been receiving our monthly ENewsletter, you can sign up at the bottom of our home page! See you tomorrow!

Take the Time…
Thursday, Oct 09, 2008

Everything in today’s society moves so fast! For business owners, it’s even worse. Hi everyone, Josh here, my dad is currently driving back from the coast and I am filling in today. This Mentor Minute will be short tonight; I have 10 million things to do. One of my tasks is getting October’s Studio Success Tip ready to be sent out tomorrow. It features Bruce’s First Aid Kit for YOUR Business! It’s a good one and be sure to watch your email for it tomorrow. If you’re not an email subscriber, you should probably join! You can do so on the home page. Anyway, I make it my goal to read at least one business book a month and I am constantly listening to audio CDs and reading monthly newsletters that my dad and I subscribe too. I guess the point that I am trying to reach today is that you need to make time for yourself to be educated. Everyone now a day is busy. There are not to many people I encounter, especially small business owners who are not busy all the time. And trust me, I feel for you one man bands out there running a photography business on your own. One of the habits that famous life coach Stephen Covey preaches is that successful people don’t have time, they make time. I read an article last year about the youngest CEO in professional basketball. His name is Brett Yormark and he was 39 years old when he took the job. This guy’s schedule is amazing! He is up at 3:30am every morning to work out. He works all day and still has time for his family, which he never misses’ dinner with. The guy goes to bed at 11:00pm every night as well. And Brett also takes the time to read at least one book a month. What a machine! But there is a reason that he is considered one of America’s best and brightest corporate thinkers. Am I saying wake up a 3:30am every morning? No way, but maybe going into the office a little earlier or staying a little later will help you add some hours to your week. Streamline yourself to where you never waste a moment of valuable time. This is something I learned from my dad. Just because he is in his car driving to a session doesn’t mean its break time. He is returning phone calls, following up on leads, or even listing to a business book on tape. I think the one he is listening to now is called Never Eat Alone. So try to be more efficient and take the time to become a better business person by educating yourself. Thanks everyone, see you tomorrow!

Simple Treasures!
Wednesday, Oct 08, 2008

Terri & I were able to get away for a couple of days to the Washington coast to celebrate our 1st Anniversary. During our mid-morning walk on the beach, Terri was on the hunt for some of her favorite treasures—Sand Dollars. To find the perfect Sand Dollar is rare because of all the seagulls. We were able to find some that were untouched and truly “Simple Treasures”! What are some of the Simple Treasures in your life? A smile from your spouse in the morning? A hug from your kids for cooking dinner? Lunch with your sister that you haven’t seen for a while (Hi Patty—we miss you!)? A Thank You card from a client who is enjoying their portrait? Simple Treasures come in all shapes and sizes. We are in a profession that creates these Simple Treasures by the millions daily. We should never take for granted the power of what we do for our clients by capturing their special moments in time that not only become their personal treasures, but treasures for future generations! Enjoy…BH & TH

On the other side!
Tuesday, Oct 07, 2008

Yesterday Terri and I spent our anniversary at a Realtors Conference. No, I’m not going to become a realtor! I have way too much on my plate for that! But, I was there to support Terri and her new business Send Out Cards! If you haven’t seen the Send Out Cards concept, you need to check it out. Go to www.sendoutcards.com/hudsons. This is an incredible company that has really helped us at the studio keep in touch with our clients. We have been using it for just over a year now. After a session we actually put one of the images on a custom card and send it to the clients. It arrives 2 days later. They just rave about them! You can also set up automatic campaigns and there are over 5,000 different cards to choose from! Not to mention, a custom one with your clients image on it. Terri and I are now actually signing my clients up for the service; it is perfect for my commercial clientele. They can personalize their thank yous with the images I have created for them. Here’s a scenario from one of my dental clients: About a year ago I did a half day commercial shoot where I photographed the whole staff together, individually, and them interacting with patients. (***Side Note- This is a lot more profitable for me and more cost effective for them, rather than having their staff come to the studio. If you do not offer half day or full day commercial pricing, I think you are missing a chunk of the market!) So anyway, I told them about SOC and how cool the concept is. They decided to implement them into their relationship marketing system. When a hygienist finishes with a patient she sends a card with her image on it as a thank you for coming in. They also customize the copy by having it say, “Great Check-Up Bob” on the front cover. On the inside it mentions something discussed at the visit like, “I hope your dog’s surgery goes well next week.” It also reminds Bob of when his next appointment is going to be. Pretty cool, huh? All this takes about a minute and it only costs around $1.40 including postage! My clients love SOC, we love SOC, and all the realtors at the tradeshow loved SOC too! I encourage you to explore the SOC cards website, which is again www.sendoutcards.com/hudsons and see how incredible this system can be for your photography business. Plus, you can share this concept with your friends, family, and clients! There is also the opportunity to earn some extra income with this program, which we all could use right now! If you want more information about this, please call Terri at 206-715-5006 and she can walk you through the system and have you send out a card of your own at no charge Have an awesome day! B.H. –PS. www.BruceTunz.com is now LIVE! If you need some great, non-elevator sounding tunes for your projection sales and DVD’s…Check it out now!

