Profitable photography
Profitable photography doesn’t have to be ground breaking (heartbreaking – maybe!), you just need to invest a little time and follow the system I reveal in this post.
You may be shocked when I tell you that one of the most profitable photography niches is family portrait photography. My last family portrait order was £1366 ($2085) and there are other portrait photographers who dwarf that amount. Of course many of your weddings may be over £1366 but when you compare the hourly rates there’s no contest.
Not only is family portraiture profitable photography, when you compare it with the stress of weddings and the tight deadlines of commercial photography it’s probably the best niche for avoiding ulcers!
5 great free resources for wedding and portrait photographers
Image copyright Marc Falardeau.
These five free photography books are great resources for building a successful photography business and the websites they’re from are wonderful resources too.
Get Pro Photo is all about helping photographers like you earn the living you deserve from doing what you love. It’s about sharing the best ideas in the photographic community. It’s about realising that other photographers aren’t your enemy, ignorance is. For example, if every wedding photographer in your area averaged $5000 (£3000) for each wedding wouldn’t you be delighted? Sure you would, because it would mean that all the prospective clients in your area would be used to investing that amount and that would make your life a lot easier.
What I’m saying is – don’t be afraid to share the ideas and secrets you discover on this website. They don’t Continue reading
The dangerous website myth that fooled you into losing lots of clients
The only purpose of your photography website is to get people to call you. Sadly there’s a terrible myth about websites that completely undermines this objective.
Marketing professionals aren’t like lawyers and doctors where you need a certificate to practise it. Sure you can get a degree in it (that’s what I did) and there are various professional bodies like ‘The Chartered Institute of Marketing’, but over the years I’ve realised something; there seems to be more dangerous, misguided, baseless myths and rumours about marketing than almost any other profession.
Far too often people let their personal opinion overrule cold, hard, proven facts.
There are dangerous myths around design, copywriting, selling, pricing, branding and so much more. But let’s get back to the reason why your website isn’t getting you as many enquiries as it should.
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What’s holding you back from a great photography career?
A little bird told me many people have chips on their shoulder and some of those are holding you back from a great photography career.
We’re all great at thinking up excuses about why we’re not where we want to be in the world. This video explains what’s holding you back from a great photography career and how to overcome the issues.
I know exactly how it feels. You feel you’re not as smart as everyone else, or you’re not as naturally gifted at photography. Maybe you don’t feel confident around people. Perhaps you feel lost and just don’t know where to start because launching a new business is pretty overwhelming.
Take a look at this video – I’m sure a lot of my experiences will resonate with you. Best of all, I explain how I overcame the chips sitting on my shoulder.
If you’d like to read more on this subject then you’ll like my post ‘A Photographer’s Biggest Competitor is in Their Head’.
Please leave a comment if you have a sec – I’d really appreciate it.
Showing clients all the photos
This is a powerful demonstration of why you shouldn’t show clients all the photos. This isn’t the whole story though, in some respects I do encourage you to provide ‘all’ the photos…
Looking at this photo, no wonder photographers are often treated with as much affection as serial killers and lawyers (not necessarily in that order!). This photo of Beyonce at the Super Bowl is a perfect example of why you should never show clients all the photos. There is a slightly grey area though. The word ‘all’ can be rather flexible – well, in the eyes of a lawyer anyway!
Even the most wonderful photographer on earth is going to catch people with drunken eyes because they’re half way through a blink. There will always be photos that should never be exposed (if you’ll pardon the pun).
With family portrait photography I try to keep the selection of images down to around 20. If you start creeping up too high then clients get information overload and they can’t make a decision. This is catastrophic for your sale. If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time you’ll know I always recommend you meet portrait clients in person when presenting your images to them. If you have too many images they will ask to take home proofs or ask you to pop them online so they can decide later. The resulting sale is nearly always pathetic and the client ends up confused and overwhelmed.
The wonderful thing about keeping down to around 20 photos is that you have time to lavish on each photos so that when they view them each one looks utterly gorgeous. It’s not about quantity, its quality. You only need them to invest in one or two decent sized wall portraits anyway – that’s where the money is and that’s where the satisfaction is for your clients too. The opposite of quality over quantity is selling the dreaded CD of the session. My portrait photography system is set up to avoid this at all costs as CDs give the Continue reading
How can photographers make money fast?
