7 Strategies to Grow Your Photography Business with NowCandid π
ByΒ
Jack C.
Β onΒ
June 29, 2023
Β Β Β |Β Β Β Β
7
Β minute read
First off, congratulations on starting your photography business! Now, it's time to take the next steps and grow it.
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In this post, we'll offer strategic advice to help you effectively expand your photography business with a particular focus on building a strong team, proactive networking, and optimizing your workflow with NowCandid.
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1. Optimize Your Workflow βοΈ
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Efficiency is the key to successful growth. Evaluate your existing workflow and identify opportunities to streamline processes, automate tasks, and apply time-saving solutions. NowCandid's comprehensive platform makes managing your photography business more efficient, allowing you to earn more, while working less.
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2. Hire and Train a Team π₯
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As your business expands, so should your team. Recruit talented photographers and support staff and invest in their training and development. With NowCandid, your team can concentrate on capturing amazing photos and providing top-tier customer service.
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3. Network Proactively π€
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Growing your business often requires extending your network to potential clients, partners, and collaborators. Engaging with your local chamber of commerce and demonstrating your photography system, like NowCandid, can lead to new bookings. Once you've established your presence at events, organic growth will follow as attendees experience your photo system in action, promoting word-of-mouth marketing.
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4. Identify New Opportunities with NowCandid π
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Diversification is a fundamental strategy for growth. NowCandid allows you to effortlessly branch out into new areas like sports, graduations, parties, holiday portraits, and corporate headshots. Using your existing equipment and familiar workflows, NowCandid facilitates the expansion of your business reach and profitability.
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5. Leverage Social Media and Online Marketing π
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A robust online presence can showcase your portfolio, engage with potential clients, and generate leads. Utilize social media platforms, SEO, and email marketing to promote your services. NowCandid's white-label system ensures your brand remains the main focus in all your marketing efforts - we want you to grow your brand! Your success is our success.
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6. Strengthen Your Brand πͺ
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Distinctive branding can set you apart from your competition and attract your ideal clients. Invest in professional branding elements such as a unique logo and a modern website. NowCandid's customizable Canva templates help also help you out as you start marketing NowCandid's phot systems as your own photo system! Not to mention it makes it easy to maintain a consistent brand image across some of your marketing materials.
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7. Monitor Your Progress with NowCandid π
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Track your business's growth using key performance indicators (KPIs) and set measurable goals. NowCandid provides detailed and transparent reports, helping you easily track crucial KPIs and sales by image folder. This allows you to assess the performance of each photographer at every event, and make informed decisions.
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Expansion is an exciting phase for any business!
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By strategically networking, building a strong team, and utilizing the power of NowCandid, you're well on your way to leading your photography business to new heights of success.
Candy here, and I'm buzzing with excitement to bring you this week's jam-packed recap! π
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We've got some big news that's going to make your NowCandid experience even more delightful and efficient. So, let's dive right in! π
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π The New Dashboard Is Here to Stay!
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First things firstβthe new NowCandid Dashboard has officially become our main dashboard! π
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All-in-One Place: Every feature from the old dashboard (now called the Legacy Dashboard) has been brought over, plus so many more new features to supercharge your workflow. β
New Accounts: All new NowCandid users will exclusively see the new dashboard, ensuring a seamless and modern experience right from the start. β
Update Your Bookmarks: If you're a long-time user, it's time to say goodbye to old habits. Replace any bookmarks from dashboard.nowcandid.com with app.nowcandid.com. Trust me, you won't want to miss out on all the new goodies! π β
Accessing the Legacy Dashboard: Need to peek at the old dashboard for any reason? No worries! There's a handy button on the new dashboard that lets you access it anytime.
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We're thrilled about this upgrade and can't wait for you to explore all the enhanced features designed to make your life easier!
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Names on orders withheld for privacy
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πΌοΈ Photographer-Uploaded Backgrounds Render in Personal Galleries
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Great news for those of you who love adding that extra flair to your images! Your uploaded backgrounds will now render directly on BGR (Background Removed) imagesright in your clients' personal galleries. π
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Visual Impact: Clients can instantly see how amazing their photos look with your custom backgrounds applied. β
Boost Sales: By showcasing these options upfront, you can provide more options from the get-go it can be a more intuitive experience for your customers.
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This enhancement creates a more engaging and personalized shopping experience for your clients!
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ποΈ Retail Site Checkout Improvements
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We've made some nifty changes to the checkout process to make it smoother than ever:
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Split Process: The original checkout flow is now divided into a View Cart screen and a Checkout screen. β
Better Visibility: Clients can easily review their cart contents before proceeding to checkout. β
Facilitates Express Options: This change provides space to accommodate our growing number of express checkout options, making the payment process quicker and more flexible. β
Enhanced Clarity: The new layout reduces confusion and helps prevent cart abandonment, as well as more clarity regarding subtotals and shipping costs.
