Whether you’re just starting to make your passion for photography into a profitable business or making the switch from weekend warrior to full-time, Animoto Pro can help you get your business off the ground. Here’s how…
1. Put Your Best Photos Forward
You never know when you’re going to run into a potential client. On the line at Starbucks, when picking up your kid from school or while at a party. You should always be prepared and have your best photos on hand. With mobile devices becoming an increasingly important fixture in all of our lives, it’s pretty simple to do just that.
Moshe Zusman runs a successful wedding business out of Washington D.C., and always has an iPad or iPod at his disposal. “People are always impressed with the quality of my work and the video… it instantly conveys a message of professionalism and people get excited about my work when watching the video.”
2. Get Social
Whether you have senior portrait ambassadors who are spreading the message out for you, or previous clients who absolutely L-O-V-E-D the pictures you shot of them, empower your clients to spread the word for you.
Animoto Pro allows your clients to share all the best photos you shot (without being able to get the images from the video). Post and tag them on Facebook, e-mail it to your clients, post it on your blog and watch as your clients spread the message for you.
NYC-based wedding photographer Anthony Vazquez booked over a dozen brides last year after friends of his past clients saw an Animoto video he made.
3. When They Cry, They Buy
Children/family portrait photographer, Carolyn Ann Ryan, went pro late last year, after having successfully started a part-time photography business. Her first major sale came from a client who first experienced their images through an Animoto video.
“Ever since that sale, which was my first large one, I kick off all ordering appointments with an Animoto video. The mothers usually make the ordering decisions and when I’ve made them cry with my images in an Animoto video, I know I’ve done my job,” explains Carolyn.
4. Co-Market With Another Company
Monica Sigmon travels the country teaching photographers how to market. Monica has done numerous charitable and co-marketing efforts in Williamsburg, VA to great effect.
Creating an Animoto video for charitable projects she’s doing with other companies for special events, such as her “Girls Night In,” she’s able to create a win-win that gets both her name out their in the community, along with the other companies with whom she’s working.
Able to produce a video that each partner/charity can share, she gets the message out there in a very real way, which in turn, gets her name out there in the community.
5. Always Be Selling
The main differentiator between a hobby and a career is the ability to make money from it.
Animoto videos are great add-on sales or “pull-throughs” so that you can create value around your more expensive pricing plans. Sal Cincotta, who teaches photographers business at his site, “Behind the Shutter,” artificially prices Animoto videos for $399. This way, when clients decide on a higher-tiered package that comes with the video, they feel like it’s a bargain.
A low-cost product for Sal to produce, Animoto videos also excite his clients about the pictures they’ve commissioned Sal to make.
