Paid Marketing Materials for Your Dog Photography Business
Although you can get away without paying for marketing for your dog photography business, if you have a little money to play with, you should add a few things to your inventory. All of them can be done within any budget. Of course, if you have tons of money to invest in marketing (maybe you finally found that buried treasure), the sky’s the limit!
Business cards for your dog photography business
Business cards are pretty much must-haves. You can find websites that will make cards for you for free (aside from shipping and handling), but your design choices are slim to none. A better option is to spend some money so you can design and print nice cards.
After all, you’re an artist; you may as well use your business cards as a palette and get creative with size, color, and paper. Similar to your portfolio, because you’re a photographer, people tend to judge you based on your business card.
Brochures for your dog photography business
Brochures are nice to have but not necessary. They’re good for handing out at events such as a trade show or gala. They can be simple or complex; just make sure they’re full color. You want to show off some of your images and give enough detail about your services so people become interested enough to contact you.
Brochures are also good to have on hand when opportunities for gift bag placement come up. For example, your local doggie boutique is having a grand reopening. It will be handing out gift bags during this event, and it approaches all its preferred vendors to see whether they’d like to put something in the bags.
You can get your brochures into the hands of potentially hundreds of dog-loving people in one day.
Sample products for your dog photography business
As you decide on the specialty products you’d like to offer in your catalog, be sure to order one of each item before you offer it through your business. Doing so helps you become familiar with your subcontractor’s service and product (quality control), and then you’ll have one on hand to show people when they want to get a sense of what the product looks like in person.
A product catalog is nice, but having a canvas to actually look at helps your clients visualize how they’ll work that piece into their home. And that can help seal the deal.
Pay-per-click (PPC) online advertising for your dog photography business
Placing ads is always such a mystery because you can never really tell whether they work (that’s why so many ads encourage customers to “mention this ad and get 10 percent off!”). One of the ways to cut down on the feeling of throwing money into the dark abyss is to launch a pay-per-click (PPC) campaign.
In this type of arrangement, you pay only the website host when someone actually clicks on your link when it comes up in Internet searches. If the person doesn’t click it, you don’t pay. In this model, you know there was at least enough interest for someone to actually click the ad, and you know he got to your website.
The three biggest providers of this type of advertising are Google AdWords, Yahoo! Search Marketing, and Microsoft adCenter. Facebook also offers PPC, and launching a PPC ad campaign is great for building up fans on your Facebook page. You can research these hosts individually to find out more about their rates and how they work in detail.
Traditional print advertising for your dog photography business
Everyone knows about traditional print ads; the world is inundated with them. You can’t open a magazine, newspaper, or mailbox without seeing an ad. Print ads are generally expensive with little yield on their own, so if you want to go this route, do your homework.
You have to know a little bit about your demographic first and then find publications that match it. Think about whether you want a national or local ad and what you want the readers to be like. Opportunities exist in all sizes, so make sure to keep your eyes open. See what major pet stores keep on their shelves and notice what the freebie pet newspapers are.
Most major print publications have online equivalents that are sometimes a bit more reasonably priced, so be sure to ask about those options when shopping around.
Dogs Glossary
A-B-C assessment
Checking a dog’s airway, breathing, and circulation.
Dogs Glossary
animal shelter
1. An animal control agency run by local government to protect people from animals, take in strays, and manage animal issues and problems within the community. 2. A privately run shelter managed by individuals who want to protect, advocate for, and find homes for animals.
Dogs Glossary
BARF diet
A method of feeding dogs as closely as possible what they would eat in the wild: raw flesh and bones, along with vegetable matter from the stomachs of their prey. The acronym stands for either Bones and Raw Food or Biologically Appropriate Raw Food.
Dogs Glossary
blow out
A twice-yearly shedding of a dog’s undercoat.
Dogs Glossary
blue slip
An application to register a purebred puppy.
Dogs Glossary
breeder
A person who raises, sells, and often shows dogs of a specific breed. Reputable breeders screen parent dogs in an effort to produce healthy dogs that conform to breed standards.
Dogs Glossary
castrate
The removal of a male dog’s testicles to render him infertile.
Dogs Glossary
clicker
A small hand-held device that makes a sharp cracking sound when pressed. Paired with a food reward, an effective dog-training tool.
Dogs Glossary
cohesive bandage
A stretchy wrap that clings to itself used to cover and secure gauze bandages without tape.
Dogs Glossary
come into season
The advent of a female dog’s term of fertility.
