Photography Business Tips Archives - Page 2 of 4

Creating A Photography Experience They’ll Love

I’ve been there. Have you?

Client complains.

Stomach sinks.

“Obviously I didn’t make that detail very clear, did I?”

(I didn’t even think I had to.)

If you haven’t ever been in this situation, consider yourself eternally lucky. If you have, then you know the feeling. You would do anything to go back in time to tell them everything you meant to.

If you’ve ever found yourself in a situation where you’re getting bitten for not setting client expectations correctly, you want to take a trip with Michael J. Fox back to when you had the opportunity to set the client’s expectations correctly.

But sadly, your imaginary DeLorean is fresh out of a flux capacitor.

So rather than try to figure out time travel, let’s work together to come up with a few ways to better set photography client expectations from the onset. Ultimately, this is an effort toward creating a photography experience, and one they’ll love.

Here are 5 tips on creating a better photography experience for your clients so you can avoid these sticky situations.

[Click to read more]

Don’t Make These 5 Mistakes When Starting A Photography Business

I never intended to start a photography business.

Like many people, I became interested in photography and the business just sort of fell into my lap.

While we’ve come a long way since then and I was able to leave my day job to do photography full-time, I made several mistakes when starting out that I wish I could go back and do differently.

These mistakes are easy to avoid if you are aware of them, yet it seems like almost all new photographers make them.

Here’s 5 common mistakes to avoid when starting a photography business. [Click to read more]

Why You Should Delete “I’m A Photographer” From Your Vocabulary

If you, me, and everyone else reading this post were jammed into a room at a networking event, I can almost guarantee you that 75% of the crowd’s introduction would go sorta like this…

“Hi! I’m so and so. I’m a photographer, and I shoot enter subject here.“

It’s when there’s hundreds of us all saying the same thing that the problem becomes grossly apparent. This is what we do, yes. But it’s no different than anyone else in this business and it’s not even a good way to articulate what we do.

After all, we’re not machines. We don’t produce the same results or experience. And, we don’t produce the same solution to the same problem.

With about 170,000 people reporting their career as “photographer” according to the US Census Bureau, how do you differentiate?

It’s really, really hard to figure out what you do differently than the pack. Businesses (not just photo businesses) struggle with this, sometimes for years before figuring it out. I’m about to give you a few huge shortcuts to help you figure it out much, much quicker. [Click to read more]

Is Your Appearance Hurting Your Photography Business?

Whether you like it or not, your appearance is part of how people judge your business.

Your clients will be judging you based upon everything they see – from your clothes and hair to the car you drive to the consultation. Even if they aren’t doing it intentionally, it’s still happening.

Even things that we can’t control, like our age or gender, will affect how they perceive us and how they choose a photographer.

So what is best?

Thankfully, there’s no universal “right answer” to that question. It all depends on who your ideal client is and what your appearance says to them.

So the real question is whether or not your appearance is attracting the type of clients you’re looking for, or if it is ultimately hurting your business.

How much does it really matter? [Click to read more]

Photography Business Insurance Coverages Every Photographer Should Have

This week’s post is a guest post from Rachel Brenke.

Running a business is serious..business.

It is super exciting to get a new prop, lens or spend money on education but there are a few areas that small business owners sometimes overlook.

Safeguarding your business through insurance policies is a major one.

You may as well be playing the lottery with your livelihood, clients and self confidence when not carrying the proper insurance policies.

While you should always consult with an insurance agent to make sure you have all the coverages you need, here are some of the main things you need to consider and purchase when getting photography business insurance. [Click to read more]

How to Focus When Your Photography Business is Overwhelming

This post is a guest post by Tanya Hirschy.

Starting a photography business is often a bit awkward.

When I first timidly started my photography business a few years ago I would frequently hear, “I didn’t know you took pictures.”

“Me neither” my response would be, followed by nervous laughter. This showed my lack of confidence and slightly revealed how overwhelmed I was. Maybe you can relate.

Then all at once my young business unexpectedly exploded with clients. Here’s how I handled the overwhelm and uncertainty I felt about my success so early.

[Click to read more]

When Should You Show Clients Your Full Pricing?

If you started asking strangers for kisses, how many do you think you’d get?

You’d likely get a lot of really confused looks, some rude comments, and maybe a few kisses if you’re not too creepy.

However, built into each one of us is a sub-conscious desire to be consistent that is so strong that it could get strangers to kiss you and clients to book you that might have otherwise said no.

Don’t believe me? Watch this video and see if you can figure out how they did it. It’s worth a few minutes of your time.

Besides being ridiculously entertaining, this demonstrates the principle of consistency, which can be super powerful in converting people into clients. Let’s talk about what’s happening here and how you can use these same principles to get more clients, specifically by making sure you’re showing your pricing at the right time.

[Click to read more]

How to Find Balance in Your Photography Business

Are you working too much?

I’m guessing the answer is “yes”.

You are not alone. It’s incredibly difficult to find balance while running a business.

Most new photography businesses are started by people also working another job or who are stay-at-home parents who have a full-time job (plus some!) raising children. Once you do get to the point of going full-time, you still don’t have enough time to do everything you want to do to sustain and grow your photography business in the way you want it to grow.

Personally, I’ve justified all the extra work by believing that “one day” it’ll get to the point I want it to be at and I won’t have to work as much.

It’s a lie. The more you grow, the more time it takes to sustain, and you can’t ever really just ignore it without negative consequences.

Yet at the same time, you need to find balance. Your kids are only young once, and life is too short to work all the time. Not to mention the fact that you are utterly exhausted from late-night editing sessions so aren’t the person you want to be during the day.

So what do you do? Do you fold? Do you cut back? Do you get an extra job so that you don’t have to do photography for the income and just do it for fun?

Let’s dive in and talk about how to find balance long-term in your photography business.

[Click to read more]

7 Ways to Make Extra Money With Your Photography Business

Let’s face it: We’d all like more money.

So I thought I’d compile a list of 7 ways to make extra money besides just booking more typical sessions, because most people I talk to still don’t have as many clients as they’d like.

I’m just going to dive right in. Here are my 7 ways to make extra money with your photography business.

[Click to read more]

5 Super Simple Accounting Tips for Photographers

This week’s post is a guest post written by Allan Branch.

Professional photographers have the technique down and creative abilities to succeed at making money doing what you love. However, managing the business side, specifically your finances, is just as critical as making certain the bride looks even prettier in her wedding photos than she does in person. Here are five simple tips to help lessen the headache of accounting and get you back to creating lasting memories.
[Click to read more]

How a Handshake Can Get You More Photography Clients

This week’s post is a guest post is written by Lea Hartman.

In our day and age of technology driven enterprise we often overlook the tried and true method of building a business: a good solid handshake. Yes, it’s true, back in our parents’ day there was no email marketing or online presence. Building a business was all about building a relationship – you couldn’t have one without the other.

This is a reality that has hit home for me living in the south. Down here the corner drug store is still going strong and independent beauty salons can be found throughout the area. How do these small businesses thrive with larger, often time cheaper, chain stores being built up all around them?

Relationship. People will continue to frequent a business that makes them feel at home, one that offers them personal attention and invests into their life.

When I was a kid, my dad used to order pizza from the same family owned pizza parlor. As time progressed, they learned who my dad was, what he normally ordered and eventually he was able to call up, say, “This is Don on Sparks. Could you send my usual?” and they’d know exactly what he needed and have it on it’s way. Who doesn’t love attention like that?

So, how can you incorporate this into your photography business? [Click to read more]

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