The RV Show!
Monday, Oct 06, 2008

Hi everyone, I hope all of you had a great weekend! This is Josh by the way; my dad is busy helping Terri at a realtor’s convention today, so I am filling in. I want to share with you my experience from yesterday. I went to my first RV show! Growing up my family was more of the hotel type and we never went camping. My girlfriend Melissa is just the opposite. Her dad used to take her and her sister camping every year. This is a tradition that I know share with Melissa! We camp every summer and I just love it! So I have pretty much got into the whole scene and after this summer’s fun, Melissa and I decide we are going to buy a travel trailer. Sorry for the life story, I’ll get to the point. The RV show was an amazing eye opener, what an untapped resource for potential clients! Some of the higher end motor homes are over a million dollars and the exhibition hall was packed with buyers. There is a whole sub-culture of people that are into this. Read this story I found on MSNBC’s website http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9663942/. Me being the marketing dork that I am, I decided to do some research. I asked the sales people, the manufacturers, and the potential buyers all sorts of questions as I walked around. This is what I learned about the people that have these “McMansions on Wheels”: (1) They are very family oriented (2) These RV’s are a source of family togetherness (3) These people are willing to pay more for a quality, long lasting product (4) They are very proud of their rigs! (5) And last but not least, most of them have two or more homes. These are some of the same characteristics of our perfect clients. One thing my dad learned from Ken Whitmire is to get a family’s lifestyle incorporated into the portraits. All I am thinking about is a beautiful RV with the family in front of it, then creating a card niching to RV clubs and high-end resorts, and even coming up with a portrait safari centered on the whole culture and lifestyle. And since many of these people are going to want to proudly display these photographers not only in their homes, but also in their RV’s, we could come up with special RV Sized Wall Décor to fit the smaller spaces. To conclude my little marketing tirade here, opportunities are always right in front of us. Even in weaker economic times there are still people in every city and town across this great nation of ours that have the means to purchase photography. It is our jobs to give them enough incentive to do so. So look for opportunities at every turn because you just never know, you might find a great niche to market too! Josh -PS. The image of the week will be update tomorrow as well as a new print critique and marketing critique at the end of the week!

Touching Lives…
Saturday, Oct 04, 2008

Touching Lives… Last night Terri and I attended a chamber event. It was a benefit auction/party that was themed around Elvis. What a blast! We just joined the Maple Valley-Black Diamond Chamber of Commerce last year. My studio is in the city of Renton but will be moving to my new home in the Maple Valley-Black Diamond area once the studio property sells. Even though I have lived in Maple Valley since 1978, I haven’t been that involved in the chamber or the business community as a whole. Last night was a revelation to how many people I have touched in my community without even knowing it! Between growing up in the area near by, teaching band at Tahoma High School (the only high school in MV), and being in business for 25 years, I literally knew about 90% of people in attendance last night. I grew up with them, taught them, or have photographed them! I am listening to an audio book right now called “Never Eat Alone.” I highly recommend this book, it discusses that in life and in business, it is not WHAT you know, but WHO you know. So what does this have to do with photography? EVERYTHING! The industry we have chosen for ourselves is based on people. The relationships you forge throughout your career and life will help your business grow. Take the time to dig deep and think of all the people you have touched over the years. These people are a great source for a client base if you can tap into them. Just starting out? Your friends, family, and their friends should be the first people you market too, as well as joining your chamber to get to know your community. Been in business for a while? Look at some of the friendships you have forged that have not turned into positive cash flow yet and subtly remind those people of your talent and willingness to service them. After last night I see that I have a lot of work ahead of me in renewing friendships and turning them into new clients. It’s amazing to think sometimes just how many people we do touch in our lives. Last night was a definite wake up call for me and I am excited to start marketing my business as we move to our new digs! And get this, the professional Elvis impersonator last night was a client of mine too! Can you say some new “commercial photography” for his promotional website? Thank you, thank you very much! B.H.

