PhotoBiz Magazine // Spring 2017

proofing
TURN 1 CLIENT INTO 100
With Proofing Galleries
Written by HOLLY H.
We love tools that do double duty. Ones that not only work,
but work with your other tools to improve your business.
Take proofing, for instance. It’s easy to find a proofing tool
that does the job. But many are standalone tools that don’t
integrate with anything else. They don’t connect with your
website. They don’t include a way for clients to communicate
with you. And they don’t have networking features to get
you more new customers.
A disconnected proofing solution is a dead-end that doesn’t
add to your lead generation strategy. That got us thinking:
could there be a better way to proof photos that actually
improves your business?
That’s where PhotoBiz Proofing is different. We designed
our proofing platform to work even harder and reach
beyond the clients you already have. It comes free with
every website and links up your galleries to the rest of your
online presence – including social media and your blog.
This method works threefold, and it all comes down
to networking.
First, we create galleries that your clients can share on
social media. That way the people who care most about
your clients will see your amazing work.
Second, we save the contact info of anyone who views the
gallery. You get new users on your website AND you also
get their emails for later.
This all comes back to the third piece of the puzzle: marketing.
When the time comes to drum up new business, you can
leverage this ready-made list of contacts who already know
and love your work.
When all of your tools work together, you have the ability
to find a wealth of new customers from each of your current
clients, even at the end of their individual sales cycle.
Social Proof: Networking In Action
Every customer has friends and family. Each customer is
linked to hundreds of potential new clients on social media
and beyond.
When you finish up a session, consider sharing your gallery
to Facebook, Twitter, or wherever you connect online.
“Had a blast photographing @KarenSmith and her
beautiful family! Such a lovely afternoon in the park, and
what great photos. So much personality…”
Your post will include a sample photo and a link to the
gallery. Your followers will see the post… and because you’ve
tagged your client, all of THEIR friends will see it, too.
From here, your proofing gallery ripples out through
Karen’s social web. Even though you don’t personally know
them, your post will reach all of Karen’s friends and family
members. Naturally, they’ll like the post and visit the gallery
to like pictures of Karen’s beautiful family.
Whenever someone likes a photo, downloads an image,
shares the gallery, or leaves a comment, their email is
captured. Now all of Karen’s friends are potential new clients
who are ooh-ing and ahh-ing over your awesome shots.
This kind of social proof is the best kind of advertisement you can get. If someone is looking
for a photographer, they’ll trust a friend or family member’s recommendation over a
stranger’s review every time.
Now that you have a list of Karen’s friends, you can target them with special offers or
marketing messages that leverage your shared connection.
“Thank you for taking a look at Karen’s gallery! I offer a 20% discount to friends & family of
my clients. So if you need a good photographer, I’d be happy to help your family get some
awesome shots, too!”
Send a quick message in the marketing app, or as an individual chat with Conversations.
The contact will get a lovely, branded email that looks like it was made just for them. They’ll
appreciate the effort, and because you worked with their friend, they’ll be more inclined to
book their own session.
Give this strategy a try and see if you notice an uptick in likes, shares, and social interaction.
With an integrated proofing strategy, you can translate those extra clicks into new business,
and your proofing gallery can turn one client into hundreds.
14 PHOTOBIZ MAGAZINE