Start Using These Tips NOW And Watch Your Photo Business Grow & Prosper!
One of my Inner Circle members asked me this question the other day & I thought you would enjoy the answer, too. Here’s the question: “What’s the best path to earning a great living in professional photography today?”
Here’s my answer:
It’s a three part path:
1. Create high quality, well lit and composed portraiture which has emotion, sensitivity and feelings. Your work must stand out from the “average” photographer if you want to succeed financially today.
You’re going to need to create sensitive images that appeal to what I call “warm fuzzies”. These “warm fuzzies” are people who are a specific segment of the population. These are people who are extremely emotional and sensitive, and who place a high value on emotional, sensitive photography images.
Now, I’m not talking about “snapshots ” that everyone takes with their phone – with crappy lighting and terrible composition. And I’m not talking about “selfies.” No. Your images have to have over 20 very important requirements of beautiful, fine photography. (If you are an Inner Circle member you can watch the online 3-part video series where we reveal all of these requirements and how to achieve them! Simply click this link Photography Techniques Video)
2. Create a huge demand for your limited supply, and control the volume of work you do with the price.
You must become a master marketer and merchandiser to be successful in photography today.
Who cares how “good” you are, if no one knows you exist? So marketing and merchandising are an extremely important part of your success in photography today. If your marketing sucks and your prices are so low that you can’t earn a good living, you’re digging a hole that’s going to be extremely difficult to get out of.
So you will need to become “obsessed” with the marketing of your photography business & use PROVEN merchandising techniques that work very effectively. To get started, click on the tab at the top of the page in this blog “Photography Marketing Ideas & Tips.”
3. Discover exactly how to help your clients become happily involved with appropriately sized wall portraits as home decor.
Specialize in fine wall portraiture, not in just creating digital files for people to take home and do with as they please. Let everyone else do that, but NOT YOU.
They’ve done extensive research on this and they found that it doesn’t take any longer to order a 30 x 40 on canvas than it takes to order an unmounted 8 x 10. But you can get a whole bunch more money for that beautiful 30 x 40 on canvas than you can for that unmounted 8 x 10! And who really benefits? Your clients! Because they will enjoy their image so much more when it’s displayed proudly on their wall in their home, rather than being a small image placed somewhere in their home where they will only get to enjoy on the rare occasion when they are dusting it. So if you haven’t done so already, it’s time to start specializing in fine wall portraits as home decor. I made that decision years ago, and it was the greatest thing I could possibly do for my clients!
Start by only showing 20 x 24 or larger images in your photography business. Don’t have any 8 x 10′s or 11 x 14′s or 5 x 7′s sitting out anywhere in your photography business for your prospects and clients to see. By only showing beautiful wall portraits, this non-verbally let’s your prospects and clients realize that you specialize in the more appropriate sized wall portraits for your client’s homes.
For more sales/presentation ideas for your photography business, start by clicking on the tab at the top of this blog page “Photography Sales Techniques & Tips.”
In my opinion, these three above areas are at the core of beginning to build a highly successful photography business that gives you great pride and long term financial security in today’s marketplace as a professional photographer.
All the best,
Charles Lewis
