Last Updated: February 14th, 2020
Right now, photographers are a dime-a-dozen. Pretty much anyone can pick up some camera gear, even their cell phones, and start taking pictures. With photography being such a saturated industry – how is it possible to run a photography business and be successful? With our photography business tips…we will show you how!!
When we decided over 2 years ago to start our own photography business, we thought about this question a whole lot. Many other photographers have tried and failed to turn their passion into a career.
Stepping back even further, most small businesses end up failing. It’s a sad but true reality.
11 Photography Business Tips
6). Be willing to invest in your business
One of the hardest parts about starting any type of business is having the money to do so. Building off of this, we’ve seen first hand the reality that you have to spend money to make money.
Photography is not an inexpensive business to get into. Of course, some costs can be offset if you already have good gear on hand, but most likely you are not using a lot of top of the line, pro grade, camera equipment if you have not yet started a business.
Business investments often begin with gear upgrades, but they don’t end there. Making purchases to make your life easier, and that of your clients especially, are also things to consider. Some things can end up saving you money over time, such as MileIQ – a service we pay $60 a year to track our mileage for tax purposes (in 2018 we earned over $4,500 as a tax credit so it really paid for itself).
In the course of running our business for 2 years now, we’ve spent in the ballpark of $50,000 dollars combined to cover all of our camera gear and other business products and services. It’s a huge cost, but now much of the money we make goes into our pockets – with the exception of some residual overhead costs. These start up costs (the “investment stage” as we called it) were essential to help us produce a quality end product. While good photos can be taken on any camera setup, we firmly believe excellent quality images that clients willing to spend a lot of money on will only be produced from pro level gear.
Like investing into the stock market, when things payoff, the payoff can be very significant. In the case of running a photo business, it has been life changing for us.
- 20% of small businesses fail in their first year
- 50% of small businesses fail by year 5
- 70% of small businesses fail by year 10
What we take from this are two important things:
- You need to be ready to put in the hard work to be successful in both the short and long term
- Plenty of businesses are successful, too
11 Photography Business Tips
1). Do market research to stay competitive
One of the big reasons why companies go out of business is because there just isn’t a need for the service or product they are looking to offer. Fortunately, photography is something that will always be wanted, though in what form is what only the future will be able to tell us. In the short-term, market research will help you to better determine what types of people are looking for photography services in your area – and how much they are willing to pay. But, how do I conduct market research? Great question! While there are market research firms out there you could pay to help out in this area, for photographers – the information you can collect from an hours worth of research online will likely be sufficient enough. Simply start by typing into your search engine of choice: “[Your Location] Photography” If you are looking to be in a particular photography niche, such as wedding photography, include this in your search as well. Take time to review the top 10 or 20 results. What do they have in common? What are their differences? If it’s listed, checking out their pricing is one area to focus on, too. If the average wedding photography package others are selling is $3,000 – and you’re just starting out and charging $3,200 – it’s going to be difficult for you to compete. These are just some starting points as this is a hugely expansive area of discussion to say the least.2). Refine your photography style to stand out
Your photography style is defined by a number of attributes including:- Editing style
- Candid vs. posed (or a mix of both!)
- What kind of subjects you photograph such as couples or landscapes
- Natural light photography or flash photography (or both!)
- Your compositional eye
- Your choice of lenses and other photography gear
3). Determine how you will set yourself apart
While your photography style and a good portfolio are essential for running a photography business, they are not the only factor. In fact, many great photographers fail because they don’t have the business skills. Setting yourself apart from the pack of other photographers out there is the only way you can attract clients in a saturated photography market. Some ways you can do this include:- Competitive pricing
- A specific theme or niche
- Your brand personality
- Your reputation (built over time)
4). Charge what you are worth (and then some)
One of the more difficult areas of running a photography business is getting the courage to charge more money for your services. Sometimes, we find a solid price where we’re able to attract clients to make that first contact with us – but it can be very limiting. Early on in our photography business, we did weddings on the cheap (the first few weddings were for around $800 booked through Thumbtack and Craigslist). In practice, this isn’t economical, and no one can live on this. As we grew our reputation and portfolio, we’ve started to charge $3,000 – $4,000 for a wedding – far more livable for us. Ultimately, the ideal pricing you put out there should be able to support you to the extent you want it to. Just want to do photography as a part time gig? Then you probably don’t have to charge as much. But, if you want to have a full time photography business – you will need to up your prices to cover business costs and your personal bills and expenses. It’s probably obvious, but the easiest way to make more money is to charge more money. Sometimes it’s easier said than done, but you’d also be surprised by what people are willing to pay for good quality work and someone who is reputable.5). Be a professional
There are a lot of things that define a “professional,” but to us the key factors that help separate us from someone else in the photo industry are the following:- Set expectations and keep them
- Understand your relationship with your clients
- Keep it cool under pressure
- Keep your problems to yourself
6). Be willing to invest in your business
One of the hardest parts about starting any type of business is having the money to do so. Building off of this, we’ve seen first hand the reality that you have to spend money to make money.
