Getting my photography business off the ground...

[Jenkeh Photography]

Hi all,

I am a photographer with experience, I am looking to make my passion into a lucrative little business but I'm struggling to get off the ground and struggling to get clients and to become known -

I have already invested in the equipment and have tried many of the cheapest forms of marketing that I can think of; these forms of marketing namely being :-

A) Setting up a Facebook 'like' page (not the paid version, I admit)
B) Advertising in the local supermarkets
C) Advertising on free websites online
D) Printing and handing out A5 leaflets in public (to new mums)
E) Taking out an advertisement in a popular well-known local new parent guide

However, business is very slow and all of the above are not really working -
I am getting very few calls and very few responses -
This venture has cost me much more than it has made.

I am all for investing in my business however I am seeking some guidance from the forum users here - How should I best market my business? How do I put it out there and how do I really lift it up off the ground?

 

[tomhumf]

I know nothing about this business but...

It sounds like you don't have your own website?

If so I think that would be a first priority. Use all your other marketing to direct people to your site.

I guess it is the sort of business that grows slowly on word of mouth too.

 

[S-Marketing]

Its one of those businesses that is a gift from a marketing perspective if you are good at what you do, and a right pig to market if you aren't.

So, how good a photographer are you?

 

[Jenkeh Photography]

Its one of those businesses that is a gift from a marketing perspective if you are good at what you do, and a right pig to market if you aren't.

So, how good a photographer are you?

I am a very good photographer, have done the odd wedding here and there but haven't been doing quite as many weddings as I would like to do...

 

[Jenkeh Photography]

I know nothing about this business but...

It sounds like you don't have your own website?

If so I think that would be a first priority. Use all your other marketing to direct people to your site.

I guess it is the sort of business that grows slowly on word of mouth too.

We usually meet clients face to face, or discuss things over the telephone.
We don't have a website as yet but it's work in progress, at the moment we are just making do with a Facebook like page.
We are interested in starting our own website, we just don't know the best way to go about it - Web space, hosting etc - It's all rather confusing.
If anyone here can recommend a cheap (but quality) website solution or company that builds websites on the behalf of clients then please do let us know...!

 

[zanygame]

It would seem to me that networking is critical to a business like yours.
See if you can do a deal with local florists, hotels etc.
Beyond that I would go for adwords. Anything you want these days you search in Google, all other advertising is secondary.

 

[WolfStores]

If anyone here can recommend a cheap (but quality) website solution or company that builds websites on the behalf of clients then please do let us know...!

Hi There,

To have your own website you need a domain name and hosting. You also need to choose the software that you would build your website with.
In my opinion the best solution for you would be to use a cheap SiteBuilder that is very easy to use and would enable you to do most of the work yourself, avoiding having to pay an expert to do it for you. SiteBuilders come complete with an unlimited number of pages (e.g. About Us, Contact Us, etc.) as well as a specialized Gallery page where you could create galleries and upload pictures that you have taken for your potential customers to view examples of your work.

Check out the following demo provided by Parallels Plesk SiteBuilder to see how easy it is to create your own website yourself

Please feel free to PM me if you need more help with this.

Best Regards,

Tim

 

[Chris Ashdown]

How about doing some landscape photo's of local points of interest and getting local gift shops or pubs to display them with frames etc for a cut in the profit, a good way to make your name known and reach customers who would never come to you

Web plus pro would be a good type of software to make your web site from

Local papers carry many adverts for photographers

Do you have any qualifications

Can you do industrial photo's good money if you have the specialist skills

 

[Lens Flair Photographic]

Running a photography business successfully does not require you to be a good photographer. I know plenty of bad photographers raking it in whilst some excellent photographers struggle.

The photography aspect is only;y about 20% of your business skills. The rest is down to how you run it.

Networking is vital as is a good website.
Know your opposition. if there are 30 other photographers locally, what can you do that is different to what they offer.

Word of mouth is your best sales tool as a photographer along with good images.

Don't make the mistake of starting cheap. you will be stuck as the "cheap photographer" and if you increase prices later , clients will look for another.

You must price at a level that attracts customers that value the photography. You need a good portfolio therefore to display.
I'm assuming you are HMRC registered and not a weekend warrior?

 

[tomhumf]

Re: website. I'd recommend something like Wordpress, or other ''Content Management System" - things like this usually let you do all the hosting/domain etc in one package, with a login system that lets you alter your content easily.

