7 Strategies to Grow Your Photography Business with NowCandid π
ByΒ
Jack C.
Β onΒ
June 29, 2023
Β Β Β |Β Β Β Β
7
Β minute read
First off, congratulations on starting your photography business! Now, it's time to take the next steps and grow it.
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In this post, we'll offer strategic advice to help you effectively expand your photography business with a particular focus on building a strong team, proactive networking, and optimizing your workflow with NowCandid.
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1. Optimize Your Workflow βοΈ
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Efficiency is the key to successful growth. Evaluate your existing workflow and identify opportunities to streamline processes, automate tasks, and apply time-saving solutions. NowCandid's comprehensive platform makes managing your photography business more efficient, allowing you to earn more, while working less.
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2. Hire and Train a Team π₯
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As your business expands, so should your team. Recruit talented photographers and support staff and invest in their training and development. With NowCandid, your team can concentrate on capturing amazing photos and providing top-tier customer service.
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3. Network Proactively π€
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Growing your business often requires extending your network to potential clients, partners, and collaborators. Engaging with your local chamber of commerce and demonstrating your photography system, like NowCandid, can lead to new bookings. Once you've established your presence at events, organic growth will follow as attendees experience your photo system in action, promoting word-of-mouth marketing.
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4. Identify New Opportunities with NowCandid π
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Diversification is a fundamental strategy for growth. NowCandid allows you to effortlessly branch out into new areas like sports, graduations, parties, holiday portraits, and corporate headshots. Using your existing equipment and familiar workflows, NowCandid facilitates the expansion of your business reach and profitability.
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5. Leverage Social Media and Online Marketing π
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A robust online presence can showcase your portfolio, engage with potential clients, and generate leads. Utilize social media platforms, SEO, and email marketing to promote your services. NowCandid's white-label system ensures your brand remains the main focus in all your marketing efforts - we want you to grow your brand! Your success is our success.
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6. Strengthen Your Brand πͺ
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Distinctive branding can set you apart from your competition and attract your ideal clients. Invest in professional branding elements such as a unique logo and a modern website. NowCandid's customizable Canva templates help also help you out as you start marketing NowCandid's phot systems as your own photo system! Not to mention it makes it easy to maintain a consistent brand image across some of your marketing materials.
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7. Monitor Your Progress with NowCandid π
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Track your business's growth using key performance indicators (KPIs) and set measurable goals. NowCandid provides detailed and transparent reports, helping you easily track crucial KPIs and sales by image folder. This allows you to assess the performance of each photographer at every event, and make informed decisions.
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Expansion is an exciting phase for any business!
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By strategically networking, building a strong team, and utilizing the power of NowCandid, you're well on your way to leading your photography business to new heights of success.
Candy here, bringing you the first edition of our Recap series! π
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This blog post will cover alllllll of September's new features and changes worth mentioning! But going forward, we will be doing Weekly Recaps to keep you in the loop even faster.
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We've been busy bees these past few weeks, and I can't wait to share all the fantastic new features and improvements we've made to help you shine even brighter. β¨
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Psst... since this is our inaugural recap, we're covering updates from all of September, so grab a comfy seatβit's a bit longer than usual! Going forward, these recaps will be weekly and shorter, but just as sweet. π
We're thrilled to announce that manual gallery assignment and participant creation are now live! This means you can:
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β Assign images to someone's personal gallery manuallyβperfect for those shots where the subject wasn't facing the camera, and face recognition didn't pick them up. β
β Create participants manually, either one at a time or by uploading a spreadsheet. β
β Instantly trigger marketing campaigns to individuals when you assign images to them, ensuring they receive their photos promptly.
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We believe this will greatly enhance your workflow and support needs. Let us know how it helps you during your next event!
