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Professional Packet

Due Winter Quarter 2010

You must include the following:

Proof of

Copyright registration of photographs

Membership in professional organization

State and local business licenses

Digital stationary with

Estimate and terms

Invoice and terms

Marketing Materials Assignment

by Seattle Photographer Natalie Fobes

Due March 19, 2010

Be ready to talk about your assignment in class on the March 19th.

Present a hard copy of written materials AND put a copy in my dropbox. Failure to do so will result in a 5% penalty.

You must include the following:

1. Your final schedule for creating and sending your promotional materials Spring Quarter. 10%

1. Use real dates for your action steps as well as dates you plan to send promotional material.

2. Include real printing and design costs in a budget

2. Thirty prospects in a spreadsheet or database 20%

1.  Five media contacts

2.  Include 25 of the people you will be sending your pieces to

3. The spreadsheet or database must include sections for the name, company name, address, phone, email, date of last contact, date of next contact, notes

3. Resume   10%

4. List of four references familiar with your work  10%

Include name, address, email and phone

5. One marketing piece prototype designed with photo and text  30%

Will be graded on effectiveness of design and text, photographic excellence, grammar and creativity of approach.

6. One portrait of yourself for your website 10%

Marketing Plan Assignment                 Due Feb. 19, 2010

By Natalie Fobes

In addition to the information in Chapter 43 of your book, I’ve adapted information from the SBA website http://www.sba.gov/smallbusinessplanner/manage

A detailed marketing plan is critical to the success of your business. The research you do while creating one will help crystallize your ideas about your product and pricing, the differences between you and your competitors, what your target group is and what they want. It will help you form long-range goals for your business and act as a creative catalyst that will separate your business from all the rest. Marketing plans work… but only if you implement them. Your plan should include a clear articulation of your goals and a step-by-step action plan on how you are going to achieve those goals.

This assignment is to create a marketing plan for the promotional materials you will  create in Robbie’s class and my next assignment.

The plan must follow the 7 sections outlined below. The VMS should be written out. But because this is an internal document for your office use only you may use outline form for sections 2-7. Be detailed and make your action steps achievable with your schedule.

I will have samples from last year’s students linked on my blog. Review Chapter 43.

Please print out hard copies and drop digital copies in my drop box.

1. Vision Marketing Statement

This is your vision of who you are as a photographer, your photography and what makes you unique from every other photographer out there. This is the foundation of everything you show to the public. It will help you develop your website and marketing materials. Before you send something out you should look at the photo and make sure it works with this statement.

2. Goals for one, two and five years

Your plan will be for one year but the two and five year goal sets help you plot a course for the future. Be specific in your goals, make them measurable (meaning you know you will achieve them if something happens to prove it worked) and make sure they are achievable within the time frame you’ve set up.

3. Market Analysis

Describe your general target categories. The example in the book is financial services companies and their advertising agencies. Last year one student targeted small breweries.  List 5-10 specific companies complete with contact names, addresses, phones and emails.

Now look at your competition. List their names, address, phones and emails. Look at their websites and analyze what they do.

What do you do that is better than them? How can you capitalize on it?  Analyze what you can emphasize to make you more attractive to potential clients.

4. Determine your overall annual marketing budget

Make it real based on your financial situation right now.

5. List potential marketing tools and their cost.

Determine what marketing tools would have the most bang for the buck.

And include sending out press releases and networking with other professionals in your overall plan.  Both are cheap marketing tools.

The following questions can be useful in deciding what tools to use

1. If my marketing objective is ………..

2. Then the tools or tactics I can use might include…………

An example: The marketing objective is to create awareness of baby photo sessions among mothers of newborns.

Possible tools

Advertise in baby care or motherhood magazines.  $$$$$

Distribute sample prints to obstetricians.  $$

Offer free baby photo seminars to expectant mothers. $

6. Choose your tools and tactics that stay within your marketing budget.

Assign time guidelines

Once you have your marketing objectives defined then you are ready to create your promotion plan that describes the tools and tactics used to accomplish those objectives

7. Action plan: convert the timeline guidelines into specific dates

This is where you get real and get going. It is great to have goals but they can be overwhelming. Break those goals into tasks you can get your arms around. For each  marketing tool you decide to use create a series of action plan items.

For example: you decide to send out direct mail pieces. You will need to research the people you want to receive it, determine the cost of printing and postage, decide on the message of the piece, determine the time needed to create the piece, schedule the time to create it, schedule the time to send it out, decide how to follow-up, schedule the follow-up, write the script for the follow-up phone call.

Be sure to plan your follow-up! Many plans fail because the photographer sends promotional materials but never follows up.

Instructor: Natalie Fobes        Credits: Three (3)

Office Hours: By appointment after class on Fridays. Email me at Natalie@fobesphoto.com or nfobes@sccd.ctc.edu or call me at 206.937.9375 to schedule the appointment.

Text/Supplies: Selling 101, Zig Ziglar. ASMP Best Business Practices, 7^th Edition. Assignments are to be turned in as both digital files and hard copies. BLOG: Assignments, lecture notes and other resource material will be posted at www.fobesphoto.com/blog

Time/Location: Friday at 9 a.m. Lab after lecture

Course Objective: To develop an understanding of real-life photography business practices. By the end of the quarter you will have learned marketing and promotion basics, written a marketing plan and developed potential client lists and a promo piece. You will have learned about taxes, insurance and retirement planning.

Classroom standards

• My expectations will be based on real world business behavior, services and products

• Don’t schedule shoots or appointments until after class.

•Do not surf the web in class. You’ll get a warning the first time. The second, you will leave.

