Building Your Photography Business

Building Your Photography Business

By William Lulow

There has been a proliferation of internet companies lately that have gone into business by providing “leads” for photographers and other artists. What they do is to collect information from prospective “clients” that post needs for photography or commercial art. They then charge a modest amount for you as a photographer, to gain access to the prospective account information. Then, you can make a “pitch” to the client for the business.

This may sound like a good idea on the surface, because sometimes it’s only a few dollars per lead to get the information and then you have to “go after” the prospective client. Problem is that this is not really the way that the photography business, or any business for that matter, really works. You never know what the prospective client is really looking for or what stage his or her “search” is in.

In the photography business, it is often difficult to build a successful business “one client at a time.” If someone is planning a wedding, say, and you are hired to shoot that wedding, you may be able to make some money from that client. But where is the repeat business? Businesses are built one client at a time, yes, but those clients need to be able to purchase your goods and services many times over, if you are going to build a good “business.” In addition, sometimes prospective clients are “just looking.” They may have an idea about what kinds of images they may want,  and may even have an idea about a budget they are willing to spend. But unless you can convince them that you are the one for the job, you will not be hired. You can make all the “pitches” you like, but they may already have someone else in mind or another style of photography altogether. Clients have to be ready to purchase photography and then to purchase YOUR style of photography AND you, as the photographer.

I have had both types of clients in my 40 plus years in the photography business. I was able to build my business in the 1980s because I had many repeat clients – people who came to me with assignments on an on-going basis, many for 8 to 10 years each. It actually began when I was working for other studios. I would do small jobs on my own time, sometimes two or three per week. Each was small (maybe around $500 per shot), but they provided very good money back in the late 1970s. One of my first clients was a small part of some American Express business, shooting product shots for some of their bill inserts. If I had a couple of these per week, that often meant more than $1000 for those weeks, in addition to my salary at the studio. That is how I was able to accumulate enough equipment and knowledge to open my business, on my own, in 1980 and give up the other studio job.

Photography is one of those businesses that people need when they have something that they want to advertise, promote or otherwise develop such as websites, brochures, ads or other informational pieces to enhance their beginning or on-going concerns. If they’re not in the market, then no matter where you are, you are invisible to them. You need to be visible even when prospective clients don’t actually need you. Additionally, these days with so many digital cameras and camera-phones, it becomes even harder to convince some people that professional images are even worth the investment.

So, with all this being said, buying leads one at a time is not the way to build a successful photography business. Yes you may be able to sell your services to one customer, but the real way to build a good business is mostly by word of mouth. Advertising, promotion and personal websites work to get your name out there, but the work has, at some point, to sell itself. People have to come to you when they are ready to purchase your services. They also must want to work with YOU.  This kind of reputation and trust has to be built up with years of hard work and dedication to providing the best photography you possibly can. Many people begin looking for a photographer when they have an event coming up or when they know they have a product or service to sell. They will often ask friends or other acquaintances if they know of a good photographer. Sometimes, they may only be shopping for the best price. Most of the time, these people don’t really know how to buy commercial photography and if you try to hustle “leads” there may always be someone who might do the job for less.

Agency and publication art directors are usually the ones who know how to buy photography services. They have studied photographers and how they work. And, they probably know of several with whom they wish to work.  I have seen many instances of people who have responded back to me when I have followed these “leads” only to say that they finally hired a friend to do their shoot. I even followed a lead once for two local “moms” who had bought a franchise to do local promotions for stores in the area and needed professional images of the stores. They looked at my work and then called to tell me that they hired another “mom” to do the shots. So, maybe they were just looking at my images to get an idea of what their friend had to do. Who knows?

So, if you intend to build a good photography business, your clients should be people who need your services regularly. I worked for a company several years ago that had seven publications they did each month. The creative director loved my work and provided me with a steady business (sometimes two or three shoots per month) for over eight years until he retired. In addition, it is sometimes hard to translate that business to the next creative director because they have their own sources. More recently, I had a client who often came to me with magazine covers to shoot until she scaled back her on-line presence. Now she only does monthly issues based on one topic only. So her need for photography has been greatly diminished. These things happen in our business. But having steady clients who need your services regularly is the best way to build a photography business. So you need to develop a consistency about your work so that you can rely on your own techniques time after time. Then you will become valuable to your clients.