One of the most important parts of any business is marketing. But one aspect of marketing people sometimes forget is marketing to your own industry. Networking is one of the most powerful tools in business and especially photography where there are thousands of competitors. We rely on other vendors to put in a word with their brides to help us stand out from the online pack. So how do you get vendors talking about you? Well it is not something you can easily do overnight. It has to do with building genuine relationships and making people remember you. I met Jan Hill Mcbee of La Fate Weddings at a networking event at Ashton Gardens Atlanta and was lucky enough to have her refer me a client recently. I greatly appreciate when people in the business help me out and I want to thank them. I learned about a concept of “High Touch Marketing” from the book Worth Every Penny by Sarah Petty. She explains how to develop a premium boutique business model and High Touch Marketing as one of your main strategies. It means going above and beyond with clients you get to leave a lasting impression and differentiate yourself as a service that is worth the cost. Sending surprise gifts to clients is one of her main strategies of making her clients love her. I got the idea to do this with vendors as well from Taun Henderson and his blueprint workshop. He mentioned that anytime a vendor meets with him he sends them a handwritten thank you card. Being that handwritten notes are such a lost art they really stand out. So I decided to make custom branded thank you cards which I ordered from Mi
llers Lab and put in movie tickets to send to Jan as a thank you. Hopefully this lets her know how much I appreciate her referral and helps foster a strong business relationship.
