Hi everyone,
How are you?
Starting any business can be daunting. No matter your industry, no matter your skill set, going from being employed and receiving a regular pay packet, to being self-employed and only earning under your steam, that is a hard transition.
However, the good news is, it can be done. For those who are thinking about starting their own photography business, it makes sense to take a look through our top tips for getting the idea off of the ground.
Get as much knowledge as possible
The first step to setting up a photography business is to make sure that you have the relevant skills, knowledge and understanding of what it takes to capture quality images. The best place to start is to attend online photography courses. These courses are designed to help you to understand the art of photography and how to work with a variety of subjects and conditions, to achieve the perfect shot.
Having this behind you will be a huge helping hand in making sure that your business is going to be able to offer the type of quality that your clients are going to be looking for.
Buy what you need, but buy carefully
When you decide to set up a photography business, it can be hard to resist buying absolutely all the things that you think you may need. Of course, you are going to have to make some investments into equipment if you want to get anywhere and professional grade cameras and accessories are not cheap.
The thing to do is to make sure that you only buy the things that you really do need, rather than buying absolutely everything on a whim. Doing this means that you have all the right tools that you need to get the job done, and as you grow, expand and make money, you can buy the other things that you need.
Gain experience
In order to really make your photography business work, you are going to need to make sure that you get as much experience as possible. After all, like so many things in life, when it comes to photography, practice really can make perfect. Of course, in the early days you cannot charge people for your work, but every photo that you take, every person that you work with, is not only another addition to your portfolio but also experience working with different people, that will be incredibly beneficial to you.
Have a website and social media
Any business, large or small, is only as good as its marketing efforts, which means that if you want to get ahead as a photographer, you need to make an effort getting yourself out there. Social media is great for generating interest in your brand, but to help secure tangible leads and ensure that your business grows, then a website is a must-have.
The thing to remember about having both of these things is that they are a platform that you can share what it is that you can do. Social media is great because in the most part it is free, and for photographers, platforms such as Instagram have proven to be worth their weight in gold.
Websites do have a cost to set up and maintain, but they are where your potential clients will come to find out more about you, discover your prices and see your portfolio too, so they are also worth having and getting done right.
Keep on going
It is no secret that setting up your own business, no matter what business that is, is hard work. There are going to be plenty of times of stress, plenty of times of worrying and lots of challenges along the way. However, despite all this, if you keep at it, then you will realise that it has all been worthwhile and all that effort really has paid off.
By following these tips, hopefully you will be ever closer to realising your end goal, which is to be a successful photographer, and in no time at all, you will find that you have enough clients and success to be able to quit the job that you currently do and focus entirely on becoming a photographer.
MissLJBeauty*
