How Smart Businesses Use Twitter – Hint, It’s not About How Many Followers you Have!

May 10, 2013 by

listening on twitter - phtoto by: opensourcewayVanity metrics is the phrase used to describe numbers that are impressive but vastly overrated. Take Twitter for example. People and programs, blogs and articles focus on how to gain more followers but few touch on the real value of twitter; listening.

Out of the 1 billion Tweets every week, how valuable would it be to know when someone mentioned your brand, service, product or competitor? Being able to see and respond to these social media blasts puts you in the more powerful position of responding to activity rather than creating content and trying to gain followers as mentioned in the article linked to above.

One well timed tweet in response to a question or mention could be worth a lot more than a month’s worth of aimless tweets just to seem active. And what about geo-targeted listening? Noticing someone tweet about photo booth in general is not half so interesting as hearing someone tweet about renting a photo booth in Denver.

Geo-targeting your listening by choosing keywords within your area of service or largest target market cities can turn you into a ninja twitter! Just imagine tweeting to a friend that you needed a good dentist in New York and getting a tweet within 24 hours from a local dentist near you offering a 20% off coupon if you come in and mention that tweet. Talk about target marketing!

If you are an avid TweetDeck user already, try out this listening strategy from Slideshare. This brief slideshow shows you just how to put twitter, your brand name and your keywords to work for you. Chris Brogan had a neat little how to painted out for you more savvy readers on his blog for listening on Twitter too. Seems simple enough. If you  know how to use an RSS reader than you can do this. If not, well, a tool below might serve you better.

Here are some great links to twitter listening services that email you results daily. If you get hooked, most of these services have an upgrade for around $20 per month to get more listens and alerts for more keywords:

http://socialmention.com/

http://tweetbeep.com/

https://en.mention.net/

 

 

Filed Under: How to, marketing your booth, Social Media, Tips & Tricks, Tools Tagged With: , , , ,

Customize Your Photo Booth Props While Saving Money!

April 29, 2013 by

Photo Booth Props -Photo By fantabandfrugalProps Make the Day

Posing with friends and capturing silly faces makes a photo booth fun for any occasion, but adding props really gets the party going. A cowboy hat or pink feather boa lets guests play around and let loose. It’s a good idea to have a collection of props on hand for your photo booth that lend themselves to different types of parties. But there’s no need to buy every prop out there. Think about what items guests will have the most fun with and plan accordingly when budgeting for props. Here are a few ideas to maximize both your collection of props and the fun your guests will have.

Pick the Best Props for the Occasion

Ask your customers about the party or occasion they’re renting a photo booth for. A birthday party for a 6 year-old boy has a different theme and vibe than an elegant banquet. Categorize the various types of events that your clients have and buy props based on these groups. For instance, guests at a graduation party or a high school prom could both enjoy funny hats, sunglasses, and message boards they can hold up.

Occasions with specific colors or themes, like wedding receptions and baby showers, may go better with props that complement the party details such as flowers or balloons. Stock up on your basic props but think about occasions that can be grouped together and buy a few of these distinctive props. Remember, to ask your customers if they have any preferences for props they want with their photo booth, and see if you can fill their requests with props you already have on hand.

Quick Customizations

What to do if you run out of props or don’t have the ones a customer wants? Instead of rushing to the store and buying more props, try creating your own. Simple and cheap items like foam board and ribbon let you customize hand-made props. Craft and dollar stores offer inexpensive items that can shaped into props fitting all sorts of occasions. Here’s a great video showing you how to save money by quickly and easily creating your own props.

 

 

Filed Under: How to, marketing your booth, Props Tagged With: ,

Six Quick Tips To Getting Started in the Photo Booth Business

March 5, 2013 by

Photo Booth Business | Photo By:Sal FalkoAn increasingly popular feature at wedding receptions, company parties, class reunions and birthday celebrations, photo booths are a growing sector in the event planning industry. These steps will help provide a template for getting starting in this surging novelty market:

 

1. Put together a business plan: Determine who will operate the photo booth business (you? you and a partner?), and write out why that person is the right person for the job. Ask what problem the business hopes to solve, how it will solve it, and who it will serve. Think about the capital and resource requirements need to get the business going, and look for the funding necessary to meet them.

