Building Your Portfolio Contest: Win a Marketing Pack & Posing Guides
May 18, 2010 | 952 Comments |Add a comment
THE BUILDING YOUR PORTFOLIO CONTEST
Prizes:
Winners will be picked and announced on Sunday, May 23rd. Winners must contact me by May 25th to claim prizes.
1. SP Design
Remember Angie Monson’s marketing pack I mentioned buying when I first got started? Yep, one lucky commenter gets one for free!
2. Design Aglow
Lena has graciously offered one of their incredible posing guides to one lucky commenter!
How to enter:
Add your entry in the comment section of this MCP Blog post (not on Facebook) by answering the question: What is your biggest struggle marketing your business? Or if not in business, what your biggest obstacle to getting started?
Want more chances to win? Get bonus contest entries:
Next Post: From Hobbyist to Professional: Step 5. Build Your “Storefront”
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Not yet started . . . not certain the talent is fully developed . . . this series has really benefited me! Thanks!
My biggest obstacle is finding the right clients and selling myself.
I think my biggest challenge has been deciding my worth – selling myself short vs being over-confident.
Just starting my business. The biggest obstacle is balancing the time I need to take to organize and set up the business with marketing, booking, taking and editing photo sessions. Too easy to get wrapped up on one side and neglect the other.
My biggest problem is that my creativity does not lie in this area. I am lost when it comes to making wise marketing choices; logos, colors, getting the word out about my services, etc. Thanks for the chance to win.
I am just starting out, and the biggest challenge for me will be building that initial client base.
Link on my blog… http://partoflifephoto.wordpress.com/
I’ve been in business for almost 8 years. I have the hardest time getting senior pictures. I have done *snail mail, *ads in paper (high school and local paper), *Face Book, *Senior Rep…
Honestly, my biggest struggle is being able to create the marketing pieces that I envision in my mind. I seriously need some help~
My Biggest struggle to get started is just getting my creative juices going enough to gather clients and make up packages, specials and prices for my photography.
My biggest marketing obstacle is knowing where to put the money that targets the right customers.
The hardest thing for me is charging! I hate asking for money for my photos.
This couldn’t have come at a better time!! Materials! That’s what is keeping me from getting started! The cost to get there. I’m not creative AT ALL when it comes to marketing stuff, and its all so expensive to purchase! I could really use this to get the “kick start” I need! I want to have a somewhat professional look from the start, even while PBing. But I don’t have the funds to do it. So, bring it on! Pick ME!!
Ha!
My biggest struggle in getting started is the other full time job I have, the one that is currently paying the bills! I’m still working on this dream though!
already a FB fan.
Organization seems to be my biggest struggle. I feel like I am constantly behind and when I get to a point to set aside time for marketing my business, I don’t feel I have the right tools. Whether it be in the design aspect or just wording. It’s hard for me to focus and just take that next step.
Already a Twitter follower.
My biggest obstacle is getting the pieces together to market with! I have business cards I hand out and get a lot of referrals, but everything else I have is 1) not that great 2) sitting here because I dont know who to send it to!
My biggest struggle marketing is getting my brand developed and getting the word out to more people.
Just thinking about starting….always worried my talent isn’t up to par or that i will fail…your blog is such a wonderful reference!
My biggest struggle is knowing where to market to receive the most out of it.
I am just getting started with the ‘official’ launch of my business. I am struggling with how to get my name out there and how to market to the right people. Also struggling with pricing packages an products. This is all so much more difficult than I anticipated. I could really use the help! Thanks!
My biggest issue is designing. I wouldn’t know where to begin to design a logo, marketing pieces, ets. All my contracts and everything are just typed up in MS Word. Boring! Help!
staying organized and needing more hours in the day! its hard to focus on marketing when i am shooting, editing, retruning calls, booking and trying to keep the dishes washed!
I guess my biggest struggle in marketing is knowing what to do or what works. I think maybe it’s just takes trial and error to find what works best
My biggest obstacle is language. I’m English, but now living with my wife in Germany and I really don’t speak much of the language at all.
I’m in the position where I really need to start earning some money soon (photography is my only source of income), which is, of course, practically impossible locally without unique marketing materials that will really make me stand out from the crowd.
I have someone who could translate these materials into German and then assist me with shoots, but I obviously need something to help me get over this major disadvantage I have, compared to the German-speaking competition.
Please help!
Many thanks for running this competition (as well as the very useful site)! The recent posts ‘Hobbyist To Professional’ have been especially helpful.
my biggest obstacle is getting enough people to put a portfolio together and starting a webpage people can go to and see my work. i think another problem i have is not being sure what to charge peole and feeling bad when i try to charge them a competitive price
My biggest struggle is trying to come up with a plan to market and how I should
market, and I should market to. I know thr basics, i just can’t seem
to apply them to me.
