Boosting Your Photography Business in 10 Simple Steps
Maintaining a photography business is not an overnight job. There are no shortcuts, quick fixes, or substitutes for hard work and perseverance. But there are a few simple steps you can take to give your company the boost it deserves.
We’ve put together 10 tips to help you develop your business and build your reputation in this growing creative industry.
- Hone Your Skills
The better you are at your craft, the more work you’re likely to attract. You don’t need to be an award-winning photographer to work as a professional and earn a living, but you do need to create consistently good images, no matter which areas you have chosen to specialize in.
Realistically assess your strengths and weaknesses, and identify areas that you can improve your technical skills and creative prowess. You should work on those areas deliberately while striving to perform better than you did yesterday, every day.
Draw up a regular practice schedule, including areas of your work that could use improvement, and persist until you achieve the results you’re looking for.
- Offer Outstanding Services
The photography market is highly saturated. Many of your competitors will be producing images just as good as your own, and your clients may not always be able to separate your work from your rivals’.
If you want to stand out, you will need to produce products and services that are memorable and unique when compared to anything else on offer.
This could mean developing an original photographic style, offering an in-demand range of products, or devising an unexpected way to deliver your images. Alternatively, you could focus on offering a level of service that wows your customers and helps set you apart in your industry.
Don’t be afraid to show authenticity and character. Many clients would prefer to support an authentic and genuine photographer with a real passion for their work.
- Optimize Your Branding and Shop Front
All of your sales and marketing material, including your website, should be coherent. Standardize your branding across all your platforms in a way that reflects your core values and professional ethos. Your branding should be individual, eye-catching, and different enough to stand out from your competitors.
Your website is probably your primary communication tool for interacting with clients. This is precisely why you should put in as much work as you can to perfect it on every level. Make it quick and easy for clients to discover you, learn about your work, and what makes you special. And make it clear what they stand to gain from working with you.
- Boost Your Website’s Traffic
There are several ways to increase traffic to your website, but it’s important to remember the quality of your visitors is crucial. It can take a long time to get this right, but tools like Facebook Ads and social media go a long way in marketing your work to the right demographic.
Sites like Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter and Google+ are great for showcasing your work and attracting international attention, and blogging can achieve a similar goal.
You can also use paid advertising on platforms like Google Adwords to get your website listed high up in search results. In the latter case, it’s crucial that you research and use the right keywords to get as much of a targeted response to your advertising efforts as possible. Research organic search rankings and SEO thoroughly, and develop a long-term strategy that increases your web traffic, and your sales at the same time.
- Create Email Sign-Ups
Once you have traffic to your website, you’ll need to act quickly to convert those visitors into clients. Some of them may simply be browsing, and some might be passing by, but with the right tactics you can turn a percentage of those visitors into customers.
The best way to do this is to capture visitors’ email addresses by offering a quick email sign-up system. This allows you to keep in touch with them after leaving your site, and to offer updates, news, promotions, and specials to entice them to support you.
You can offer your email subscribers extra value by sending them newsletters, free tutorials, and guides, eBooks, discount vouchers, and more.
- Investigate Print Sales
What better way to make money from your past work than to start selling prints? All you need are good quality images, the facilities to create prints in a number of sizes, and somewhere to sell them.
Your existing website or online portfolio is a perfect selling point, especially if it already has an integrated eCommerce section.
- Get Noticed
The online world is fantastic for marketing your photography business, but there’s nothing quite like getting your name out in the real world.
Chat, socialize, network, and build rapport wherever you can to enhance word of mouth marketing and get recognized in your community. You can join your local marketplace, attend photography meet-ups and group clubs, or speak with nearby venue owners, event organizers, and suppliers to find more clients.
- Follow Up on Leads
Consider developing a system for recording and following up on business leads. If you’re diligent in following up with enquiries, you’ll likely enjoy increased booking rates.
You can use handy calendar apps and CRM systems to remind you to follow up on leads and keep in touch with potential customers.
- Aim to be Recommended
Client recommendation is the key to boosting your business and adding new customers to your roster. Many people will ask others they know for recommendations and are more comfortable relying on others’ experiences.
Make sure you’re recommended highly by exceeding your clients’ expectations and offering the best level of service you can. Optimize turnaround times and go over and above to impress the people who turn to you for photographic services.
You can directly request recommendations and reviews from your clients, who will be happy to oblige if they’ve had a good experience with you.
- Stay in Touch with Past Customers
Sometimes, your best clients can be the ones you’ve already dealt with. They already know and trust your skills and services, so eliciting further business from them can be easy.
Stay in touch, email them, or message them on social media occasionally, or send birthday or Christmas messages if you feel it’s appropriate. Additionally, you can send them newsletters to inform them of upcoming special offers and events that might interest them.
There you have it! Our 10 top tips to give your photography business a boost.