Category Archives: Business Tips

Tips for your photography business

One More Photography Business Contingency to Plan For

Running a photography business I find myself planning for all sorts of contingencies. What will I do if a camera body fails? If there is a problem with a lens? What if my second shooter doesn’t turn up? What would I do if my computer hard drive fails? Or if my customer doesn’t pay? This week I’ve found one more photography business contingency to plan for.

I wouldn’t be able to do an outdoor lifestyle shoot today given the state of my back

What Happened?

Yesterday afternoon I went for a run. It was a nice sunny day and I enjoyed the break in the middle of the day getting some exercise. When I got home I do what I normally do after a run – absolutely no stretching, a glass of water, and resting on the couch. When I went to get up suddenly, my back didn’t like it at all.

Where I’m At?

So today I’m immobile, but feeling grateful that I haven’t got any jobs in the next few days which can’t be rescheduled. I am pleased that I don’t have a wedding to photograph this weekend. If I did I would be in trouble. So I’ve been lying around the house today, doing whatever jobs don’t take much physical effort and thinking about one more photography business contingency to plan for.

Contingency Planning?

Have you planned for this type of contingency? I generally enjoy good health and so haven’t done much planning for a scenario when I might be out of action. If I have a big shoot when I have the flu, I generally fill myself with cold and flu medicine and carry on with the shoot. Perhaps through good fortune I haven’t yet had a scenario where I physically couldn’t do a shoot I had committed to.

I’m going to do a lot more stretching in the future, but nothing quite like this

Today has been helpful in prompting me to think about what I will do if I have a shoot which wouldn’t be possible to move. It may be a Friday night basketball game? It might be a weekend wedding? Or it may be like the shoot I did last weekend, where we shot family portraits as the grand parents were visiting from overseas. In these scenarios I would need to find another person to tackle the job at the agreed time, as there is no way to reschedule.

First Choice

So what am I thinking about? First, I am fortunate that I have several second shooters and other photographers I know who could step in for me at very short notice. That would be my first choice.

Second Choice

My second choice would be photographers I’ve worked with before but don’t know so well, or haven’t been in touch with for some time. This is less than ideal, however, I will try all options so my client gets looked after.

If I Am Struggling to Find Someone

My third choice would be to call on my professional membership colleagues. I am an Accredited Professional Photographer through the Australian Institute of Professional Photography. It has a very active (and very helpful!) Facebook group of AIPP members. If I am really stuck I will ask for help in that group. I will outline details of the job to find someone willing to help at short notice.

Sports will not be possible for me for at least the next few days while my sore back recovers

Can My Experience Help You?

Have you planned for contingencies in your business? Considered what you would do if you were physically unable to do a job? Has this scenario happen to you? I hope my back gets better soon because I’ve got a commitment I can’t break in the middle of next week. In the meantime I’m trying to strengthen my business by considering one more photography business contingency to plan for. Thanks for reading. Happy shooting, and good health to you! I might do some stretching exercises more regularly in the future!

Photographing Different Commercial Jobs

This year I have been growing my business in sports and stock photography, and winding back slightly my wedding photography commitments. Over the last 3 weeks I’ve been asked to shoot two different commercial jobs, one for a bathroom renovation business and one for a cookie business. I often find myself in a dilemma about whether I should be photographing different commercial jobs.

Where Do These Jobs Come From?

I get these requests from personal relationships or referrals. The bathroom renovation business came across me at a recent sports shoot. You can read about that shoot in More Win Win Win Photography Ideas. The owner’s son attends that gymnastics club and made contact with me after the event.

The cookie business is run by an old friend of mine. He was visiting Melbourne and we caught up for breakfast. In the course of discussion he outlined that he needed images of his product as they have new packaging. Naturally, he asked if I could help.

My simple set up for shooting boxes of cookies on a white background

Why the Dilemma?

I know that these clients want to deal with someone they know and trust. That’s why they’ve asked me to help.