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2. Tweaks to the Retail Site for a Smoother Experience ποΈ
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We've made several improvements to our retail site to enhance the shopping experience for your clients:
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β "Tap image to get started" text now shimmers on the initial gallery screen to guide users who aren't sure what to do next. β
β Package creation improvements make it more intuitive for customers to customize their packages and select photos. β
β Product renders in the cart: The view cart screen now displays product images next to every item, including items within multi-item packages, for increased clarity. β
β Updated header and footer: Clear guidance on when to contact our retail support or reach out to you, the photographer, for assistance.
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These tweaks aim to make the purchasing process as seamless and enjoyable as possible for your clients!
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Theme:Β Liquorice - Watermarking:Β Default
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3. Default Price Levels Are Back! π°
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Great news! The Default Price Levels from our previous NowCandid system are back and better than ever.
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While you can still create custom offers, these ready-made Price Levels are optimized to help you maximize sales in various situations.
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β Optimized for success: Designed to boost your sales potential. β
β Versatile options: Suitable for a wide range of events and client needs. β
β Easy to access: Gives you good Offer options in a pinch or when entering a new market.
4. New Image Notifications for Previous Purchasers ποΈ
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We've improved our marketing system to better serve your clients and help keep those sales up:
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β If someone purchases on Day 1 and is photographed again on Day 2, they will now receive a notification about the new images added to their gallery. β
Tailor the gallery experience to suit any event's needs!
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10. Simplified Selfie Check-In π²
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We've made the Selfie Check-In process even more user-friendly:
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β Only requires a cell number OR email address. β
β Encourages participation: Even though neither field says "optional," most people still provide both. β
β Addresses Fringe Issues: Every now and then, someone doesn't have (or refuses to provide) a cell or email address. This change will account for those individuals!
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Enhances guest engagement and reduces fringe support issues, with no changes on your part!
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11. New Unsubscribe Keyword: "NOPE"! π«
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We've introduced a new, fun way for clients to manage their marketing preferences:
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"NOPE": Clients can reply with this word to opt out of marketing for a specific event. β
Future communications: They will still receive messages for future events unless they opt out again. β
Accidental "STOP" replies: If someone replies "STOP" though, they'll need to send "START" to our marketing number to resume receiving texts.
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This gives your clients more control while still keeping communication lines open for future events.
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12. Seasonal Retail Themes: Apple Crumble & Candy Corn ππ
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Get into the festive spirit with our new retail site themes:
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Apple Crumble: β
Autumn colors: Warm and inviting hues. β
Falling leaves: Adorable "leaves falling" animation upon gallery arrival, check-in completion, and after checkout. β
Candy Corn: β
Halloween vibes: Shades of black and bright orange. β
Candy corn confetti: Fun "candy corn toss" animation to celebrate the spooky season upon gallery arrival, check-in completion, and after checkout. β
Haunted Retail Site: A few ghosts frequently fly across your customer's screens as they shop!
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Delight your clients with these charming themes!
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Note: the Leaves &Β Candy Corn only fall across the screen upon gallery arrival, check-in completion, and after checkout - these GIFs are simply showing it in a loop :)
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Theme: Apple Crumble - Watermarking:Β Off
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Theme:Β Candy Corn - Watermarking:Β Off
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We hope these updates make your experience with NowCandid even more enjoyable and efficient.
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Your success is our top priority, and we're always here to support you. π
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As always, if you have any questions or feedback, don't hesitate to reach out. We're all ears! π
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Until next week, keep capturing those amazing moments!
We've got an exciting success story that combines the thrill of NFL action with the power of NowCandid's innovative software. π·β¨
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Touchdown for Jowdy Photography and NowCandid!
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Jowdy Photography, the Official Photographers of the Dallas Cowboys, recently took their game day photography to the next level by integrating NowCandid into their operations.
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The result? An astounding 103% increase in sales per image at their very first game day event using our platform! π
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"We saw a huge increase in sales per image at our first game with NowCandid, and we're planning to continue using it for every game moving forward," said Jeff Jowdy, Founder of Jowdy Photography. "The software has completely changed our approach to game day photography."