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Making shopping a breeze means happier clients and more sales for you! π°
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π Bag Tag Product Now Has Live Rendering
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Exciting update for the Bag Tag product:
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Live Rendering: Clients can now see real-time previews of all art styles available for Bag Tags.
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Offer your clients a preview of their custom creations to enhance their shopping experience! ποΈ
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π Blog Now Accessible in the New Dashboard
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Stay informed without ever leaving your dashboard!
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Integrated Blog: Our blog is now hosted right within the new dashboard. β
Easy Access: Get the latest updates, tips, and tutorials at your fingertips. β
Stay Updated: Never miss out on important news that can help you make the most of NowCandid.
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Knowledge is power, and weβre putting it right where you need it! π
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π Update Credit Card Info & Change Password Easily
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We've streamlined account management features:
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Change Credit Card Info: Update your payment details directly from the new dashboard. β
Change Password: Easily keep your account secure with straightforward password management. β
Your convenience and security are our top priorities! π‘οΈ
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π Now Supporting Photographers Worldwide
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Weβre expanding our horizons!
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International Support: You can now select countries other than the U.S. during account creation and in your profile settings. β
Global Community: Photographers around the world will soon be able to use NowCandid to grow their business. β
No matter where you are, NowCandid is here to support your photography journey! π
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π Retail "Contact Us" Visualization
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Communication made clearer!
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Business Info Editor: In your profile settings, you can now visualize how your contact information appears to clients on the retail site. β
Professional Appearance: Ensure your clients have the correct information to reach out to you when needed.
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Clear communication builds trust and improves client relationships! π€
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πΈοΈ New Font: Geist!
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We're getting into the festive spirit!
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Font Update: We've switched from Inter to Geist for both the web dashboard content and the retail site. β
Spooky Vibes: Geist may not look spooky, but the name of the font alone adds a touch of whimsy appropriate for the Halloween season. π β
Enjoy a fresh look as you navigate through your dashboard and retail site! π»
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We hope these updates make your NowCandid experience even more enjoyable and efficient.
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We're constantly working to bring you the best tools and features to help your photography business thrive. π±
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As always, we're here to support you every step of the way. If you have any questions or feedback, don't hesitate to reach out! π
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Cheers and sparkles,
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Candy π¬
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P.S. Don't forget to update your bookmarks to app.nowcandid.com to stay connected with all the latest features! π
Candy here, bringing you the first edition of our Recap series! π
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This blog post will cover alllllll of September's new features and changes worth mentioning! But going forward, we will be doing Weekly Recaps to keep you in the loop even faster.
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We've been busy bees these past few weeks, and I can't wait to share all the fantastic new features and improvements we've made to help you shine even brighter. β¨
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Psst... since this is our inaugural recap, we're covering updates from all of September, so grab a comfy seatβit's a bit longer than usual! Going forward, these recaps will be weekly and shorter, but just as sweet. π
We're thrilled to announce that manual gallery assignment and participant creation are now live! This means you can:
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β Assign images to someone's personal gallery manuallyβperfect for those shots where the subject wasn't facing the camera, and face recognition didn't pick them up. β
β Create participants manually, either one at a time or by uploading a spreadsheet. β
β Instantly trigger marketing campaigns to individuals when you assign images to them, ensuring they receive their photos promptly.
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We believe this will greatly enhance your workflow and support needs. Let us know how it helps you during your next event!
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2. Tweaks to the Retail Site for a Smoother Experience ποΈ
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We've made several improvements to our retail site to enhance the shopping experience for your clients:
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β "Tap image to get started" text now shimmers on the initial gallery screen to guide users who aren't sure what to do next. β
β Package creation improvements make it more intuitive for customers to customize their packages and select photos. β
β Product renders in the cart: The view cart screen now displays product images next to every item, including items within multi-item packages, for increased clarity. β
β Updated header and footer: Clear guidance on when to contact our retail support or reach out to you, the photographer, for assistance.
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These tweaks aim to make the purchasing process as seamless and enjoyable as possible for your clients!
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3. Default Price Levels Are Back! π°
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Great news! The Default Price Levels from our previous NowCandid system are back and better than ever.
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While you can still create custom offers, these ready-made Price Levels are optimized to help you maximize sales in various situations.
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β Optimized for success: Designed to boost your sales potential. β
β Versatile options: Suitable for a wide range of events and client needs. β
β Easy to access: Gives you good Offer options in a pinch or when entering a new market.