• As stated in the student contract, late assignments are not accepted and are graded as zero unless you have extreme circumstances.

• Absences not emailed or called in before class starts are unexcused. It is your responsibility to check the blog for lecture notes and assignments or to call me for information.

• Poor grammar and misspelling in assignments will be considered. Choose a partner to help you edit your assignments.

• I suggest you “Dress for Success” when guest speakers visit

• I suggest you take notes in class and don’t rely on handouts

• Check the blog regularly.

• No active cell phones except for designated security person

• I expect active involvement and participation and it will be part of your grade

• I expect respect for every person in class. Please pay attention to others who are talking.

• No side conversations please. If you have something to say please say it for all to hear

• Any questions or concerns please make an appointment to meet with me.

• Please review the Student Code of Conduct

To get the most out of this course you must be:

• willing to work hard with a professional attitude
• aware that each assignment is a potential portfolio piece
• motivated to learn more than required for class
• willing to take the responsibility to research on your own

ADA Accommodation: If you need course accommodations based on a documented disability, have any emergency medical information I should know about, or need special arrangements in case of building evacuation, please let me know at beginning of the quarter or as soon as possible.

Schedule: While this schedule reflects my plans for the quarter, I reserve the right to adapt the curriculum as needed.  I will let you know if and when any changes occur.

Materials students need to purchase:  Zig Ziglar’s “Selling 101”

Optional but recommended: Business software like FotoQuote, Blinkbid or Hindsight Inview

Banking software for online banking like Quicken, MYOB, MoneyDance or Mint

Maria Piscopo’s book “The Photographer’s Guide to Marketing and Self-promotion”

“The Little Red Book of Selling,” by Jeffrey Gitomer

Grading: Marketing Plan 35%

Promotional Packet: 35%

Business Packet of required items 20%

Other including professionalism, participation, photographer ads, quizzes: 10%

Assignments to be turned in as both hard copies and digital copies.

Jan. 8, 2010  Week 1

Hand out syllabus

Panel: What have you been doing since graduation?

Recent grads discuss their business, marketing, promotion and network actions

What has worked and what hasn’t

Advice for the next two quarters

Assigned Reading: Selling 101

Jan. 15, 2010  Week 2 Selling, marketing and promotion

Quiz on Selling 101

Discuss book

Define selling, and no, it is not a four-letter word

Everything you do is selling you, your service or your product

Use of scripts to overcome objections

Break into groups to come up with scripts to handle typical objections

Assigned Reading: ASMP: Chapter 43 7 Steps to an Effective Marketing Plan

Recommended Reading: 44-47

Marketing Plan Assignment: Point out difference in Section 3: I want more analysis.

Due Week 6, Feb. 19^th.

Professional Packet Assignment: proof of copyright registration, membership in professional organization, state and local business licenses, digital stationery with invoice, estimate and terms.  Due any time during the quarter but at the latest March 19^th.

Jan. 22, 2010  Week 3: Introduction of marketing, the three basic components

Defining your message

Determining your audience and finding your leads

Developing your marketing strategy

VMS exercise on 297

Assignment: Take a photo of, or scan, a photographer’s promo or ad. Drop it in my dropbox.  Be prepared to discuss the marketing message, how the photo supports the message and whether the promo works.

Feb. 5, 2010  Week 4: Selling, marketing and promotion

Review Marketing Plan Assignment

Discuss photographer promos found by class

Discussion of multi-prong approach:

Direct mail and email blasts

Networking

Press releases* (Tomas goes into more detail in his class)

Finding the prospects review

Discuss how to research for market analysis

Feb. 12, 2010  Week 5: Promotions that work with Christopher Conrad

Assigned reading: ASMP Chapter 35 Your Professional Team

Suggested reading: ASMP 36-39

Feb. 19, 2010  Week 6: Marketing Plan Presentation to Class

Feb. 26, 2010  Week 7 Retirement Planning with Sean V. Owen, Financial Planner

Assignment: Promotional Material due March 19, 2010.

March 5, 2010  Week 8: Taxes and Insurance

Quiz on Chapter 35

What you need to know about taxes and insurance and where to go to find out more

March 12, 2010  Week 9 Retirement Planning

March 19, 2010 Week 10 Promotional Material Presentation

Professional Packet  due if it hasn’t been turned in yet

March 26, 2010  Week 10  Panel: Where Are the Jobs?

Grading Standard:

The following grading standard is from Seattle Central. The final grade will be based on assignments (90%) and class participation (10%).

A	3.9 – 4.0	Excellent
A-	3.5 – 3.8
B+	3.2 – 3.4
B	2.9 – 3.1	High
B-	2.5 – 2.8
C+	2.2 – 2.4
C	1.9 – 2.2	Average
C-	1.5 – 1.8
D+	1.2 – 1.4
D	0.9 – 1.1	Minimum
D-	0.7 – 0.8
E	0.0 – 0.6	No Pass

Grading criteria:

1.Each assignment will be graded on how well you follow the instructions and whether you complete the task.

2. Written assignments will be marked down for poor grammar and spelling errors.

3. The marketing plan and promotional materials grades will be evaluated using real business considerations.

4. The assignments are based on real business situations you will need to know in the future.

5. If you do not understand an assignment or need more help please schedule a meeting with me asap.

6. Assignments are to be turned in both digital and hard copy formats.

Assignments: Both digital and hard copies please!

Marketing Plan Assignment due Feb. 19, 2010  35% of grade

Promotional Materials Assignment due March 19, 2010  35% of grade

Professional Packet Assignment due any time during the quarter  20% of grade

Other: including professionalism, participation, photographer ads, quizzes, 10% of grade