One of the toughest things in an economy like ours is to not have the phone ring or have potential clients not contacting/calling. I was talking to a local photographer who was obviously discouraged that his phone hadn’t been ringing. “I don’t understand it,” he told me, “I’ve done three bridal shows and no one is contacting me.”

I asked him, “What are you doing to work the leads from the show?”, knowing that we receive all the attendee lists with email/snail mail addresses. Unfortunately, he hadn’t done much of anything with all those potential leads.

With the economy the way it is, it’s not enough to simply sit back and let your work speak for itself. Right now it is more important to set yourself apart from your competition. What are you doing to add more value to your current services? Are there value-added items/services that you can add without it impacting your bottom line? This is a much better solution instead of panicking and lowering your prices (but we’ll talk about that subject in a totally different article).

It’s always important to work your leads. If you have done a bridal show, are you using an email software such as Constant Contact or Emma to send out information to brides after the show? Using this kind of marketing campaign it’s important to not be pushy or over selling yourself. However, this is a perfect opportunity to let brides know of your value-added services that you are doing for your business. Let them know if you’ve recently been in the news, won an award or other recognition. Give out tips or something that would be interesting to a bride/groom. Promote your blog with a giveaway. This marketing is putting your business in front of a potential client. In fact, in advertising it is called Top of Mind Awareness or TOMA.

You never know when a client will want to make a decision to use your services. You’ll want your business name to “pop” into their head when they are starting the interview process.

Networking is another great tool. There is the social media avenues such as; Twitter and Facebook. But don’t forget your local vendors. Get involved with a local charity and groups that meet. Donate your services to a non-profit group that will get your business name out there to people and gain some free exposure. It’s good for your business as well as, helping others will make you feel great.

Happy Selling!