Where to market my new photography business?
Mar 4, 2019 10:11:53 #
ggab wrote:
They call it an "elevator presentation".
Assume you have 30 seconds to share what you do.
You need to be concise, enthusiastic and peak an interest.
No Masters Degree, just a lifetime of sales.
Assume you have 30 seconds to share what you do.
You need to be concise, enthusiastic and peak an interest.
No Masters Degree, just a lifetime of sales.
"No Masters Degree, just a lifetime of sales."
Mar 4, 2019 10:46:36 #
PaulBrit
Loc: Merlin, Southern Oregon
It seems to me as though there are a bundle of great suggestions!
Mar 4, 2019 11:16:33 #
You may not be ready, YET! Let's examine your situation.
Your Portfolio: If you aspire to a career in professional portraiture and/or wedding photography, as per your website, your portfolio is lacking in variety unless your marketing is going to be restricted to attractive young ladies. General portraiture marketing should include a wide scope of demographics; families, children and babies, business executives (corporate work is very lucrative), formal and casual approaches in studio-like and environmental settings, various age groups, some theatrical or modeling (headshots),lifestyles portraits using props and having storytelling content- musicians, pets, folks pursuing their hobbies and activities etc. Besides weddings, there are other special occasions- such as graduation, religious milestones such as first communion, confirmation, Bar Mitzvahs anniversaries etc. Pretty young ladies too! Don't forget about the guys! - Old folks- they are all potential clients! Business folks NEED good images for their own promotional usages and publicity.
There is no reason why you can't specialize in any one of these areas, however, you have to offer your services to a broader base and fine-tune your marketing targets as you observe where your assignments are coming from. You have to target areas where private individuals or businesses and institutions have the money and budgets to spend on professional photography and support your enterprise.
Weddings: Your website has no wedding photography. You need to gain experience in this aspect of photography, not only to secure a portfolio but to learn and practice all the required skill sets. For the purposes of marketing, you will need to show a variety of complete wedding coverages, formal and casual portraits, groups, ceremony coverage, reception candid shots in a photo-journalistic style. You will need durable and redundant equipment to make certain that you can complete each assignment even in the event of gear malfunction.
Marketing advice: This is gonna sound harsh but "GET OUT FROM BEHIND YOUR COMPUTER AND HIT THE STREETS! For the time being- forget about the Internet, social media and the likes of Craig's List! Look at it this way. If you were going to open a store or a studio, would you select a location where there were dozens of stores of the same kind on the same block or a 3 block radius? On the NET you are you are competing for attention with hundreds or even thousands of "photographers" who are vying for work at low rates. Your audience is somewhat lazy and many are reading the "menu" from right to left and going for the lowest price. They won't even get off their backsides and go out to McDonald's for a burger- they call Uber! I want (and you shod seek out) potential clients who go to the supermarket and make sure the bread is fresh and like to smell the produce. I want them, to come and see me and my pictures in person or I wanna go to see them. Actually and frankley, I am after the crowd that shop at gourmet food stores and eat in upscale restaurants.
This monkey business about getting "blackballed" on some kinda online serves-is NUTS! Forgetaboutit!
My marketing strategy is to go directly to the consumer. I recommend that once you have your portfolio in order, you should create display prints and display at consumer and business shows including wedding/bridal fairs and shows home improvement and decoration exhibitions, and business-oriented shows etc. You can run promotions, offer grand opening and introductory show specials do draws for services and COLLECT LEADS to follow up with telephone calls and Emails and possibly mailings. You get to talk to folks- face to face- that is extremely powerful. Seek out well-attended high volume events with good track records. Get ready to meet and greet, give out promotional materials and do some old fashioned SELLING!
The next step is NETWORKING with other vendors- wedding services, florists, jewlers. caterers, bridal gown and formal wear retailers. Photograph their products and the will display your work in there showrooms and offices. At one point I had albums and prints in just about every wedding service provider in town. One couple came in and asked if anyone else in the city does wedding photography- they were sarcastically joking and booked anyway! My goal, at the time, was to become "omnipresent" in the areas I was marketing in.