 

2. Take a look around at the market: Will this be the first photo booth business in the area, or are there dozens of professional photographers offering a similar service? Gauge each potential competitor, and look for ways the new photo booth business can stand out in the crowd. Photo booths range widely in price depending on their features; be sure to know what the competitors have in their arsenal before putting down money on a booth.

 

3. Make the initial purchases: Choose a photo booth that fits the business plan, and take the leap. Additional start-up costs could include marketing materials, camera equipment, photo booth props, business cards, or liability insurance.

 

4. Get a marketing plan together: Establish a brand that works well for the target audience, and stick with it. Choose logos, make a basic website, setup email accounts, and start social media accounts before the business goes live. Start cultivating content on all those channels so potential customers will have something to base their decision on.

 

5. Know how the payment will work: Set up all bank accounts, payment methods and pricing structures needed for the first year of business. Customers will want to see that payment is going to a credible source, and business owners will want to avoid last-minute questions when it comes to money.

 

6. Put together a portfolio: Especially in markets that are already home to a photo booth business, new owners will need to demonstrate their work and have examples of their services. Considering offering up a free or heavily discounted photo booth rental to a friend’s wedding, community organization’s party, or local high school’s reunion. Gathering examples of the fun, high-quality shots this new photo booth business produces will be key to building a customer base.

Filed Under: How to, Photo Booth Business, Tips & Tricks Tagged With: , ,

Building Pricing Packages to Grow Your Photo Booth Business

January 31, 2013 by

Grow Your Photo Booth Business - Photo Credit: Eric Dickman

 1. Set a baseline: Determine the shortest event timeline you’re willing to work, and offer it with a single set of photos for each session. Depending on the style of photo booth and the set up, the final product could be digital images available for download from your company’s website, or small, printed photos that are available immediately at the event. Set a minimum event time (2 hours is a good starting point), and bill a set amount Always include necessities, such as booth attendants or setup/take-down time.

Here’s a sample:

  • 2 hours of photos
  • Free photo strips for every customer
  • Photos will be available for download at our website after the event
  • 1 photo booth attendant
  • Setup and breakdown not included in 2 hours of service

 

2. Set a top tier: Roll out all the standard options for the most inclusive, most expensive package you plan to offer. Gear this package toward your target audience — if wedding receptions are the focus of your client base, then design this top package for a long wedding reception. Include every step of every applicable package you offer elsewhere, as well as final extras and a longer service time.

Here’s a sample:

  • 4 hours of photos
  • Free photo strips for every customer
  • Customized photo strips for the event
  • Customized photo album printed after the event
  • CD of all photos
  • Photos will be available for download after the event
  • 2 photo booth attendants
  • Setup and breakdown not included in 4 hours of service

 

3. Fill in with additional options: Variations in the length of the event, the final photo options offered, the number of attendants available, and additional services should occupy the middle pricing tier. Base the pricing for these tiers by the number of hours worked.

 

4. Keep specialty items a-la-carte: For event-specific requests — such as photo strips that match a wedding’s color scheme, a printed banner of the newlywed couple’s photo booth portraits, etc. — offer a menu of a la carte pricing options that can be added to any package. Many companies also offer the extra pieces of higher-end packages as individually priced options. This allows customers who opt for a shorter rental, but want the added items such as a photo CD, to get the package they’re looking for.

Filed Under: How to, marketing your booth, Tips & Tricks Tagged With: ,

Website Creation 101 For Your Photo Booth Business

January 26, 2013 by

Photo Booth Business Websites 101 - Photo by:Sean MacEntee

A functional, user-friendly, e-commerce-equipped website is a key customer service piece for any photo booth business. Potential customers turn to business websites to learn about pricing, packages, availability, and contact information. They’ll want to see a portfolio of your company’s photo work, and follow links to your social media presences.

Event vendors will want to know how your business operates, a little bit about the owners, and the best way to get in touch if they’d like to collaborate on an event. For either group, the information sought should be easy to find and presented in a clean, professional, aesthetically pleasing way.

