A Picture May Be Worth 1000 Customers

Take pictures at EVERY talk you give, every time you create a new product to sell, each time you donate a gift basket to an auction.  Do not worry about the quality, just do your best.  Why? Pictures will attract more customers (for free), get more opens when you send out a newsletter, attract more viewers on Facebook, and so much more.  In most cases, pictures will cost nothing more than your time.

Quality
Sure, owning a fancy camera may result in better pictures, but not everyone can afford the newest DSLR.  If all you have is a smart phone, start there.  If you have a budget for a cheap point and shoot with a good flash, buy one.  Pictures will help you gain more customers. More customers, means more profit, which means at some point you can invest in a more professional camera.

Photographer
Make sure you designate a photographer at each event you are speaking at (if any). You can be the photographer, you can give your event host the responsibility, or you can hire an amateur.

Watermarking
Do not share the photos until you watermark them. Use something like FastStone Photo Resizer to watermark pics all at once.

Share the Photos
After your take the pics, share the images in multiple places so you can drive traffic back to your website.

-          Post the pictures to an album or blog on your website.
-          Post one picture in your newsletter and link it back to the album/blog.
-          Post one picture on your Facebook page and link it back to the album/blog.
-          Submit a few pictures and a press release to the newspaper.

Marketing Materials
Use pictures in your marketing materials.  If you ran a group yoga event in May and you have another coming up in July, be your own graphic designer and use the pictures you took in May to promote the July event!

What to Photograph
Focus on taking pictures of people as much as you can. For events you are running pull 3-5 people together and have them smile for the camera.  If you have extra time, take some candid shots  and also take pictures of other things such as the venue, your welcome sign, the dog that someone brought on the hike, etc.

Bottom Line:
Pictures will help you gain more customers for FREE. Everyone loves pictures which is why they get so many views and likes on Facebook and why people will open your newsletter. So do not worry about the quality if you do not have a budget for a camera or a photographer, instead focus on the quantity of pictures at every opportunity.

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