As I mentioned in last week’s tip, the slower winter months are a great time to get the different aspects of your business in good order for the upcoming wedding season. This week’s tip is to make sure the literature for your business is accurate and up to date. I would not only include brochures, business cards, pamphlets, contracts, and postcards in this category, but also the wording on your website or blog as well. Here are some important things to look for when looking over your materials:
Start with the most vital information on these items: your contact information. Did you recently move? Get a new phone number? Have you recently changed websites or created a new blog?
Take a look at your “About Me/Us” information. Have you won any recent awards or joined any important wedding associations lately? Have you recently expanded your studio space? Have you increased your studio’s staff? Keep in mind that people want to find out more about you and your business as it is now, not what is was three years ago.
Next, and perhaps most importantly, make sure all of the products you offer and their pricing is up to date. I say most importantly because this information should clearly spell out what product the client will be receiving and for what price. Any confusion in this area will only lead to trouble when it comes time to settle the bill. Have you recently stopped or started offering certain products? Have you made the switch to a different album manufacturer? Do all of your wedding packages completely list out all that is included?
And that leads us right into the wedding contract. Force yourself to read your own fine print. Are there any procedure or policies that need updating? I would recommend having a lawyer from your area look over your contract. They can help you clear up any grey areas you may have on there.
The whole point of this is to be professional and clear. There should be no reason for you to have to cross out and update old prices on a brochure or an old email address with a pen. That is extremely tacky. I personally feel it’s better to take down their information and send them the correct information later rather than handing them a self-modified brochure or card.
Here’s another little tip as to what I do, you may find another method that works better for you. I like to make a file folder and label it “Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes.” Sorry for the random David Bowie reference but if I find anything to make paperwork a little more enjoyable, I do it. I then put all of my current pieces of business literature into it. This includes everything mentioned at the top of this post as well as a print version of my current website pages that contain text. As the year goes on, if I ever think of a new idea for next years brochure, I jot it down on a post-it note and stick it to that particular item. This could be as major as adding a new product for the following year to just increasing the font size on your website address because you notice that folks are constantly asking you where it’s located on your materials. The idea is that by this time next year you can pull out those items, which hopefully have many notes attached, and get right to work on the modifications.
Finally, don’t be afraid to let others look over your revisions. Especially if you know writing is not your strong suit. Take advantage of any resources you have available to you. It’s hard to call yourself a “professional” photographer if your printed materials sound unprofessional.
That’s it for this week. This won’t be as fun as reviewing & revamping your images but it has to get done. As always, please feel free to share any of your own tips, tricks, and feedback relating to this topic. Thanks for reading!
Dennis “DZ”
Good thoughts DZ. Keeping up is important. Another thing to think about is looking over your site for errors and typos. I change my sites often and have a bad habit of changing text and skipping a thorough proof read. Then I come back later and cringe as I see something really tacky… Gav