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Game-Changing Technology
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By leveraging NowCandid's cutting-edge features, Jowdy Photography streamlined their workflow and delivered a seamless experience for fans.
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Our platform's real-time image delivery and flexible workflows gave fans instant access to their photos through private, user-friendly galleries.
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Not only did this enhance the fan experience, but it also significantly reduced post-event labor costs. Talk about a win-win! π
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Unlocking New Opportunities
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With NowCandid, Jowdy Photography has opened doors to new ventures that were previously off the table. "There were business opportunities that we didnβt pursue before because they werenβt profitable or photographable," Jeff explained. "Now, with NowCandid's tools and workflows, those ventures have become entirely possible."
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From high school graduations to corporate events, our flexible and intuitive platform allows photographers to handle events of all sizes and types. This versatility is what drew Jowdy Photography to integrate NowCandid into more aspects of their business.
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Looking Ahead
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We're thrilled to see Jowdy Photography's continued success as they capture unforgettable moments at game days and beyond. Their partnership with NowCandid highlights the power of innovative photography solutions in revolutionizing the fan experience while driving business growth. π
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Join the Winning Team!
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Are you ready to elevate your photography business like Jowdy Photography did?
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Discover how NowCandid can transform your workflow, boost your sales, and delight your clients.
Founded in 1987, Jowdy Photography has become a leader in digital photography for corporations, associations, special events, and large venues.
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Their extensive knowledge of photography, coupled with their utilization of the latest technology, enables them to deliver a unique blend of quality, creativity, and personalization to their customers' finished products.
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Stay tuned for more success stories and tips on how NowCandid can help you capture life's best moments while growing your business.
Candy here, and Iβm super excited to share a brand-new feature designed to make your SportsPics Events even easier to manageβintroducing GroupTags! πβ½πβΎ
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So, what exactly are GroupTags? π€
β GroupTags is a feature made specifically for our SportsPics Program!
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When youβre managing a big sports shoot with group photos, GroupTags helps you stay organized and deliver a smoother experience for your clients.
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Hereβs how it works:
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1. Before your Event
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You can set up as many GroupTags as you need within an Event. These GroupTags could be team names, league divisions, or even different sports if you're covering all of one school's teams over the same weekend. π
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2. Once youβve started photographing
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Anytime you mark a photo as a Group Photo (either on the Capture &Β Upload App, or on the Web Dashboard), youβll have the option to assign a GroupTag to it. πΈ
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3. Once They Visit the Retail Site
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Your subjects will be able to choose from the GroupTags you set up, and easily find their group shots!
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As soon as they arrive to the retail site via their person gallery link, they'll be prompted to choose a GroupTag.
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4. Mission Accomplished!
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And once they select a GroupTag, they'll see their personal images, in addition to their Group Photos!
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How does this help your clients?
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To recap:
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With their GroupTag selected, their Group Photos will show up right alongside their individual images, making it super easy for them to see everything at once! πΌοΈ
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Plus! GroupTags automatically fill in the GroupTag Name on products like Memory Mates, Bag Tags, and more when ordering. How cool is that? β¨
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Need to make changes? No problem!
β GroupTags are easy to edit after the Event if you need to fix a mistake or assign a Group Photo to multiple GroupTags. And donβt worryβif thereβs ever a typo or minor error, your customers can still browse and shop while you fix it in the background! ποΈ
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Works with all Workflows!
β Whether youβre using Face Matching or Positive ID Workflows, GroupTags are a fantastic way to organize your Group Photos for large sports leagues or any big SportsPics Event. β‘
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Quick Recap:
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As a reminder, marking a photo as a Group Photo will only allow it to be purchased on Group Photo Products, allowing you to sell them on different prints at different prices, prevent the sale of digital downloads for Group Photos, and allow them to be selected on multi-image products like Memory Mates.
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We hope GroupTags makes your next SportsPics Event even smoother!
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As always, feel free to reach out with any questions. π
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