Commercial photography: an unnecessary luxury or an economic elevator?
The latest crisis causes businesses and organizations to cut down on expenses. In times of crisis the instinct of many people is to bend down and wait for the wave to pass without slamming them to the bottom. The question then arises; is hiring a photographer considered a luxury that should be included in the cutbacks or … could photography help the business cope with the crisis in another way?
When everyone digs in their tunnels – show yourself!
I believe that economical crisis is not the time to be passive and wait. I think now is the time to be creative, initiative and active, thus turn the latest developments to elevate your business. A corporate should go on with press releases with photographs that express "business as usual" such as latest activities, deals, customer relations event and more. This way the corporate demonstrates stability and sends out a message to its clients and potential ones – we are here, we are strong and our business is as safe as it was before the crisis. When the competitors are busy re-organizing and making cutbacks, I recommend my clients not to neglect marketing and publicity efforts and take advantage of the competitor's confusion to elevate their businesses.
And how do I personally act in this time?
Live up to my principles! I believe that the same attitude should be applied to a photography business as well. Marketing efforts should be scaled up. This is not the time for me to get busy on cutbacks; instead I should be accelerating projects that have been delayed too long, and focus on getting new clients and assignments. New initiatives must be launched soon in order to develop my business by providing an added value to my customers that are struggling against the crisis.
To summarize, a cliche that will remain actual forever
A picture is worth a thousand words. And when commentary columns pour thousands of words analyzing the situation, your business can use photography to send out a message of 1000 winning words. Think about that…
Remember: we (professional photographers) are here to help elevate businesses by providing good photographs. All professional photographers should keep that in mind on their marketing efforts in these days.
Good luck to you all, think positive!
