How do you market your business? There are many ways to market yourself, but you can read about how I did it below.

Two months ago, I had the privilege of sharing what I had learned about strategic online marketing with many photographers ranging from top 10 in the world to those with less than 10 months in business.

My workshop focused on two items:

1. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) – being found on Google
2. Blogging Techniques – converting traffic into inquiries (examples)

Reasons Why I Chose SEO

The traditional form of advertisement (word of mouth) is only effective amongst the current client base. Outside that circle of influence, there is a large audience that is untapped. The goal is to be found by those who do not know you.

Why This?

There is probably a ton of options out there all claiming to be SEO experts, but when it all boils down, I can prove it with my inquiries and online ranking. Plus, it’s more than just SEO that makes a sale.

Being found is only half of the battle. The rest is strategic marketing (sample) through blogging, which will convert traffic into clients.

Some Testimonials

I didn’t have the chance to put together everyone’s testimonials, so it’s incomplete and a bit scattered.

Lots Of My Heroes

Aaron Dieppa, Becker, Ann Hamilton

Jasmine Star

Gene Higa, Keats Elliot, Catherine Hall

Dane Sanders

Sara France, Jose Villa

Mike Colon

Robert Evans, Doug Boutwell, Shaun Austin, Peter Garr, and more…

Catherine Hall

Tiffany Fosnight (Adeline & Grace Photography)

Doug Boutwell (Totally Rad Actions)

Kameron & Lyndsay (Shooting Gallery)

Kara Schultz

If Interested…

There will be a digital download coming very very soon so subscribe!

1. SEO Volume I and Volume II
2. Blogging Techniques (sample)

Invest into your business by arming yourself with new marketing strategies (auspiciously for the new year).

Sincerely,

Lawrence Chan

P.S. If there is one thing you could get for XMAS, what would it be? My Honda Civic is looking a bit bleh… Hmmm…

UPDATE: The Tofurious SEO workshops are now available!

Please click on the following image to proceed, but I still highly recommend that you to read the content of this blog post first

Dane Sanders

“ROI (Return On Investment) on SEO – No Nonsense” -Dane Sanders

Like this video? Share it with others, copy code to embed video on your own blog / forum:
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Sara France & Jose Villa

“SEO is complicated…really deep, something I don’t even want to touch…” -Jose Villa

“Now I feel like an expert.” -Sara France

Like this video? Share it with others, copy code to embed video on your blog / forum
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Responses to Posts

Wow! I wasn’t sure if people would like the questionnaires, but the responses were amazing! Thank you for taking the time and effort to answer the surveys!

When asked: How do you advertise and is it effective?
Top answers:

• Do not advertise and rely on word of mouth – not working well
• Online and local print ads – not effective enough / cannot get destination weddings
• Blogging – “almost a waste of time”

Some of you may already know this (those who subscribe or follow this blog), but I once faced the same frustrations.

• I spent $550 / month on TheKnot and was getting little to nothing out of it
• My referral network had run dry
• My efforts in building my website / blog were not helping me book more weddings

Believe me, it was not a fun time. I had financial obligations with no solutions to fix them. A company offered to do the SEO for me for $1,225 / month, but that still did not guarantee results.

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

The aforementioned quote means a lot to me. I spent a lot of time learning and experimenting until I got the results I wanted. I know there are lots of photographers experiencing the same frustrations.

There is plenty of room on the internet for all of us to use SEO to make more money, book more weddings and get the best possible clients!

If you are interested in more information, please subscribe to the mailing list. Thanks!

Sincerely,

Lawrence

P.S. I secretly like McDonald’s despite it being very bad for my health.

Hello everyone,

As you might know, I am leaving for Europe for six weeks. If it piques your interest, read the following article for all of the countries I am visiting! I will try to tweet / post here and there, but know that I undergo great lengths to find a cyber cafe to say “hello!”

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FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Did you know that Tofurious started a WordPress blog in February 2009?

I am not saying that I am an expert blogger, but I’ve learned a thing or two over the years. And most of my knowledge was acquired by observing successful bloggers (especially those within our own photography industry). So the first step toward becoming an effective blogger is to…

Observe Successful Bloggers

I use the word “successful” loosely, but what I really mean is “effective” [bloggers]. Just like photography, we study images that “work” and with time create our own styles. I will be listing a number of blogs that I have learned from, but it does not limit them to only that trait.