There is nothing wrong with your presence on the Internet- it will yield some work and serve as a reinforcement for your other promotional activities. My philosophy is that all print and online advertising is rather passive and direct promotion and networking is active. If you can start the energy moving in your direction and keep up the good work, you will begin to develop a following and you will receive referral business.
Quality: Your work has to be a cut above the rest. There are hoards of mediocre operators and do-it-yourselfers out there and folks are not gonna spend lots of their hard earned money on stuff the can acquire cheaply or do it themselves or have Uncle Oscar with his new camera knock it off. Harsh- but it's a reality!
Business Plan: More harsh reality- You can be the best photographer this side of the universe and without a solid business plan, you will fail! Seems you are in the financial sector so I might be preaching to the choir but marketing is only one aspect of the business. You have to construct a comprehensive plan in order to devise a price structure based on and factoring in your income requirements, the expenses of running your business- even a part-time one. Your price structure has to be based partially on your overhead expenses- ALL of them- perhaps some things you hadn't considered as yet such as insurances, a portion of your rent, utilities, automotive and travel costs, office expenditures, advertising fees, educations expenses such as courses, reading materials, technical manuals etc. equipment depreciation and maintenance, and more. Costs of sales are a separate issue- things like outsourced lab fees, materials, albums, picture frames mounting materials, anything that is expendable and purchased on behalf of your clients and you are including in your contracts or retailing. You have to pay yourself- you are your first and only employee when you start a business. You have to determine your profit margins in order to sustain your business and pay yourself. You need to make projections as to what volume of sales you will require to accommodate all of these findings and set goals. You will have to address all the legalities such as business licensing where required, sales tax licensing, accounting and bookkeeping setup, contract forms, work orders, invoices, copyright issues, merchant credit and debit card setup, and banking arrangements.
I have over 50 years in this business and I am still at it. If you start off on the right track and set everything up properly, even if you are working on a small scale, your business will run smoothly as it grows. If you mess up at the onset, it's extremely difficult to correct things retroactively. If you start out working at very low rates it's nearly impossible to dig yourself out of that rut- START SMART! GOOD LUCK!
Your Portfolio: If you aspire to a career in professional portraiture and/or wedding photography, as per your website, your portfolio is lacking in variety unless your marketing is going to be restricted to attractive young ladies. General portraiture marketing should include a wide scope of demographics; families, children and babies, business executives (corporate work is very lucrative), formal and casual approaches in studio-like and environmental settings, various age groups, some theatrical or modeling (headshots),lifestyles portraits using props and having storytelling content- musicians, pets, folks pursuing their hobbies and activities etc. Besides weddings, there are other special occasions- such as graduation, religious milestones such as first communion, confirmation, Bar Mitzvahs anniversaries etc. Pretty young ladies too! Don't forget about the guys! - Old folks- they are all potential clients! Business folks NEED good images for their own promotional usages and publicity.
There is no reason why you can't specialize in any one of these areas, however, you have to offer your services to a broader base and fine-tune your marketing targets as you observe where your assignments are coming from. You have to target areas where private individuals or businesses and institutions have the money and budgets to spend on professional photography and support your enterprise.
Weddings: Your website has no wedding photography. You need to gain experience in this aspect of photography, not only to secure a portfolio but to learn and practice all the required skill sets. For the purposes of marketing, you will need to show a variety of complete wedding coverages, formal and casual portraits, groups, ceremony coverage, reception candid shots in a photo-journalistic style. You will need durable and redundant equipment to make certain that you can complete each assignment even in the event of gear malfunction.
