George Varanakis (WPPI and Rangefinder Executive Vice President) emailed me (along with many others I presume) to offer a 50-word thought on the state of the industry in the next five years. The following is what I submitted.

Influx of inexpensive DSLRs will create waves of new photographers entering the professional industry. That coupled with free social media platforms, discernment through strategic marketing is dire. Ergo, individuals who rely on conventional methods and believe that pay will be commensurate with experience will slowly (or quickly) be weeded out.

However, I want to expand on that.

The introduction of inexpensive DSLRs with video capabilities allow for the expansion of different markets and lowering of barriers to enter the professional industry. If done correctly, even Uncle Bob can be a true threat to your business. These are the issues at hand:

1. lowering of barriers – inexpensive DSLRs
2. free social media marketing
3. DSLRs with video capabilities
4. lack of business strategies and marketing tactics

Lowering Of Barriers

To be completely honest, I entered the photography business under the premise of earning a few extra bucks while I was a full-time student at UCLA. Before even owning a DSLR, I never even had a point-and-shoot, but the learning curve was drastically truncated with the instant feedback of LCDs.

Therefore with the lowering of costs, abundance of resources online for learning (or trial and error), becoming a professional photographer is rather easy. This goes the same for other businesses too – get yourself a nice printer and Microsoft Publisher and you are a invitations designer, right?

Free Advertisement

With the spawn of social media marketing, individuals can create online communities painlessly and reach out to their target audience through free platforms. Twitter and Facebook have proven to be the two most effective across the board.

SEO is another form of free tactical marketing. I was able to generate a strong enough online presence to dictate any price I wanted and at the quantity of weddings per year I desired. All for free.

Video

There are things that photos can do that videos can never compare. Equally, there are things that videos can do that photos can never compare.

The capture of movement and sound can stir emotions amongst its viewers. Now that DSLRs have that capability, clients surrender to the need for whatever is new and cool. In all candidness, it is new and it is cool. It’s called fusion.

The real question is whether or not you will be left behind if you do not learn how to use it. Here are some hints:

• YouTube surpassed Yahoo as the #2 used search engine in U.S.
• Even the iPod Nano has video capabilities

Lack Of Business Strategies

I’m working with a number of clients (veteran photographers and event producers) on building business strategies. I’m not at liberty to say who they are, but they are all facing similar issues:

• newcomers are coming in and beating them up with super low prices
• newcomers are more adept with digital technologies
• newcomers understand this “twitter and facebook business”
• newcomers are forcing them to lower prices
• they dislike newcomers
• they feel threatened by newcomers

Sound familiar? It should resonate with everyone – newcomers and veterans alike. Veterans shouldn’t need to fear the aforementioned; nor should newcomers do anything differently [for now] unless they are ready to move forward with their businesses.

We always hear about “sell yourself, not your pictures.” Yes, it’s actually true. That is the “what” factor. We know the “why” factor; or at least you should. The only thing missing is the “how” factor and that is where business strategies and marketing tactics come in.

Lowering your prices to compete does not make you that much more competitive. In fact, it probably hurts you more than it helps. Jeff Jochum finds many bootstrapped businesses lacking clarity and strategies. It doesn’t mean that lacking the two will not allow you to survive.

The truth is without having business clarity and strategies, all you can do is just survive. There is no progression. There is no goal. There is no end. According to him, this is called the “hula hoop paradox”.

Conclusion

I am in no way trying to belittle part-timers because, again, I was once there. I am in no way trying to ridicule veterans because I am technically part of the group now.

Business is business. Money is money. We do what we got to do.

However, there are ways to distinguish the different levels of experience and clearly promote our worth to our brides. My goal is coexistence.

Food for thought – if veterans feel threatened and lower prices in an attempt to compete, then this inevitably leads to the lowering of all prices because they sort of set the benchmark…across the board degradation of standards. Think about it – who can really say that I’m worth $2000 or I’m worth $8000? It’s subjective and all based on business strategies.