Dogs Glossary
dead ring
The stationary ring on a training collar that pulls on the collar, not the dog’s neck.
Dogs Glossary
double coat
Two layers of fur — a top coat of stiff guard hairs and an undercoat that serves as insulation.
Dogs Glossary
dropped ears
The term for hanging or drooping dog ears.
Dogs Glossary
Elizabethan collar
A wide, cone-shaped plastic or cardboard collar that prevents a dog from being able to scratch her head. Used to prevent further injury or hasten healing.
Dogs Glossary
euthanize; put to sleep
To kill an animal to relieve suffering.
Dogs Glossary
fall
Hair that extends over a dog’s eyes.
Dogs Glossary
feathering
Long hair that runs from armpit to paw on the backs of a dog’s legs.
Dogs Glossary
free-feeding
Keeping a constant supply of dog food available so that the dog can decide when and how much to eat. It works best in single-dog households where there’s no competition for food.
Dogs Glossary
heartworms
Parasites that live in dogs’ hearts and cause heart failure. They’re transferred through mosquito bites.
Dogs Glossary
heat
The period when a female dog is fertile.
Dogs Glossary
heel
A command and position in which a dog walks at your left side staying with you as you change direction or pace.
Dogs Glossary
hip dysplasia
A painful malformation of a dog’s hip socket. Some breeds are genetically predisposed to the condition.
Dogs Glossary
hot spot
A localized area of skin infection. It’s usually round, red, and warm to the touch.
Dogs Glossary
live ring
The floating ring of a training collar. Attach a leash to this ring for training purposes.
Dogs Glossary
neuter
A general term to describe either spaying or castrating a dog to render it infertile. Neutering and castrating are often used interchangeably.
Dogs Glossary
pantaloons
The tufts of hair on the backs of a long-haired dogs legs that make him look like he’s wearing bloomers.
Dogs Glossary
pedigree
A diagram of a dog’s ancestors for three or more generations that lists the registered names of the dogs and the titles they earned.
Dogs Glossary
pinch collar
A training collar with interlocking prongs that pinch a dog’s neck when tugged on. Some veterinarians recommend them above all other collars for training purposes.
Dogs Glossary
praise
A verbal reward for a dog , such as an enthusiastic “good dog!”
Dogs Glossary
prong collar
A training collar with interlocking prongs that pinch a dog’s neck when tugged on. Some veterinarians recommend them above all other collars for training purposes.
Dogs Glossary
pulse
Normal dog pulse is between 70 and 120 beats per minute. The pulse of a puppy ranges from 120 to 160 beats per minute.
Dogs Glossary
puppy mill
A place that supplies puppies to pet stores, usually without screening for possible genetic defects or properly socializing the puppies.
Dogs Glossary
registration certificate
The paper certifying a dog’s registration with an accredited organization.
Dogs Glossary
registration slip
An application to register a purebred puppy.
Dogs Glossary
release word
A word that lets a dog know that she is free to move.
Dogs Glossary
rescue group
A network of animal lovers who rescue and find new homes for their favorite breeds or animals.
Dogs Glossary
reward
To give a dog a treat for a correct response while he’s still in the desired position.
Dogs Glossary
ruff
The long, thick fur around a dog’s chest, shoulders, and neck.
Dogs Glossary
separation anxiety
A condition in which your dog becomes anxious and stressed when you leave him.
Dogs Glossary
shed
A twice-yearly process of casting off the undercoat in a double-coated dog.
Dogs Glossary
single coat
A single layer of hairs that comprises a dog’s fur.
Dogs Glossary
spay
To remove of both the uterus and the ovaries of a dog to render her infertile.
Dogs Glossary
stripping
Plucking the dead hairs from a dog’s coat.
Dogs Glossary
titer tests
Tests that check a dog’s immunity levels to determine exactly which vaccinations are needed.
Dogs Glossary
top coat
The top layer of a double-coated dog composed of stiff guard hairs that tend to be naturally water-repellant. The top coat protects the dog’s skin and undercoat.
Dogs Glossary
training collar
A collar that enables you to guide your dog and to check her as necessary — a brief, sharp tug tightens the collar around the dog’s neck.
Dogs Glossary
treat cup
A plastic container filled with small treats or dog food. Shake it and give treats from it as a reward as you train a dog.
Dogs Glossary
undercoat
Fleecy or downy fur shorter than the top layer of a double-coated dog. The undercoat serves as insulation.