Marketing advice: This is gonna sound harsh but "GET OUT FROM BEHIND YOUR COMPUTER AND HIT THE STREETS! For the time being- forget about the Internet, social media and the likes of Craig's List! Look at it this way. If you were going to open a store or a studio, would you select a location where there were dozens of stores of the same kind on the same block or a 3 block radius? On the NET you are you are competing for attention with hundreds or even thousands of "photographers" who are vying for work at low rates. Your audience is somewhat lazy and many are reading the "menu" from right to left and going for the lowest price. They won't even get off their backsides and go out to McDonald's for a burger- they call Uber! I want (and you shod seek out) potential clients who go to the supermarket and make sure the bread is fresh and like to smell the produce. I want them, to come and see me and my pictures in person or I wanna go to see them. Actually and frankley, I am after the crowd that shop at gourmet food stores and eat in upscale restaurants.
This monkey business about getting "blackballed" on some kinda online serves-is NUTS! Forgetaboutit!
My marketing strategy is to go directly to the consumer. I recommend that once you have your portfolio in order, you should create display prints and display at consumer and business shows including wedding/bridal fairs and shows home improvement and decoration exhibitions, and business-oriented shows etc. You can run promotions, offer grand opening and introductory show specials do draws for services and COLLECT LEADS to follow up with telephone calls and Emails and possibly mailings. You get to talk to folks- face to face- that is extremely powerful. Seek out well-attended high volume events with good track records. Get ready to meet and greet, give out promotional materials and do some old fashioned SELLING!
The next step is NETWORKING with other vendors- wedding services, florists, jewlers. caterers, bridal gown and formal wear retailers. Photograph their products and the will display your work in there showrooms and offices. At one point I had albums and prints in just about every wedding service provider in town. One couple came in and asked if anyone else in the city does wedding photography- they were sarcastically joking and booked anyway! My goal, at the time, was to become "omnipresent" in the areas I was marketing in.
There is nothing wrong with your presence on the Internet- it will yield some work and serve as a reinforcement for your other promotional activities. My philosophy is that all print and online advertising is rather passive and direct promotion and networking is active. If you can start the energy moving in your direction and keep up the good work, you will begin to develop a following and you will receive referral business.
Quality: Your work has to be a cut above the rest. There are hoards of mediocre operators and do-it-yourselfers out there and folks are not gonna spend lots of their hard earned money on stuff the can acquire cheaply or do it themselves or have Uncle Oscar with his new camera knock it off. Harsh- but it's a reality!
Business Plan: More harsh reality- You can be the best photographer this side of the universe and without a solid business plan, you will fail! Seems you are in the financial sector so I might be preaching to the choir but marketing is only one aspect of the business. You have to construct a comprehensive plan in order to devise a price structure based on and factoring in your income requirements, the expenses of running your business- even a part-time one. Your price structure has to be based partially on your overhead expenses- ALL of them- perhaps some things you hadn't considered as yet such as insurances, a portion of your rent, utilities, automotive and travel costs, office expenditures, advertising fees, educations expenses such as courses, reading materials, technical manuals etc. equipment depreciation and maintenance, and more. Costs of sales are a separate issue- things like outsourced lab fees, materials, albums, picture frames mounting materials, anything that is expendable and purchased on behalf of your clients and you are including in your contracts or retailing. You have to pay yourself- you are your first and only employee when you start a business. You have to determine your profit margins in order to sustain your business and pay yourself. You need to make projections as to what volume of sales you will require to accommodate all of these findings and set goals. You will have to address all the legalities such as business licensing where required, sales tax licensing, accounting and bookkeeping setup, contract forms, work orders, invoices, copyright issues, merchant credit and debit card setup, and banking arrangements.
I have over 50 years in this business and I am still at it. If you start off on the right track and set everything up properly, even if you are working on a small scale, your business will run smoothly as it grows. If you mess up at the onset, it's extremely difficult to correct things retroactively. If you start out working at very low rates it's nearly impossible to dig yourself out of that rut- START SMART! GOOD LUCK!
