Photography is a popular hobby, with many people spending their free time with their cameras searching for the perfect shot. While some amateur photographers are content to maintain their love of photography as a hobby, for others, the dream is to make it a full-time job.
If you have harbored dreams of becoming a professional photographer, you may be feeling not sure about how to move from work to becoming a freelance photographer. This article will explore the steps you need to take to set yourself up as a photographer and how to make your new business successful.
Improve Your Skills
Have you received lots of compliments from family and friends on your photography skills? That’s an excellent start, but to establish yourself as a pro it can be useful to get a few qualifications under your belt. Studying for a recognized photography qualification will help you take your skills even further. Own qualification it will also make sure that potential clients will take you seriously, and will likely want to pay for your services. It can be hard to justify charging your customers the price for professional photography if you do not have the real qualifications to demonstrate your skill level.
Studying for a photography qualification won’t only enhance your reputation, it will also help you make useful industry contacts and significantly increase your knowledge of the subject.
Find Your Niche
It is not unusual for a photographer to be a ‘jack of all trades’. Instead, photographers normally focus their careers in a selected field. This is because several types of photography require different skills, and building a high level of technical ability requires significant experience and practice.
Photography is a broad field and includes everything from newspaper photographers, fashion photography and product photography to wedding photography, wildlife photography and even underwater photography.
Focusing on specializations makes it much easier to market your services, in addition to to build a portfolio of relevant work to show potential clients. Having a specialist area to focus on also lets you establish yourself as an expert in your field, which will be a real advantage once you are established.
Build Your Brand
Once you know your area of expertise, it is time to start working on your brand. Think about what you want your business to convey through its brand. Do you want to be seen as a budget-friendly family photographer, or perhaps a high-end portrait photographer? Whatever image you want to portray, your business needs to be reflected in your branding.
When considering your branding, you also need to consider your target market. Who are the clients you want to attract to your business? You need to be sure that your brand appeals to the type of shoppers you want to attract.
Developing a Business Plan
Write a business plan It may not sound fun, but it is the best way to get all of your ideas down on paper. A business plan brings together all the elements of your business idea into a tangible form. Your business plan is the first real step towards putting your plan into action. Without a business plan, your business idea has no direction.
To make your business successful, you need to consider practical matters, such as costs, and understand who your competitors are, each of which will be included in your business plan.
Focus on Finance
If you are planning to go from a full-time job to a freelance photographer overnight, you are most likely doomed. Unless you have a lot of clients already lined up, you can run out of cash quickly.
Many freelancers take a measured approach to launching their business. Dipping your toe in the water, for starters, is a safer option. Maybe start your photography business as a second job, to start with so you do not lose the security of your paid job. Working as a photographer alongside your day job can be an excellent way to find out more about how the industry works, and to decide if it is the right career choice for you.
Create a Website
Every business needs a website, and for photographers, a website is even more important. Taking the time to improve your website is essential, as this is where potential customers will come to get an idea of your work. Take time to search Best Photographer & Photography Website Builder so you can know which website is right for your business. Building a professional looking website full of terrific images is the best advertisement for your business.
Show off your best images on your website, as this will serve as a digital portfolio of your work. To stop people from copying your work and passing it off as their own, you may want to include a watermark on any images you post online.
Shop Tools of the Trade
As part of your business plan, you’ll list the costs related to setting up your business. One of the most significant costs involved in starting your business is buying equipment. To stop yourself from spending money before you earn it, it is a good idea to start by buying the essentials you need. Having a significant financial commitment from the start can put you under unnecessary stress. Once you are more established, you’ll have a clear idea of what additional equipment you’ll need.
In the early days of your business, you’ll know what is best for you and how you want to work. Therefore, making a bigger buying decision when you have the experience behind you is a better idea.
Promote Your Brand
Once you are ready to get to work and finalized all the details of your business, you can begin promoting your brand. Setting up a business takes time, so anything you can do to help attract customers is worth it.
Even businesses with the smallest marketing budget can promote their business and increase awareness of their brand. Social media is a superb place to start when promoting your business. Building a following on social media can help spread the word about your business and what you do. Social media can be used to direct potential customers to your website to learn more about your work. Social media platforms are also excellent for promoting any special offers you may be running.
Build Your Client Base
First of all, quite a lot of your attention will be focused on trying to build a customer base and begin taking regular orders. If you are trying to build more content for your website and portfolio, you may want to offer potential customers a discounted rate on your photography package up front. It’s important to make it clear what is included in this discounted price, so that the offer is not confused with your regular price.
Driving repeat business is also important, so offering a return customer discount, or a discount for your customer’s family and friends is an excellent way to increase your bookings.
New photographers can even benefit from exhibiting at relevant trade shows and events. Wedding photographers can attract new business by having a booth at wedding events and fairs. A kiosk at a marriage allows the photographer to meet potential customers face to face and can lead to bookings for the day.
While building your client base, you need to stay on guard against people taking advantage of you as someone new to the industry. Unfortunately, photographers are often asked to work for free in exchange for images they can use in their portfolio. Working for free is something you should be wary of, so be sure you do not disparage your services.
Don’t Forget Admin
As every business owner knows all too well, much of your time is spent doing admin work. In fact, sometimes all the admin tasks related to running a business take longer to complete than the time spent taking photos.
Scheduling photoshoots, responding to emails, and creating invoices all take time, and are critical to the smooth running of your business. Luckily, there are many great ones software programs available to help you with everything from managing your account, to booking an appointment.
To have a positive reputation, your admin skills need to be nearly as good as your photography skills. Being well organized helps maintain a professional approach to your business, and will enable you to offer the best customer support possible. Ideally, strong organizational skills and excellent customer support should be matched with your photography skills. Running your business efficiently and staying on top of each aspect of running it will make sure that you have contented customers who are happy to recommend you, and return as repeat customers.