Photography is not an inexpensive business to get into. Of course, some costs can be offset if you already have good gear on hand, but most likely you are not using a lot of top of the line, pro grade, camera equipment if you have not yet started a business.
Business investments often begin with gear upgrades, but they don’t end there. Making purchases to make your life easier, and that of your clients especially, are also things to consider. Some things can end up saving you money over time, such as MileIQ – a service we pay $60 a year to track our mileage for tax purposes (in 2018 we earned over $4,500 as a tax credit so it really paid for itself).
In the course of running our business for 2 years now, we’ve spent in the ballpark of $50,000 dollars combined to cover all of our camera gear and other business products and services. It’s a huge cost, but now much of the money we make goes into our pockets – with the exception of some residual overhead costs. These start up costs (the “investment stage” as we called it) were essential to help us produce a quality end product. While good photos can be taken on any camera setup, we firmly believe excellent quality images that clients willing to spend a lot of money on will only be produced from pro level gear.
Like investing into the stock market, when things payoff, the payoff can be very significant. In the case of running a photo business, it has been life changing for us.
7). Make your clients priority #1
Most decisions you make as a small business owner should benefit your clients in some way. People who lose sight of this importance end up losing business and decreasing their earnings over time. In general, doing this is pretty easy – always be responsive, and put your client’s needs in front of your own. The big tip here that will help make this more manageable is to have set working hours. If you want to work 9-5, work 9-5 only. Don’t respond to messages afterwards. Occasionally you might set up a phone call or meeting outside of your normal hours, but this should be the exception, not the rule. Showing some amount of flexibility, especially when your prospective client’s schedule may not jive perfectly with your own, is essential – but you shouldn’t be killing yourself either.8). Establish good relationships with other photographers and vendors
Working well with your local community of photographers and other related businesses is essential. In the world of weddings, many we book actually come as referrals from other vendors. Outside of referrals, an established relationship with other vendors can set you up for great collaborations in other ways too, such as styled shoots, which can contribute well to your photography portfolio by allowing you to create more interesting and controlled content. Some shoots can even lead to publications, increasing your brand presence. We like to participate in styled shoots a few times a year – here is one we did in 2018 at Asbury Park.9). Put together a website that accurately reflects your brand
Your web presence is critically important to get right. Aside from referrals coming in from word-of-mouth, most people will be interacting with your business online. Before they even send you an email or talk to you on the phone, they will likely have seen your website and social media.
10). Have a well-defined brand image
A good brand image can literally refer to your logo (you know…the picture people will associate with your business), but also relates to the elements of your brand. Stylistic consistency is one important area people will be looking at, but maybe most important of all (in our experience) is a succinct“About” page on your website. It’s here that you can really speak right to prospective clients and tell them what you are about. Sprinkling in some personal tidbits, talk about what your business offers, and who your ideal client is are all things you should do to define your brand. We’ve had quite a few inquiries specifically address “loving” our photography businesses About page, and how they jived with us because they were into things we were into (like Game of Thrones and travel).11). Diversify your income streams
It can be short sighted to think that all the money you make should come from photography session fees. Most businesses struggle if they can’t support themselves in other ways. For photographers, money dries up as soon as finding new clients becomes more difficult. As an added challenge, many of us face a down season that can last several months as well (the winter time for us). There are ways to add additional income streams to your photography business. Two we’ve taken to are:- Selling prints and other physical goods
- Partnering with companies to offer discounts or sell products for commission
- Blog and integrate affiliate marketing for products/services you like for passive income