I
f you want women to seek you out, you’ll need to first create an
image for your studio. This image should reflect your artistic style
and the work you produce. It could be a fun and relaxed image,
telling women to expect to have a great time. It could be a classy, upscale
image, where clients will come in expecting to really be pampered. It could
be anywhere in between—or something totally different. It’s up to you to de-
cide how to best appeal to the prospective clients in your market.Four Words.
For me, there are four words I want women to associate with my studio:
sexy, fun, classy, and discreet.
Sexy.I want women to know that we can create beautiful, alluring, mys-
terious, and sensual images of them. At my studio, we believe that you have
to please the woman first. We have to make im-
ages that will make our subject feel absolutely
wonderful about herself and how she appears.
This means really listening and often reading be-
tween the lines about what she considers sexy and how she feels about her
appearance. Even if the intended recipient of a portrait is the subject’s
boyfriend or husband, she mustbe happy with the results. And honestly, he’ll
be much easier to please than she is.
Fun.The whole process should be fun—from the first phone call, to the
planning consultation, to the photography session, to building a finished
product from the images. “I couldn’t sleep last night,” Dee said. “Iwas just
thinking about how this would go—my makeup, if I had the right clothes,
having my hair done, you know.”
Classy.Face it, there are certain depictions of sexuality that women con-
sider—to put it mildly—distasteful. The worst thing for your studio would
be to develop a reputation for creating tasteless images. When you advertise
to glamour clients, people will inevitably try to characterize you as a pornog-
rapher. Unfortunately, there are people who are threatened or offended by
sexuality—and believe me, you’ll hear from them; they’ll be your loudest
critics. In almost all cases, though, these people wouldn’t be your clients any-
98 MASTER GUIDE FOR GLAMOUR PHOTOGRAPHY7. MARKETING YOUR STUDIO.
FACING PAGE—Dee set up a session to create a
wedding gift for her fiancé. This meant we had
to create images to please him, but that’s the
easy part—we also had to create images to
please her.There are four words I want women to associate
with my studio: sexy, fun, classy, and discreet.