What is the LAST COST you should EVER cut in your business?

What is the very last cost any business should cut, coronavirus or no coronavirus?

During these strange and uncertain times a lot of businesses will be thinking about cutting costs in this area, or have already done so!

If you don’t know me yet, then hi! My name is Stuart Bailey, I’m a commercial, advertising, and lifestyle photographer based just outside of London in the UK.

I’ve been consuming a huge amount of business books, podcasts, and been part of a few business masterminds in London for the last 5 years before setting up my own photography business in December 2019.

As well as photography (obviously), business and marketing have been of major interest to me for a long time, and I love learning about it all and sharing what I learn.

I started my commercial photography business in possibly the worst time in recent history with COVID-19, but as horrible this whole situation is, it has actually been the best learning curve that I could ever have! - Nothing like being thrown in the deep end and having to learn to how to swim to survive!

If I can survive as a commercial photographer and keep my business alive through this global coronavirus pandemic, then it should be booming when the economy comes back to some sort of normality!

So, what is the one thing I think that companies should never cut costs on?

Well, it seems obvious, it’s the very thing that actually gets customers and clients coming to your business, which is marketing and advertising!

No matter matter what economic time we find ourselves in, but especially now, the area that companies seem to cut cost on in an economical downturn, has historically been their marketing team and their marketing and advertising efforts.

Maybe the thinking behind it is,

“Well we’re not getting, or going to get any customers for a while, so why waste money on marketing to people who can’t buy from us anyway?”

Sounds valid right, and makes some sense?

However, this really should be the very last thing companies should be cutting, ever, and especially in an economic downturn!

The way businesses get customers is though marketing, advertising and networking, it’s what gets peoples attention.

When starting a business, marketing and advertising are your best friends along with networking. They’re the things that get a company off the ground and spread the word to get your first client or customer to buy from you.

You make your first product, or you have a service to offer someone (such as photography), and then you make militant efforts to publicise and get your name or product out there to the masses!

So when an economic downturn hits in any form, a recession, or a global pandemic (like our current situation with coronavirus), our marketing efforts need to be stronger than ever!

We have to stay in peoples eyes and minds. We need to take up as much real estate on the internet and on social media as possible so we’re the first thing people think about, and so that people don’t forget us during that time.

That said, the quality of our marketing and advertising efforts need to even greater than usual to steal the attention from our competitors, and to stop the social media scroll!

Social media is so important, especially now in COVID-19 where people are sat at home on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and LinkedIn all day!

Of course I’m saying this partly because I’m a professional photographer!

I earn a living from creating stunning commercial photography for my clients, however, I truly do believe, that having quality photography, video, and graphic design, is so incredibly important.

It separates you and makes you stand out from Lucy or Steve with their smart phones, producing the same looking content as everyone else on the internet!

Smart phone content has its place of course, it’s fast, reactive, and genuine, and it’s essential for relationship building with your company or brand.

However, if you really want to stop people scrolling through their social media feeds and pay attention to you, then you really need something spectacular that stands out from all the other content out there!

As we start to loosen the lockdown situation here in the UK, and non-essential retail and businesses start to re-open on the 15th June in England, we really need to start pushing our marketing and advertising!

We need to let customers and clients know that we’re open for business, as they may have forgotten about us and not even thought of us since the lockdown started.

So, as we go into the next phase of of the lockdown easing, whether you hire me as your photographer or not, start marketing and pushing out great attention grabbing and creative content that will win your customers back, and even gain new customers!

It’s going to be a battle between businesses now to get up and running again and start recovering some of the money they’ve lost during this pandemic.

Don’t be left behind, get out in front, and win back the business that COVID-19 has stollen from us all!

Thanks for reading.

Let me know if you agree or would add anything to that I’ve said here. I would love to hear from you!

I’m now currently taking booking for June 2020 and onwards, so get in touch if you have any projects you think I’d be suitable for. Would love to have a virtual coffee and chat with you!

All the best, and I hope you and your business grow during and after coronavirus!

Stay safe!

Stuart Bailey

Commercial, Advertising, & Lifestyle Photographer | London UK

Website: https://www.StuartBaileyPhoto.com

Email: [email protected]

Phone: (+44) 07762 900 132