Mar 4, 2019 11:23:45 #
Pat F 4119 wrote:
Hi All, well, after a year of study, practice, and... (show quote)
My daughter works for a company that provides linens and chair covers for special events like weddings, conferences, luncheons, and other special events. These events usually have a photography activity of some kind. Seek out a booth at a Bridal show or contact wedding planners for various contacts. Also, upscale homes with big commissions allow the listing agent an opportunity to highlight their listing with interior stills and videos, plus fly-overs with drones. Realtors are not professional photographers but have the incentive (commission) to hire a professional photographer. Just hand out business cards everywhere you go and to everyone you come into contact with. I started three professional businesses and know what it takes to get off the ground floor. Be persistent and have a plan. Good luck and keep the focus.
Mar 4, 2019 11:33:26 #
Once again thank you E.L.. Shapiro for bringing the realities of commercial photography to the fore...
Pat F 4119 this endeavor rarely ends well...
Over saturated field... no demand way too much supply...
While it is wise to do what you love... did it occur to you that there are compelling reasons why you love what you are doing... btw, there are virtually no barriers to entry now... no licensing authority nor academic credentials required...
Photography is a craft not a profession... want to make decent money then pick a craft that people actual need (as apposed to want)... needs verse wants HUGE difference... best advice? become a plumber... they are licensed and make a handsome living...
How did I get into the photographic marketplace? I'm a licensed makeup artist and bridal makeup artistry pays WAY more than photography (per hour)... I only use photography to marketing and promo... it's a pain in the tush since retouching to meet commercial level quality sucks all the value I receive so I avoid photography if at all possible as a means to pay the bills...
Again rethink commercial photography without first assisting a commercial shooter in your marketplace... then and only then might you get a handle on the realities involved.... this worked for me, albeit I'm coming from the arena of commercial makeup artistry... enough said...
Pat F 4119 this endeavor rarely ends well...
Over saturated field... no demand way too much supply...
While it is wise to do what you love... did it occur to you that there are compelling reasons why you love what you are doing... btw, there are virtually no barriers to entry now... no licensing authority nor academic credentials required...
Photography is a craft not a profession... want to make decent money then pick a craft that people actual need (as apposed to want)... needs verse wants HUGE difference... best advice? become a plumber... they are licensed and make a handsome living...
How did I get into the photographic marketplace? I'm a licensed makeup artist and bridal makeup artistry pays WAY more than photography (per hour)... I only use photography to marketing and promo... it's a pain in the tush since retouching to meet commercial level quality sucks all the value I receive so I avoid photography if at all possible as a means to pay the bills...
Again rethink commercial photography without first assisting a commercial shooter in your marketplace... then and only then might you get a handle on the realities involved.... this worked for me, albeit I'm coming from the arena of commercial makeup artistry... enough said...
Mar 4, 2019 13:16:39 #
PLEASE Y'all- don't misconstrue my advice as discouragement, disillusionment, disgruntlement or sour grapes. I am still at my job- full-time and I love my work. It can be lucrative, very profitable, challenging, creative and believe it or not, FUN, if you know what you are doing, like relating to people, manage your business logically and properly and can muster a good work ethic.
It is indeed a PROFESSION if you approach it with both craftsmanship, professionalism and business savvy.
It is not job for the faint of heart, the lazy photographer or for those without patience and compassion for othere folks.
The so-called" gift of gab is all-right as long as the gab is truthful,educational and straightforward without hyperbole or what I like to call "monkey-business".
I have read into all the "salesmanship" books and the "art of the deal" kind of hype and I have determined a simple philosophy. We live in an age of savvy consumerism and folks are not "stupid"! They will not spend good money on things or services of no value and the will not spend their money with people that they don't like-TOO SIMPLE! Folks will like you and patronize you business when they are convinced you are working on their behalf, that they will derive benefits and value from you services and you will treat them with respect, compassion and fairness. You show them the benefits and you deliver them!
