Marketing Lessons from This Weekend

As mentioned in my last post, I attended the first annual Fitness STAR competition in Toronto, at the Palais Royale on Lake Ontario. It was a long day (nearly 11 hours) and I shot 975 images (worth 14.9GB of space on my hard drive).

Fitness STAR put a call out for photographers to come and shoot the show, on the condition that we give Fitness STAR a number of images they can use for promotion.

Late in the day, a photographer sat down next to me and asked what camera I was shooting with. This is a common question — photographers are constantly trying to one up another with their toys or the size of their lenses. I told him I was shooting with a Nikon D200. He then remarked, “Wow. If I’m not getting paid, I’m not going to bother bringing my good camera or trying very hard. That’s why I only have this XTi. [A mid-range Canon model]”

This struck me as odd. He was basically saying that he has no interest in making a good impression. What if the organizers are looking to hire someone to shoot the next competition, come across your lousy photos, and immediately dismiss you as a result? All because you weren’t getting paid. Which makes me wonder — why were you there in the first place?

Photography is a business like any other, which means that marketing is crucial. Some businesses donate money to charity, some give away coupons for discounts or free products or services, some partner with other local businesses… and it’s all done in the name of promoting your enterprise. Essentially you’re sacrificing something for the goodwill and sales that you’ll reap the benefit of down the road.

Right?

Above: Justine Munro in her first-ever fitness competition. She won in her category (Level 1 Athletic Tall).