Archive 2011 · How did you get your photography business started
glort Offline • • • • [X]
p.2 #1 · How did you get your photography business started
markd61 wrote:
If you are looking to do portraits the easiest way to build a clientele is to visit local businesses that need executive portraiture. Realtors, Lawyers, Insurance companies etc. You will get a lot of practice and create opportunities to do family portraits etc. Also, because of the average persons belief that a professional photographer can shoot anything you will be asked to shoot all sorts of things that may lead to unexpected prosperity.
Most importantly hard work on top of more hard work gets you closer to the point you want to be. It also increases the chance of a lucky break.
I think this is excellent advise and the OP could do this as a single initiative and build a Very decent business from that alone.
I have a mate that was a gardener that wanted to be a shooter. He did part time acting/ commercials.
He spoke to his agency and had them refer him all their people for head shots. He did a lot of them and he did them pretty cheap. After about a year, he was getting sooo many people requesting portrait sittings for family and couple's that he wound the actors stuff down and is now one of THE most successful Family portrait shooters in the country. He charges premium prices, does around 5 sittings a week and is averaging $5k per sale.
As impressive as that is, he's not the only one in Sydney doing those kind of numbers
I think you have to take the advise of seeing people literally in actually going to see them rather than sending emails or sending offers etc. Turn up to their office with your Flyer directed at Corporate head shots specifically but also mention that you specialize in portraits of families as well.
Then work it like any other sales rep would. Although you should get some work straight off, don't expect it and do be prepared to build rapport. There is an understanding in sales that it takes 3-4 contacts before you get a sale. I'd go see the businesses and give your info and even though 9 times out of 10 you will see the front office secretary, get a card and her name.
As soon as you get home, send HER a thank you for their time today and they should have any need for portraits in the future you will be happy to come and sit down to discuss their needs.
Then a month later, drop in again. Say how's things, is there anything I can help you with atm, I'll drop in to see how your going next time I'm around. You might also send an email and say we can now deliver your portraits in 24 hrs or whatever you conjure up just to give you a reason to get in their face again.
Eventually you'll go in the office and they will start asking you questions..... how long you been doing this, Do you do engagement portraits, weddings etc. When the start asking questions you know you're making inroads.
It amazes me constantly how poor at marketing shooters are. Simple things out of the sales and marketing 101 book will get you a long way in this game because so few people actually do it.
p.2 #2 · How did you get your photography business started
glort wrote:
It amazes me constantly how poor at marketing shooters are. Simple things out of the sales and marketing 101 book will get you a long way in this game because so few people actually do it.
A few years ago I asked photographers on another forum to take a Briggs-Myers personality indicator test and post the results: http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp It's based on observations by Jung of how temperament predicts behavior in wide range of activities such as approaches to learning, what jobs a person will find satisfying and what jobs they will be good at.
The archetypes are:
Introvert/Extrovert
iNtuitive/Sensate
Thinking/Feeling
Perceptive/Judgemental (disorganized / organized)
I discovered the Myers-Briggs tool back in the mid-1970s when I was getting started in managing printing operations. I found it helpful in understanding why some people were good different tasks and how to create the mix of personality types to create effective teams. Some by nature are extroverts and like dealing with people and thrive in jobs like sales and customer service. Put an introvert who doesn't like uncertainty in those same jobs and they may do well in them but not enjoy the work most.
Not surprisingly most of or the photographers who took the test scored as introverts vs. extroverted. That's not surprising to me because in most situations its the extroverts out in front of the camera and someone who likes to hang back an observe behind it shooting the action.
I assisted Monte Zucker for a couple years in the early 1970s and he was an off the charts extrovert/intuitve/feeling type. Over the years I've observed those who succeed in any solo or "mom and pop" business do so because of their similar extroversion and people skills. They thrive on the people part of the business: interaction, the joy of making the sale, etc. They also tend to have a strong desire to be independent – their own boss — the entrepreneurial zeal that drives them to put in the hard work and long hours, and countless rejections it takes to build a business.
Monte taught classes to other pros and I observed that the more successful and happier ones were husband and wife teams, often with the wife either being the more organized "field marshal" type that took care of the business tasks like booking, ordering prints, paying and collecting the bills, etc. That was the case with Zucker, who at the time was still married with his wife Sandi running the business side like General Patton.
Later when I got into management running offset printing operations I found the understanding of people I got from Myers-Briggs was helpful in dealing with bosses and subordinates, and in evaluation of job candidates. As with the test linked above just by asking a few questions about people's interests in a casual conversation you I could quickly gain insight into their temperament and whether or not they were a good match to the job opening.