Where are you in all of this?

Do you feel threatened? Or empowered?

What if Jeff Jochum and I were to share these strategies? Would you be interested?

I could be wrong with all of these speculations but this is usually the same scenario for all businesses (even outside of our little wedding bubble).

French fries,

Lawrence Chan

P.S. After a normal presidential address of the state of the industry, the media is allowed to ask questions. Do you have any?

My girlfriend, Julie, is a substitute teacher. She recently taught at a high school where one kid really caught her attention. He was carrying a Nikon DSLR with a matching Nikon bag full of lenses; this was abnormal for a high school student’s budget.

“That’s a nice camera, John! Do you carry this around all of the time?” asked Julie.

“Yeah, I love shooting pictures.”

Julie chided, “I bet everyone frequently asks you to take professional pictures for them.”

“Yeah – yearbook, sports, portraits, dances, the works! I’m known as ‘the guy with the big camera!’”

Indelible Impressions

John made an image for himself at school – he was the guy with the big camera. This elusive impression can be good or bad.

In a positive approach, try to leave an indelible impression with all of your clients and their friends. So that in the event that any of them need a photographer (pet, portrait, wedding…), they will think of you!

Shopaholic – Girl In The Green Scarf

For those of you who watched the movie or read the book, Rebecca Bloomwood used the title as “Girl In The Green Scarf” for her publication columns.

This enigmatic name caused curiosity amongst the readers. On the flip side, Rebecca will always be branded as the girl in the green scarf. What happens if she decided she doesn’t like green anymore?

Rebranding

The green scarf will always be a reminder of Rebecca Bloomwood. Take me for example now.

Most recently I pushed strongly on SEO (search engine optimization) and strategic blogging. I later felt the repercussions.

Repercussions

I was branded as an SEO expert (and only that) when in actuality, SEO and blogging strategies are only some of the many tools that I employ. What I really am is a marketing consultant for the wedding industry.

For example, a few months ago, I had the pleasure of working with WPPI and did some coaching on social media and software integration. Anyone notice any subtle changes?

Now, I am working with Grace Ormonde Wedding Style Magazine on some strategic marketing. The first step I did was redid their website and started her off with a fresh Twitter account. There hasn’t been much activity recently because she is working on her new book.

Lastly, for those who attended last month’s LA Smug, I dabbed a little on effective usages of social media.

WPPI Booth 1240

All in all, I am here at Las Vegas for WPPI. My setup is at booth 1240 – schedule here. If you have any burning questions, come on by and ask me. I will be offering on-on-one coaching, so everything will be private.

Who’s coming to visit me? My worst nightmare is crickets chirping. If anything, come play Nintendo (the old school one) and reminisce the good times.

Sincerely,

Lawrence Chan
Tofurious
Wedding Marketing Consultant : )

P.S. Party hard, but sleep hard. You don’t want to get sick.

P.P.S. Follow @tofurious if you want to track where I am – cheers!

P.P.P.S. Do you all know what you’re known as? Or are you all just dime a dozen photographers?

Happy Wednesday,

Good news and bad news. Good news is that many people were able to take advantage of the workshop and videos. Bad news is that all good things must come to an end.

The SEO DVDs will still be available, but the $200 discount is going to end today at 11:59PM PST. Discount codes are floating around everywhere so pay attention – email subscriptions, twitter, etc.

Here are some emails that I received regarding the step-by-step video tutorials videos. They not only show what needs to be done, but why it is done.

Dawn Davis:

I just wanted to let you know that we reviewed your SEO videos and they are FANTASTIC. They reiterate everything you talked about at your workshop and more. They are so easy to follow and so well made that we can’t wait to take the time to put into practice everything you have taught us.

Louise Beattie

Whilst I am here, I thought I might give you a little feedback. One thing that jumps out at my is the way you have broken the DVD down into bite sized chunks with good titles. Makes it so much easier to come back to and find what you are looking for. I also like that each video is concise and cleanly presented. Great job, itching to put it all into action but having to wait whilst my blog url is updated to a separate domain as per one of the free video recommendations (should be ready this morning).

