Written By: Brittanny Taylor, Photographer, BrittannyTaylor.com
Deciding to make the leap into being a photographer is a huge one. It’s hard to find your place in an oversaturated market. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard “My cousin has a really nice camera, he/she can do my (insert event here) photos”.
It is not enough to just have a talent with a camera; you need to know how to market yourself to your potential clients. Take my advice, and don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Follow these simple guidelines and you’ll be that much closer to being your own marketing engine.
1) Photograph what you love and people will come.
The first step to marketing yourself as a professional photographer is to really define the type of photography you’re passionate about. As you probably know, most people think that photographers will shoot anything. Instead of doing that, stick to what you love instead.
If weddings make you cringe, don’t do weddings. If your love is architecture, why fill your portfolio with photos of babies?
Wedding photography is a multi-billion dollar business so it’s understandable if you want to cash in on it, but if it’s not your love, it will show in your work. If your work lacks the passion that a prospective client is looking for, you’re not going to get the gig, and in turn you won’t make any money.
So, first things first. Find the genre of photography you love and stick with it. If a client goes to your website and they see you shoot models, babies, families, still life, architecture, pets, weddings, events and everything under the sun, they’ll have no idea what you do best and move on to someone else who specializes in exactly what they’re looking for.
Keep it simple. It helps you out in the end because you get really hone your craft on one or two genres of photography.
2) You’ve found the genre you’re passionate about, what’s next?
Own your name. That’s the first step in marketing yourself as a brand. If you don’t already own your name as website domain, do it now. If you go to brittannytaylor.com or brittannytaylorphotography.com, you are directed to my website where you will find my model, music, and wedding galleries along with my blog.
I built my website on SquareSpace because it was the easiest way for me to customize and build galleries for my work. WordPress.org is very popular option because it’s completely customizable to your needs (plus, it’s free).
Even though you have a website, don’t limit them to the confinements of your domain. Sharing your photos on different social networks allows you to get unlimited exposure to eyes that may never seen your website.
Flickr is a great place to upload your work and has a passionate photography community to support you. Olivia Crawford, a 19 year old from Berkley, California, was a girl who posted her photography on Flickr and then was discovered by Nike. She just shot Nike Sportswear’s Spring/Summer collection.
3) You have your style and you have photos, now you need more clients.
Finding potential clients all depends on your chosen type of photography. Since I shoot models, I joined modelmayhem.com pretty early on in my career. It’s a social networking site for models, photographers and designers and it’s where I found most of my models in the beginning of my career.
With shooting live music, I started off with friends’ bands, which then led to shooting at The Spot Underground (a Providence, Rhode Island music venue) regularly.
Making a Facebook page for your photography is also a great, free way to publicize yourself to a huge group of people. Most of my work comes from people who have found my Facebook page and/or have seen my photos on other people’s profiles.
Be sure to watermark your photos in case the client doesn’t credit or tag you in the photo. Any person interested in finding out more about you can do a quick Google search on your name and be directed to your website, Flickr, Twitter, and more.
4) Is there a need for a printed portfolio or business cards since everything can be found online?
This is a debate I have with myself from time to time. Why spend hundreds of dollars on a portfolio and business cards when all your work is available online?
I have a printed portfolio for my fashion work, but it rarely gets taken out of the house. I asked other photographers if they think a printed portfolio is necessary and the general consensus was it all depends on the job.
If you are meeting with clients face to face then it best to have a printed portfolio on hand. For weddings, having an example of your work in an album is a great way to show your potential clients what they will be getting if they choose you as their wedding photographer.
If most of your clients are found online, investing money in a printed portfolio may not be necessary. An alternative is to get an iPad. Many photographers use an iPad as their portfolio of choice when meeting with clients. Using an iPad also allows you to take on-location credit card payments with the free Square swiper.
I do have business cards that I change up on a regular basis. My first business cards were from moo.com. Moo is amazing for photographers because they can link up to your Flickr account and you can have up to 20 different photos on your business cards.
It’s like having a mini portfolio in your pocket. Hand over the whole deck of cards to a prospective client and ask them to keep the one with the image they liked best. The cards have become really popular and is great for getting clients interested in my work before they even had a chance to go to my website.
Another great site for business cards is uprinting.com is where I currently order business cards.
5) Word of mouth is the best marketing available.
Word of mouth is key in marketing yourself as a photographer. Both clients and other photographers can be great marketing engines for you.
If your client had a great time working with you, they will spread that news around. Maybe even more importantly, you should realize the it’s important to get to know other photographers.
It’s not as much as keeping an eye on the competition, but genuinely becoming friends with them. You never know when another photographer will recommend you to their clients.
What if one wedding photographer is booked up for the day a potential client is getting married? The photographer that you met at that meetup and exchanged business cards with could be recommending you to people who need photos for their special day.
They’re recommending you not because you just happened to be another wedding photographer in the area but because they have met you, gotten to know you, and like you as a person. Basically, just put your best foot forward, be respectful, and truly care about the people in your industry and they will care for and look out for you in return.
Since there are so many different types of photography, this article just hits on the general points on marketing yourself as a professional photographer.
Definitely do research on your market and where other photographers in your chosen field are advertising their business. Build your portfolio in accordance to the field that you chose.
Don’t invest time and money in marketing tactics that will not attract the client you are looking for. Remember that this is a process. You may not become the next Annie Leibovitz overnight but with dedication to building your craft and taking the time to really get to know your market and their needs, you will build a strong career as a professional photographer.
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