Web marketing in action

[Brian Turner]

I wanted some promotional photos doing, so I could put a portrait pic of myself on business cards, and also put something on my business website.

So I looked in the Yellow Pages at all the photographers listed, and took website details from each.

I started with a list of 12.

Some of the URLs simply did not work - either a 404, or simply a holding page from the registration company (how professional is that?).

Other sites simply did not work properly - pages missing and no e-mail address, for example (how professional is that?).

In the end, I narrowed it down to just 3 sites - one of which seemed to specialise in wedding photography only. So that left me with just 2 photographers.

I sent e-mails to both and only one replied.

I arranged a photo-shoot, and the photos are done.

I'm not sure I actually like the photos - there's a certain bleached quality to them, and for £80 I would have expected more than just digital pics. However, it was what I needed and it's done for the moment. Maybe I'll look at recommendations next time.

However, the fact is that he got the job because the vast majority of his competition could not be bothered to have a proper online presence.

And I'm pretty sure that he's going to get much more custom in the future because of it.

But that's what happens when you put even a little effort into having an online presence - especially when the competition is so poor.

And as a postscript, I now have 9 photographers to market my own wares too.