Recently I had a conversation with a friend, Dave Moser. Dave is a photographer based in Philadelphia and strong supporter of the ASMP. In fact it was he that pushed me to join and get involved. While we were on the phone I congratulated him on his latest marketing campaign and decided to ask him a few questions for a blog entry. Below is what he said.
A little background about Dave. He graduated #1 in his class from the University of Dayton with a BFA in 1990 and started full time in 94 after being the most booked assistant in Philly.
When you first started how did you do your marketing?
Marketing is something I have never really made enough time for. I was very fortunate to run a strong business based on word of mouth. I am now looking to grow my business and work more consistently with top creatives who hire based on style and collaboration rather then locale and price. In January 2008 I started consistent efforts by hiring a team to help. This has proven to be a great choice and I am now heavily involved directly with the marketing along with overseeing the team. The team consists of Ian Summers (coach), Anna Adesanya (marketing coordinator), David Samson of Adville (copywriter) and Partners Design (Design Firm). This allows me to wear less hats and do what I really love to do, take pictures! I have not only gained more time after delegating these things but have gained an enormous amount of energy as I am not bogged down with things that are not my strengths!
What influenced you to make changes (if any) to target very specific audiences? Unlike many others that apply a shotgun affect to their marketing.
I want to work for top creatives at Ad Agencies, Design Studios, and Magazines. I am less concerned with the "company" and more concerned with what I saw as great work from an individual. I am now seeking to build relationships with these individuals and looking to maintain them as they move from job to job. I believe this industry is about relationships (even more so then other industries) and this seems to be the best way of growing my business/marketing virally as well as keeping pace with such a transient industry.
What can you expect for the next year's efforts in marketing as we start to ease out of these 'tough times'?
I have received some really great unsolicited national press and really great feedback on my campaign but have been told that there has been very little work out there. Some of the strongest feedback has been about how memorable the campaign and my work is. With continued consistent efforts and follow up, I hope to be considered for the projects that are now starting to materialize. Just in the last three weeks work has picked up profoundly, and I attribute this to our marketing efforts.
What organization would you say helped you the most in your path to success as a photographer?
ASMP and Editorial Photographers. Since the beginning of the internet photographers are less likely to be islands and are more willing to share information. This has greatly empowered us as an industry. There is still much to learn from networking, thank you Aaron for this opportunity, and working together in numbers to insure the profitability and sustainability of our industry.
Anything else that you think a 'self-promoting photographer' should consider on their path?
I believe creatives are very interested in seeing our personal work and experiments along with our commissioned work. Our personal work shows not only where we are going but hopefully shows something new unique and exciting. This also provides a chance to expose them to our passion and why we entered and remain in photography.
Check out Dave's work at http://www.dwmphoto.com/
AA
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