Interview Someone

When I think of interviews, I immediately think of Jules Bianchi’s Cafe; interviews by her lovely sister Joy – @joybianchibrown. Using the informality of coffee breaks, Jules interviews various industry leaders at Jules Cafe.

What does this establish?

• It creates a relationship between the interviewer and interviewee
• The interviewee will promote said interview, thus promoting the interviewer
• Creates community

This is a good way for both parties to promote each other. Additionally, the interview will provide good content for readers, which is sort of the point. So…try to get interviewed, or interview someone (like me)! No one has interviewed me yet and it makes me sad.

Twitter

If you do not have twitter, go to www.twitter.com and register for an account. After that, follow @tofurious (that’s me) hehe!

Zack Arias @zarias recently wrote an interesting article about Twitter and “Six Degrees” of separation.

…helped the photography industry build community. Both virtual and real. Twitter is a key to my marketing plans over the next year but beyond that, it keeps me in touch with so many people that I would normally fall out of touch with due to time or distance. Not to mention how many new friends I have thanks to social networking.

In a nutshell, Twitter allows for a number of things, but not limited to what’s listed below:

• Follow activities of people through an instant feed of 140 characters
• You can connect with others
• Others can connect with you
• Spreading of ideas through #, RT, etc.

Less Is More

Jose Villa is the epitome of “less.” I was given the great pleasure of designing his new blog (not public yet) recently and his ideas truly inspired me. As a search engine specialist, I kept pushing for certain elements for his blog, but Jose dimissed them all. And I admire him for that.

So how does this apply to us photographers? Vu Bui once told me over breakfast that he discourages people to post more than 10 images on their blogs.

Vu preached that everyone has the same images over and over again. So rather than creating the same sink hole of bandwidth-sucking blog posts, post only 10 images that would knock the socks off of viewers. After that, post your 100+ images in a slideshow or something.

Jose uses minimalism in his photography artwork. He is, after all, one of the “Top 10 Wedding Photographers” in the world, so he is doing something right.

Transparency

I once asked Aaron Dieppa about something in his personal life, which I read on his website. “It’s something private, but it’s cool that you shared it.”

“Yeah, I believe in transparency. I want my clients to know me for me,” responded Aaron.

I had this similar conversation with [B]ecker and his poker aspirations. He and Jessica Claire are the only two people I know that post publicly their love for poker on their business websites.

Does this help / harm them? It’s relative. However, I believe that it helps them more than anything. By posting about one’s personal life, viewers can get to know the blogger on a personal level.

How does this apply to photographers? Brides have booked me [and the aforementioned] to shoot various weddings without even meeting in person. Great, isn’t it? Brides do this because they already have this informal / personal relationship with us. Before they even email or call us, they already have a good feeling how we operate as professionals and as regular individuals.

Take away the occupational titles, we are just humans. And humans like
to connect with other humans. We build bridges through common grounds, so express them!

Consistency

Have you ever read a blog post by Jasmine Star? She is one of the most eloquent writers I know [of]. (I hope to change “know of” to just “know” because I hear she is a fabulous person). All of Jasmine’s articles are like tiny excerpts of her clients’s lives.

Rather than telling a story only with pictures, Jasmine precedes it with a text-based story. And she consistently delivers every time!

So how does this apply? If you are consistent with a certain style, readers will expect it over time. However, I am not saying that you should not try new things. Just imagine cooking… Always bake your delicious cookies at the same temperature, but try throwing in raisins or chocolate chips to spice things up!

Cheers,

Lawrence

P.S. Transparency: I tried getting a pedicure for the first time on Wednesday. I liked it! I even got my eyebrows waxed. I liked that too! I think I will be visiting this one salon quite often now. By chance, you might bump into me

Honey Nail Spa – they ROCK

626-844-7299

563 S. Lake Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91101

Hello everyone,

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If you are a BRIDE, please check out some of the top San Francisco / Napa Valley wedding photographers [in the world].

Did I ever mention that I normally live under a rock? Coming to San Francisco to do a talk to some of the world’s top wedding photographers was quite frightening. I had to prepare all week for this private workshop. I will elaborate more on this, but here were the attendees! A special thanks to San Francisco wedding photographer Gene Higa for graciously lending his beautiful home for us to use.

Overall, it was a pleasure to be working with these San Francisco based wedding photographers. Please check out their wedding photography websites as they are inspirational!

Everyone got one of of these cool leather portfolios! After a five hour workshop, I am beat.

