You’ve got the camera, the equipment and the expertise, but all you need now are the clients. Without clients, you won’t be able to grow your photography business as easily as you’d like. Gone are the days of submitting your work to get lost among many other talented artists breaking through into the industry. We’ve got a few pointers on how to get photography clients that will help launch you into your career as a professional.
Learn Who Your Audience Is
Before you advertise your work and introduce yourself to the world, figure out who your ideal audience is and narrow down what they want. Consider portraits, headshots, couples or families. Where are some of their hangouts and how can you channel your expertise into your audience’s desired location? As you jump into expanding your photography clientele, learn not only what some of your clients’ wants are, but how you can showcase your best work in what you want to capture.
It’s often helpful to talk to other photographers in your community or on the web to get a sense for what worked for them. Everyone will have their own style and skills so talking to other like you will help you identify your strength areas and thereby who your best audience will be.
Spread the Word
People believe what their friends say about experiences they’ve had. If you’ve had any photography clients in the past that had a good experience with you, encourage them to spread your name and show off some of their own shots you took! If you’re just starting out and don’t have any resources or no way to contact previous clients, get your friends and family together for a fun shoot. Have them share their photos to their own network and watch those referrals come back your way. Use the referral method as you grow your photography business and keep encouraging your clients to share your name with their friends and family. Don’t underestimate the power of reviews either. Get your clients to leave you a review on how well you did. The more positive reviews you earn, the more your reputation will stand out – you’ll see how your network expands and your client list grow!
Establish yourself with multiple online portfolios (our favorites outlined below) and start to tap into markets outside of your immediate radius. This will not only help others see your work but it may help you establish connections within the community as well.
Get Out and Network
It may not be everyone’s favorite, or maybe you love making new friends! Get out in your community and network with anyone you think could help you. Find more photography clients by visiting local shops or stopping to talk to anyone you think might fit your ideal audience characteristics. Photographers breaking their way into a niche or to small towns and cities can ask to leave their contact information at mom & pop shops, local stores, bakeries, floral shops and anywhere else local residents or visitors may shop. Find local Facebook groups and showcase some of your work there. Just like we mentioned at the beginning, find out where your ideal clients might be hanging out and head in that direction. Maybe bring a card with your contact information or a sample of one of your photos to give them an idea of your work.
Across many different industries are unique ways to connect with other like minded people. Real estate photographers can connect with realtors and see how they can get involved in realtors associations. Event photographers can get in contact with different event hosts and venues to see how they can join a preferred vendor list. At the same time, see how you can partner up with different vendors and offer free shoots in exchange for their own word of mouth marketing – whether on their social media or as a partner in their business. You never know who you’ll meet!
Show Off Your Portfolio
Your future photography clients will want to see your work before they decide to hire you. Maybe you have social media where you highlight some of your best work or even a website. You can quickly and easily create a portfolio to drop your best shots in. Provide an easy way for potential photography clients to find your samples and get in contact with you. Work samples will help open up better opportunities to get more photography clients. Your PhotoBooker profile comes with an exceptional portfolio feature to showcase your week across genres but having other avenues to showcase your work will never hurt. Consider some of these platforms to share your photography as well:
- Instagram
- One of the fastest-growing social media communities for photographers. Make sure you research proper formats to upload your photos in so your work doesn’t get cropped! Enable a business profile and post a link to your website or PhotoBooker profile!
- Pinterest
- Now, Pinterest has the ability to link through to your portfolio so this is a great way to get your visual art in front of millions of people. Remember to tag appropriately and use good keywords in your descriptions. Look at other photographer boards on Pinterest to get an idea of what works for them.
- Behance by Adobe
- If you use Photoshop or Lightroom, we’d recommend signing up for Behance. A great online showcase for your work that was created by photographers, illustrators and designers. You can create projects here and put your work into different collections based on genre and style.
- Zenfolio
- Designed with the photographer in mind, Zenfolio offers a robust feature set, allowing photographers to display and share their images, create beautiful sites, and manage client galleries all in one place.
Set Up A PhotoBooker Profile
All your resources are in one place by setting up a PhotoBooker profile! Photography clients looking for someone with an established profile that showcases a portfolio are actively ready to book. Lucky for you, a PhotoBooker profile is free to set up and there are no hidden fees. The process is easy enough from start to finish.
Where Will You Shoot?
After you go to PhotoBooker.com and sign up, start by defining your radius, how far are you willing to travel for photography gigs? For some it will be right in their city, for others it may be to a larger neighboring city or other popular markets nearby in their state. Don’t worry about rushing between shoots, PhotoBooker provides you the appropriate time between photoshoots with clients so you never feel rushed to finish one shoot and make it to the next.
When Are You Available
Define what days of the week and times you are available for jobs. If this is your side hustle that may mean early mornings and evenings during the week and all day on weekends. If you are already full time you likely will have an open schedule. Remember to block out any times you have committed to things like school, family responsibilities, etc. It’s easy to set your own hours and availability, as needed. We’re here to help with the scheduling so you (and the client) feel relaxed and can enjoy the experience.
Name Your Price
Set your price however you see fit, maybe you already have a rate sheet you’ve been using or an experienced friend told you what they charged as a beginner. Your rate is set by the hour with prices ranging from $50/ hour up to $300+. Set a price that you feel is fair to you and your experience. You can always change this later on.
Create Your Profile
Tell your potential clients a little about yourself. Who are you? What do you enjoy? Why photography? How do you work with clients? Clients want to know who they are hiring to make sure they are getting someone they will click with. You should also discuss photography related things like your cameras of choice, editing tools, lighting you use, etc.
Showcase Your Portfolio
Finally, upload some of your most proud photos so clients can get an understanding and feel for your work. You can show off up to 30 for each genre that you shoot in. Load up your profile with as many amazing genres as you can. The more genres you shoot, the more likely your profile will pop up while clients are searching and the more likely you’ll get booked!