In wedding photography and portraiture, you are dealing with folks on a personal level. There are issues of self-image, vanity, nervousness, active children, stress that accompanies social events etc. Some people would rather visit their dentist that sit for a portrait. Wedding photography entails all kinds of family dynamics- some of which are not easy to contented with.
Knowledge of facial and physical aesthetics, retouching, makeup issues, color and clothing coordination, attention to detail (fussiness) are all parts of the job. I sometimes say I am a professional photograher and an amateur psychologist and social worker. I would rather have real professions do those two latter jobs but in the midst of shooting a wedding or organizing a difficult family portrait, I gotta wing it with whatever instincts I can conjure up. Most of the time things work out fine!
It is indeed a PROFESSION if you approach it with both craftsmanship, professionalism and business savvy.
It is not job for the faint of heart, the lazy photographer or for those without patience and compassion for othere folks.
The so-called" gift of gab is all-right as long as the gab is truthful,educational and straightforward without hyperbole or what I like to call "monkey-business".
I have read into all the "salesmanship" books and the "art of the deal" kind of hype and I have determined a simple philosophy. We live in an age of savvy consumerism and folks are not "stupid"! They will not spend good money on things or services of no value and the will not spend their money with people that they don't like-TOO SIMPLE! Folks will like you and patronize you business when they are convinced you are working on their behalf, that they will derive benefits and value from you services and you will treat them with respect, compassion and fairness. You show them the benefits and you deliver them!
In wedding photography and portraiture, you are dealing with folks on a personal level. There are issues of self-image, vanity, nervousness, active children, stress that accompanies social events etc. Some people would rather visit their dentist that sit for a portrait. Wedding photography entails all kinds of family dynamics- some of which are not easy to contented with.
Knowledge of facial and physical aesthetics, retouching, makeup issues, color and clothing coordination, attention to detail (fussiness) are all parts of the job. I sometimes say I am a professional photograher and an amateur psychologist and social worker. I would rather have real professions do those two latter jobs but in the midst of shooting a wedding or organizing a difficult family portrait, I gotta wing it with whatever instincts I can conjure up. Most of the time things work out fine!
Mar 4, 2019 13:43:36 #
Mar 4, 2019 13:54:14 #
Pat F 4119 wrote:
Hi All, well, after a year of study, practice, and... (show quote)
If you're shooting advertising /illustration look at buying a page in The Workbook.
Mar 4, 2019 14:24:38 #
Bykewrydr
Loc: Alberta
Your work is wonderful, keep on trucking and it will pay off, all you need is a break it will happen if you don't give up...
Mar 4, 2019 14:30:05 #
Pat F 4119 wrote:
I’m not sure, there was certainly not any inappropriate content, and when I tried to reach CL, I never received a response.
Ask the card issuer.
Mar 4, 2019 15:56:21 #
amfoto1
Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA
Your website is very nice and shows some talent and skill... But to be brutally honest it looks like an advanced amateur site and doesn't define what services you offer or show examples of your work for various commercial purposes... no weddings, no info about portrait services, no couples portraits, no real estate images, and nothing about anything else you might want to offer. No pricing (aside from the price to buy prints of two particular images, I assume to frame and hang on the wall), no indication of your "work area" beyond your address. At least you have your phone number and address... but no email or any other means of contact besides the form on the site? Nice statement about how you feel about photography. But nothing about how you feel about providing photographic services to clients... your business philosophy, so to speak... which to my mind is more important when asking people to hire you. Look up some SUCCESSFUL professional (i.e., "paid") photographers' sites and see what they list. Put yourself in the shoes of various types of clients such as you and they want to appeal to, then grade your site and their whether your encouraged to contact them for their services. Create some urgency, too. "Book your event now to avoid scheduling conflicts that may prevent us from serving you!"
