Tracking the People Who Market For You

[by Colleen Wainwright]

There’s no question that tools like email newsletters, trackable bit.ly URLs and other digital tools with baked-in statistics are a boon to businesses wanting to market themselves. You can test different approaches and come up with meaningful measures of how comparatively successful your efforts have been.

But one of the most effective ways of leveraging your existing marketing is even simpler than that, and woefully overlooked: keeping track of the people who refer business to you.

Think about what usually happens when you give a referral, and you’ll understand what I mean. A colleague needs a recommendation–for a plumber, a graphic designer, a stylist–and you serve one up. Often you’ll get a thank-you from the service provider (with or without accompanying graft). But imagine if along with the thank-you, that service provider came back to you with specifics of how the job went? And imagine if then, six months down the line, you received a follow-up note of thanks, along with news of another terrific job the provider had been able to do for your colleague. Provided the provider didn’t go overboard, wouldn’t actually knowing that the job(s) went well make you more likely to keep sending referrals their way? I know it does me.

The people who refer business to you are part of your extended marketing. So take care of them by keeping track of them. You can use a robust database, or a combination of a calendar and the notes field in your Address Book app. But use something. Your business depends on it.

Colleen Wainwright loves the people who refer business to her just as much as the ones who attend her lively ASMP talk on marketing, “Making People Love You Madly.”

Ask, Record, Adjust, Repeat

[by Jenna Close]

Tracking your marketing efforts closely is a great way to understand what is working for you and what isn’t.

For each mailing campaign, I record the recipients, the type of campaign (4×6  postcard, mini-portfolio, etc), size of the mailing, date and the cost.  For broader endeavors, such as a yearly subscription to a list service or, in my case, attending a trade show, I record the full cost for the year.  If a marketing endeavor is essentially free, such as a LinkedIn account, I make note of how much time I spend setting it up, updating my portfolio and resume, etc.

Finally, I monitor responses & booked jobs.  For example, if I received 50 responses from a mailer but only booked one small job, that’s information I can use.  If I spent X dollars on a trade show and had a 0% rate of return within the following year, that tells me something too.

It’s important to remember that marketing campaigns are typically effective over time.  I still want to monitor my efforts in detail, so I can look for patterns and adjust accordingly.  An easy way to start is by asking every potential client a very simple question: “Where did you find me?”  Sometimes the answers are surprising.

Jenna Close spends a lot of time marketing.  So far, it’s been time well spent.  She can be found at www.p2photography.net.   

Easy Tip to Avoid Accidently Erasing Memory Cards

[by Richard Harrington]

©Richard Harrington

I have a tendency to carry a lot (and I mean A LOT) of memory cards on a shoot.  Between shooting panoramic photos, time-lapse sequences, and HD video, I burn through memory cards faster than most.  I find myself needing to be certain that I avoid accidentally erasing data.

Here’s my strategy for safety:

1. Make sure that all memory cards are erased BEFORE going into the field.  Don’t bring cards with data or you’ll sit there wondering if you transferred them already or if you’re about to wipe your only copy.
2. Have two card wallets.  One full and one empty.  Make sure they have the same number of slots.
3. Put the full wallet with all of the blank memory cards into your right pocket.
4. Put the empty wallet with no cards in it in your left pocket.
5. As you shoot cards, place them upside down in the card wallet in your left pocket.
6. Repeat this phrase ten times… The cards in the right pocket are the right cards to shoot with; the cards in my left pocket should be left alone.

I know it’s simplistic…  but it’s saved me more than one time.  Give it a shot.

Richard Harrington is the founder of RHED Pixel, a visual communications company in Washington, D.C. You can read Rich’s blog at www.RichardHarringtonBlog.com as well as follow him on Twitter @rhedpixel. To learn more about time-lapse, HDR, and panoramic photography, explore www.3Exposure.com. If you’d like to check out his books, just swing by his Amazon page.

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