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Ways to Incorporate Greater Causes Into Your Business Model AND Gain Clients
In this solo recap episode, I discuss the most important points and takeaways from my recent chat with Angela Popplewell, Executive Director of 100cameras.
Here’s a recap of what I rant about in this episode:
Today I want to talk about incorporate a charity or cause into your photography business that you’re passionate about. We touched on this in my chat with Angela. It’s a great way to both distinguish your photography business from everyone else, and also to help give back to your community.
Pick a cause or charity to work with that’s greater than yourself to incorporate into your photography business.
The following are a couple examples:
Example 1: Throw a Portrait Party That Directly Benefits a Charity/Cause/Organization
You could throw a portrait party event that directly benefits the cause. An added bonus is that your chosen organization/charity may help you promote.
Example: I recently threw a portrait party in conjunction with a local Woman’s Life chapter. Woman’s life is throughout the United States, and we have a ton of chapters here in Port Huron. They are community-minded, vibrant women that love raising money for local causes and charities. They actually approached me about the portrait party, and proposed that a portion of each portrait sitting fee go to a local charity that they select. I said great.
So we picked a charity in our town and set a date. We created a flyer together that had both of our logos on it. Then, they did all of the marketing for me. They lined up over a dozen excited women, and even provided the food. I provided the music, the location, and the portraits, of course.
It was a win for me, a win for Women’s Life, and a win for the charity we chose. In this case, the Woman’s Life organization was a sort of middle man for the charity we chose, but you could easily directly approach a charity. Now, I’d say don’t expect the organization you work with to do all of the marketing for you, but they will probably at least help you with it, because it’s in their best interest to do so.
Example 2: Create a Photo Calendar That Incorporates a Charity/Cause/Organization
You could create a photo calendar creation. (This was also a great tip from the Mind Your Own Business Podcast). Come up with a theme that ties into a community charity, and also bring in some of the members of the community to be featured in your calendar. Add some key dates from your local community to bring into the calendar.
I haven’t done this, but I’m planning to. I could create a calendar of 12 Strong Business Women, for example, since I primarily work with businesses in the area. I could work with a local chapter of the Woman’s Life organization, and select 12 awesome women to do portraits of. I could even use the portraits from the portrait party. I could totally get each woman’s personal story of triumph in about 100 words, and lay it out with their photo in the calendar. That would make an awesome, inspiring calendar. Then we could sell if for a fee, and donate the proceeds to a local charity. Not bad, right? It maximizes my exposure, and theirs.
The possibilities are endless, so do some brainstorming on what you could do with your business. It feels great to work for a cause greater than just wanting to pay your bills (which is important too). But when you benefit other organizations and charities, it adds momentum to your photography business, and also makes your marketing message more positive when you tell people what you do.