Growing Your Photography Business (Part 11): Restructuring Your Service Model, Email List, Rebound

April 13, 2020 Guest User

Restructuring Your Service Model

Coronavirus has completely shaken up everything we know as small business owners. We are now finding ourselves in the middle of trying to problem-solve issues, finding ways to keep our businesses afloat, and restructuring our business models.

A service model is a structure of how your organization or profession delivers specialized work. It can either refer to the whole business model or a certain aspect of your business only.

The typical service model provides intangible products such as consulting, cleaning, insurance, treatment, and transportation services. Service models are often used in the IT industry in the form of platforms-as-a-service and hardware-as-a-service, but it can also be used in other ways.

Service Model Changes revolve around the question, “What are the other ways to deliver this product or service?” Businesses affected by pandemics may not be able to display their products at a storefront in the short-term, but they can rethink the “display” and “delivery” component by transitioning into a door-to-door delivery model, online-service or home-service model.

If you are a 100% service-based business that involves face-to-face contacts like the barber, carpenter, painter, photographer, here are service components that you can rethink during or after COVID-19:

Marketing: How do people find you? They used to just see your shop or walk in from the street. Now, how?
Service delivery: One company introduced a no-contact delivery, ‘leave at your doorstep’ delivery policy. Start by asking, “What part should I modify to reduce my audience’s anxiety and increase their trust?”
Payment options: Before, if your policy is “cash only, no cards” - now, you could consider digital payments, payments via QR codes, online transfers, or virtual reality.
Teleconferencing: Equip yourself or organization to make use of video conferencing software such as Zoom or Hangouts.

Check out my Shot List to help you get organized with schedules, appointments, and commitments.

Grow Your Email List

Email lists are not dead. They’re still alive more than ever before, reaching your audiences for you in a few steps.

An email list is a collection of emails that have subscribed through your blog or website. These people gave you permission to receive emails around a certain topic or condition. In other terms, an email list is also called a ‘subscribers’ list’ or ‘mailing list’.

Here are the reasons why it’s important to build your email list:

Email campaign open rates as of 2020 average at 20.40%
It has a higher ROI (return on investment) compared to other marketing methods People ‘intentionally’ subscribed to hear from you
Allows personalization
Keeps things professional
People can verify your legitimacy when they see your business domain

Here are steps to build your email list:

Make use of your existing contacts
Download the sheet and evaluate
Take time to review, clean-up
Nurture your email list with helpful and interesting content
Introduce ‘gated contents’ within your site
Integrate opt-in forms to your site: Put them at the footer opt-ins, pop-ups, or exit-intent forms

Check out my Finance Sheet which can help you financially structure your future plans.

Prepare to Bounce Back

The pandemic has disrupted businesses today and will do so in the future. Don’t just sit around, prepare for the future. In the previous article, we talked about resilience. Now, prepare for rebound.

After resilience, returning is the next thing. No one knows the exact day. It may come like a ‘thief in the night’ when the last person diagnosed is declared free. But there will be signs, and ‘staying watchful’ and ‘vigilant’ can prepare you for the ‘things to come’. Stay ready so you can wait with hope and eager expectation. Make sure there is “enough oil in your lamp” so you keep them burning when the time has come.

“I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down. Then I saw and considered it; I looked and received instruction. A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you…” - Proverbs 24:30-34

In response to the crisis, support your team and stay safe, but at the same time, think about the next horizons of COVID-19 as part of your rebound. In the midst of today’s craziness, it’s easy to lose sight of tomorrow - and the day after that. Don’t forget to prepare for the “next normal.”

Teach yourself and your team for rapid response, adaptation, reposition, and reemergence. Returning to the ‘normal life’ will be extremely challenging. Entire operational cycles will restart like a man awakening from a deep coma, and your weakest link will determine your success.

Assess and perform certain actions now to prepare your team and operations for the ascension.

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