To stand out from the difficult-to-navigate, cluttered websites of industry competitors, contract with a professional web designer to build the site, and focus on the following areas:

 1      Navigation: The front page of the site should showcase your business aesthetic (a sample of your work, a clean graphic, and contact information). It should include a navigation bar, with drop-down menu options, that directs visitors to additional information.

2      Important information: Make the things potential clients want to know the focus of the site. Pricing options should be listed — some prefer to create a menu titled, “investment”; the word “pricing” also works just fine. Include a page with photo samples. Include a contact form for new and old customers to submit questions or comments.

3      Fresh content: Further down the navigation menu, consider including pages for updated photos, and blog posts. These items will keep customers coming back to the site, and offer shareable content for social media.

4      A simple design: Let the web designer take the lead here. Web pages work in boxes filled with words and pictures — follow that principle, and your website will be clean, accessible and visually appealing.

5      Remember mobile: Resist the urge to overload the front page with videos, pictures, and flash elements. These items take too long to load on a PC or laptop, and frequently don’t translate to mobile platforms.

6      Proofread everything: Carefully read every word of the business website before it goes live, from the front page description to the confirmations created by the “contact us” form. A single typo can damage credibility with potential clients. Apply the same editor’s eye to all blog posts and social media posts.

7      A good website doesn’t need flashy add-ons: Skip the background soundtrack, auto-play videos, and animations. These elements increase load time, might not work on mobile platforms, and can be annoyances to potential customers.

8      Opt in forms: You must have a way to collect email addresses to build your lists. Whether you build it through subscribers to your blog or give away some great tips or information in the form of a white paper, infographic or ebook.

 

A website’s design, the company’s logos, and the photo business’s portfolio should convey your photo booth venture’s brand identity to clients.

Filed Under: How to, Website Tips Tagged With: , , ,

Illusions About Buying A Photo Booth

September 25, 2012 by Leave a Comment

If you’re considering buying a photo booth, know that you are not buying a “business”. You are however buying a piece of equipment that will allow you to create your own business. When you truly buy a business you are buying, not only the equipment, but the customers, branding and all the work that the previous owner put into that business. There should be records, email lists, contact information and more.

Illusion #1

The illusion some people have is that when they buy the photo booth that they are immediately “in business”. This is true in a sense. You can buy your booth, take it home and immediately book a gig. No one is stopping you but there is a bit more to running a successful business than booking a few gigs and most booths do not come with a customer base included.

Typically, when buying a photo booth you are only buying the equipment. It will be up to you to register your business with the state, usually about $150.00, as an LLC or S-CORP. The main difference between these two is mainly taxes and how the filing is handled. Those that want less paperwork usually go for an LLC and those that want a better tax shelter go for the S-CORP.

Tips for Websites

The next step is a company logo, business cards and a website. Your website is a very important part of your business and the second illusion many people hold is that websites are like cars, you just choose what you want and it runs. The truth is that websites are more like children. You are always looking after them. They need a lot of attention and guidance and there is no “one way” to make them perfect. They are constantly growing and changing, forcing you to keep learning and challenging what you know.

Websites are also multi-faceted. They are meant for interaction and data collection. If you are not collecting information with your website you are missing the boat. Websites are not meant to be advertisements. They are there to engage and encourage potential customers to take action.
When a potential customer comes to your site you want to capture their information, either by getting them to call you, write you or fill out a form. There are many ways to do this including: newsletter subscriptions, free reports, quizzes, e-books and discount mailing lists. Always think about the action you want your potential customer to take and make it easy for them to do it.

Lead Generation

Since you will likely have zero to only a few customers at first you must begin building your email lists from the beginning by using a service like Aweber. Contact management is crucial to the life of your business. Sign up for Meetups and Meetup.com and engage people in your community. Word of mouth works wonders but there is nothing like networking to bring in a constant flow of new potential business. 

Learn about Facebook advertising and how it works. Did you know you can do research about your niche market by starting the submission process for placing a Facebook ad? If you don’t understand demographics learn. It is easy to get started with a few quick Youtube tutorials to get your feet wet in the world of marketing.