I think our biggest marketing issue is getting back what we had. We were pretty much word of mouth with our clients, their friends and family as well as vendors. When a snafu happened with our webhost we lost 35 contact forms which hurt us this year. Hence we lost all the subsequent word of mouth work we would have had as well. So that is what we are up against right now…
Marketing has definitely been a big hurdle. I’ve spent a good chunk advertising in the paper and still haven’t gained any clients. I need more ideas on what to do and how to get out there. Granted I just started out and I know it will probably take awhile, but it would be great to have something to help guide my business.
I’m with Terry. Everything is still in progress but, getting there. Just constant practice, practice, practice.
My biggest obstacle in getting started is intimidation. It’s a daunting feat to dive in head first, but I know it must be done.
The biggest obstacle is finding the clients who value portraits and can pay for them. Pricing of course is a challenge too
My biggest struggle, honestly, is really feeling that I am legit…legit enough to have marketing materials, a real website, and to charge something even close to market value. Sometimes, I look at other photography websites and feel like I really could charge more, or more to the point, maybe if I charged more I would be taken more seriously, but then I don’t want to make myself prohibitively expensive just for the sake of feeling legit and/or being able to buy the equipment I really want.
I’m a marketing manager by day so my biggest struggle is trying not to do too much too quickly. I have tons of ideas but I really need to edit myself to determine where to put the money and what I absolutely need to get a good return on my investment.
my biggest struggle is my current job also ;o(
Retweeted!
My two biggest obstacles are finding the time to market and finding a comfortable pricing structure. I struggle with both.
Without a doubt, my biggest struggle starting my business is my limited financial resources. I’d love to invest in some photography seminars, join a pro association, upgrade my camera body, add another lens, purchase some more software and upgrade my monitor.
I tweeted!
http://twitter.com/acloud45
Already a facebook fan!
Our biggest struggle was figuring out who we wanted to market too. it took quite awhile before we realised that we control who hears our message and knows our brand.
I’m still in the planning stages of trying to get the legalities taken care of and finding the time and energy to devote to my family and business planning. Currently work full time, have 3 kids with 2 of them under the age of four. Trying to gain the confidence and coming up with the creativity to make a good business. I have the desire, just issues with finding the time and my target of customers.
I am having a hard time getting my name out there. I don’t know if it’s because I am young and my age group is just getting married/starting families and don’t quite have the resources yet for custom photography or they like the competition better! This series has really helped my confidence though to keep chugging along!
I need help bringing all my ideas together into a coherent way of branding myself.
Just starting out.. my biggest obstacle is wanting it all .. NOW! It’s tough to keep reminding myself that all these things take time (years!).. it’s so easy to get impatient at times and want the clients, latest equipment, cute website, packaging ect right away when you see everyone whos work you look up to daily.
posted on my facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Snapshot-Artistry-by-Melissa-Abbey-LLC/247128942850?ref=ts
Already following on Twitter and a fan on FB!
I follow mcp on twitter.com/snapshotartist
i’m just starting out, and its hard to get my name out there with a profession that’s pretty saturated
My biggest struggle so far in marketing is trying to come up with different ideas for marketing!!
i’m a facebook fan!
Your banner is on my blog at http://www.snapshotartistry.blogger.com
twitter follower!
Knowledge is my biggest marketing barrier. Knowing what the best marketing approaches would be for my business.
Feeling confident in my work. I’m afraid of putting myself out there to fail. I need confidence in my work that other people see, but I’m still afraid.
Feeling confident in my pricing and not backing down from it.
I feel weak a lot in my posing. I don’t want to be a POSER, I want to capture my clients being natural and in their normal interaction with each other, but for some reason, when I do a session, I fall right back into poses! UGH!
I am a fan on facebook.
My biggest struggle in getting started in business (aside from getting more education and experience) is finding the time to actually work on my business. Between a full time job, and a full time husband and 15 month old, the only time I really have is when the baby goes to sleep around 9:30 or 10:00 and then I’m exhausted!
I’m still figuring out how to market to a higher client that wants to purchase a gallery wrap to go on their wall instead of a 5×7 to go on their desk.
Money, of course! What to invest in, where to put the dollars in the smartest place. What if I get no business and I’ve wasted my hard earned dollars.
Financially it has been really hard to get my business started. My husband just started his own business at the beginning of the year and I am a SAHM, so money has been really tight. I’m sure a lot of people are in the same boat right now. It is just really hard to have ideas or equipment to buy and a budget that doesn’t include those items. I have to really think outside the box…and enter a lot of contests! lol!
I have a hard time knowing how to market my business past word of mouth. A majority of my clients come from referrals, which is awesome, but I wish I was better at soliciting business myself.
My biggest struggle is the business end ~ knowing how to price and having confidence in work!
Following you on Twitter already.
subscriber!
allready a FB fan and can’t believe all the great info!!!!!
My biggest struggle is with marketing. I can’t seem to get my name out there – nothing seems to work.
