# Market Your Photography Business - How to Get More Clients



## Restomage (Sep 20, 2013)

I hope you all enjoy this article I wrote, I've had some people asking me lately if I had any marketing tips for a new photo business so I thought I'd do a write up. I'll include the first part of the article here and the rest on the link below so you can see the proper layout, photos, etc. Enjoy!



The photography industry is one of the hardest markets to tap into  and make a successful career out of. Digital cameras have made it  ridiculously easy for anyone to take photos and because of this there  are far too many people who grab an SLR camera from Costco and call  themselves photographers, yet they know very little about lighting and  composition. And whats even more frustrating is every hipster in  America now can take a decent looking photo from their iPhone with  Instagram and get thousands of followers. So how do you make a name for  yourself and market your business? Whats the best way to get  photography clients?


*1) Be Amazing at Your Craft and Build Your Portfolio First!*
Everyone has his or her own steps, strategies and means of marketing a photography business, but most professional photographers  will agree that the first step to any successful photo career is to  first become an exceptional photographer. You dont necessarily need to  become the next Joe McNally or Cliff Maunter, but you should get to the  point where you can be comfortable enough with the quality of your work  that you know clients will be extremely impressed with. Ask others to  critique your work, but do not, I repeat, *do not* ask  people you know (ex. friends, family, significant others) to evaluate  your work. You need honest, blunt opinions; this is the only way you  will become a better photographer. Learn from your mistakes and improve  upon your successes. I strongly recommend that you find another  professional whos been in the industry for a long time to become a  personal mentor; he or she can give you business advice and critique  your work.

You may now ask, how do I build my portfolio if I dont have clients? My  advice is to try and assist other photographers in the industry and  build your portfolio that way, even if it means working for free. My  goal was to become a wedding and event photographer, so I started my  career as an intern with the Orange Country Register and being the  editor of my college newspaper. I put in hours and hours of slave labor  and it all paid off because I made connections, learned how to take  photos in a professional environment and honed my lighting and  composition skills. Because of the credibility I earned shooting for one  of the largest newspapers in the country, I was able to get my foot in  the door with professional wedding photographers and asked to assist  them. After about two years of training I was ready to start thinking  about a career.

*2) Specify Your Target Audience
*At this point you should already know what category of photography  you want to specialize in, however the next important step is to  identify your target audience. Lets say you want to become a portrait  photographer. In order to be a successful portrait photographer, you  cannot be broad with your photography (at least not early in your  career), you need to have a focus. Are you going to be primarily a  senior portrait photographer, corporate photographer, sports  photographer, etc? Focusing on a specific category will help you  dominate a particular market; you want to spend most of your marketing  efforts in only a couple categories as opposed to doing some marketing  here and some there, but we will talk a little more about this in step  5. It will also help to research the market, learn their purchasing  habits and how much clients are paying for photography services in the  area. 

*3) Build a Business Plan and Identity*Continue reading the rest of the article here...


----------