The dilemma is twofold. First is that my business plan is to grow in sports and stock photography. Work outside of that is not helping achieve my business goals. Second is that I don’t regularly shoot this style of content. While I can produce acceptable results, I’m sure they could achieve stronger images by working with a photographer who specializes in the type of work they need.

What Did I Do?

For both of these jobs I decided to go ahead but for different reasons.

For the bathroom renovation business I considered that they will have ongoing work and need those jobs completed at specific times. I like clients like this, as most of the work is mid week when my team and I have availability. On top of this, they were nice people and make payment promptly. I like doing business with people like this.

For the cookie business, I took this job as it was for an old friend. So I’ve ended up photographing different commercial jobs for 2 clients this month.

This is the type of image produced for the cookie business.

What Do I Expect for the Future?

The bathroom renovation business will need images each time they complete a job. I expect ongoing work from them. I am planning that I won’t shoot all of these myself, but will outsource some to other photographers depending on the location of the property, the time frame for the job, and my own workload.

The cookie business I expect to be a one off job and don’t expect any ongoing work. My friend lives in another country so it was just chance that he was visiting Melbourne and had his products with him. That might be a good thing as I wouldn’t want cookies and photos to mess up a great friendship!

What If I Don’t Want to Shoot this Type of Job?

If you are a regular reader of Beyond Here you’ll know I have a simple mantra of making sure the customer is happy. If I didn’t want to shoot these jobs, or was not able to, I would refer them to a photographer who could help them. In that sense I would help solve the customer’s problem even if it didn’t benefit my business. You never know when goodwill generated by helping a customer will generate additional business.

What Would You Do?

Do you face the dilemma of photographing different commercial jobs? Are they a distraction to your main business? What do you do?

Thoughts on Successful Photography Businesses

I often get asked about secrets or insights to running successful photography businesses. I’m not sure there really are any secrets, so I’ve called this post thoughts on successful photography businesses.

For the State Champs we’ll be back at the same venue as Winterfest

This week I had a reminder of 3 things that are important in running successful photography businesses. The reminders came about after I was asked to shoot the cheer leading and dance Victorian State Championships in 2 weeks time. I have written two posts earlier about my experience shooting a large cheer leading and dance competition. You can read about those here:

So what are those three thoughts on successful photography businesses?

Thought #1 – Happy Customers are Key

I apologize for the simplicity of thought #1! That said, it is worth repeating and digesting – happy customers are key. I do all I can to make sure my customers are happy as that will lead to referrals and other business opportunities. Most times it is easy to make customers happy. The real test is when things go wrong. In that case I’ll do everything possible to put it right, even if it means I lose money on that job.

The opportunity to shoot cheer leading came from doing a good job shooting gymnastics

In this case my ‘customer’ was the national sports photography business I was shooting for. I knew that they needed good, reliable photographers in Melbourne. Doing a good job at the first event I shot for them has lead to a follow up job.

Thought #2 – Repeat Business is Important

Happy customers leads to referrals and also to repeat business. Again, in this scenario, the national sports photography business have multiple events in multiple locations all year round. As it happens, the State Champs are being held at the very same venue as the event I shot with them a few months ago. This will make this job relatively straight forward and definitely low stress.

I know the people I’ll be working with, the venue we are shooting at, and the sport we are covering. That’s the beauty of repeat business. From the national sports photography business point of view, they know I’ll do a good job and will be reliable. Win win.

At the State Champs I’ll aim to take some phone shots which aren’t quite so blurry!

Do you have repeat business opportunities? Can you create some by following up with some of your happy customers?

Thought #3 – Relationships and Communication Drive Everything

Behind the national sports photography business are people. (Amazing insight isn’t it!) In this case I was able to connect with the owner of the business at the first event and strike up a good relationship. She lives in a different state, and since then all our communication has been via email. She is easy to deal with and a good communicator. I try to be the same in return. It is good for both of our businesses to work on relationships and communication. So, it’s more than just being a good photographer, it’s important to be a good partner. Relationships and communication facilitate that.

No genius insights this week – just reminders of good business practices. Thanks for reading thoughts on successful photography businesses.

More Win Win Win Photography Ideas

Earlier this year I wrote a post for Beyond Here called Win Win Win Photography Business Thinking. It came from a meeting with another photographer who had found ongoing photography work that benefited all parties. I continue to look for photography business ideas which have multiple winners. Today I share more win win win photography ideas.

Indoor sports with large participation numbers are ideal for win win win photography ideas

The Opportunity

I’ve shared in a number of posts that I am shooting more and more sports and in this field we are finding more win win win photography ideas. I have a small team of sports photographers and we are shooting a lot of junior sports. We see an opportunity to bring professional quality photography to grass roots sports and to provide players and families with action shots they haven’t had access to before.

In short, we’re aiming to shoot images which make the kid the star of the image, in the same way they have seen their adult sports stars in photographs. At the same time, we are making the images affordable for the athletes and their families.

What Sports Work Best

Some sports are more suitable for than others. Indoor, fast moving sports are particularly good. Why is that?

There are three reasons

Lighting. Most indoor stadiums are not well lit so it is not easy to create strong images without the right equipment. For that reasons, these sports are not well covered at junior level and we are getting feedback that “we’ve never seen images like these”.
Fast Action. Again, sports are not easy to photograph without the right equipment and experience shooting fast moving subjects (see a separate post on that here).
Access. Often it is not practical to have spectators walking around the stadium taking photographs and so there are specific areas set aside for spectators. They are not allowed close to the action and have to sit in the grandstand. By organizing access to the competition area it’s possible to create action images which are not possible from the spectators area.

What’s the Win Win Win?

Win #1. The Kids. By using appropriate equipment, shot by an experienced photographer we create high quality action images which kids haven’t seen of themselves before. It is literally bringing pro photography to junior sports. The kids get a thrill seeing themselves in action and are quick to share on social media.

Win #2. Parents and Families Value the Images. Parents and families love seeing images of their kids in action too. Keep in mind some are willing to pay for images and some are not. If you can find sports with large participation numbers you will have a greater chance of selling more images.

Win #3 . The Clubs or Sports Organizers. The new battlefield for sports clubs is social media. That’s the primary channel they are using to promote their club and to differentiate themselves from other clubs and other sports. Win number 3 is for the club, as we are able to provide images for them to use on social media.

Can you come up with more win win win photography ideas?

Let’s Talk About an Example

Last weekend we shot a gymnastics event which had 100 kids participating from 4 different clubs. In gymnastics, only the competitors and coaches have access to the event floor. By having 2 photographers on the floor as well we were able to shoot unique images which athletes and families have not had access to before.

We shot a large number of images and have posted the best ones in password protected galleries online for parents and families to purchase.

This is what I’m looking for – more win win win photography ideas.

Can you find similar opportunities? Can you generate more win win win photography ideas?

How to Ruin Potential Sales

Lately I seem to be particularly sensitive to poorly targeted promotions which leave me feeling like a number rather than a client or partner. I’ve called this post ‘how to ruin potential sales’ as the people who send me these promotions are ruining their chance of me buying from them.

So What Are We Talking About?

Yesterday I received an email promotion from qHero. If you aren’t familiar with qHero – they are a business which offer services for stock photographers. I have been using qHero to upload stock images to iStockphoto since early 2017. More recently they started offering a stats feature and a retouching service. You can read about that in this post – qHero Stats Feature.

I shoot a lot of Melbourne lifestyle stock content, so am a potential customer to qHero retouching service

What Was the Content?

Taken directly from the email, here is the offer from qHero.

