This is my speculation and can be completely wrong. Most recently, Ellen DeGeneres tweeted about Greyson Chance six times in three days (that’s a lot of plugging). She also invited him to her show and had a surprise phone call from Chance’s idol – Lady Gaga.
Interscope Records, home of Lady Gaga, reportedly signed Greyson Chance shortly after that. This kid’s life changed entirely over the course of two weeks. Why so quickly?
For those who don’t know who he is, Greyson Chance played “Paparazzi” at his school performance and the video was uploaded to YouTube. Afterward, Ellen saw it and had him invited as a guest for her show. Lady Gaga called the studio and talked to him for a stint. Chance then performed on Ellen’s show. The following is the 18 million viewed school video.
With Ellen’s new position on American Idol, she is exercising her influence in the music industry. I bet she has a team that just combs the internet for potentials…just sayin’.
Law Of Category
In any industry, there are different “hills” one can claim for marketing. During a marketing seminar, we discussed how Mercedes took the hill for luxury and Volvo claimed the hill for safety.
If we look in the music industry, 16 year old Justin Bieber took the entire niche for young boy music artists. He has virtually no direct competition! How amazing! It’s like saying I’m the only wedding photographer under 30 (I’m 26). Taylor Swift does not count because she is in a different category – female country.
photo credit by Warner Bros
So the ridiculous amount of plugging by media mogul Ellen and support by Lady Gaga and record contract by Interscope Records do not seem so outrageous. They’re creating a star to compete with Justin Bieber because the pie is big enough for more people to share. Just wait and see it unfold. All coincidence? I think not.
Call To Action
I am thinking about doing a huge project to help bring business strategies / tactics awareness to the industry through a series of seminars. Our combined marketing experience have brought success to our own businesses and those we have advised.
We want to help by first teaching people how to survive until the chance for success comes. Please take the next 3 seconds to answer the following poll:
So there is obviously a saturation of photographers.
- How do you stand out from the bajillion other photographers / businesses?
- Which hill do you claim?
- How will you keep that hill?
I welcome answers below.
Time to tan up,
Lawrence Chan
P.S. I’m leaving for Jamaica tomorrow morning at 5am. My bride – Helen – sounds really quirky on email and I cannot wait to meet her in person! Be back in one week.
I wish I could meet you in Jamaica. It’s gorgeous there!
As for your questions:
How do you stand out from the bajillion other photographers / businesses? I have to define myself through my own photographic style (staying away from trendy processing), personality, and service.
Which hill do you claim? Climb every mountain comes to mind, but that seems to be a lot of energy to expend when you don’t even know if you’ll like the view. I’ll find the hills that feel right and claim them.
How will you keep that hill? Style, personality, service, and perseverance. Someone called me bullheaded today (I’m a Taurus) and I replied, “it’s more like I stand firm in my convictions.” I’m like that about everything.
I love reading your posts. They keep me going when I start to feel a little relaxed. :)
How to define myself? I agree that it’s my style, my personality, how I connect with my clients…connection is almost everything. And my “business personality”…how I present my work in it’s final form.
Claim….hmmmm…that’s tough. I don’t have THAT much competition here right now but I know that I’m going to have to work hard to create the image about my work and myself that I want conveyed when people say my name.
I’ll keep it by working hard towards the goals I’ve got set for my business. It’s all the little steps that are getting me there. It’s really interesting to think of this right now since I just launched my wedding site and am scared to death of rejection because of my pricing. But I’m working hard on the little details, the things that scream “me”, the packaging, the contact, keeping on top of learning and growing…all those things add up to a big picture of who I am and compliment my work that much more….maybe? LOL! Can you tell I’m just delving into the wedding world?
I love reading your posts. They keep me going when I start to feel a little relaxed. :)
How to define myself? I agree that it’s my style, my personality, how I connect with my clients…connection is almost everything. And my “business personality”…how I present my work in it’s final form.
Claim….hmmmm…that’s tough. I don’t have THAT much competition here right now but I know that I’m going to have to work hard to create the image about my work and myself that I want conveyed when people say my name.
