PUBLICATION CENTER

Jay Fletcher has made a name for himself in Atlanta and far beyond with his distinctive portrait art that brings out the personality of the subject, and Fletcher’s own personality, in living color through black-and-white.

Fletcher Portrait Artist is the appropriate moniker for Jay Fletcher’s portrait studio. His artistic, mostly black-and-white imagery has become the standard in his hometown of Atlanta. But Fletcher is just now hitting his stride as years of self-discovery and self-evaluation finally brought him to the pinnacle of his profession.

“I was to the point in the early ‘90s that I was burned out. I had a studio in a mall and I had absolutely no images hanging on the wall. People would look around and ask me what I photographed, and I’d say, ‘I’m not sure,’ even though I’d been in business for 15 years. I had to figure it out,” recalls Fletcher. “As a 20 and 30 year old photographer I didn’t have the guts to take charge of my business and my photographic art. I just followed the dollar, and I was miserable doing that. As soon as I decided to quit doing all the photography I didn’t like, which was 95 percent of it, I went after the client base I wanted.”

As Fletcher would be the first to point out, that decision to ditch most of your commercial work to pursue your passion is easier said than done. But for Fletcher it meant re-writing the rules of the photography business, at least the perception of the rules as he had understood them to that point. It meant reaching back to his primary expertise, marketing, while continuing to hone his technical skills.

“It started to gel about 12 years ago, and since then my business has taken off like a rocket. My background is in marketing, and photography was learned through on-the-job training. I had to develop my photography skills and a brand. Once I got a product and brand I liked, I had the marketing skills to market a good product,” says Fletcher. “In the economy we have today, one of the first things companies do that is the kiss of death is to stop marketing. As soon as you do that, you might as well close your doors. Coca-Cola, for example, is a marketing company that sells a soft drink.”

Marketing in Black-and-White

Once Fletcher determined the type of work he really wanted to do and would be most rewarding, both personally and professionally, he set about pouring his time, energy, and money into marketing to that target.

It was more than simply procuring lists, sending out direct-mail, participating in community events, setting up an e-mail marketing system, and advertising. At best, this was but a portion of the battle. The true marketing battle, says Fletcher, is in the follow-up.

“The number one mistake people make is the shotgun approach, and then they don’t follow up because it’s difficult to track a shotgun marketing program. Then they wonder why their advertising isn’t working. In advertising you also have to do it repetitively. The price of an ad in a magazine is too expensive to do repeatedly, so they’ll do it once and wonder why no one’s calling. The success rate goes up with repetition,” says Fletcher. “It’s doing the little things over and over again. It’s just having someone on your staff or yourself create a marketing program that is a 12-month marketing program. You don’t market only when business is good; it’s especially crucial to do so when business is down.”

Marketing is so important, says Fletcher, that resources normally devoted to the latest camera equipment are better spent reaching the market you want to reach. “When I used to give lectures, the first thing people wanted to ask was what type of camera I have. I will not answer that. It’s not about the camera. Buy the cheapest camera you can and spend the rest on advertising and marketing and get yourself out on the streets,” says Fletcher.

Fletcher’s primary advertising channel is direct mail to target markets. Fletcher says it can get expensive, but it’s worth it, but only if it’s followed up on aggressively. Fletcher also has an internal representative whose job it is to call on businesses and introduce Fletcher to them. Fletcher does not do any print advertising, but he will trade out with magazines that reach his target market.

In all of his marketing, Fletcher is careful to maintain a consistent brand image. The key elements of his marketing plan include narrowing the market down to a workable list that you can easily follow up with at least four times after the initial mailing or e-mail campaign, make a good offer with a definitive expiration date, and have great-looking photography that portrays the style you prefer. Basically, Fletcher is a big believer in controlling your business and your art as much as possible.

“I always ask people how much they would spend to get a client who will spend $50,000 a year with you, or $5,000. I’m willing to spend $500 for a $10,000 client, for instance,” says Fletcher. “I’m a late bloomer. It took me until about the age of 40 to become relatively well known at photography, but that didn’t happen until I quit doing what people wanted me to do and doing what I wanted to do and taking total charge of that. Fortunately, people liked it, and I’ve become well known and established in the area of black-and-white portraits with a high-end clientele.”

Inkjet Sales Tool

An important part of Fletcher’s work is his in-house printing, another area in which he takes a slightly different approach. He left the darkroom and moved to inkjet in 2003. Fletcher says he didn’t want to jump into the new technology until he felt it was ready for the consumer market.

“Until 2003 I did not feel like I could sell my clients a product for the money I wanted them to invest and feel good about it, and that matched and rivaled a sliver gelatin darkroom print,” says Fletcher. “And, you can’t just get an Epson or Canon printer and say, ‘Now I’m going to be a professional printer.’ You need to go through the steps, learn how to do it right, what papers work best for your market, and learn how to properly dry a print. Because if you don’t let it dry properly, that print under glass will outgas, and you’ll have ghosting all over the glass. That print needs to sit for a good 24 hours before it goes under glass.”

Almost all of Fletcher’s work is framed and placed under glass before it’s delivered to the client. “I have a certain look and brand I want to follow through with, which is why I want to frame it. You can buy it un-framed, but it’s the same price. It works well, and I would challenge photographers to incorporate that into their business and their bottom line will go up dramatically,” says Fletcher.

In addition to his marketing and trademark framed finishing to maintain consistent branding, Fletcher’s black-and-white images are usually printed on Hahnemuhle, LexJet Sunset, and Epson media, such as William Turner 310 g, Photo Rag 308 g, Sunset Select Matte Canvas, Sunset Photo eSatin Paper, and Epson Premium Luster Photo Paper (260).

“I do a fair amount of corporate work as well, so the application is usually for a boardroom, a conference room, or someone’s home, so it’s typically a wall portrait,” says Fletcher. “About 98 percent is black-and-white. I had a corporate shoot yesterday, and we’re going to print two 30x40 canvases for their office. I showed them the black-and-white style I like, as opposed to color, and they absolutely loved it. My style is not the Marriott style of photography, which is very well done, but also very posed. Most of my work is more animated; that’s just my style.”

“I always have a closed door session, and I’m looking for a camera that has a remote, because I like to interact with the subject as much as possible. If you can’t communicate with your clients you will not be a portrait photographer. You may be a good technician, but you won’t be able to get a stimulating portrait of your client,” adds Fletcher.