4. New Image Notifications for Previous Purchasers ποΈ
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We've improved our marketing system to better serve your clients and help keep those sales up:
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β If someone purchases on Day 1 and is photographed again on Day 2, they will now receive a notification about the new images added to their gallery. β
Tailor the gallery experience to suit any event's needs!
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10. Simplified Selfie Check-In π²
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We've made the Selfie Check-In process even more user-friendly:
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β Only requires a cell number OR email address. β
β Encourages participation: Even though neither field says "optional," most people still provide both. β
β Addresses Fringe Issues: Every now and then, someone doesn't have (or refuses to provide) a cell or email address. This change will account for those individuals!
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Enhances guest engagement and reduces fringe support issues, with no changes on your part!
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11. New Unsubscribe Keyword: "NOPE"! π«
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We've introduced a new, fun way for clients to manage their marketing preferences:
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"NOPE": Clients can reply with this word to opt out of marketing for a specific event. β
Future communications: They will still receive messages for future events unless they opt out again. β
Accidental "STOP" replies: If someone replies "STOP" though, they'll need to send "START" to our marketing number to resume receiving texts.
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This gives your clients more control while still keeping communication lines open for future events.
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12. Seasonal Retail Themes: Apple Crumble & Candy Corn ππ
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Get into the festive spirit with our new retail site themes:
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Apple Crumble: β
Autumn colors: Warm and inviting hues. β
Falling leaves: Adorable "leaves falling" animation upon gallery arrival, check-in completion, and after checkout. β
Candy Corn: β
Halloween vibes: Shades of black and bright orange. β
Candy corn confetti: Fun "candy corn toss" animation to celebrate the spooky season upon gallery arrival, check-in completion, and after checkout. β
Haunted Retail Site: A few ghosts frequently fly across your customer's screens as they shop!
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Delight your clients with these charming themes!
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Note: the Leaves &Β Candy Corn only fall across the screen upon gallery arrival, check-in completion, and after checkout - these GIFs are simply showing it in a loop :)
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Theme:Β Candy Corn - Watermarking:Β Off
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We hope these updates make your experience with NowCandid even more enjoyable and efficient.
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Your success is our top priority, and we're always here to support you. π
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As always, if you have any questions or feedback, don't hesitate to reach out. We're all ears! π
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Until next week, keep capturing those amazing moments!
We've got an exciting success story that combines the thrill of NFL action with the power of NowCandid's innovative software. π·β¨
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Touchdown for Jowdy Photography and NowCandid!
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Jowdy Photography, the Official Photographers of the Dallas Cowboys, recently took their game day photography to the next level by integrating NowCandid into their operations.
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The result? An astounding 103% increase in sales per image at their very first game day event using our platform! π
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"We saw a huge increase in sales per image at our first game with NowCandid, and we're planning to continue using it for every game moving forward," said Jeff Jowdy, Founder of Jowdy Photography. "The software has completely changed our approach to game day photography."
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Game-Changing Technology
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By leveraging NowCandid's cutting-edge features, Jowdy Photography streamlined their workflow and delivered a seamless experience for fans.
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Our platform's real-time image delivery and flexible workflows gave fans instant access to their photos through private, user-friendly galleries.
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Not only did this enhance the fan experience, but it also significantly reduced post-event labor costs. Talk about a win-win! π
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Unlocking New Opportunities
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With NowCandid, Jowdy Photography has opened doors to new ventures that were previously off the table. "There were business opportunities that we didnβt pursue before because they werenβt profitable or photographable," Jeff explained. "Now, with NowCandid's tools and workflows, those ventures have become entirely possible."
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From high school graduations to corporate events, our flexible and intuitive platform allows photographers to handle events of all sizes and types. This versatility is what drew Jowdy Photography to integrate NowCandid into more aspects of their business.
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Looking Ahead
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We're thrilled to see Jowdy Photography's continued success as they capture unforgettable moments at game days and beyond. Their partnership with NowCandid highlights the power of innovative photography solutions in revolutionizing the fan experience while driving business growth. π
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Join the Winning Team!
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Are you ready to elevate your photography business like Jowdy Photography did?
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Discover how NowCandid can transform your workflow, boost your sales, and delight your clients.
Founded in 1987, Jowdy Photography has become a leader in digital photography for corporations, associations, special events, and large venues.
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Their extensive knowledge of photography, coupled with their utilization of the latest technology, enables them to deliver a unique blend of quality, creativity, and personalization to their customers' finished products.
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Stay tuned for more success stories and tips on how NowCandid can help you capture life's best moments while growing your business.
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