How would you market this service?

martindow

How about approaching people who are responsible for the maintenance of tall buildings, churches, etc. You may well be able to offer a more economical service for inspecting the state of masonry, brickwork, pointing and so on than steeplejacks or roped access people. Of course you are limited to 50 feet so couldn't go right up steeples!

save-a-lot

thanks all for your suggestions

full-time-mum

I've no idea what your set up costs for each shoot would be but I was also thinking of peoples houses.

What about postcards? Say quaint villages, seaside spots, stately homes/castles etc.

Deals_2

a friend of mine from school becoming a paparazzo millionaire so maybe a business to get into....???!!

full-time-mum wrote: »

I've no idea what your set up costs for each shoot would be but I was also thinking of peoples houses.

What about postcards? Say quaint villages, seaside spots, stately homes/castles etc.

anitamarie

That sounds like a picture friendly story for the local paper, which would raise awareness in your area. I would press release them the launch of your new business, mentioning how it is innovative, etc and a bit about you being a local, etc, so it has human interest and be sure to include some interesting local shots of things local people would want to see from above so that they 'get it' and can see the immediate visual interest. PR will cost you nothing but potentially raise awareness with a good audience. All that said, no point doing it if there isn't a professional web presence for them to jump to after the article.

save-a-lot

anitamarie wrote: »

That sounds like a picture friendly story for the local paper, which would raise awareness in your area. I would press release them the launch of your new business, mentioning how it is innovative, etc and a bit about you being a local, etc, so it has human interest and be sure to include some interesting local shots of things local people would want to see from above so that they 'get it' and can see the immediate visual interest. PR will cost you nothing but potentially raise awareness with a good audience. All that said, no point doing it if there isn't a professional web presence for them to jump to after the article.

That is a great idea, as I do live in a tourist hotspot and there is many opportunities to capture some images locally from the perspective I can provide. Anyway, there is a web presence, it is in my profile... currently undergoing its build, but the bones of it is there.

Suzy_M

What about ads in any local 'lifestyle' magazines to get the upmarket homes?

For the lean times - Can you offer a discount for neighbours - individual house pictures just for the sake of it might not be economic for either you or your customer but get a group in the same area it might be more worthwhile.

save-a-lot

Hi

I have thought of Derbyshire Life, their rates are not too bad for a classified and the official distribution is quite large, and the total readership is even larger. Definately something to consider once I have found my feet with this business. I got a really good deal on eBay for business cards - £30 for 500 full colour cards with my own design... so I'll make sure I get passing those out at every opportunity.

Also, I have linked my local interest website - a Peak District National Park guide to the business website. The two websites share very similar design and completely compliment each other. Anyway, the site about the Peak District, will (I hope) in time pull quite an audience daily and the plan is that I may get some referrals that way.

save-a-lot

Not really had much success at this since making the posts back in April.. I have done some work for estate agents, but that has all dried up. Also, upgrading to a new laptop has given me no end of trouble whereby Vista (Grrrrrrr) upsets the running of the camera operation software. Basically, problem after problem and that includes the terrible weather stopping play. Need to perfect the system and wait till next Spring and Summer before making a second attempt at this business.

Encantador

Same here. Worst year weather wise to start.