I’ll keep it by working hard towards the goals I’ve got set for my business. It’s all the little steps that are getting me there. It’s really interesting to think of this right now since I just launched my wedding site and am scared to death of rejection because of my pricing. But I’m working hard on the little details, the things that scream “me”, the packaging, the contact, keeping on top of learning and growing…all those things add up to a big picture of who I am and compliment my work that much more….maybe? LOL! Can you tell I’m just delving into the wedding world?
I think Joanie hit the nail on the head with style. You need to look at your style in camera and the way you process… processing can go too far. It’s finding the upper limit.
Which hill will you climb? Sometimes it means defining exactly who your target audience is, looking at your competition and asking yourself, “What is missing?” “Where do I fit in?” Once you define that you may need to make sacrifices to get the attention of that audience.
How will you keep that hill? Like Joanie I’m a bit bullheaded (Scorpio) but bullheaded is a good trait to have to stick with goals or come back after a fall. Your personality is crucial as it’s in a sense like performing when you do a session … especially at weddings where ultimately you will perform in front of many guests and do your thing. Bungle that and be lacking in personality or just not come across as efficient and I’d say it will ruin your chances. That’s were training and research and making sure your armed with a lot of knowledge before you approach it if your new is necessary. It’s a lot of the time word-of-mouth too even with portrait sessions and you need that word-of-mouth to be good on every level. Being outgoing in your personality and looking efficient both on the job and when the end product is produced counts.
Educating myself about social media or any business tool or in web technology is also something I feel has enhanced me being able to make a good start where reaching out to target audience is concerned. Every email you send, at the bottom of every blog post, on the bottom of that photo forum signature you have are you gonna leave it blank or are you going to ask folks to “Join you on Facebook” when there is the opportunity to do it every time you send an email, respond on a news net post, etc etc. People just don’t push themselves enough at times and that is something simple that can bring more people to the foot of you hill.
I pretty much switched onto social networking some months ago after reading this blog and then googling “social media” and “photographers” and I’ve learned an awful lot but now I’ve got the hang of it, I’m coming up with all manner of ways to promote myself. All the better if your local competition is doing the same. I have them all added to my Facebook profile and I analyse their facebook sites and web sites if they exist. Some people would not dream of “Liking” the local competitions page…not me, I have a different motive – learn from other peoples mistakes by analysis.
i love reading your perspective! somehow there has to be a mesh of finding your creative voice, and then targeting a market that fits that voice. so, blend what i love doing with my art with what i think my prospective clients want. duh, right?
i’m still in the “find my voice” spot, because there are so many forms of photography that i love. i think it’s important to not follow along with trends, but to put my own mark on it. so – awesome food for thought! thanks so much, and have a blast with your wedding!
I’d love to see what you and Jeff put together!
I’d love to see what you and Jeff put together!
YAY Boston! Let’s do coffee or dessert on Memorial Day. :)
Hey Lawrence! Not sure if you remember me form WPPI or not. (probably NOT! haha)
I live in CT but would love to take the trek up to Boston to take you out for lunch :) Let me know what day works best for you
I am a wedding planner in Canada that was introduced to your blog by a local photographer. Even though I am not a photographer I love receiving the blog updates and have been using the tips in our wedding planning business. I love the postings and think they are relevant to anyone in the business of providing services to clients.
Thanks Angie! Business strategies an marketing is universal to all industries. Unfortunately, I speak of a topic not many people are as interested especially amongst artists. Glad that you like it :)
Really? Artists who don’t care for the business side! Shocking!!! ;o) I’m {luckily?} obsessed with both. I guess obsessed with the business side & reveling in the artistic side. It fits both sides of my brain! I just want to say one more time that I really love your posts here. I just told my husband, who is the clinic director for a hearing aid clinic (i.e., sales) that he should read your posts. He would appreciate your perspective if he ever read it! Maybe I’ll sign him up for email blasts??;o) Best! Allison