I’ve always been a fan of picking up tips and tricks from everyone I can. Todd Hunt, Business and Studio Manager for McCormick Photography was generous enough to share some ways Skype has helped make him more effective.

McCormick Photography is based in Guelph, Ontario. They specialize in weddings, family, and modeling photography. They provide services to clients in the Toronto area as well as southwestern Ontario and points north. Given their proximity to Toronto – the largest city in Canada – there’s a lot of competition in their niche, so Todd and his team work hard to land and satisfy their clients.

McCormick Photography schedules face-to-face meetings with most prospective clients, but there are times when it’s just not feasible – whether it’s a busy bride-to-be whose schedule is overbooked or a grandparent from out of town who wants to schedule a family session for an upcoming visit.

This is when Skype comes in and provides some major benefits to Todd. Video calls save him valuable time and resources by turning a three-hour round trip drive to Toronto into a convenient, focused, face-to-face presentation. More importantly, Skype lets Todd and his team show the value of their products firsthand. It’s really difficult to explain the difference between one of McCormick’s $2,000 albums and an album you can pick up at Costco for $20 unless the client can see the difference in quality. Product demos via Skype makes it easy and affordable for Todd to show clients why his services are worth it.

With the help of Skype, McCormick Photography competes with urban photographers without the expense of a downtown office while still providing prospective clients a personal connection to their photographer.

Todd Hunt is certainly a digital entrepreneur who’s worth keeping an eye on as he continues to find unconventional ways to use technology to grow his business.

I wrote this blog post on behalf of Skype and received compensation for my time and research required to create this post, but the views expressed here are solely mine, not Skype’s. For additional information about Skype’s small business solutions, follow @skype4biz and visit http://www.skype.com/en/business/.