David Bock

Your vid turned out the awesomes!!!

Curtis Moore

Watching the amazing blogging videos from @tofurious and just got to the boat video… So freaking funny! Great info!

For more reviews, please check back on the older posts – here and here.

Good luck,

Lawrence Chan

Hello everyone,

GOOD NEWS: The SEO workshop and blogging DVDs are now available for instant download! If this is the first time you heard about this, then watch the quick intro video below.

WATCH MORE TESTIMONIALS

My Most Recent Inquiries

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED

SAMPLE SEO VIDEO 1

SAMPLE SEO VIDEO 2

SAMPLE BLOGGING TECHNIQUES

*NOTE: The files are quite large, so make sure that you are not at Starbucks downloading them. Also, make sure that your computer does not have sleep mode on or anything to disrupt the download of videos.

More Than Just SEO

All in all, even for those who understand the mechanics of SEO quite possible will never share the same success as I have had for a number of reasons:

• I am a wedding photographer (and still am a wedding photographer)
• Understanding SEO is worthless if one can’t convert the traffic into inquiries
• I have the proven success as a wedding photographer
• It’s more than SEO; it’s strategic online marketing

Thank you and good luck!

Lawrence Chan

P.S. Time for Chipotle!

P.P.S. PLEASE please please! I know many of you are eager to get this, so when you get the link to download, DON’T do it all at once. Wait a day or two because my server will probably hate me very much.

P.P.P.S. Sorry for the crash yesterday! Over 1500 people tried to log on in the first hour…frightening!

Hello everyone!

NOTE: I just shot out an email and I realized how POORLY it was written so I apologize in advance. I am just a little bit excited as well as tired. Thanks for understanding!

In the last two months I was hosting the nationwide SEO workshops. In the last three days, I released some sample content.

• Blogging techniques (for converting traffic)
• SEO – Google PageRank 101
• SEO – Battle of blogs

I’ve been getting a number of questions regarding the SEO digital downloads, so I took this morning to answer everything.

I’m Just Starting Out, Can I Still Benefit?

Lots of People Have Taken Your Workshop, Can I Still Compete?

SEO Is Complicated

SEO Is All About UGLY Titles

Are You Saying That Word Of Mouth Is Useless?

I Suck At Blogging

Best regards,

Lawrence Chan

P.S. I am releasing the videos tomorrow Thursday, December 3rd at 12pm PST. There will be coupons floating around. If you are considering to get a copy of this program, you should DEFINITELY check out these videos to see whether this is a right fit for you.

Now that we understand Google PageRank (PR) with my other free video, let’s answer a debatable question about where to position a blog.

Should it be

www.yourwebsite.com/blog

or

www.yourwebsiteblog.com

Another free video tutorial

There is no subscription form or anything (but I do appreciate your interest). Just download it directly! Keep in mind that this is subjective. However, I do have a preference and you will realize it in the free video.

Click here to download

Just remember that my marketing videos (SEO and blogging) finally go on sale on Thursday, December 3rd! There will be some coupon codes floating around to kick off the sale…trust me, you’re going to want to get your hands on one!

Which Blog Platform?

I already wrote a whole article here talking about why I love WordPress. It’s free. And I even have a free theme! No excuses.

Ciao bella,

Lawrence Chan

P.S. Okay, maybe I shouldn’t have put my cell as an option because I am getting lots of text messages with questions rather than comments or email. Anyway, tomorrow I will answer them all. So if you have any questions about …anything, feel free to contact me.

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…

There are many beautiful flash portfolios out there. As many might know, most flash websites are not indexable. However, Showit is doing their best to integrate features that make it so via embedded HTML pages.

On Tuesday, October 20, 2009, Showit is hosting a FREE webinar that will elaborate on some of their newest features while I expound on basic topics of how SEO (search engine optimization) can help your business.