I for one would consider any business without even a basic site as a bit cowboy.

 

[Claire Dymond]

If you have a look in the back pages of Professional Photographer magazine you'll find plenty of ads for companies specialising in low costs websites for photographers.

As someone who has tried the domestic photography market I concluded that there are much easier ways of making a living. It has to be direct marketed and then the client has to be sold the extras to make the sale worthwhile. If you can get commercial work then it's much easier and you can charge far more.

Everything about your company and you has to be right, from your personal appearance and demeanor to your business card and even your vehicle. It's all about image......no pun intended.

I found that I enjoyed filmmaking far more.

 

[mjojom]

im against most of suggestions here. do excuse me, but if im looking for pro photography i need to be able to see what quality of work you are able to do i need to be touched while browsing through countless of websites.photography is about art, design! and this cannot be shown on cheap website made in worldpress or other self creating website software. the website must present what you do and to be able to show the quality of your work. the content and design would be your number one priority. think of yourself, browsing through sites trying to pick the one that going to do your wedding. better yet, your wife would look through stuff like that and women, they must feel the beauty! you are looking to spend some money on website, perhaps made in new html5.
You are saying that you do not know much about hosting services etc. how computer literate are you? namely photoshop or other photography enhancement software? i guess most photographers cannot live without this type of software today. that need to be shown on the example shoots on your site. site must be simple, intuitive and beautiful, so it stands up amongst others and i would like to return to it. when we are looking for something, we are on the internet, so this should be your no. 1 priority. its how you present yourself, first impression, just then you will get the phone call and you will be able to interact with potential customer in person.

 

[Nuno]

You really will need a website for your portfolio, asap. Cheapbuilds in the back of magazines are a good way to throw money away, so start by learning about Wordpress, SEO and conversion here and on the net, just enough to commission someone knowledgably rather than chucking money away blindly.
Wordpress is more than good enough, and a very good entry level system, although do try and avoid the typical photographers thing of having next to no text. It doesn't look cool to Google, and if Google don't show you it won't look good to potential customers. Because they won't see you.

IMHO forget 'art'. There are hundreds if not thousands of art photographers merrily serving Big Macs. Neither they nor their customers, (nor me) would know 'art if it bit us on the aperture. Art is pretentious twaddle/in the eye of the beholder: choose your door.

You will need to become reasonably proficient in Photoshop. It is an essential tool for a pro, although you might get away with Lightroom. There is no avoiding this, although GIMP will suffice until you have funds.

So, Website with folio, folio, good, varied pictures and of course business cards, (not from Vista please sweet mother of God). Ready to Market.

Google "Best marketing for photographers". Read lots, keep the good stuff and do it.

And maybe most important of all: take pictures. Lots of them, all the time. Develop your eye, develop how you see things and reproduce them when you want to. A good photographer can make a photograph work. A pro photographer will make it work.

 

[serendipitybusiness]

im against most of suggestions here. do excuse me, but if im looking for pro photography i need to be able to see what quality of work you are able to do i need to be touched while browsing through countless of websites.photography is about art, design! and this cannot be shown on cheap website made in worldpress or other self creating website software. the website must present what you do and to be able to show the quality of your work. the content and design would be your number one priority. think of yourself, browsing through sites trying to pick the one that going to do your wedding. better yet, your wife would look through stuff like that and women, they must feel the beauty! you are looking to spend some money on website, perhaps made in new html5.
You are saying that you do not know much about hosting services etc. how computer literate are you? namely photoshop or other photography enhancement software? i guess most photographers cannot live without this type of software today. that need to be shown on the example shoots on your site. site must be simple, intuitive and beautiful, so it stands up amongst others and i would like to return to it. when we are looking for something, we are on the internet, so this should be your no. 1 priority. its how you present yourself, first impression, just then you will get the phone call and you will be able to interact with potential customer in person.

I agree completely Do not get a cheap nasty website, this will make you look cheap and nasty. Trust me I have worked with some of the best and most successful in the industry and design and usability is key. Everything is particular and this takes time and money, but once the new website has launched the repercussions have been fab.

I would suggest to budget at least £950 - 1500 for your website and be careful to make sure who you are targeting and what you are selling before you start. Get your best work with post together ready for your portfolio along with content and examples of what you like. Also make sure you have someone that bridges the gap between development and design and understands that your business is visual.

