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10 Things I've learned about Offline Marketing as a Google Certified Trusted Photographer...

by RentItNow
17 replies
Yup, I'm still alive. I am now a certified Google trusted photographer which is a glorified title (or not so glorified). Previously I was a full time offline marketer selling mainly cheap websites and adwords testing. The only thing that has changed is my initial (lost leader) product and the price of my services and level of client. So here are ten things I learned in this two month process.

  1. Google is king. Anything you can do to align yourself with Google is going to make you a fortune. When I walk into a store with a Google Shirt on, where I used to get sneers when I asked to leave a flyer for the owner, I get VERY pleasant conversations and more important, the gatekeepers hand my flyer to a decision maker and MOST important, I get a call from the owner looking to setup my service (1 to 3 out of 20 flyers). Bad conversations are few and far between. I have a very tested 30 second elevator speech that works extremely well and hits all the important values fast. Had a client tell me later that I used the exact keywords he needed to hear to trigger a buying response.
  2. Do not oversell your services. You have a VERY valuable service (at least in the owners mind) if they are calling you. They are pretty well already sold when I walk in. I place a contract and pen down and answer any of their concerns and get them to sign on the line that is dotted. No work without it. I walk out with a cheque as well.
  3. EVERY client that I have photographed their store wants to sign up for further marketing services, the most important being Google Places optimization (now Google + Local). This is key because here I am in front of them, certified by Google and the complete Expert in their minds and most likely to help them because no one out there can offer what I am offering. This is very key and is what has changed my business 180 degrees. I guess you can call it piggybacking on the credibility of another service.
  4. If someone is willing to pay you $100 for a valuable service, there is someone that will pay you five to ten times that and tell you THAT is a deal. Some of the value you are adding to bigger companies, they are used to paying BIG money for and why not be the one they pay. I took one photograph that they were used to paying $1000 for and they were happy as anything to pay $500. Took me minutes. The lesson is, know what your customer values and how much they usually pay and offer it at a discount. You are still making a killing at charging half the going rate.
  5. The press adds instant credibility. One short story in the newspaper and people then believe your 30 second speech.
  6. Scarcity works. I tested this VERY thoroughly. If someone thinks they only have till the end of the week to save $100 off a $600 site or in my case I tell them I am only in their area for a short time, your phone will ring off the hook on Friday.
  7. Any flyer will do. I actually had a better response with a grayscale 5 cent flyer than a colorful flyer. Any information you provide someone the better. Owners want information and they want to be able to research that information easily and see it is legit.
  8. Owners are DESPERATELY in need of your offline skills. If they are saying they are not, it usually means they cant afford you or your credibility is not high enough yet. Work on that credibility however you can.
  9. There is an ideal customer you are looking for. I know mine extremely well and have directed all my marketing to finding that ideal customer fast. I do not waste time on the ones I am 80% sure will not give a cr_p about my service. This was hard at first and I had to really change my “bomb everyone” mentality.
  10. Google has big plans. To go against the grain is not going to work. I see a lot of marketers directing their efforts away from Google products and methods and trying to trick Google. If they spent as much time making their customers more relevant and showing them how to make use of Google's need to push local businesses, they would be busy for the rest of their lives.
#certified #google #learned #marketing #offline #photographer #things #trusted
  • Profile picture of the author thomasmps
    how do you become a official photographer?
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  • Profile picture of the author AussieT
    Very interesting will have to read all about how to become a G photographer after lunch.
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  • Profile picture of the author RentItNow
    My point was more to encourage offline marketers that businesses are dying for your services...it's just a matter of building that officialness or believability that the word Google has. I have seen a side of businesses I would have never seen without this opportunity and am thankful for that but it is something anyone can achieve with other methods. Not sure which, but I am sure you can do it.

    The program is sort of limited and takes about a month or so to certify but if your area is open, you can check at: Business Photos ? Google Maps you can change the .com to .ca or whatever.
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    I have no agenda but to help those in the same situation. This I feel will pay the bills.
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  • Profile picture of the author mike3188
    I got invited to submit a portfolio and resume for an interview and did not do it because I did not have a portfolio. Do you have any suggestions?
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  • Profile picture of the author Simon Marco
    This is really nice sharing . i liked you post. but i think there is lot of information which you can share . i hope to read soon new updates .
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    Wholesale Promotional Products | Win Tickets
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    • Profile picture of the author ronr
      Thanks for the informative post. It takes a pretty good investment in equipment to become certified photographer with Google so glad it's paying off for you.
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  • Profile picture of the author RentItNow
    Forgive as I am going to mix answers here. I am not sure about their current recruiting process as to me it seemed more dependent on if your area is saturated or not.

    Yes it was a HUGE outlay of equipment but it was paid in about 1 month of work and that is just the photography itself not the web/marketing work I gained from it.

    Many Google Photographers do order from the Google Store those exact shirts. I have had luck with a simple embroider shirt but be careful not to represent yourself as a Google employee as you are not just because you wear their shirt.

    Just to confirm, I was not advocating representing yourself as Google but trying to get you to align yourself with something positive and recognizable and professional. Remember they are going to judge you more than you have ever been judged in a business situation. They are used to 100 people like you walking thru that door with something to sell them. Defuse that. Build a relationship with them. As I said, EVERY place I have photographed wants to sign up for further web services. They have been jilted, ripped off, have no idea how to get more people in the door and need to be told about the latest and greatest as well as the old school marketing methods. That can easily be you with or without a google shirt on as long as they perceive you as an expert.
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    I have no agenda but to help those in the same situation. This I feel will pay the bills.
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  • Profile picture of the author Financially Committed
    Awesome insight. Any chance you would share your 30 second elevator speech or at least what makes it so effective?
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  • Profile picture of the author bizgrower
    Thanks for the share.
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    "If you think you're the smartest person in the room, then you're probably in the wrong room."

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  • Profile picture of the author Huskerdarren
    RentItNow, excellent, excellent post.

    Agree completely on Google. Find ways to work with them and leverage their name power to your advantage. It adds instant credibility.

    Point 6 is spot on too. Writing an excellent press release about you business is an inexpensive and rock solid idea. Everyone that sells IM services (or other) should do this. Fiverr is an excellent place to start for a draft and to push out the PR. Good stuff!
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  • Profile picture of the author WebdevelopmentGroup
    This is an excellent post and I like it. Continue doing so and I will look for further post from you.
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    WebDevelopmentGroup NYC & CA- Small Business Web Development, App Development, WordPress Development, Graphic Designs, Online Marketing, Local Marketing & more!. "Call us 1.800.219.1314 or message us!". Visit us today! "Now On Live Chat Mon-Fri.". www.WebDevelopmentGroup.org
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