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My daughter wanted a toy that my son was playing with. She’s still young enough that when she wants something, she does anything she can to get it.
But this time, instead of ripping it out of his hands with brute force, she tried a different tactic.
Not only did she get the toy she wanted, but she did it without any fighting. He willingly handed it over. There was no arguing, screaming, and I didn’t have to stop working to dole out the consequences.
I was in shock (and thankful not to have to intervene!), but it reminded me that this is exactly the same thing we need to do to get more clients.
So let’s dive in and break it down, step-by-step, so you can get more photography clients for your business as well.
The exchange
So what did my daughter do differently this time? Instead of taking the toy from her brother, she found a different toy of his that he likes and started to remind him why he loved it and that he should play with it instead. It took her several tries, but eventually she got what she wanted.
Approach #1: “Don’t you want to play with this toy? It’s lots of fun.”
Didn’t work. He was already having fun with the toy he currently had that she wanted. This didn’t stop her. She just tried again.
Approach #2: “Look at how cool the wheels are! I bet it drives fast!”
Again, didn’t work. The toy he had also had cool features that he was still exploring. So she tried another angle.
Approach #3: “But you’ll be a fast race car driver if you play with this one.”
Jackpot. He quickly hands over the toy she wanted, she gives him the car, and off he goes driving around the living room imagining himself as a fast race car driver.
Why did approach #3 finally work?
Selling stuff doesn’t work
In the first two approaches, it was all about the toy. It’s fun. It has cool features.
No one cares about the stupid toy.
No one cares about your photography or products, either, no matter how amazing they are.
My son didn’t care about the features of the toy car. But he dreams of being a fast race car driver, and being able to live the dream in his mind was enough to get him to trade toys with her.
You are not selling stuff. You are selling dreams and aspirations. Click to tweet this quote
So the real question is, what are your clients’ dreams and desires?
What do people REALLY want when looking for a photographer?
So what is it people really want from professional photography? What are they dreaming of and desiring for?
The answer to this is how you’ll get more clients than you can handle.
For example, with boudoir photography, women want to look gorgeous. They want to feel like a model. They want their husbands to see these photos and feel desire.
They don’t care about an album until you tell them how it fills their desires.
So when you create your boudoir marketing, don’t just say you get these cool THINGS, tell them that they’ll get to be the woman they desire to be and experience what it’s like to be a model.
This is what will bring clients in the door. Do this for each type of photography you offer your clients as the desires and dreams will be different for each type.
A change in mindset and marketing
Now that you know what your clients really want, take some time to think about all the different places you can talk about this.
From your marketing materials to your website to your facebook posts, stop talking about you and your stuff and start talking about their desires.
Not good at writing? This ebook has a whole chapter about how to write to convert visitors into paying clients (and it’s even on sale through Wednesday, September 19th for $60 off!!!!) It will help you identify the desires of your clients through “dream sheets” and share how to turn your website into a client magnet, but it applies to every area of your photography business. Click to check it out now! (affiliate link)
When you’re doing a sales session, don’t talk about the features of the products or how cool they are, talk about how they will accomplish the desires they have. This should permeate every part of your business from their first interaction until their products are delivered.
Just like my son gladly gave up the toy he was playing with for an old toy he’d played with many times in the past, your clients will gladly and willingly give up their money if you can give them what they really want. You’ll have no problems booking the exact type of clients you want in your business.
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