Many developers overlook this and go for a design that is more like a business, I know one development had been held up for months because of exactly this problem, the developer just wasn't seeing what the client was, even after very focused direction had been provided (more than most clients give you lol even I chipped in with solutions before I took over to help the process along with her existing developers to no avail), once I took over, we had her site up in 3 weeks and it was exactly what she needed/wanted, so choose carefully, ask questions and make sure your web developer is seeing what you are or it could be a very frustrating and long process.

If you want to display your art, you need to do it properly to attain any return on investment. If you go cheap and ill thought out, you may as well not bother at all, save your pennies and market elsewhere.

 

[Spock]

You don't need to spend several hundred on a portfolio site - just get some hosting, a domain name, install wordpress on it then go somewhere like themeforest and buy a photography portfolio theme for around $40. Then pay a designer to tweak the look so it matches you (maybe £150). Then you can learn wordpress (plenty of tuts online) and update the site yourself.

You need an online presence now though.

 

[sarahjohs]

We usually meet clients face to face, or discuss things over the telephone.
We don't have a website as yet but it's work in progress, at the moment we are just making do with a Facebook like page.
We are interested in starting our own website, we just don't know the best way to go about it - Web space, hosting etc - It's all rather confusing.
If anyone here can recommend a cheap (but quality) website solution or company that builds websites on the behalf of clients then please do let us know...!

Hello, you could give this company called Integra web services a shot. They are pretty decent; they have content writers and SEO analysts as well.

 

[serendipitybusiness]

You don't need to spend several hundred on a portfolio site - just get some hosting, a domain name, install wordpress on it then go somewhere like themeforest and buy a photography portfolio theme for around $40. Then pay a designer to tweak the look so it matches you (maybe £150). Then you can learn wordpress (plenty of tuts online) and update the site yourself.

You need an online presence now though.

I agree this is totally possible if you are comfortable with installing wordpress and adding all the content yourself and find a template that you love that is pretty much all there, so the work needed by a good developer is 5 hrs or less.

Make sure you have done all of this (get all of your content up there) and are 100% happy with the majority of the template as bespoke programming customisations can throw the budget out. Then the rest is tweaks to design, navigation, adding some features etc and it can all be done within that kind of budget.

As an example I did something similar for a fellow UK business forum member a couple of weeks ago, design tweaks, installing a slider, navigation, social media feature additions, social sharing additions, forms, css design aspects etc. It all came to £200 and the website looks completely different and 100% better than the original template, sometimes it doesn't take much to make a big difference. However he knew exactly what he wanted, very clear, super fast at comming back to me and had everything set up before bringing me in, so it was perfect, smooth and a fast turnaround.

On the flip side sometimes the smallest of changes in customisation can blow it right out and also affect your ability to upgrade as a layman in some cases, so make sure you are willing to compromise if you don't want to pay for future support in upgrades, stay away from anything involving editing core plugin files and even template files if you want to have the benefit of also updating the pro template in the future as well. A good developer should be able to help you navigate this and get the best for your budget, choose wisely and yes this could well be a viable option for you.

I hope this helps

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Don't forget there are agencies who will sell images for you to the papers / TV if of any interest, also news imges either still or Video so always have small video camera on you at all times as well as main still camers

 

[GabbyGriffith]

I agree - you definitely need a website to get your business off the ground. Try something like Moonfruit perhaps?
You should also look into SEO practices to get some traction for your site. Repeatedly mention key words and phrases that you would expect people to be searching on Google for - such as "Wedding photographer" "Quality photographer" etc. This will help your Google ranking in the long run.

 

[ITsoldUK]

I agree - you definitely need a website to get your business off the ground. Try something like Moonfruit perhaps?
You should also look into SEO practices to get some traction for your site. Repeatedly mention key words and phrases that you would expect people to be searching on Google for - such as "Wedding photographer" "Quality photographer" etc. This will help your Google ranking in the long run.

How much poor information can be crammed into 1 post?

...we have a winner

 

[S-Marketing]

How much poor information can be crammed into 1 post?

...we have a winner

You mean to say you aren't a moonfruit fan?

 

[ITsoldUK]

Moonpig yes...

Moonfruit...nope :banghead: