marketing

Offer greener portrait products

• Add natural fiber prints to your offerings, such as giclee-printed sugarcane, bamboo, or cotton rag paper, and canvas gallery wraps. Several options are listed on Greener Photography's Green Guide.
• Provide albums that are giclee printed and covered with natural fibers. You can get specific ideas on companies here. Read more about the eco-friendly album here.
• Finish your eco-friendly portraits with greener framing options. For example, use reclaimed wood frames, or frames made from recycled materials. Check out more on greener framing options here.

Walk the walk

Wave your green flag in any number of ways to show how green you are. A few ideas:

• Plant a tree to commemorate your clients' new babies, high school graduation, and every milestone in between. Check out Plant a Tree USA, or purchase a potted plant or tree for your portrait clients to plant.
• Donate a percentage of your profits to an environmental non-profit such as 1% for the Planet. Check out non-profit ratings on Charity Navigator.
• Become certified with Greener Photography at the Basic, Premiere, or Leadership Circle Level to demonstrate your commitment to running a greener photography business.

Dawn Tacker of Eos Photography is a portrait photographer based in San Diego County. She is co-founder of Greener Photography.

Strengthen your greener partnerships and mutually beneficial marketing by coordinating campaigns and cross-promoting. Rising tides raise all boats! For example:

• Team up with your favorite local eco-organization to donate a portrait session to help them raise money (and bring in new clients for yourself).  
• Offer to photograph an event or outing for them, and have participants sign up for your e-newsletter.
• Promote reciprocal discounts. For example, agree with a green partner that both companies will offer a 10% discount to each other's clients to celebrate Earth Day, or save 10% off your photography by using two of the businesses on our list.
• Offer e-coupons, an online gift registry, and other opportunities for clients to make green choices.
• Send out a monthly e-letter to your clients. Highlight your favorite green businesses (maybe feature one each month) and share tips and ideas about how to be more environmentally conscientious. Offer an e-coupon for new clients and an e-credit for existing clients.
• Co-op advertising with other green vendors and create a marketing plan that relies on e-mail campaigns and referral incentives.

Make sure the vendors in your area know you are green. They won’t find out about your environmental initiative unless you tell them. Once you become known for your earth-loving practices, other local green companies will refer their clients to you.

Marketing

Marketing your green practices is a matter of showing a little green in each aspect of your public face. Start with your blog and website by adding your environmental statement to your "about" page. Send out a press release abut your eco-friendly services and products to local news agencies. Explain why you are greener, and exactly what you do that is environmentally friendly. Explain how the green products you offer are superior to non-eco alternatives; no one is sacrificing for the good they are doing. Your clients' experience will be more gratifying when they understand the purpose and benefits of working with your greener photography business.

Other ways to promote your greener business:

Blog items of interest to your eco-aware clients.

o Keep it relevant! For example, if you are a wedding photographer, blog about green stationers, wedding dress “recycling” sites, and planning sites such as The Green Bride Guide.
o Linking to local green services, products, and sites will contribute to your SEO; when potential clients do internet searches for eco-friendly photographers they will be more likely to find you. Make sure you load up your blog posts with the keywords your future clients are likely to use.

Promote your eco-friendly business using social networking sites.

o Post links to your blog articles on your business profiles on sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
o Links leading into your site will increase your SEO and make it easier for your friends, fans, and other contacts to access the green information you are sharing.

Get certified as a Greener Photographer and blog, facebook, and tweet about it. The cross-promoting links will make it easier for consumers to find you as well.

Pitch an article to your local news organizations about businesses going green.

o Help educate the community about greener photography techniques.

Advertising

If you already have a local publication in which you advertise, simply adding a certification seal or a brief statement to your print advertisement will illustrate your eco-friendly business aspect. There are also specific environmental sites on the internet that offer advertising opportunities. Some offer discounts to photographers certified by Greener Photography.

Specific websites in which greener photographers can advertise:

Greener Photography's Member Directory
Green America's National Green Pages
Eco Wedding - Green Wedding Resource Guide - Free listing
Ethical Weddings
Green America
Green Bride Guide - Free listing
Green Elegance Weddings

Local green guides and books/directories. A few examples:

New York City - The Big Green Apple
Greenopia.com (dozens of local guides)
San Francisco - Green Zebra
Eco-Metro publications - several cities available
Redirect Guide - three regions available

Research in your city—many local newspapers have green guides online, and several have green chambers of commerce as well.

Because the green movement is by its nature a local one, you will benefit from doing targeted research for advertising opportunities in your immediate local area. Search Google using terms like "local green guide," "(city name) green guide", and "green book directory" for more ideas.

The greener photography industry is in its infancy. Use your best current resources now, emphasizing your practices. As you expand your green network you will be surprised to find how many others are already with you. Check out the resources page on the Greener Photography website to find some of your current vendors listed. You may already be doing your part and not know it. Find out, and then leverage, leverage, leverage. 

Alina Prax runs the wedding photography studio La Dolce Vita in Austin Texas and is a certified greener photographer. Carli Morgan is a wedding and portrait photographer and certified greener photographer.