You take great photographs but nobody ever sees them.

You’ve got tons of high-quality images ready for sale…but nobody ever buys them.

You could shoot a wedding 100 times better than your competition…but you get few calls from prospective clients.

Why is that?

Well….assuming that you’re actually pretty good (and not deluding yourself), the only explanation is that you aren’t marketing yourself well. People just aren’t finding you when they’re looking for a photographer.

If you’re a photographer today trying to sell your prints and/or your services, you have to be found online.  How you go about getting found will determine your success or failure in your business.

How can you be found online? You need an inbound marketing strategy for your business.

What is Inbound Marketing?

Inbound marketing is best defined as marketing done in such a way that your potential customers come to you.  Inbound marketing is permission based marketing…it isn’t interruption marketing.

Jump over to HubSpot (THE authority on inbound marketing) to read more on the topic of inbound marketing and keep your eye on this blog as I’ll be writing more about inbound marketing strategies and tactics for photographers.

Inbound marketing can provide a tremendous boost to your business.

When was the last time you acted on some offer sent to you via a postcard, cold call or spam email?  Probably been a while. While postcards are still a good way for some photographers to reach their target market, they aren’t ideal…the cost / benefit ratio is extremely low.  The last research I saw showed less than 1% response rate to postcard mailings…not good.

Now…imagine if you take the money you’d have spent on those postcards and put it to use on the web building your inbound marketing platform.  The money you spend on postcards (or other outbound marketing technique) is a recurring expense…you’ve got to keep spending to get new business.  Inbound marketing spending is an ongoing expense but you really don’t need to invest heavily multiple times – in fact your largest investment might be your time when using an inbound marketing strategy.

Why is Inbound Marketing important?

Why is any marketing important…it means your future as a photographer.

Being a great photographer means something too…but if nobody knows about you, you’ll starve.

Sure, networking and outbound marketing will still work. In fact, working your network is an absolute necessity still…networking your way into a new project or shoot still works well.  Referrals are key in the world of photography.

But…if you are just getting started in the business and/or your marketing hasn’t been working for you, take a look at building an inbound marketing strategy for your business.

This article is the first in a series of articles focused on inbound marketing for photographers.  In future articles, I’ll be providing hints and tips on topics such as:

• Search Engine Optimization – why it’s important & why it’s really not that difficult (actually…it can be but I’ll show you some basics that make it easier)
• Techniques for setting up a website & blog for optimal SEO & Marketing
• Techniques for using free and inexpensive tools for setting up your own gallery/portfolio
• Hints and Tips for using Social Media for spreading the word about yourself and your services
• Why you want to use Flickr and other online photo tools
• How you can market yourself while not marketing yourself
• + more!

Look for more of articles on inbound marketing for photographers in the near future.

Related posts:

1. Book Review: Inbound Marketing – How to get Found
2. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for Photographers
3. SEO Tips for Photographers: On-page optimization