This is part 2 of a 2 part series.
Previously I talked about one small change you can make in your LGBT marketing to be more inclusive of LGBT clients and potential LGBT clients. The one small change was to add LGBT imagery to your existing website or marketing materials. If you missed that post go back and read it here.
So while this is one small change, your immediate question might be – what if I don’t have access to LGBT images? I like to advise my clients to be creative versus doing things in what could appear to be the wrong way or at least an inauthentic way. Let me explain the inauthentic piece briefly by pulling an excerpt from a previous blog post I wrote that was specifically about the downfalls of using LGBT stock photography.
“The photo you are going to use is already being used by 1,000 other people trying to sell their products or services. I see this time and time again. You’ll see a major company come out what appears to be a great new LGBT ad campaign and within two seconds you can see that they purchased the same lesbian couple that 4 of their competitors and 25 companies outside of their industry are already using. This is happening with some very large brands.”
So, do you want to be one of the many companies using the same LGBT stock photography?
On one of my free webinars I received this question that ties in perfectly – “for marketing etc.. is there a great resource to find images etc that we can use?”
In my opinion the short answer to this is no. You can read the aforementioned blog post about downfalls of using LGBT stock photography for more details on where that answer comes from. But on the assumption that there are no good resources let’s talk about what you can do in your business. I see you as having two options –
The first is that you can reach out to folks you know who are LGBT and ask them. You may be thinking this could cross the line within a relationship but the key here is folks you know. People you are friends with, close colleagues, not just the random LGBT person working at the local pharmacy. If you are LGBT then use a picture of yourself or your family. We are in a social world where the lines between business owner and you outside of your business are blending together quite a bit. We are in a 24/7 social media driven world so clients and customers in many cases expect to know more about you on a personal level than in any generation previously. Using an authentic picture of you, your family or your friends is not uncommon in this digital age. I’ve gone the extra mile a few times with clients and given them the rights to use pictures of my LGBT family photos because I happened to have exactly what they needed.
The second option is to create some kind of contest looking for your LGBT clients and customers to submit their imagery to you in exchange for winning some fantastic prize from your business. On the webinar the person who asked this question was a travel agent who specialized in family vacation travel. This is the absolute perfect type of business to ask folks for LGBT family vacation photos in exchange for some add on package to their trip. This will save you significant time and money in the long run. AND if your client is willing to provide you with an image chances are they believe in your business, you and what you are doing – so my bet is they would also give you some sort of glowing testimonial. Testimonials are great because they offer social proof which is very important in this digital and social based age.
Regardless of which path you choose – don’t forget to protect yourself by getting some sort of photo agreement that outlines the particular usages of the photo and that you have the ability to use it. Nothing complicated is necessary but just a basic agreement to protect both you the business owner and your client or the person providing the image(s).
Shorten your learning curve and get the book, The 7 Mistakes Preventing You From Selling to the $830 Billion LGBT Market, today!
