How could this happen to me? Why have I almost reached the point of actually hating photography? The one thing I truly loved has turned into a monster and killed my creativity and passion because of the stress it’s brought into my life!
Wow, those were tough words to hear!
I was talking with a distraught professional photographer about how to make money with photography and earn a decent living from her camera.
Our chat certainly hadn’t gone the way I expected!
I asked her how she felt about trying to rekindle her passion for photography.
How determined was she to overcome the challenges to break through to a place where she felt more creative?
The pause on the other end was so long I thought we’d lost the connection…
And then she started crying…
Between sobs, she simply said she’d had enough. The pressure from her spouse to quit was becoming too much ignore. Worse, she felt like the only way to salvage anything from the business was to sell her cameras and lenses and go to work for someone else.
Right in front of my eyes, someone’s dream just died.
What a shame!
Sadly, this is not an isolated case.
For every photographer I speak to who thinks about giving up, I know there are many others silently facing the same agonizing decision.
You might be feeling this way yourself right now, although I sincerely hope not!
Be honest, have you ever felt even the slightest lack of enthusiasm for being a photographer? Have you ever had a bit less passion for it compared to when you started out?
Are you feeling burned out by the overwhelming stress of simply trying to make your business work?
Seriously, this is far more common than you might think!
But it’s also unnecessary.
More than that, it’s damaging our industry as a whole.
How To Make Money With Photography: Where Did It All Go Wrong?
How can a photographer go from excited entrepreneur with passion and enthusiasm to a burned-out wreck who can’t stand the thought of taking another photograph?
Like many things in life, it revolves around money.
More accurately, the lack of it.
Your photography business needs money to survive. Cutting off the money supply is like dropping you in the desert without water.
When cash flow slows down, and money gets tight, necessities like marketing, advertising and investment in education are usually the first casualties.
But, if advertising and marketing stop, it’s like turning off the lights! As a result, you become invisible to your ideal clients who naturally turn instead to your more active competitors.
No Marketing ⇒ No Clients ⇒ No Money ⇒ A Business On Life-Support
Without effective marketing, the intervals between clients grow longer and stress and worry become unbearable as the bank account runs dry.
Even the average sale per client suffers. This is usually because of emergency marketing and poorly thought-out sales and promotions that actually do more harm than good.
Eventually, the business falls beyond help, past the event horizon of failure, to disappear into a black hole, never to recover.
All through the lack of money.
Hence the topic of this series of articles:
How to make money with photography, and still love what you do—without having to sell off your cameras and lenses…
The complete answer could fill volumes of books, and there’s no magical “system” for creating a money-making photography business.
For example, a system that works for one photographer may fail for another, and vice versa.
That’s one reason why the many so-called “success systems” being sold by unscrupulous marketers eager to make a quick buck don’t produce the results they claim to.
But, after talking with photographers from all corners of the world, I’ve identified 6 areas where professional photographers can make the biggest impact in their business:
- Attract, connect with, and convert people into leads…
- Cultivate a business-first attitude and approach…
- Use smart and effective marketing strategies…
- Manage all client and prospect communication…
- Take back control of your photography pricing…
- Learn to make friends with sales…
I go into more detail on each of these topics in the following chapters.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Word Of Mouth Marketing In Photography: The Ultimate Guide For Wedding And Portrait Photographers
Word of mouth marketing in photography takes more than creating great work and hoping your clients will rave about you to their friends and family. It's also not outside your control, so here is the ultimate guide to creating and influencing great word of mouth marketing to promote your photography and generate buzz about you and your business...
Why Professional Photographers Are Struggling
Fact: Most professional photographers struggle to make it because there's ONE essential ingredient missing from their marketing system. Find out what the missing component is, and how to fix it...
Cultivate A Business-First Attitude
If you want to make it as a professional, it's important to realize that you're no longer just a photographer. You're now a marketer and seller of your photography, therefore a "business-first" attitude is essential. Making the transition can be a challenge, but here are 6 steps you can take today...
