There is just over a week until the Societies’ Convention 2017. For the past five weeks, we have been counting down to the first big photographic event of the year by speaking to Loxley Colour customers who are hosting a seminars or workshops at The Convention. This week, we spoke to Alan Hutchison about his classes and his career.
Modern-day Photography
Alan will host three classes at The Convention, all of them focusing on the business side of professional photography. He set up his business with his wife Morag in 2009 having come from a background of website building and search engine optimisation. He believes his business has been a success due to their previous experience and admits that photographers these days need to have a good understanding of marketing and social media to survive:
“I believe it is incredibly important and without these modern skills you are definitely at a disadvantage.
Loxley Colour
At Loxley Colour, we’re always keen to form a close relationship with our customers. Working together is the key to creating product packages that work for your business. Alan believes that a photographer’s business relies heavily on good business partnerships:
“Loxley have been fabulous partners for us from day one. We use Loxley exclusively for all our albums, print and wall art products… I see so many photographers who jump to different suppliers to take advantage of a special offer, or a particular product – but by doing so they lose the opportunity to build a relationship with that supplier.”
Alan’s superclass and masterclasses at The Convention next week are all about getting the most out of your business by learning tricks of the trade. His close relationship with Loxley Colour has helped him and his business:
“Our close relationship means that we know that if we need any support, assistance or advice, we can just lift the phone and know that it will be dealt with quickly.”
Masterclasses & Superclasses
One of his classes is a four-hour-long superclass on search engine optimisation (SEO). Alan runs another business alongside his photography, where he helps professional photographers with their online marketing activity. During his superclass, he will explore some of the techniques he uses in this business. His masterclasses focus on creative and content marketing, two aspects of business which he considers very important:
“Most photographers I know blog like crazy… but do they ever stop and ask ‘why?’ Content marketing flips your approach to blogging on its head and will get much more results for much less effort.”
The Photography Business
Alan is keen to educate photographers about the importance of their business-sense. His seminars focus on this to help educate delegates as much as possible about modern-day marketing practices. However, naturally photography should always remain an integral part of a photographer’s business:
“Invest in good training and make sure that what you are delivering is of professional quality.”
The photography industry is extremely competitive and Alan believes photographers should do whatever they can to make sure they are business savvy:
“If you have no experience of running a business, you also need to invest in proper business training – there are lots of small business support groups out there, take advantage of them… It’s 80% business and 20% photography – get that balance right and you will have a profitable and enjoyable business.”
Where & When
Alan’s three seminars are held between 13 and 15 January. To buy tickets and find out more information about the classes, visit http://www.swpp.co.uk/convention/2017/speaker-bio-Hutchison77305.htm. To see some of Alan’s fantastic work, visit www.alanhutchison.co.uk.