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Selling is a dirty word for helping people get what they wanted in the first place.
Being successful as a creative isn’t easy.
Competition is high, clients often don’t see the value in your work, and it’s hard to differentiate yourself from everyone else.
But not for portrait photographer Arek Rainzcuk of Five Castles Photography.
Arek is an expert at creating a remarkable customer experience for his clients, from the moment they meet him to the delivery of the photographs.
As a result, he only does shoots on weekends, he’s always booked out, and clients happily pays him thousands of dollars for each job – and we’re not talking commercial jobs for businesses. Nope, his clients include couples, families and single parents.
What’s more – he does this all without a strong online presence. Yes, he has a Facebook page and a website, but apart from this, he doesn’t do ANY online marketing. Wow!
Notes from the episode:
- Arek’s favourite podcasts:
- Joe Rogen – long podcasts are good for long drives!
- The Truth – movies for your ears
- Hardcore History – epic history podcast (best for long road trips)
- How Arek based his business names on his market segmentation.
- The attention to detail he goes to – he invites clients to his gallery, where he has a hand carved throne and sofa, quill and ink, hot wax stamp for sealing contracts and French earl grey tea!
- What’s a ‘business portrait’? Shows what you do without having to explain it. NOT a head shot. “A head shot is a passport photo.”
- What does Arek say when people ask him what he does? “I help people celebrate what they value most in their lives.”
- How he has different business cards for each segment – and he makes them SO COOL you can never throw them out.
- How to differentiate yourself – figure out WHO you want to work with and how much money you want to make. Create your client avatar – Arek did this for each ‘Castle’
- Paint a very precise picture of the person you want to work with. Discover how Arek did his!
- Why Arek doesn’t email his clients – you read that correctly.
- Why he doesn’t sell clients the digital files – “For us as photographers the files are like selling a cow when someone just wants milk.”
- How he turns a photography session into a “beautiful adventure” – “[Clients] usually ask me after the session whether I was even there taking photos.”
- “Selling is a dirty word for helping people get what they want in the first place.”
- Details matter. Take your ideas to the next level and make it really unique.
- Arek’s inspiration – Jesh Derox, Canadian photographer
Connect with Arek:
- See how he segments his markets at Five Castles Portraits
- Like his Facebook page (yes, he’s moving slowly into the online world!)
- Are you in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs? Contact Arek at info[at]fivecastles.com.au, and you may be lucky enough to get an invite to his beautiful gallery in Belgrave for some French earl grey tea and cookies 😉
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