You probably are getting "bumped" from Craiglist because someone is flagging your ads. It's fairly common and easy to do... An unscrupulous vendor on there "wipes out" their competition by flagging their ads to Craigslist, who in turn remove the ads immediately, no questions asked. A friend who was trying to sell products on CL had that happen to her repeatedly. Unfortunately, there's nothing that can be done about it.
The good news is that they probably did you a favor. You REALLY don't want the type of customers that Craigslist generates. I call them "bottom feeders", which isn't very nice, but seems fairly appropriate. The typical Craiglist shopper is looking for bargains and freebies. They also tend to be the first to bounce a check or refuse to pay because of some minor complaint or unreasonable expectation. You'll go broke in a hurry if that's the primary source of your "customers". It's also filled with unsuccessful photographers looking for their first big break... lots of people with kit cameras who have photographed their brother or sister's wedding for free, now feel they're "ready for the big time" and are offering to shoot the blessed event for $100 flat fee (or for free, for the "experience").
There are many much better sources of advertising. First thing I'd do if looking for wedding work would be contact every wedding planner in the area. I'd also look into pastors and priests in the area. Any place selling wedding gowns, cakes, rent tuxes and venues that host the ceremonies or receptions would also be fair game. You'll need a wedding-specific portfolio, including some couples portraits for engagement photos, plus some leave-behinds (more than just business cards, though those are necessary too).
You also need to have prepared a FAIR price list... you should have done a cost-of-doing-business study and researched the established and successful competition (ignore Craigslist) and their pricing. There is no sense taking on jobs that leave you in the red! (Many photographers do, but end up out of business in short order.)
You also need to have your documents in order... contracts and model releases, insurances, business licenses, etc.
If lacking any of these things and not really ready to put them together, you might instead consider working with one of the established photographers you discovered when you did that market study. Offer to serve as an assistant and second shooter, to learn the business from the inside out. If they're smart (and they probably are, if they are making money at it), they will probably ask you to sign a non-compete agreement of some sort, which might be fair. They also may ask you to sign over copyright to any images you take while acting as a second shooter... this should be defined in writing, to avoid any disputes. It's up to you whether or not to do so, but this is common practice among wedding photographers in particular. You should be able to specify that you can use the images for self-promotion in the future: in a portfolio, on a website, in advertising through various media. (Just be sure to get a copy of the model releases, too... which may be part of the wedding photography contract agreement.)
I'd estimate that professional photography is about 80 or 90% business, 10 or 20% photography. There can be great photographers who do wonderful work, but utterly fail as pros because they don't have the business sense. At the same time, I'm sure there are rather mediocre photographers who succeed as pros because they have a good business plan they work carefully and methodically. Both amateurs and pros can be great photographers... some differences are that amateurs get to shoot what they want, however they want to shoot it, and whenever they want to shoot it. In contrast, a pro has to shoot what the client wants shot, how the client wants it shot and on the client's schedule to meet deadlines. Pro photography is "problem solving" much of the time.... solving someone else's problems.
I'm NOT saying "don't do it!".
I'm just hoping you go into it with eyes wide open!
P.S. Incidentally, here's the web site of one of the world's most successful wedding photographers. Does it look familiar? What's similar to and what's different from your site? http://www.cantrellportrait.com/
And here's the website of one of the world's top stock photographers, who unfortunately passed away in late 2017 but can still inspire us with a lifetime's worth of photos. I met him some years ago and learned a lot. Stock photography was worth seven figures annually to his studio, yet it was secondary to his travel, location and commercial work. [url]https://www.billbachmann.com/entryPage.html[/img]
Joel Sartore is all about wildlife photography, but his web site is fun and brilliant. https://www.joelsartore.com/
You probably are getting "bumped" from Craiglist because someone is flagging your ads. It's fairly common and easy to do... An unscrupulous vendor on there "wipes out" their competition by flagging their ads to Craigslist, who in turn remove the ads immediately, no questions asked. A friend who was trying to sell products on CL had that happen to her repeatedly. Unfortunately, there's nothing that can be done about it.
