Behind-the-Scenes: How we’re building our business in SoCal from the ground up!
How do you get clients when you don't know anyone?
This year, we’ve added two new teams—one in San Diego and one in Los Angeles. While we’ve been based in the Bay area from the beginning, breaking into these new markets has been a major opportunity for company-wide (and California-wide!) growth.
Let me first say that launching a service business in a new territory is not easy. When no one knows you, how do you get business? From honing systems, hiring additional talented photographers, and up-leveling our marketing and sales game, we wanted to share a peak behind the curtain of what we’ve been up to.
So, here are three tactics we’re using to build from the ground up in these new territories.
Contact everyone we know, and then contact everyone we don’t know
They say it’s all about who you know, and we’ve been working hard to get to know the right people! Much of our business over the years has come from direct referrals and word of mouth, which can make moving into new locations tricky. For us, there are two steps:
Step 1: Reach out to everyone we know and ask for referrals to other events-based people in Los Angeles and San Diego. We’ve done this mainly through our email list and strategic clients. The events industry is small, and a referral goes a long way.
Step 2: Cold outreach. Yes, we’ve moved beyond our comfort zone and ramped up our cold outreach! From creating lead nurture funnels to getting bold on LinkedIn, our whole team (not just sales) has been pitching in to reach new audiences and potential clients. Our initial goal was to reach 500 new contacts, which has now grown to over 1500 event professionals in California alone.
And, yes, we have a dirty little secret: we’re using technology to help us find and contact potential new clients. Apollo.ai is like a little emailing robot that runs in the background and helps us do this cold outreach. As a tiny team, there’s no way we could do all this alone without automation. We’ve had a learning curve when it comes to optimization and will keep you posted as we dial in our systems and see greater returns on our efforts.
2. Showing off our services through sponsorship and industry showcases
As part of our outreach efforts, we’ve also started connecting with a number of local networking groups and industry associations and have enjoyed sponsoring events to showcase our work to the right people.
In June, we had the opportunity to travel with Visit California and rep our home state in Washington D.C.
Down in San Diego, we brought our studio to the SITE SoCal All Industry Cruise (for the second year in a row), and we were honored to be featured by LA Tourism as part of their member mixer at the epic Sony Pictures Studio.
Bit by bit, we give our portraits away to industry folks who attend these events, and hopefully, they’ll keep those prints by their desks and think of us down the road.
We look forward to continuing to partner with local industry organizations and groups to showcase our work across SoCal. We’re on the hunt for the next showcase, whether it be at IMEX, or the grand opening of a new venue. We’re eager to be a part of the industry at large.
Who else should we collaborate with?
For new customers who want to lead the pack… Get a deep discount (but there’s a catch!)
Our goal is to bring the portrait studio to at least 40 events in each market this year, but as the new kids on the block, we know building trust and a new client base takes time.
Booking a new vendor can feel risky. This perceived risk can be a barrier to booking, so we’re approaching these new markets as an opportunity to demonstrate our value and build a strong reputation without planners stressing about a hefty price tag.
If you haven’t heard of Alex Hormozi, do a quick Google search. His sales methodology has informed our promotional approach to booking events in SoCal.
Our Insider Program offers a limited number of steeply discounted spots to trailblazing planners who are the first to book our portrait studio in LA and San Diego this year. This Insider Program allows the first five events to book at 65% off, then the next 5 events at 55% off, and then 45%, 35%, 25%, etc., until we are at full price. With only a handful of events available at each discount tier, we want to work with the most enthusiastic clients willing to jump in with both feet and then get ourselves to our fully priced services.
What’s the catch?
In exchange for this discounted pricing, new clients are asked to provide a Google Review after their event and refer us to two other planners (don’t worry, we provide referral email templates, so this is super easy!)
If (ahem! WHEN!...) this all goes to plan, we will finish the year with 40 events in each territory and return to charging our regular full pricing with 160 new referrals and 80 Google Reviews. That’ll be more than worth discounting our services!
Want to secure one of these discounted bookings?
We know gaining trust and building a new customer base in a new market is challenging. Still, we hope that leveraging some sexy email technology, a bunch of old-fashioned showcases and networking events, and a great incentive structure for early adopters will help expedite our growth.
We will learn from our mistakes, probably send some incoherent emails, apologize, and then do better the next time. It's our first time doing this, so time will tell how it all unfolds. We are excited and thrilled to bring beautiful portraits to guests across California. We believe there is no more meaningful gift to receive than a printed portrait, and I hope as we continue to expand, that message rings true for every person we photograph.