“Retouching Special – 50% Off

With the summer over us, we feel that at least you should get to enjoy the sun. We know how much time and effort retouching takes, and it seems even longer during the summer. Whether the time is spent on managing retouchers inhouse or outsourced, or even worse doing the retouching yourself, it is guaranteed to keep you out of the sun.

We offer you 50% off on up to 200 files in retouching.

Convert the time saved from retouching, into time in the sun, makes it an easy choice. We are happy because we get to show you how awesomely easy it is to manage retouching directly in the tool you use already for uploading.

All you have to do is to use the promo code XXXXXXXX when ordering. This promo is valid until August 31st 2018, and as always we would love to hear what you think after trying our retouching service.”

Why is This Going to Ruin Potential Sales

This is going to ruin potential sales as it is poorly targeted!

I live in Melbourne, Australia where it is currently mid winter. It’s dark, cold and wet. At this time of year we spend more time indoors, and I spend some of that time doing post production work.

The idea of “convert time saved from retouching into time in the sun” is a nice idea, but would require me to book airline tickets and head to the airport! Hello Queensland or Fiji!

Today was a maximum of 12 degrees celsius in Melbourne. It’s not exactly summery right now!

What’s My Take Out from the qHero Email

I understand that the bulk of qHero customers will be in the northern hemisphere where it is currently summer. However, as they’ve sent me a summer promotion in the middle of winter it leaves me to think:

they don’t care about customers in the southern hemisphere
qHero don’t want customers in the southern hemisphere
they don’t have much attention to detail. (It would be ironic not have much attention to detail for a retouching service!)
although I have 10,000+ images at iStock and have uploaded more than 300 batches of images through qHero, I am just another ‘anonymous user’ to them

So, unfortunately qHero have ruined the chance of a sale by sending me a poorly targeted email promotion.

What Can We Learn

I am a believer that every business, big and small, can learn from experiences like this. I run a one person photography business, and many of the readers of Beyond Here are also running one person creative businesses. We have an advantage over big businesses because all of our customers are local. There’s no chance of me sending a summer promotion to a customer in mid winter (unless they have moved overseas without me knowing!) While it’s not likely that local businesses can make this ‘mistake’ there are lessons to learn.

Right now it’s cold in Melbourne. People are wearing coats and hats. Not quite the right time for a summer promotion email

Key Take Outs

I see three key take outs from this experience.

Number 1 – Personalize offers where possible. Being offered a summer promotion in the middle of winter tells me this is a mass mailing to a large number of people. Immediately I know that it is not targeted to me. Small business owners who really know their customers won’t make this mistake.

Number 2 – Know your customer. In this case, it seems qHero haven’t taken the time to really know their customer. I can’t remember whether I provided location information when I signed up for their upload service. I expect I didn’t. But I have uploaded more than 300 batches of images to iStock through qHero ….. and more than 290 of those batches would have the keyword “Australia”. A similar number would have the keywords “Melbourne” and “Victoria”. It would be fair to assume that I live in Australia based on those numbers. And right now in Melbourne it’s definitely not summer.

Number 3 – Don’t treat everyone the same. This point is similar to point 1 where we can learn to personalize offers. I wonder if qHero segmented their users based on how often they upload through qHero? or how many batches they upload? It feels to me like they didn’t, and that reinforces the lesson – don’t treat everyone the same.

The Wrap Up

I hope there are some key messages in here which will help your business and will make sure you don’t ruin potential sales. If you have had a similar experience, please share it in the comments. And finally, if the good people at qHero ever read this post, I think your upload and stats services are great. In your promotions I’m much more likely to buy something if you make me feel like a client or a partner. Thanks for reading ‘How to Ruin Potential Sales’.

Win Win Win Photography Business Thinking

Yesterday I came across a great example of win win win photography business thinking. Let me tell you about the experience.

I like to meet with photographers from time to time. It’s a great opportunity to share ideas and experiences, and I normally leave with ideas to implement into my business. Yesterday, I had separate meetings with two photographers. Both were very interesting and valuable, and in the second meeting I came across a great example of win win win photography business thinking.

