Here's What Just A Few Photographers Have To Say About Charles Lewis:

Making
$900,000 PER YEAR, All From Photography!

"This stuff is priceless!  It will save you years of trial and error, and quickly add BIG dollars to your bottom line!  Thanks to many of the techniques I have learned from Chuck, I have taken a studio that used to bring in around $120,000 a year to one that now does $900,000 a year!  (That's a difference of $65,000 a month!)  Chuck is the one who taught me this stuff, and I will thank him for the rest of my life for that!  I tell every photographer I know that they must listen and learn from him!"
 - Dina Ivory -  Tallahasee, FL

 

Bringing In About
$500,000 THIS YEAR ALONE!  Shooting For $1,000,000 Next Year!

"Chuck, I can't tell you enough what a lifesavers your secrets have been!  I've had been a fairly successful photographer for many years - but things in the business REALLY started to change.  Things I'd been doing for years were no longer really working.  Then, I discovered your secrets.  Now, I'm making SUPER money !  I'm so thrilled that people are now willing to pay me what I deserve to be making!  This year, it looks like we're going to bring in about $500,000 - no kidding!  Next year, we're shooting to double that - and I have no doubt that's completely possible.  You have no idea (or obviously you do) what it's like to make a great living doing what I've always loved most.  Your devoted student and friend, Hal."
 -Hal Jaffe - Memphis, TN

 

$16,000 From JUST ONE Sale - One Of His Biggest EVER! - PLUS Profits Have TRIPLED!

"First of all, Chuck, I have to tell you that our entire photography business has been built on your secrets, no exception.  And because of that, our profits have TRIPLED since we started using your stuff!   One of our largest sales ever was a $16,000 sale - I can hardly believe how great everything is working.   Great stuff.  I wanted you to know how much I appreciate what you've done for my business, and for the photographic industry."
-Steven Kramer - Redbank, NJ

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FEATURED ARTICLE:
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by:  Charles J. Lewis

 

     Who Is Buying Photography Right Now?   How To Find The Right TARGET MARKET

by:  Charles J. Lewis, M. Photog., Cr.
 
In my previous "Quick Tip" I discussed 3 Powerful Ways To "Get The Word Out" To Prospects & Clients About Your Limited Time Special Offers, and about becoming a "Big Fish In A Small Pond" to make maximum profits in this Recession .
 

Now let's talk about how to select this "small pond" of target people you want to concentrate your marketing and advertising efforts on for greatest results. 

It's more critical now than ever to know EXACTLY who to go after and how to get them to take action now!
 
It's really amazing and exciting - there are certain people who will buy from you right now, and there are other people who just won't. 
 
Frankly, knowing who to "focus" your marketing and advertising efforts on during this Recession is way more important than a new PhotoShop plug in or a new digital camera!  Why?  Because none of that matters if you don't have any clients!
 
Okay, so I call this group of people I want to work with my "Target Market" - and here's how I determined who they are and where they are - and it will work wonderfully for you, too right now, in this Recession.
 
You see, if you do this right, you'll explode your business cash flow and profits.  If you do this wrong, you'll really struggle.
 
First, here's something that's really amazing - because it's so simple and so effective.  I got out a local street map of my town, and put a red "x" exactly where each of my best clients (largest sales) lived.  This was extremely insightful!  I thought my clients were coming from all over the place - but by doing this I discovered that most of my BEST CLIENTS were coming from a very specific area of the town!
 
So, knowing this, I knew exactly where to concentrate my marketing efforts, such as displays and direct mail.
 
Next, I looked carefully at each of my BEST CLIENTS, one at a time, to see what common attributes they had.
 
                Here's what I found:
 
Here's The Top Ten Characteristics
Of Your Target Market Which Will Make You Top Dollar!
 
                My "Target Market" of best clients have the following 10 characteristics:
 
1. Female
2. 35-65 years old
3. Married with children
4. Is a "Warm Fuzzy"
5. Has some discretionary dollars available
6. Is a "3"
7. Values photography and the arts
8. Usually does not have photography done every year
9. Is willing to do business our way
10. Lives in the area of town I discovered above
 
Now, here are a few key comments about each attribute:
 
1. Female - men are not the normal buyer of fine, high end photography.
 
2. 35-65 years old - yes, we work with younger and older clients, but the best clients are consistently within this range.

