TENS TIPS FOR GENERATING REVENUE IN A SLOW MONTH:
1. TEST SHOOTS: Testing is a great way of freshening your portfolio and generating new content for your blog, website and portfolio. Shoot work you would like to have been hired to shoot, along with locations and subjects that inspire you. Studios, models and crew will often agree to test on slow months if it adds to their portfolio. Also consider delving into a personal project to keep your motivation high, when you are not on assignment.
2. SOCIAL MEDIA: Update your social media profiles, and consider changing your profile picture. Include any recent accolades, new clients, and new images for Behance or Tumblr.sites. This is also a great time to update your bios. Keep them concise and factual without being pedantic.
3. PRINT PORTFOLIO: Revisit your print portfolio. If you don’t have new images to show, rearrange the images in your book so it looks new to clients. If your book looks dated, or tattered consider investing in new housing. There are numerous inexpensive custom and off the shelf options. My personal favorites are listed on the resources page of my website.
4. WEBSITE: Take some time to review your current website design and consider enlisting a few beta testers to revisit your online portfolio on both Mac and PC platforms. Be sure your social media contact links are active. There are a host of new template and custom portfolio sites. Your website should run exclusively on HTML, without any flash elements.
5. WEB PORTALS: Update the “hero image” on your online portals such as Workbook, Found Folios or LeBook. Photographers often neglect this this simple step. Without a new hero image, clients tend to assume the portfolio has not changed even though you may have shot and incorporated new images to your website and print portfolio.
6. LINKEDIN: Reflect on who you have met during the year and reach out to connect with them. It is helpful to include a personal note with the request so your contact remembers the context in which you met them. In the same vein, be sure to provide new content or updates weekly to LinkedIn and Twitter. It is easy to connect the two so you do not need to re-post to Twitter. Your updates need not always be personal. Add links to content from articles you found engaging. Try to engage your followers and contacts with interesting new content and avoid being overly solicitous.
7. DATABASE: Update your database on Constant Contact, Vertical Response or MailChimp. Add in any new contacts, so it remains current. This is also a good time to review AdAge, Adweek, and Communication Arts and enter in new clients that may not be included in your database or in standardized lists. Agency and editorial turnover is high, so it is wise to revisit any segmented lists you created. Be sure to allocate some time, each day, for cold calls and enter the results in your contact screens.
8. PORTFOLIO APPS: If you do not have a tablet, now is the time to invest in one. Along with a printed portfolio, this is a must have. There are a myriad of new low cost portfolio apps on the market. They all offer a different array of options and customization.
9. STATS: Review your stats on Google Analytics, Constant Contact or Mail Chimp. This gives you solid information to help determine what your clients are responding to and the most effective and cost efficient way to reach them in the future.
10. MARKETING BUDGET: Decide on your marketing budget and how to allocate those precious marketing dollars. Options include, online portals, source books, direct mail, E-promos and in-person meetings. Try to gauge your spending based on what has worked effectively for you in the past. If they are not yielding the results you desire, try a new approach. Every client has different “touch points” and a multi-tiered marketing approach is usually the most effective.