One of the reasons I never pursued photography as a solo business, either full or part time, is that I just don't like dealing with all the non-photographic tasks that are required: sales, marketing, customer service... I know how to do those things and could if forced by necessity to make a living, but I wouldn't enjoy it. What I enjoy is solving problems with practical solutions and was fortunate to find a nice niche in the workplace where I could do that and enjoy work. Being able to solve problems led to jobs managing people and being able to hire extroverted feeling types for the tasks like sales and customer service I don't like doing
So if you are a natural extrovert you will more than likely be able to develop a photography business as a natural outgrowth of your social contacts alone. If you aren't a natural extrovert you'll likely struggle most with the "people" part of the business. If you are well organized and stick with it you may learn to be very effective but at the end of the day you probably will not enjoy it much and conclude after a few years you'd be happier and more financially secure with a well paying day job funding your expensive hobby.
p.2 #3 · How did you get your photography business started
mikethevilla wrote:
I'm surprised the "normal" route of photography hasn't been mentioned yet.
Free photos -> cheap friends/family photos -> legit paid gigs. For most folks, you're only going to get what you can show. If I have senior shoots I can show people, I'll get more of them. If I show weddings, I'll get more of them.
Of course, the easiest way to get the first few is to do them for free (probably going to get ousted for that statement). Not ideal, but it works.
The catch to all this, is people need to like what they see, otherwise they won't want it (aka BE GOOD at what you do)....Show more →
I concur TOTALLY with everything said here.
Dec 22, 2011 at 11:32 PM
glort Offline • • • • [X]
p.2 #4 · How did you get your photography business started
cgardner wrote:
If you aren't a natural extrovert you'll likely struggle most with the "people" part of the business. If you are well organized and stick with it you may learn to be very effective but at the end of the day you probably will not enjoy it much and conclude after a few years you'd be happier and more financially secure with a well paying day job funding your expensive hobby.
Well, as usual, it looks like i'm the exception to the rule.
I know I'm an introvert but the part of the business I thrive on is the people part. I like to keep to myself and be left alone but when it's game time, i'm all over it like a fat kid on a cup cake.
My wife has laughed for years and stirred me how I " can just turn it on" for the clients and mould them like putty but as soon as the shoot is over, so is the show.
She also thinks (correctly) i'm a nut at the way I take a deep breath and put a physical smile on my face before I open a door or ring a doorbell and say out loud, " Showtime!".
I think that's just a key part of being a professional. You have to be accommodating to the clients and put on the professional show.
I don't mind it at all. I can be someone i'm normally not which is usually grumpy and short tempered.
It's not blowing my own trumpet too much to say the greatest majority of my clients think the sun shines out of my fundamental orifice simply because I know how to play the game, have the gift of the gab and have learned over many years what strings to pull.
If I were a lot smarter, i'd probably make a great con man!
The business side bores me even though I know how to do it and do it better than most in this game, it's not what i want to do, it's what I have to do. The 90/10 thing is spot on.
What really made me happy was when i had a secretary that could handle some of the day to day business and leave me free to walk in, pick up the book see what I was shooting that day and go do it.
My satisfaction has always been in taking photos of people and talking to them rather than in running a business.
p.2 #5 · How did you get your photography business started
glort wrote:
Well, as usual, it looks like i'm the exception to the rule.
There aren't any "rules" regarding temperament. Most people have a overall temperament which is somewhere in the middle of the two extremes of introversion and extroversion and its not unusual for people to have work and "at home" temperaments.
One of the indicators for introversion / extroversion is how you react if you go to a party or other gathering where you don't know many people. Do you gravitate to the few people you know and hang out in your comfort zone with them, waiting for them to introduce you to the people you don't know, or just walk up to total strangers, introduce yourself and find out who they are?
By nature I'm content to hang back and observe, but through "nurturing" experiences like shooting weddings, teaching in a classroom setting at a college, and managing people at work I've also come to enjoy interacting with people more over the years.
So being an introvert by nature but also enjoying meeting new people is simply an indication that you are well balanced
p.2 #6 · How did you get your photography business started
I have advised people to take acting classes specifically to overcome the tendencies to introversion that many have. While natural introversion is no handicap, it can lead to one getting overlooked despite the excellence of their abilities.
I am a natural introvert myself but inadvertently trained myself out of that by taking a job as a telephone sales representative. That cured me in about two weeks!
I still have an aversion to reach for the phone to call a client but once I am on they have a hard time getting rid of me.
Business is far more about the stagecraft of ones enterprise and less about competence. Especially in these days where a client can call up a thousand photographers in an instant with seemingly astounding skills.
Again, work, work and more work with a little hard work thrown in for extra measure will get people to know you and call you when they need the expert.