Got you in my RSS feed, too!
My biggest obstacle to getting started is knowing where the best place to spend my money on marketing is.
Biggest problem with getting started is lack of confidence…
My biggest challenge so far? I have to get more confidence in myself and my abilities. I practice a lot and really know my camera, but I still get really nervous before a shoot.
Subscriber! (2nd entry)
My biggest obstacle? T-I-M-E! Since recently beginning, I have had an incredible response and a steady flow of sessions. I cannot, however, justify quitting my full-time job until I have worked through the first phase of my business plan and emerged into a sustainable small business. Creating/developing the products used in my marketing plan takes time away from processing my sessions, which lowers my turn-around time. A marketing pack and posing guide would save me the TIME in development and research!
Getting started – Transitioning from a FT Corp career into my photog business – Posing knowledge and getting the word out are my two areas of opportunity
my biggest struggle is getting people into natural poses. Sometimes it just doesn’t feel natural and I haven’t figured it out yet.
My biggest struggle with marketing is I’m just not sure how or where to begin! How do you compete with long-standing photographers as well as tons of new ones in the same area? Should I specialize? Where do I advertise? SO many questions!!
And I am now a Facebook fan.
I am currently building my portfolio as I want to launch my business this summer sometime. My biggest obstacle is getting the message of my style/vision to come across clearly.
biggest struggle marketing my business: I am NOT a social bumblebee. I am a homebody and spend all my days working at my desk. What’s the point of working that hard to do great work when only a small amount of people have even seen it? I ask myself that question almost every day… while I sit at my desk and work.
I am not a writer so professional written contracts
etc would be the most helpful for me.
coming in second: finding a space suitable to open a studio that i can afford
My biggest problem is finding a way to reach out to all ages of potential clients.
I think the biggest problem for me is not only getting the word out its a lot to how to get started and where to go from there. Marketing materials are expensive, starting out its hard to get started where you want to be for your business. Plus I am not creative at all. Coming up with a great, cool, fun design is where I get totally stuck on.
I want to target the clients that are what I want to do business with but getting that information and knowing where to go is where I get over whelmed and never follow through.
Follow on Twitter
tweet tweet!
twitter.com/studon3
Follow on Facebook
My biggest challenge has been being able to find the materials to teach me on how to market by brais I live in a rural country town in south GA where there are no real book stores actually not real kind of any store accept walm-mart I cannot seem find that inspiration needed to set me off anf just make me go go go. I just don’t know where to start as far as putting my business plan together and don’t know who or where to go to ask for assistance.
My Struggle is getting my name out there, building a good client base.
I started up my business….and then had morning sickness so bad in January through, well, now that I had to “pause” for the time being. When I had started last fall, my biggest struggle was marketing myself. I had plenty of friends who wanted pics, but I was wanting more opportunities to do shoots for people I hadn’t met yet.
i follow on facebook and twitter
My biggest struggle in marketing is getting the word out about my business. I feel like if I had a visual plan my business could grow and can be taken to the next level. I am a talented photographer in my area however, I just do not have the know how to get out there and let the word be known about me.
Follow on Facebook!!
My biggest challenge with marketing is deciding what to use to entice my clients. Right now I rely on word of mouth. I want to create some brochures or booklets or something, but I just need that push of motivation. Less procrastination.
I struggle with understanding what my Unique Selling Proposition, or USP, is. Someone once told me that talent is not enough and it is so true. With so many of us shooting and starting businesses, a person really has to understand the marketing end of their talent and really go at it with the force of a cat 5 hurricane. So, currently I’m trying to sort out my “battle plan” so to speak. Honestly, I just need a rockin’ card to hand someone…baby steps! *follower on Twitter and Facebook*
My biggest obstacle is finding the words to go along with the images…I have a hard time expressing myself in words!
My biggest struggle is pricing. I don’t feel professional enough yet to charge that much yet. And I really would love to just sell photos and not cds. But for now, that’s all I’m offering. Working full time and doing pictures on the side is tough, especially mixing in children, houeswork, husband, church, and other activities.
But I’m not complaining, maybe one day I’ll be big enough to just do photography all the time.
) So I’m starting slow and will work my way up.
The photo has nothing to do with this but I just wanted to add one of my fav from one of my photo sessions this past month. (might be too bright on the white but still learning post processing too.)
)
Not in business yet. I’m building my portafolio, but I guess people aren’t taking me seriously. So far that is my biggest challenge. Your recent entries have shown me a lot. Thanks for sharing what you know.
My biggest struggle is finding affordable education that I connect with and actually helps me.
I’m so caught up with the technical aspect that sometimes the posing of my clients come more of a struggle
The biggest challenge right now is setting my pricing. As I’m just starting out, I’m shooting a lot of friends and friends of friends. I’m struggling with choosing prices that don’t price out my friends, but still are competitive with the market.
I follow on facebook! http://www.facebook.com/hcshorr