Are you tearing your hair out looking for new clients? Can you use win win win photography business thinking as an alternative way to drive your business?

What’s the background?

There are not a lot of photographers in my home town producing high quality stock images in reasonable volumes. However, I recently came across one photographer in that category. We both contribute to an Australian image library called Austockphoto. I have been following her work there and on social media. I contacted her to see if she would like to meet for coffee and to discuss stock photography, and that led to our meeting and an exchange of ideas.

What type of photography are we talking about?

The photographer has a background in advertising and visual media and, especially relevant, she has an eye for shooting home interiors. That started when she was renovating her own home. She had found a healthy market for home interior content in the image libraries she contributes to and, as a result, she continues to add that style of content.

Projects where there are multiple winners are good projects

What’s the win win win photography business thinking?

Among the things we discussed were the photography projects we were currently working on. As she has found a strong market for home interiors she is actively adding to her portfolio of these images.

Where’s the win win win? One project she is about to shoot is home interiors for an Airbnb property owner. As soon as she mentioned Airbnb property images, I immediately thought what a booming market she was tackling.

So, let’s break down the 3 wins

The property owner. The photographer had asked the Airbnb property owner for a property release in exchange for professionally shot images of her property. Win number 1 – the property owner gets up to date, high quality images of the property at no cost.
The stock photographer. Finding new material to shoot is a stock photographers biggest challenge. This is an example of getting access to a new location at no cost. Win number 2 – the stock photographer gets to generate new images for her stock portfolio with no financial outlay.
The stock customer. Win number 3 is for the customers of the image libraries. They will have access to high quality, fresh stock images at fair prices.

What’s especially exciting about this idea is that she can replicate it over and over again. There is almost an unlimited opportunity in today’s sharing economy.

Can you implement win win win photography business thinking in your business plan?

Can you implement win win win photography business thinking?

Is there an opportunity for you to implement win win win photography business thinking into your business? Do you know Airbnb property owners who you could offer your services to? Are there other parts of today’s sharing economy where you could provide photography services which benefit multiple parties?

I hope this example has given you some ideas which you can implement into your photography business. Thanks for reading win win win photography business thinking.

Would You Give Your Images Away for Free

Every once in a while I receive an email asking to use one of my images for free. This happened earlier this week. The email was from a conservation organisation doing work to protect endangered species of animals. The request was to use one of my tree kangaroo images. I wonder, would you give your images away for free?

Here’s what happened

The email request provided me a link to the organisations website. I’m interested in issues around conservation so I took time to check out their site. They seem to be doing good work, and certainly had a very functional and well presented website.

This is a Goodfellows Tree Kangaroo. I don’t know if this is the image they were referring to.

There were 2 interesting things about this request:

All my requests for free use of images come from animal welfare and conservation organisations. That may be because I have a lot of animal images available through image libraries. Or it may be that they have found that asking for ‘free use’ often gets a positive response, and they can save money this way. Who knows?
They didn’t attach the image they wanted to use. Most requests do include the image they have found and want to use. I’m not sure if I’m too cynical, but this makes me suspicious. I do wonder whether this was a genuine request from an organisation doing good work, or was a copy and paste effort sent to hundreds of photographers?

So, my dilemma was what to do. Would you give your images away for free?

My Views

I have come across this situation before, and my opening stance is not to give images away for free. It’s not in my interests, and it’s not in the interests of other photographers. I have made exceptions in the past, but my opening position is that the user should be paying for images.

My Response

Here is my email response:

“Hi XXXXXX,

Thanks very much for your email. I checked out your website – congratulations on the fantastic work you are doing.

It’s good to hear you are going to feature the Goodfellows Tree Kangaroo. I follow the conservation efforts for them, particularly the work XXXXXX are doing with communities in Papua New Guinea.