Make no mistake, a photo booth business is like most other businesses at its core and if you want to be successful you likely have a lot of learning to do along the way. That being said, the photo booth business is one of the most fun and entertaining businesses for small business owners to get into. People really do flock to the booths and you will pick up clients fast if you maintain a professional attitude and a healthy interest for the business. AAAphotobooth has years of experience and top quality booths. When you decide you are ready to buy a photo booth they are one of the best companies to get you started. Above all have fun and follow your dreams, wherever they may lead you.

Filed Under: How to, marketing your booth, Tips & Tricks Tagged With: , , ,

Don’t Stuff Your Keywords – How to Get Good SEO for a Photo Booth Rental Website

August 30, 2012 by Leave a Comment

If you do one favor for your website this year, don’t keyword stuff your site. Confusing Google bots by stuffing every keyword you’re are targeting into every page makes for poor ranking as well. Imagine inviting an event planer to your house to help you plan a small reception of guests next week. The planner arrives at your house expecting the unusual layout and prepared to see what they have to work with to accommodate your guests.

 

But in your excitement to impress your friends, you decide to do something unusual by putting a toilet in every room, as well as a bed, dresser, oven and refrigerator. Now the even planner shows p at your door and wants to look around. She might walk in and look confused for a minute before she began her survey. “Where is the bathroom?” you hear her ask. “Well there is one in EVERY ROOM!” you exclaim excitedly. “You can do anything you want in any room you choose. Isn’t that GREAT?” You wring your hands excitedly for her reaction and watch as she uncomfortably makes her way around each room. Her bewildered face eventually betrays the truth. You have gone too far and made a general mess of your house.

 

The truth is that in your excitement to be everything for everyone you have missed the importance of having separate rooms.  People like to eat in kitchens or dining rooms, wash up in bathrooms and sleep in bedrooms.  There is a comfort to knowing what to expect and the functionality of a house works very well that way. Websites are no different and when your friendly Google bot (event planner) comes over for a visit you want her to be able to quickly and efficiently determine what each of your rooms is for and where to direct your guests (traffic).

 

Homepages are for helping your potential clients find their way around.  It should have good pictures and a few links to places you think your customers would want to go. The text on your homepage should be as general as possible so people can quickly determine whether they want to stay or go.

 

Your about page is for just that, telling about the history or story of your business. Listing the services you provide is fine but choose to promote the core values, attitudes and beliefs of the company rather than keywords specific to your products or services.

 

Your sales or product pages is where you can place information and keywords specific to what you do or sell and if you have many products, choose different keywords for each page.  Make the pages unique and you will have a 100% better change of ranking on a search engine than you will muddying the water with every possible scenario, product and piece of information about what you offer to your clients.

Filed Under: How to, Tips & Tricks Tagged With:

How to Use Meetup to Increase Your Photo Booth Rental Sales

August 21, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Find conferences near you easy

Meetup.com is a great place to find local events that are being held by your community for free!  Finding conferences and get togethers comprised of your target market or potential referral partners really is as easy as the click of a button. First let’s get you to www.meetup.com.

One you ‘re at Meetup you have a few options.  You can search your entire city with or without a keyword. Both methods of searching have their advantages. If you search by location alone you will get every Meetup within 25 miles of that city but you also get to filter the results by “most active”.

The most active filter will tell you, in order,  what the best Meetups are without much effort. When you see one that is comprised of some or all or your target, BINGO. If you see nothing that excites you try the keyword search or another city.

To try the keyword search enter a keyword like “event planning” and then enter your city and state below before searching.  You will not be able to filter by “most active” anymore but you will have fewer results to choose from so it matters less.

Tips and Tricks

There is a trick to the keyword searches as well. On Meetup, each keyword variation matters. In other words, typing the words “event planning” will not pull up any conferences or get-togethers that have been tagged or described with slightly different keywords. So “event planning” will not pull up the same search results as “event planner” or “event planners”.

After you have identified your potential Meetups go ahead and see when the next Meetup is and what the rules are to join or attend. To prepare for the event do a little research so that you bring either something useful, new or funny to the group. There is usually a theme to the get together posted on the Meetup page so it shouldn’t be that difficult.

