One of the most important aspects of marketing your business is having great images on your website and other marketing materials. In my position, I see a lot of websites, and I can’t tell you how many have lots of text but poor images.
People today don’t have time to read all that you have to say, but they will look at the pictures. Great photography sells product more than words. So have lots of pictures and get straight to the point with your copy.
Robyn Pollman (above right) began like many moms just taking photos of her children. Then it spread to photos of her friends’ children. After two years of getting many requests for photo shoots, she felt the timing seemed right to set up a business and get paid for it. She started Buttons and Bows Photography in the Tampa Bay, FL in 2006 then moved it to Orlando the next year.
Her Paperie Boutique photography blog was originally a photo set on her personal Flickr account where she had over 5,750 followers. She shared her business packaging and product presentation photos there. In 2009 she moved the “heart” of that photo set over to the Paperie Boutique blog, added additional commentary, and sought out packaging, presentation, and marketing ideas from other photographers and photography-related vendors. The site quickly gained a loyal following.
Now five years later she has two blogs, three Twitter accounts, and two Facebook accounts for her businesses. She has had almost 900,000 unique hits to her blog since she started, and now she averages 50,000 – 60,000 unique hits per month which makes her a true queen of blog land.
We are honored Robyn promotes Nashville Wraps packaging on her site. She states, “Nashville Wraps has such a wide variety of colors and styles for packaging – you’re not limited to one look or color.” The eco-friendly product lines are very popular with her followers. “Because the products are extremely affordable for those just starting out – a brand can look high-end while remaining on a budget.” France Photography, one of her followers, showcases our Pink & Black Duets Paper Bags.
Nashville Wraps’ customers can brand their businesses with great photography as well. Robyn believes it’s important to take photos of your packaging and merchandise and include them on your website and blog for potential customers.
When hiring a professional photographer, Robyn recommends looking through their website or blog. Make sure you see more than one image from a particular session. It’s easy to get one good shot per session. But is the photographer capable of maintaining that same quality throughout?
Robyn is a Nikon girl herself, but if you want camera recommendations to photograph your products yourself, she encourages you to get professional advice from someone like kenrockwell.com.
Nashville Wraps’ photographer Jackson DeParis also has these tips: don’t be afraid of close-up shots of your product and always name your pictures with keys words and/or your business name so they come up in the search engines. For those do-it-yourselfers, he says the iPhone camera has amazing picture quality for easy uploads along with user-friendly editing tools.
Finally, Robyn’s most important tip for other entrepreneurs, “Marketing, marketing, marketing! If you want your business name to be on everyone’s lips, it’s your responsibility to put it there. Understand the importance of Google ranking and SEO, and research them if you don’t.”