In terms of images – I’m glad to hear you like one of mine. I hope you’ll understand that as a professional photographer I rely on royalties from licencing images to support my family, so I can’t provide it for free.

That said, I have many tree kangaroo images available to licence very inexpensively on iStockphoto. This link will take you there XXXXXXXXX

It should display prices in the local currency where ever you are. In Australian dollars it costs $13 for an individual image. If you need multiple images look at the one month subscription which lets you download 10 images for $40 (you can cancel after one month if you don’t have ongoing image needs).

I hope this helps.

Very best wishes for your work. I’ve signed up for the email updates and will look forward to the piece on Goodfellows Tree Kangaroos.

Regards

Craig”

Subscription programs make stock images affordable. I felt I did the right thing introducing this organisation to an image library where they can licence images cost effectively.

How would you handle this situation?

I feel like I’ve done the right thing by myself and other photographers. I also hope the organisation feel I’ve done the right thing by them – by introducing them to a cost effective way to licence images. The final piece of this story is just to add that my reply was sent 5 days ago. I haven’t had any response.

What do you think? Would you give your images away for free?

7 Early Lessons Building an Image Library

Over the last 6 months I’ve had a dramatic change in my approach to stock photography. I had been an exclusive contributor to iStock since 2010 and had a portfolio of over 10,000 images producing a steady income. The problem was, the income was steady but not growing in line with my portfolio. I wrote about some of those issues in Why I Dropped iStock Exclusivity. At that time most of my stock photography friends were expecting me to spread my portfolio among the other major stock sites. I saw that being a very similar road to being with iStock, and instead focused on building an image library.

I can probably fill many posts with things I’ve learned on the journey so far – but for this post I have limited it to 7 Early Lessons Building an Image Library.

Lesson 1 – It Can be Done!

The most important point first – it can be done! Selling images via microstock sites is not the only option. Building an image library is an option and can be done.

Building an image library can be done!

I went from committing to building it, to having a working website in 10 weeks. I’ve learned a lot on the way and could do it faster and more effectively if I was doing it again. But, coming back to lesson 1, if you are considering an alternative to microstock – building an image library can be done.

Lesson 2 – You Don’t Have to Build from Scratch

When I started seriously considering building an image library I had assumed I would have to build the website functionality from scratch. I assumed I would need to write a brief and have a web developer write the code. Good news, I was wrong!

There are several places where you can buy pre-existing capability which is proven in running other image libraries. So it was not a case of wondering if it would work, but buying the capability and tailoring it to my image library.

It was a big short cut and time saver to find that purchasing existing capability was going to be cheaper and easier than starting from scratch.

Lesson 3 – Knowledge of Hosting and Servers will Help

I had assumed that with some common sense and patience I’d be able to work out what was needed regarding servers and hosting for the new site.

On reflection I would say that is true. I also believe I caused myself unnecessary anxiety and worry by not talking to an expert before I started! My recommendation is to find an expert in this space. They will advise what you need.

Getting expert help on the technical side will ultimately save you time and help you sleep better!

Save yourself some sleepless nights by asking an expert about hosting and servers.

Lesson 4 – There’s Value in Taking Time to Set Up Correctly

I decided to create a new company to keep the image library business separate from my photography business. If you haven’t done this before, setting up a new company is a relatively straight forward process which an accountant can help with.

Where’s the lesson here? In my desire to get moving I bought the domain name and registered it under my photography company (not the image library company). My speed in doing that then managed to slow me down. I had to subsequently transfer the web address to the new company, and wait several days for that to happen.

In hindsight it was not a big deal. But next time I would establish the new company first and then purchase the web address.

Lesson 5 – Things Take Time

In lesson 1 I outlined that I went from concept to working website in 10 weeks. Some might think 10 weeks is fast, and others will think it is slow. During this process I have learned that things which I assumed would move very quickly can take time.

