The One-Two Punch For Finding Photography Clients

Its sad to see a photographer who is really good at photography, yet knows nothing about business.

When we were first starting to climb the ladder of success within the photography industry, we met a couple who were several years older and had several more years of experience. We looked at their work and instantly knew they were one of the best photography studios in our area. Until we got to know them and started learning more about how they ran their business.

When we would get together for dinner, they would proceed to list out several things they were currently working on. And those several things seemed to change every few months. Then they confided the real truth.

“As much as we love photography, we just can’t rely on it for a full time income. We have never been able to figure out how to push it to the point of creating a secure and profitable income.”

These people had some “major player” clients. They were written up in local media. They won awards and were recognized within the photographic industry. Looking at them, they were the people to model. They looked like they had it all together.

But while they were very good at photography, they had never taken the time to learn about the business world.

They created their pricing structure for the low end because:

They felt guilty about charging “too much”, even though it was their belief system that created what “too much” meant, not what others were willing to pay

They let the low end structure their pricing – and their high end was more than happy to pay it, knowing they got a “deal”

For all of these reasons and more, their marketing, pricing, and financial tasks struggled. [Read more…]

3 Ways To Stop Quitting

I met with a photographer over the weekend that will be starting a new job come the New Year. She’s been struggling with her business all year, and just can’t seem to pull in even a part time income from her photography any more. Her husband’s job is on shaky grounds, so rather than waiting for a big hit to their income, she’s decided to take a desk job. She wants to continue her business on the side, and hopefully bring it back up to where it was a couple of years ago.

So I started asking her about how she has marketed her photography business this past year.

  • She sent out a newsletter twice, with a few updates about her studio.
  • She sent several email notices for sales.
  • She uses Facebook and Twitter.
  • She updated her website back in the early summer months.
  • She submitted a portrait for an auction for a local school in early fall.

On the surface, it may seem like she’s fairly active. Until you dig a little deeper.

market your photography business and stop quitting

Saying you “do something” and “doing it actively” are two different things.

It’s easy to say you use Facebook and Twitter. But what does that really mean? Do you have thousands of friends and followers? If you send out a note (or tweet) do you have instant response? Can you easily get clients every day if you send out something new? One hundred friends won’t cut it. You will not get business if you are friends with your family and immediate friends. It takes thinking way outside the box, coming up with a huge list to market to, and doing something different and unexpected.
[Read more…]

Creating A Photography Mastermind

Yesterday we spent the afternoon and evening with some great friends, and incredible photographers. All combined, we have over 100 years of professional photography experience between us.

IMG_9514

When we first started building our business, we were out attending wedding fairs, and promoting our businesses in a variety of ways. At one wedding fair we had a booth across from another photographer. We spent the day chatting in between the busy times, and struck up a great conversation. We did dinner later that evening, and the rest is history.

We started meeting regularly for dinner to chat about business, and soon decided it would be fun if we had other photographers in the group as well. So we invited a few other friends, and soon built a core group of 8 separate photography studios. We would meet every month at one of our studios, rotating so we all got a chance to host. We would “talk business” and share new tools and strategies we found useful.

We’ve all come along way since those first few meetings. But the friendships we created were for a lifetime. Even after several years of not seeing one another, we fell right in to the old conversations.

If you would like to set up your own photography masterminds, here’s some tips to get you started.

[Read more…]