Having worked with 100's of small businesses as the in-house ad photographer for Ohio's largest publisher I learned first hand the challenges facing small businesses regarding advertising. To a large degree they have to trust the latest person coming through their door selling ads in whatever publication or direct mail program etc. The odds of you getting a positive return on your investment are not all that good. The largest problem is that the people selling the ads have no clue about how to do effective advertising.
One example I have is a Lakewood, Ohio pizza shop. She needed photos for her ad and immediately she brought out a selection of national pizza chain ads as examples of what she wanted. She had no clue that these national chains may spend $10,000.00 on photographers, food stylists and art directors to do one of these photos. I don't think the person that sold her the ad knew either. Now it came down to working with this small business owner to decide the best approach to take on a limited budget.
My first suggestion was to take advantage of being a local small pizza shop and not one of the national chains. When you don't have the big budget for photography or even running enough ads to build name recognition you have to focus on what you do have. We agreed, the photos should be of a pizza that looks "home made", from a small shop where the owner probably made the pizza. Based on younger people buy more pizza and that younger people are more likely to not only not call the national chain but prefer the local pizza shop if the pizza's good. Her advantage was being herself and advertising a pizza that looks home made. Her best advertising and return on the investment on her budget would be buzz and people love to talk about "the place" they found for a great pizza. A few well placed ads could get the buzz started.
My also working with ad agencies I know that they can't afford to have clients with a pizza shop ad budget. For small businesses that don't have the ad agency size ad budget you should talk to people. Photographers with experience in advertising photography is a good start. Not only get the prices for photography but see what suggestions they have regarding where best to advertise on a small budget. See if they can refer you to a free-lance designer.
Running a small business means finding the time to talk to designers of photographers about not only their costs but also to learn their thoughts on cost effective advertising is a well worth while investment. Especially if you can't afford an agency with the team. We all network to find customers so why not network to build your own "in-house" ad agency?
DOUGLAS Commercial Photography
440-899-9300 or 800-226-1083
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