Specifically I was surprised that setting up payment functionality through the bank would take time. There was plenty of paperwork involved, followed by review from the bank. There must be processes in the background for a bank to make sure everything is legitimate, but I hadn’t expected it to take several weeks. That’s worth knowing if you are setting up payment functionality on your own website or image library.

The second area which took longer than I expected was the legal agreements. The main ones I needed were a licence agreement for the image buyer, and a photographer agreement for contributing photographers. While from a legal point of view this is fairly straightforward, lawyers are not just waiting around for customers like me. They have a range of (mostly larger) projects on the go, and mine was not the A priority. In future I’ll allow more time for the legals to be completed.

Lesson 6 – User Experience of the Website is Key

I made a mistake in launching too soon without properly considering the user experience on the website. I was anxious to move from “build phase” to “proof of concept” on my business plan, and went live as soon as possible.

User experience is a very important piece of the puzzle

I’ve learned that having a working website is one thing. And having a website which is appealing and intuitive to customers is another. Unfortunately that meant that the first 1000 visitors to the site had a “less than ideal” experience.

Both the look of the site and the functionality are now much improved. This will be something we continue to develop. My recommendation is don’t be too anxious to launch. Invest time in making sure your site looks great and is intuitive for your user.

Lesson 7 – Find a Web Developer You Trust

I have complete trust and faith in my web developer. It is so reassuring to know that the person on the other end of many emails and text messages is completely trust worthy and working to make the website a success. Nothing seems to have been too much of a problem despite there being lots of things to work on some weeks, and nothing to work on in others (thanks Alison!). Having a web expert you completely trust is great for peace of mind.

I have lots more lessons learned on this journey already which I will save for other posts. Thanks for reading 7 Early Lessons Building an Image Library. If you’d like to check out progress, please head over to Melbourne Stock Photos.

Potential Markets When You Are Starting a Photography Business

Last week I was contacted by a photographer who had been reading Beyond Here. She had received some inquiries in her local community, and had local businesses re-sharing her social media content. We had a brief exchange of emails which has led to this post – Potential Markets When You Are Starting a Photography Business.

The photographer who contacted me was doing some studies to help her with the business side of photography (great idea!). Her initial question for me was about pricing.

That’s a very broad question as there are all sorts of different customers with different budgets (I wrote a post about this called Find The Right Clients). It’s also a hard question to answer without really knowing the photographer, her work, or the market she hopes to address.

There is opportunity in the faces and the places of your region

Let’s look at what I do know. The photographer lives outside a main city in an attractive coastal location. She has a diverse and interesting range of landscape and lifestyle images from her local area. She has done some work for a local luxury accommodation provider. Given that information, here are some potential business opportunities for this situation.

Business Opportunities

There are lots of potential markets when you are starting a photography business. Below are some immediate ideas. My suggestion would be to experiment with several and decide what suits you and your work. Not everything will be a success, but finding your own way forward is part of the excitement of running a successful photography business.

Opportunity 1 – Sell Prints to the Luxury Accommodation Provider.

Accommodation businesses are great to speak to about prints. They need prints for their rooms, and having a range of local images can enhance their guests experience. As a photographer it is attractive as the luxury accommodation provider will likely order at least one for each room plus more for their shared spaces. Keep in mind they won’t order 40 of the same print. Make sure you have a range of images of the local environment.

Opportunity 2 – Talk to the Accommodation Provider about online images.

Nearly all businesses need quality images for their online use. I would start by researching the accommodation providers website and social media accounts. Then I would approach them to shoot images of the property for use in both. Website images is often a once a year job. Images for social media can be ongoing regular work.

Businesses, as well as individuals, can be your clients. The costs are going to be an expense to the business, so likely can be offset against their income for tax purposes

Opportunity 3 – Shoot images for Local Tourism Body.