REGISTER HERE

We’ll review in detail all the SEO specific features of Showit and how to trick out the SEO for your Showit website. Tofurious will also be doing a basic overview of SEO topics like Page Rank, links and source linking, Google Analytics, Google Webmaster Tools, and social media integration. -Showit

UPDATE: SEO Q&A with Tofurious

The webinar was pretty cool! The video was slightly corrupted, so Showit shared the answers online:

Want my slides?

See you there!

Lawrence Chan

P.S. I will be doing this webinar in New York at the gracious Jason Groupp‘s studio during his workshop and my workshop. That guy rocks!

I had the great honor of meeting a number of wickedly cool wedding photographers yesterday. Just like Chicago’s workshop, many of the attendees were not local to the hosting city, but still came out. I had attendees coming from all over California and from Canada!

If you are a bride, please check out the photographers below! If you are a photographer, follow @tofurious and subscribe to the mailing list!

The San Francisco SEO and marketing workshop was hosted at Hilton in the Financial District. I had the privilege of staying in one of their business suites and had a pretty wicked view (not the best, but very nice at night). I don’t mind having an office like this.

Right next door was Chinatown where R&G Lounge was a skip away. For those who have not been there, try the salt-and-pepper crab!

Awesome San Francisco (and Canadian) Wedding Photographers

The Memory Journalists – wedding photography led by Jennifer Dunham Starr based in Folsom, CA
Tiffany Fosnight – Adeline and Grace are wedding and boudoir rockstars in Napa Valley
Marin Kristine – Bay Area boudoir and wedding photographer
{ WLQ } Photography – San Francisco based engagement and wedding photographer
Rebecca Wilkowski Photography – SF and Bay Area Green photojournalist
Jessie Cho Photography – SF and Bay Area wedding photojournalist
Dave Shilling Photography – a tall white guy from Sacramento who shoots rad pictures
Lori Paladino Photography – SF and Bay Area wedding and lifestyle photographer
Jerry Yoon Photography – San Francisco wedding photographer woot
Kirstie Tweed – wedding and portrait photographer based in Banff, Canada
Sara Goetz – wife of Chris Goetz and operate from the Bay area
Ashley Summer – a girl who shoots all types of things – bang!
Kameron Olds – Shooting Gallery with brides as targets

I love the city of San Francisco. I’ve even considered to move to the Bay Area and start a new wedding photography business. Who wants to let me second shoot?

Be well,

Lawrence

P.S. Seattle’s Dick’s Burgers < In-N-Out

P.P.S. I am using this post to do some test If you guess right, I’ll think of a cool prize to give away.

Recently, there was a lot of talk about WordPress, SEO and Google not using meta keywords. That’s all fine and dandy, but I want to add my two cents into this mix.

I am not saying that I am a super expert in this area, but I have been pretty successful with targeted search results, wedding inquiries and web traffic. This article will expound lightly on these topics:

1. Why Google loves WordPress
2. Google does not use meta keywords, but others might

Google Loves WordPress

I have been a long time supporter of WordPress and trying to sing their good graces everywhere I go. WordPress is (in my opinion) the most powerful web / blogging platform. Don’t take my word for it, Matt Cutts (head of WebSpam for Google since 2000) even says it in his presentation (slide 12).

WordPress takes care of 80-90% of (the mechanics of)
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Thank you Vu Bui and Roxanne for sharing this!

Google Does Not Use Meta Keywords

Yes – you heard right! Google Webmaster Central Blog announced that Google does not use meta keywords in their indexing (elaborated by Matt Cutts).

Now, you should know by now – I LOVE Google. I trust Google for my entire business – planning, discussion groups, mobile apps, everything is Google!

However, keep in mind that Google is only 65% of the search engine user market (pre-Bing) as of April 2009. See for yourself.