3. Married with children - (not the old TV show) so she wants a really nice portrait (or wedding photography) of her children and complete family.
 
4. Is a "Warm Fuzzy" - this means she is a "right brain dominant" - very emotional, sensitive and loving person.
 
5. Has some discretionary dollars available - she doesn't need to be extremely affluent by any means - but she does need to have some discretionary dollars available to her.  Many of our best clients need to put things on layaway or payments - but they do have the discretionary dollars available to invest in fine portraits and wedding photography as home decor.

6. Is a "3" - I first heard this from Photographer Linda Lapp many years ago.  I can't remember where she heard it - but it's really insightful -
                A "1" is described as follows:  Uses his or her car as a storage area.  Car is old and beat up - muffler is failing.  It can be any brand of car - sometimes even an old Mercedes or Cadillac.  When he or she goes out to eat, which they rarely do, they go to the local "greasy spoon" restaurant where the service and food is just fine, but the aesthetics may be lacking.  And they go to the restaurant alone.  They do have photography in their home - it's 4x5's and 5x7's in cardboard folders, sitting on the TV.
 
                A "2" is described as follows:  His or her car is not used very often as storage, and the muffler works, but it's still an older car, and not always very clean inside and out.  And the car is a "regular" car - not necessarily a big name fancy car by any means.  When they go out to dinner, they go to a locally owned restaurant that's just a little better than the "greasy spoon" restaurant and they usually go alone, but not always.  They do have photography in their home, it's usually 5x7's and 8x10's in very inexpensive frames that are sitting on the TV or mantel.
 
                A "3" is described as follows:  His or her car is fairly new, clean inside and out.  It's a "nice" car - but they are less concerned with the brand of the car and more concerned with how it drives and what color it is.  When they go out to dinner, which they do fairly often, they go to one of the local "franchise type" restaurants, and they very often go with friends.  They do have photography in their home, and it's on the walls - proudly displayed in quite nice frames.
 
                A "4" is described as follows:  His or her car is a "fancy, high-end" car - like a Mercedes or Lexus or top of the line Cadillac.  And it's clean inside and out.  When they go out to dinner, which they do very often, they never go alone, and they go to one of the "high end" or "fine" restaurants.  They have photography in their home.  It's 4x5's or 5x7's in gold leaf frames - in the bedroom sitting on a piece of furniture.  But it's NEVER, EVER on the walls in a main room in the home.
 
(I want to help my clients become happily involved with WALL PORTRAITS - because you can get a who bunch more money for a 30 x 40 than you can for an 8 x 10 - and I totally believe in fine wall portraits as home decor.  So based on the above definitions, you can see that our "Target Market" person is most definitely a "3" and certainly NOT a "4". 
 
Now, this was a revelation to me.  I always had a problem trying to figure out why so many people who certainly could afford it, would not invest in a wall portrait, no matter what I did.  Once Linda told me about the 1-2-3-4 thing - it all made perfect sense.
 
7. Values photography and the arts - this is really important - and many photographers miss this one.  We don't want to work with people who do not value what we do.  (You know who they are - they are always complaining about the prices, delivery time and style of the photography.)  Also, she very often also is very interested in the other arts - music, theater, painting, etc.
 
8. Usually does not have photography done every year - this one is really interesting - you want people who value what you do - but not people who have photography done every year, because they tend to not be willing to pay our substantial fees.  (However, there ARE exceptions to this, as I'm sure you know.  You certainly have a few clients who work with you almost every year, and who still tend to invest substantial dollars in the photography.)
 
9. Is willing to do business our way - this is another one that many photographers seem to miss.  We only want to work with people who are totally willing to do business the way we want to do it.  They don't try to tell us how to run our business.  They don't fight with us over the "Originals" not leaving the studio, or 'Projecting".  They value what you do and are happy to do business your way.
 
10. Lives in the area of town I discovered above with my mapping study.
 
                So there you have them - the Top 10 characteristics of our "Target Market".  I know we're not talking about f-stops and shutter speeds and image stabilization megapixels and Photoshop, but what we are talking about here will determine how many clients you work with - and how "qualified" they are - and thus how much money you generate with your photography - something that is more important now than ever to your success and growth in photography!

 

Charles Lewis

 

Photography Marketing & Sales Secrets

How To Bring In Lots Of Clients In A Steady Stream, and Make BIG MONEY Working 35 Hours A Week Or Less - All From Photography