Would you like to get more enquiries, book more enquiries and make more from each client? Read on.
When things are tough most wedding and portrait photographers instantly press the panic button and follow this dangerous three step process:
- Undercut the competition so they get more enquiries.
- Spend a lot of money on advertising telling everyone how cheap they are.
- Rinse and repeat!
They quickly realise that the small increase in orders doesn’t cover the decrease in average order value.
They then quickly jump onto Google and type in ‘How can photographers make money fast?’ and get saved by reading this post! You’re about to learn the six quickest ways to bring in more profit to your photography business. Some of these ideas work instantly and others will take a few minutes, days or weeks of your time, but they’re all extremely effective.
But why doesn’t reducing your prices work?
OK, let’s rewind and analyse why reducing your prices is the kiss of death.
6 sicknesses that prevent your photography career from taking off
The 6 sicknesses that stop your photography career from taking off are all to do with your head.
In this post I explained how you need to think of all the problems and concerns your client may have and then think of ways to help them overcome them. This time we’re going to look at some of the problems your business has and what you need to do to overcome them. Actually, to be technically correct, your business doesn’t have these problems, your brain does. But then you ARE the business, so if it’s not working you have to kick your own ass and set things straight.
Today I’m going to kick your ass for you! So, I apologise in advance if any of this sounds less pleasant than a dentist appointment. However, the more this information hurts, the more you probably needed to be told it…
Don’t worry though, you’re not alone. We all suffer with some, or all of these afflictions at some point. In fact I actually highlight what I did to overcome each issue. The key is to acknowledge the problems and set out a plan to deal with them.
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How to respond to email enquiries about photography
Do you get upset when clients email you for a price and then never respond after you’ve crafted a beautifully worded, helpful response? Learning how to respond to email enquiries about photography won’t just save you time, it will also book you more clients and at higher prices.
Isn’t it frustrating when you spend half an hour crafting a beautifully written response to an enquiry about your photography services, only to hear nothing back? Did you scare them off with your price? Did another photographer respond before you? Fret no more. This post and the video below explain exactly how to respond to email enquiries about photography.
Before you scroll down to the video, I want to provide you with some crucial background information.
- Never put prices on your website.
- Never put prices in your emails for the same reasons as above
- Always explain to the enquirer that it will be much quicker and easier for them if you go through everything over the phone. By the way. once you’ve got them on the phone you arrange a day to meet up for a chat.
There are two fantastic methods for responding to emails that will blow you away.
The first idea is one I got from the genius mind of Charles Lewis. The idea is to use a ‘drip campaign’. I’ve used drip campaigns in my marketing career before, but I never thought of using them as a way to respond to emails.
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Where is your photography business going wrong?
If you give your business more focus you'll find it easier to create a business system rather than running around like a headless chicken.
If your photography business isn’t where you want it to be then this is the question you need to ask. Too many photographers lower their prices as soon as things get tough. This is almost never the problem.
It doesn’t matter which area of photography you work in there are only three ways to make more money:
- Get more people to buy from you
- Get each person to spend more money
- Get each client to order more often
That’s it! There are no other ways. Refreshingly uncomplicated when you look at it like that isn’t it? This concept for making more money in your photography business may be simple but, we all tend to over complicate it. This brings me on to… Continue reading
Create ‘barriers to entry’ in your photography business
To create barriers to entry in your photography business you must be able to do things other photographers can't do or won't do.
‘Barriers to entry’ doesn’t mean you need to put snipers on the roof of your studio and bear traps by the front door. No, it means you need to set up your photography business in a way that makes it more difficult for your competition to compete with you.
Think of things that your competitors ‘can’t do’, ‘won’t do’, or ‘don’t have’. Let’s look at each of these points in turn.
Do things other photographers can’t do
Don’t be short sighted here. Don’t just think about things relating to photography. What special skills can you bring to the party, or learn? If you photograph dogs then why not become an expert dog trainer too? Then you can master your subjects with consummate ease while your competition marvels at how you’ve achieved seemingly impossible results.