The good news is that they probably did you a favor. You REALLY don't want the type of customers that Craigslist generates. I call them "bottom feeders", which isn't very nice, but seems fairly appropriate. The typical Craiglist shopper is looking for bargains and freebies. They also tend to be the first to bounce a check or refuse to pay because of some minor complaint or unreasonable expectation. You'll go broke in a hurry if that's the primary source of your "customers". It's also filled with unsuccessful photographers looking for their first big break... lots of people with kit cameras who have photographed their brother or sister's wedding for free, now feel they're "ready for the big time" and are offering to shoot the blessed event for $100 flat fee (or for free, for the "experience").
There are many much better sources of advertising. First thing I'd do if looking for wedding work would be contact every wedding planner in the area. I'd also look into pastors and priests in the area. Any place selling wedding gowns, cakes, rent tuxes and venues that host the ceremonies or receptions would also be fair game. You'll need a wedding-specific portfolio, including some couples portraits for engagement photos, plus some leave-behinds (more than just business cards, though those are necessary too).
You also need to have prepared a FAIR price list... you should have done a cost-of-doing-business study and researched the established and successful competition (ignore Craigslist) and their pricing. There is no sense taking on jobs that leave you in the red! (Many photographers do, but end up out of business in short order.)
You also need to have your documents in order... contracts and model releases, insurances, business licenses, etc.
If lacking any of these things and not really ready to put them together, you might instead consider working with one of the established photographers you discovered when you did that market study. Offer to serve as an assistant and second shooter, to learn the business from the inside out. If they're smart (and they probably are, if they are making money at it), they will probably ask you to sign a non-compete agreement of some sort, which might be fair. They also may ask you to sign over copyright to any images you take while acting as a second shooter... this should be defined in writing, to avoid any disputes. It's up to you whether or not to do so, but this is common practice among wedding photographers in particular. You should be able to specify that you can use the images for self-promotion in the future: in a portfolio, on a website, in advertising through various media. (Just be sure to get a copy of the model releases, too... which may be part of the wedding photography contract agreement.)
I'd estimate that professional photography is about 80 or 90% business, 10 or 20% photography. There can be great photographers who do wonderful work, but utterly fail as pros because they don't have the business sense. At the same time, I'm sure there are rather mediocre photographers who succeed as pros because they have a good business plan they work carefully and methodically. Both amateurs and pros can be great photographers... some differences are that amateurs get to shoot what they want, however they want to shoot it, and whenever they want to shoot it. In contrast, a pro has to shoot what the client wants shot, how the client wants it shot and on the client's schedule to meet deadlines. Pro photography is "problem solving" much of the time.... solving someone else's problems.
I'm NOT saying "don't do it!".
I'm just hoping you go into it with eyes wide open!
P.S. Incidentally, here's the web site of one of the world's most successful wedding photographers. Does it look familiar? What's similar to and what's different from your site? http://www.cantrellportrait.com/
And here's the website of one of the world's top stock photographers, who unfortunately passed away in late 2017 but can still inspire us with a lifetime's worth of photos. I met him some years ago and learned a lot. Stock photography was worth seven figures annually to his studio, yet it was secondary to his travel, location and commercial work. [url]https://www.billbachmann.com/entryPage.html[/img]
Joel Sartore is all about wildlife photography, but his web site is fun and brilliant. https://www.joelsartore.com/
Mar 4, 2019 20:27:21 #
Your work is beautiful. You might think of an Instagram account. A lot of photographers seem to have accounts there
Mar 4, 2019 20:34:12 #
I have always done it for extra income but now that I consider myself retired I get more than I can handle. I mostly do real estate so I have a reputation in that field but I do some weddings which can be quite profitable and those are word of mouth acquired. Do one wedding and get your photos out there and they will flock to your door if they are good.
Mar 4, 2019 21:32:49 #
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