A few months ago a photo blogger (who will remain unnamed because he has later proven to be quite unfriendly both personally and to his Twitter followers) has a post on his website about marketing tips for photography businesses. One of the tips, in so many words (I’m paraphrasing here):
Focus on making a large impact in your own local community. Don’t try to make it big in the entire world. Get your name out there to every applicable person and business in your area. Network, give presentations, etc. Become the go-to photographer in your own neighborhood before you take on the whole world.
I took that to heart, and soon after I moved to Cambridge, MA I got involved with Cambridge Local First, the organization for locally owned businesses. I began taking photos for their upcoming 2011 Local Business Directory, portraits of some of their members and of Cambridge city councillors, and I photographed some of their events. And now, just a few months later, the business directory – illustrated exclusively with my images on the cover and inside – is available at local businesses and universities and visible to everyone throughout Cambridge (a total of eight zip codes)!