Going the EXTRA Mile!
Friday, Oct 03, 2008

Today Josh and I had the pleasure of photographing a high school senior that I first worked with 17 years ago when he was 4 days old. He is one of 9 children in his family and his parents have been clients of mine for 20 years. His mom contacted us a few weeks ago to plan Kendal’s senior session. She told us that he is really into cooking and is taking running start classes at their local community college’s culinary institute. She also told us that his pride and joy; a 1962 Volkswagen Bug has some transmission issues and can’t venture far from the garage! Ramona, the mom, asked if we would be willing to come down to Olympia (about 90 minutes away) to photograph Kendal in the community college kitchen and at his favorite park with his car. Our response…absolutory! Ramona was surprised and asked how much it would cost. We informed her that as a PPC member (Premiere Portrait Club) the session is complimentary, even if we have to drive 90 minutes each way. Now don’t get me wrong out there, if this had been a first time client, there would have been a pretty hefty session fee. But the amount of times I have worked with these clients, trust me, I am happy to go the extra mile! This is what separates me from other photographers in my area, I don’t mind going that extra mile to please my clients. They are the biggest asset I have in my business. Plus, doing a senior session in a kitchen will give me some great images for marketing as well! In order for me to do the best job I can, I need to capture the true essence of my subjects. If that means taking 3 hours out of my day and filling up the gas tank, I am honored to do so! This is how you create clients for life and separate yourself from all the other photographers in your area! Oh, by the way, Josh filmed the session and we will be posting it online in the Members Only Section of the site in a few weeks! Have a great weekend everyone! B.H.

The Perfect Storm
Thursday, Oct 02, 2008

When all the right elements come together in nature, you have the opportunity for what has been called the perfect storm. Yesterday I had one of those experiences with a first time client. In this case, the perfect storm was a good thing! I am always searching for the types of clients that see my photography as art and are willing to invest in my services. In addition to a client’s attitude as a determining factor for me, it is nice to have some discretionary income as well! When you align all the elements for this to happen, you get what I call The Perfect Client. It’s almost like a perfect storm! Here was my perfect storm from yesterday: My morning appointment was with a family that purchased a $350 portrait credit at an auction. They were coming in for a family consultation. They were a nice couple, married 6 years, with two twin 2 ½ year olds. The auction they attended was for Valley General Hospital’s annual event just down the street from our studio. The dad is a surgeon at the hospital and his office is on the floor above the Valley Orthopedics Group. I have photographed all 15 surgeons in the Orthopedics Group and each of them has a 20x24 to 30x40 on display in front of their examining rooms. So he has seen my work large (including the 30x40 canvas framed at the auction) and not to mention the instant creditability of having his colleagues as my clients. During the consultation he brought up the name of another client of mine that also has multiple large wall portraits in their home. In fact, they saw them while they were viewing the home when it was for sale! This is the home that they now live in. Ok, let’s make sense of all this. Here is where all the elements aligned together: (1) A client that appreciates photography as art (2) Has discretionary income (3) Has 2 young babies-first official family portrait! (4) Has seen my work on display at the hospital, a client’s home they purchased, and at the auction. So in conclusion, I think in order to make a good living in the business you need to align yourself and your work in front of people who are good candidates to be your perfect clients. Marketing to these types of people takes more than a cool website or a general mailing list. It’s about getting you and your work out into the community. Charity auctions are a great place to meet some of these clients. You also need to target your marketing to specific groups of people. If you are mailing to a country club, have images of families on a golf course! And last but not least, you need to sell and display large portraits. First impressions are everything. This new client of mine has never seen my work smaller than a 20x24, not even when they came into the studio. I have nothing smaller than a 30 inch portrait hanging on my walls. He even asked me during the consultation how many “big” ones he should get! “Can I get more than one”, he asked? I know what you’re thinking, “But Bruce, nobody buys my wall portraits, how am I supposed to get them out into the community?” Great question! You need to project. This is the only consistent way I know to sell wall portraits. You also need to do consultations and go-sees before the sessions. That is what I am doing today for my new clients, going to their home to start sizing the portraits that will be created during the session. And lastly, display what you want to sell. Trust me guys and gals, when you get all the right elements together, you better buy a raincoat for all the perfect storms that will rain down on your studio! Thanks to all the photographers that attended last night’s webinar on Creating Clients for Life! B.H.