Make sure to bring pictures of your booth in action and plenty of business cards.  Another idea is to ask the event host if you can set up your aaaphotobooth at the event for free to showcase yourself. It never hurts to ask and, though it’s a bit more work, it’s well worth it when you are in front of such valuable referral partners or your target market.

Filed Under: How to, marketing your booth, Tips & Tricks

How to Change The Name or User of Your WordPress Blog Articles

August 14, 2012 by Leave a Comment

As a photo booth rental business you likely understand how important blogs are to your site. Not only do they give your customers a chance to get to know more about you and your company but blogs are great for organically building your SEO. You may have noticed however that the posts appear with the author name as “admin” or the username of the person creating the posts for you.

Changing the name is easy but it depends on how you are posting. The author name can be anything you would like. It can be your first and last name or the name of your business. The best name to use will depend on your branding and marketing plan. For this example, let’s assume you want to display the author name as your company. You will now need to login to your WordPress site by finding the login page which will be www.your_site_here/wp-admin. Once you see the login screen, login and continue below.

The easiest way to change the name is to identify the user the blogs have been posted under. For blogs that display the name “admin” as the author you will need to edit your admin user account. To do this simply look on the left hand menu of your WordPress site. You will see a link called users. Click “users” and “all users”, if necessary, to bring up a list of all the users on your site. Now find the user named Admin and find the place that says “edit”.

Once you are in the edit screen you will see an option to add first name and last name. Delete any words in these two fields and type your company name in the “first name” field. Now below the name fields you will see a dropdown selection box titled “nicknames”. Click the arrow and you will see the new name of your company that you typed in the “First Name” field. Select your business name and save your changes.

Any posts that were posted to your blog as admin will now appear as your company name. If you still see blogs with different author names you need to identify which user they are posted under and follow the steps above for that user.

Filed Under: How to, Tips & Tricks

10 Things to Consider When Renting a Photo Booth for Your Wedding

August 4, 2012 by Leave a Comment

 

1.How quickly will you get your prints? Antique booths are pretty and nostalgic but can take up to 3 minutes to get your prints. A modern booth can print in under 15 seconds and that makes everyone happier.

2. Pricing – For wedding rentals, usually 4 – 5 hours, expect to pay between $2,600.00 to $3,500.00 for unlimited photo action, a great booth and great attendant. It’s not recommended that you pay less because fuzzy photos or red eye will tarnish the memory forever and there is no money back that will remedy that lost opportunity.

3. How many copies of the photo strip can you make? – Say there are 10 people in the booth. Can the booth print out a copy for each person so they can all take home the memory? Does it cost extra to do that or is it included in your rental agreement?

4. Booking – Just like anything else, photo booths book well in advance come wedding season.  Make sure to think ahead and call a few booth rental places to check their booking policy.  Find out how far in advance you need to book and if they require a down payment to reserve their services.

5. Can you access the photos after the event? If you are with a good company they will upload your memories to their website and make a private link for you to download and print the photos after the event is over.

6. Time allotment for booth rental – Most weddings run 4 -5 hours but what if your event goes a bit longer? Will there be extra charges? Know in advance what the policy is for extended rentals.

7. Samples – make sure you see recent samples of the photo strips that the booth you are renting prints out. The photos should be hard to smudge and difficult to tear. Quality is important for your event so take the time to preview what you are purchasing.

8. Personalization – Does the photo booth company offer personalization on the photos? Many couples would love to have their name printed on the bottom or back of the photo. Does your rental company offer personalization and if so, how much extra is it?

9. Props – Props are an essential tradition of the photo booth experience. Ask to take a look at their props or ask to see a picture.  Props should range from over-sized hats to funny moustaches on sticks, sunglasses and more!

10. How many people does the booth hold? – Not all booths are created equal so make sure that our booth fits at least 8 to 10 people like the AAAphotobooth. Booths that seat couples are cute but you won’t be able to get all the bridesmaids in one shot or the bride, groom and parents.

 

Have fun picking out our booth and make sure you feel good about the booth and attendant you choose. It may also be worthwhile to see what the policy is if they cancel on YOU. What would you do? Would they send out a backup company? If so then who? Your wedding is too important to leave things to chance so use this guide to help you make the perfect selection.

Filed Under: How to, Tips & Tricks
«Older Posts