Tourism bodies need a regular supply of high quality images to help them promote the region. In my experience, big organisations promoting tourism for big cities or large regions are less inclined to engage with an individual photographer. Smaller regional tourism bodies on the other hand love to deal with local people. Local people know the area and can be relied on. I’d suggest she gets her current portfolio in front of the local tourism body. From there she can start a conversation about helping to promote the local area.

Opportunity 4 – Shoot Images for other Businesses

Again, because nearly all businesses need images for their websites and social media use, there is lots of opportunity to shoot images for businesses. Local people like dealing with other local people, particularly in regional communities. I’d suggest this photographer has the potential to approach other businesses and see if she can help them with their image needs.

Pricing can be tricky. Have you considered deciding on your price and then looking for customers in that price range?

Opportunity 5 – Sell Images as Stock

The photographer who contacted me appeared to have a relatively large existing portfolio. If that is the case she could upload several hundred images to micro stock sites to get started in stock photography. Keep in mind that stock images of a major city are going to have a bigger market than a regional town. She lives in a regional area so her stock portfolio is likely to have a limited market unless she can produce generic images.

There are 5 immediate business opportunities for this photographer as she starts out in business.

For more resources for starting a photography business please see:

Thanks for reading Potential Markets When You Are Starting a Photography Business. There are lots and lots of potential markets when you are starting a photography business so don’t be limited to just these five! Happy shooting!

Use Events to Drive Business

I often hear photographers discussing (or complaining!) that they don’t have enough paying clients. My response is to ask what they are doing to generate more business. And generally the response is a blank stare which implies ‘isn’t my website and social media presence enough to have people knocking down the door?’ No, it’s not. People have lots of pressures on their time and money – and will only shoot with you if you give them a compelling reason to do it now. There are many ways to drive additional business. One way is to use events to drive business. Read on!

Special events drive sales of stock images

What do you mean events?

By events, I mean special occasions. Demand for a range of products and services picks up very predictably when these events occur. Let’s take an example. What do you think happens for sales of chocolates and roses every February? They boom just before Valentine’s Day! And they boom just before Valentine’s Day every year! It’s predictable.

How can you take advantage of that? Have you considered offering a couples shoot before Valentine’s Day? Or sell a gift voucher for the couple to shoot with you after Valentine’s Day? Do you get the idea? You use the event to create a reason for the shoot to happen now.

Want More Examples?

Regular readers of Beyond Here will know I shoot a lot of stock photography. Do events help sales of stock images? Yes! A resounding yes! Here in Australia there is a peak in sales of Australian themed images just before Australia Day at the end of January.

How do I capitalize on this? I shoot Australia Day themed images in October and November, and have them available in my stock portfolio by early December. That’s almost 2 months before Australia Day and ready for the increase in demand.

And there are lots more events during the year which drive similar spikes in demand. Think about Valentine’s Day, Mothers Day, Fathers Day, and your national holidays. Could you use events to drive business? I’m sure you could. It just requires a little planning and a compelling reason for clients to have the shoot now.

How can family photographers take advantage of this?

Lots of photographers specialize in families and portraits. Here’s how I recommend you make the most of events.

Got a national holiday coming up. Can you use events to drive business?

Events Specific to Your Clients

Once you have a client base you can generate your own ‘events’ by focusing on key moments for your clients. What are some examples? Your clients anniversaries and birthdays are obvious places to start! If you have a gap in your shooting schedule, contact a client who has a birthday next month and offer them a special for a shoot plus prints in time for their birthday.

Even better is when you have remembered your clients children’s birthdays. Offering a tailored shoot on the kids birthdays will show your clients you care (and really listened!) and can offer something unique to them.

Events Which Apply to ‘the Market’

If you don’t have an existing client base to tap into, use events which have broad appeal.

How about special family packages:

for families right before school starts
during the school holidays
for kids birthdays
before Christmas

These are all straightforward ways to use events to drive business. If you are waiting for clients to contact you because you have a great website and post regularly to social media – you may be waiting a long time. Grab the initiative and use events to drive business.