Chapter 10, Part One: Organization Goals; False Start

Here’s what I’m thinking. There are a lot of small-studio photographers out there who don’t know the first thing about marketing on the internet. I know the first two things, so that’s a good enough head start. Basically what I want to do is help small-studio photographers all over the United States develop web-based marketing campaigns.
I see three or four major vehicles for doing this. All of them are based on the content-driven philosophy of David Scott.

• Google AdWords and Facebook Ads
• Blogs that double as landing pages
• Permission-based e-mail campaigns
• Facebook and MySpace Profiles and viral marketing

But those are products, aren’t they. Let me just think out loud for a while and then get things in the right format and order. Because I have a keen sense that each of these near-products solves major problems for studio owners.
Here are some more things that are on my mind:

• I want to manage campaigns. I think a piece of value that I can add is from a mass of accumulated data. In other words, because I am doing this for small studios all over the country, I can amass more data about which keywords work, which ad text works, and I will have more experience and information at hand than a small studio would in order to maximize click-through rates.
  The principle or critical success factor that derives from this is that I have to develop the processes and disciplines to systematically analyze that data
• I want to write ads. I want to develop an evolving and continuously improving library of ads for photographers in a variety of categories from senior portraits to weddings to family photographers so that I can provide successful ad copy to my clients.
• I want to optimize landing pages. I want to develop the best landing pages in the photography universe – landing pages that create business for my clients.
• I want to go viral. I want to help my clients develop a following on Facebook and MySpace that will drive business to their studio. I want to do this by creating and optimizing their profiles and managing their fan recruiting and, to an extent, correspondence.
  This will involve a major philosophical shift for some people about protecting electronic imagery.
• I want to develop an evolving and continuously improving library of articles for small-studio photographers that become the fodder for their permission-based e-mail marketing efforts.In all this, I am talking about content more than appearance. I do not want to get involved in web-site design. I also do not want to get involved in search-engine optimization.

Alas, these are still products, aren't they.