Images courtesy of Lan Bui

Here is a little plug for some other San Francisco based wedding photographers:

Kameron Olds – http://shootinggalleryphoto.com/blog

Ashley Summer – http://ashleysummer.com

Sara Goetz – http://saragoetzphotography.com

Outtie,

Lawrence

P.S. Gene’s house is really really really nice. It is very cozy. I could fall asleep here.

Greetings,

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If you are a BRIDE and looking for a photographer in Italy, please visit
www.furiousphotographers.com or

Two of the world’s top ten wedding photographers – Gene Higa and Jose Villa – are hosting a wedding photography workshop in Tuscany, Italy. It will be a three day experience in the Chianti Hills on October 27-29, 2009. Models, make-up artists, floral arrangements, transportation from airport to the villa, breakfast, lunch and dinner during the workshop all provided. Basically, just show up and shoot. Good thing too! In the presence of their sheer awesomeness, I might not be able to do anything else but shoot…and maybe drool.

Italy is a dream .. A perfect place to conduct a workshop, the lighting is so warm, the surroundings are stunning and the people are so genuine. It was one of my favorite places to shoot. So, we want to share that experience with you. -Gene Higa

You know what else will be warm? You. After a few glasses of Italian wine, you will be warm inside and warm towards your peers. Good wine with good company only leads to lasting friendships.

These are some reasons why you should go:

• I might be there hahahaha (depends on my schedule)
• It’s taught by two of world’s top ten wedding photographers
• Off the hook portfolio pictures
• Techniques to their business success revealed
• And lastly, I might be there… that’s right – so go!

On top of having portfolio pictures, you can optimize for Italy after having shot there via SEO (Search Engine Optimization). I am not even exaggerating, this weekend I got an inquiry for Tuscany Italy, yesterday I got inquiries for Jamaica and Houston (Texas), and today I got an inquiry for a cruise wedding to Hawaii. Therefore, imagine the possibilities when you combine SEO with stellar images from this workshop!

Gene Higa & Jose Villa Italy Workshop

Dates: October 27-29, 2009
Investment: $1,950 | Sign-up
Location: Cavrigila, Chanti – Tuscany, Italy

Details

Named two of the top ten wedding photographers in the world – Gene Higa and Jose Villa – will teach you two different shooting styles, different marketing approaches for two different ways to be successful. Three day workshop with everything virtually provided.

Schedule

Monday – October 26, 2009

• Meet and greet at La Selva Villa – dinner and drinks provided

Tuesday – October 27, 2009

• Introductions – Jose Villa and Gene Higa
• Slideshow presentations
• Fine art weddings
• Presentation techniques
• Client meetings
• Engagement shoots with live models (not mannequins) LOL I just had to sorry

Wednesday – October 28, 2009

• Destination weddings
• Marketing
• Advertising
• Critique from engagement session shoot
• Shoot with bride and groom for half of the day around the beautiful Tuscany

Thursday – October 29, 2009

• Magazine submissions
• Compositions – framing in camera
• Finding a niche market in your area
• Vendor relationships and submissions
• Flash / natural light shooting

Topics

• Keeping it simple with composition
• Finding a style that works for you
• Creating a niche market
• Developing relationships with vendors so they do the talking for you
• Using natural light to create fine art images
• How to get the word out – marketing / advertising
• The easy way to anti-pose a couple
• Magazine submissions – what editors love to see
• Destination weddings – how to book them
• Client meetings
• Presentation is key – how to present your images
• Album design – keeping it simple and fresh
• Film – the formula on how to expose, process and archive your images

Imagine where you want your business to be in 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, 5 years. I am pretty certain that this workshop might make it happen in a fraction of the time – depending on how devotion you have for your business.

I understand that there are not many seats left, so I urge those interested to consider soon. If you register, make sure to mention “Lawrence @tofurious” sent you and I will be sure to send you a copy of my new photo/video fusion slideshow program (not finished yet – street value: $300ish lol). I am running it by [B]ecker in a couple of weeks to beta test prior to launch.

Cheers,

Lawrence

P.S. I heart wine, grapes, crackers and cheese. And edamame beans, mochi ice cream, wonton noodles, cold tofu, braised tofu, fried tofu, spring rolls, seared rare tuna, chicken pot pie, iced tea and coca cola.

If you go to the workshop, tell me what you enjoy eating!

P.P.S. Gene Higa is such a fun guy! Let hilarity and good times ensue…

P.P.P.S. UPDATE: @italyworkshop: Thinking of offering a workshop scholarship. Stay tuned for details.