What about the other 35% of the market that includes Yahoo, MSN, Bing, and AOL, just to name a few. What about them? Google might not use meta keywords, but these guys might. Therefore, why would you potentially cut yourself off from 35% of the market by not using meta keywords when it’s already there anyway? I’m just sayin’…why not? It’s more business! I don’t know about you, but I like more business

I hope this article demystifies my point of view on which blogging platform to use and the importance of meta keywords. I welcome feedback on this matter!

Cheers,

Lawrence Chan

P.S. Of all Mexican foods, I like tamales the most. Mmmmm…

How hard could it be to become a wedding photographer? If all I did was get a 5DMII, a couple of prime “L” lenses paired with Boutwell actions, I’m set, right? Being a wedding photographer is not very hard, but being a successful wedding photographer is difficult.

Over the past two years, I moved up from shooting weddings at $300 each to $5,000 each. My inquiries are still strong (2-3 a day) despite current economic conditions.

Understand that I am not the best photographer out there and I still have a lot to improve on. However, I do know a thing or two when it comes to making a wedding photography business work.

There are 3 things you should know:

1. Why are you doing this business?
2. What makes a good photographer?
3. How do you market yourself effectively?

Direction

Why did you start a wedding photography business? Or any form of photography for that matter? If you don’t know why, then that’s a big problem.

Dane Sanders focuses on the core of one’s business vision through Fast Track Photographer. The first step is to understand why you are doing it. If it is passion, then fantastic! If it is because the industry is lucrative, then fantastic! Whatever the reason is, you need to know why and exactly what you are cooking up for your clients.

Here is an excerpt from a recent article Dane Sanders wrote for Scott Bourne:

Technique can be taught but your core focus needs to be discovered first. And the best news is once you have a working sense of what you were made to create for the world, the sky’s the limit on where you will go with your craft.

Skills

When I started my business, I had my heroes and I think you should pick yours too.

I have heroes to give me inspiration – a goal to aim for. “One day, I want to shoot like them!”

If you are interested in learning the skills from one of my heroes, then a photography workshop that is coming up worth considering is the “DAVIS LOVE STORY” workshop. It is a 3 day experience with celebrity photographer – Bob Davis – as he photographs the wedding of Sarah and Brent at the exquisite Ocean Lodge hotel in St. Simons Island, Georgia.

DAY ONE begins with a meet and greet and flash lecture at the exquisite Ocean Lodge hotel in St. Simons Island, then on to a night shoot with Sarah and Brent.

DAY TWO is a meeting at the Ocean Lodge hotel and photographing of Sarah and Brent getting ready — making sure to cover all of the details. This leads to the first look where Brent will see Sarah for the first time in her dress followed by a beautiful photo walk…dinner, sunset ceremony and dessert reception.

DAY THREE will begin at the Ocean Lodge hotel in a conference room where Dawn Davis (Bob’s wife) will show you how she creates her beautiful book designs. She will share with you her Photoshop knowledge and all her secrets to designing for the stars (literally – like for Oprah)! After Dawn’s album design workshop, there is a “Trash The Dress” session at the ever-so-amazing Driftwood Beach on Jeckyll Island with Sarah and Brent, along with a few of their friends who will model.

I understand that there are only 5 seats left…actually, it might be 4 if I can squeeze it in.

Marketing

Donald Trump once said:

I like thinking big. If you are going to be thinking about anything, you might as well think big.

It’s nice to think big, but you must know how to get there. It’s nice to aim for 30 weddings a year at $5,000 each, but the steps to achieve that and to sustain that is quite a pickle.

I use two forms of marketing for my business:

In Person – yes, that simple. One suggestion is to organize a coffee meet with other photographers every Friday afternoon just to hang out, network, trade ideas or refer clients!

Jeff Jochum also feels the same way – he told me that we create friction and connection by meeting people in person…these connections outweigh any online ones.

Online – There is a great deal of talk about SEO, but sadly that isn’t everything. It’s really two parts:

1. Getting the traffic through SEO
2. Converting the traffic into clients

Now these are my observations for becoming a successful wedding photographer and/or business owner. I would love to hear your thoughts on this!