For photographers : What I Learnt From Having Brand Ambassadors For My Photography Business
In April of 2020 I made the decision to find ambassadors for my photography business. I knew 2020 was going to be a tough year for businesses and wanted to pull out all the stops to make it the best year that it could be. In the last year, I have learned a lot from my experiences with my ambassadors and thought I would share some of what I’d learned since I see a lot of photographers asking the same questions that I had at the beginning of this process. I’ve summed all that I learnt into 5 main points.
follower count means nothing
The reason you are looking for an ambassador is probably to grow the reach of your business and it can be very appealing to reach for the person with the most followers but I cannot stress enough, do not do this. Follower count means nothing if that person isn’t actively passionate about your business and promoting it, plus their followers are likely not even your ideal clients. My best ambassador had the lowest follower count but she was an old friend and truly cared about helping my business. Pick your ambassadors based on their authenticity and genuine interest, not the reach from their social media platforms.
focus on specific goals
Your ambassadors should be selected you help you reach very specific goals. I made the mistake last year of trying to hire different ambassadors from different groups to reach a wide audience of people. While this is still technically a goal, it is very broad and general and left me without any real direction for how to use my ambassadors. This year I went with a specific team of competitive riders, all from one barn, with the goal of promoting my Personal Paparazzi services. Having a clear vision of what I want to help accomplish with this partnership has been so helpful and is something I highly recommend.
don’t give things away for free
Your ambassador partnership should work for you! While I fully believe your ambassadors should receive things in return, session discounts, a referral program, and discounted merchandise but you should not be losing money by having ambassadors. I certainly had some losses early on that were unfortunate but great learning lessons for later on. I don’t want you to have to experience the same mistakes I did, so make sure to think clearly about what you are offering your ambassadors and how it benefits you. Make sure you are never losing money on the things you offer.
have a contract!
While I knew this going into it, so I guess I technically didn’t learn it, I certainly was reminded of the importance! As photographers, I’m sure we know that you always need a contract for everything, and having ambassadors is no different. It protects your business, and your ambassador and clearly outlines your partnership. Your contract needs to outline everything that you and your ambassadors agree to, as well as criteria that would result in the termination of the partnership, as I will explain below.
don’t be afraid to “fire” an ambassador
& make sure it is in your contract that you are able to do so! At the end of the day, you have hired these ambassadors and as with any partnership, it only works when it is working for you. You need to be able to end the partnership should you need to. I had to do this last year and though it was difficult, having it built into my contract made the process much easier.