Use Smart And Effective Marketing Strategies
Using a basic website to showcase your photography in the hope that someone will like it enough to hire you on their first visit no longer works. Instead, you MUST have a system to convert visitors into leads before you can turn them into clients or buyers. It all starts with smart and effective marketing strategies to bring the right people to your website...
Love Doesn’t Happen Overnight
Unfortunately, people aren't ready to hire you the first time they see your website. The challenge is to get them to return when they ARE ready. Here's how to set up your marketing system to make that happen...
Attracting The Right People
Successful marketing never involves the "spray and pray" tactic of attracting every possible person you can reach to your website. Instead, you should focus on attracting only the RIGHT people—those who fit the profile of your ideal clients. Here are some tips on how to do that...
Connecting With Your Photography Website Visitors
When the right people land on your website and blog, the next step is to make a meaningful connection with them. Your text, stories, testimonials, and photographs must resonate deeply with readers so they get to know, like, and trust you. Only then will they be likely to become a good lead...
Converting Your Website Visitors Into Leads
Having made a great connection with your website visitors with your compelling content, it's time to help them show their interested in learning more by turning them into leads. You can then follow up with them personally to help them become valuable photography clients...
Manage All Client Communications
Would your clients say you're a good communicator? This is where every business owner can make improvements, especially when your clients have so much power and influence with their peers. Word of mouth marketing is powerful, but you must do everything to ensure it's positive. Here are some things to improve communication with your customers...
Take Back Control Of Your Pricing
Do you struggle with pricing? The sweet spot can prove elusive, which leads to lack of confidence and a tendency to blame the wrong things when sales drop. The key to fixing these problems is to retake control of your prices. Here's how...
Learn To Make Friends With Sales
You can't make money as a photographer if you don't embrace the sales process! But that doesn't mean you have to become a sleazy salesperson. Instead, take the time to help your clients get what they want...
Prospect Assassins: 7 Ways To Kill A Photography Sales Phone Call
Discover how to avoid the 7 most efficient assassins of your telephone sales calls through better technique and maintaining control of the telephone conversation...
Effective Sales Presentations for Wedding Photographers
Are you a wedding photography looking to make more bookings from your client consultations? Here's a breakdown of how to conduct a structured and well-prepared sales presentation to turn more prospects into paying clients...
Corporate Event Photography Tips: From Finding Clients To Getting Paid For Your Work
Looking for another avenue for earning money as a professional photographer? Have you thought about corporate event photography? Here are some valuable event photography tips from professional photographer David Gordon that can help get you started...
Do You Stand Behind Your Work? Why You Should Always Guarantee Your Photography
Do you offer a guarantee for your photography services? What do you do if you have a dissatisfied client? Discover why every professional photographer should stand behind their work with a strong guarantee...
Can A Home Photography Studio Be Successful And Profitable?
If your home photography studio isn't making money, don't take another step until you read this article on taking back control of your average sales...
6 Surefire Ways To Cure Your Photography Pricing Headaches
Professional photographers suffer more headaches because of pricing their photography than almost anything else in their business. Here are 6 quick photography business tips to eliminate the frustration surrounding pricing for the professional photographer...
Displaying Photography Prices Online: The Eternal Question
The age-old question, at least in this Internet age, is "should I display my prices on my website?" This has been asked so many times, it's pointless to try to answer it in the same old way. Instead, I think it's more productive to ask ourselves "why" we're asking the question in the first place! Here are some possible reasons why this question keeps coming up...
How To Present Your Photography Price List To Your Clients To Get Paid What You’re Worth And Make Better Sales
The humble price list is the source of much angst for the professional photographer, especially when it comes to having confidence in our fees and presenting the price list to our clients. If you are having difficulties with price-shoppers, finding that clients are not coming back after they discover your fees, you may be surprised to learn that it's not because your prices are too high...
You And Your Photography Are Worth More Than You Believe
Too many photographers fail to charge what they're worth, and allow themselves to be bullied by the individual whims of clients who aren't a perfect fit for them. As a result, pricing is a nightmare, confidence in their work is at an all-time low, and many risk losing their business. Here are some ideas of what you can do about it...
Should You Display Your Prices For Photography On Your Website?
Are you unsure about displaying your prices for photography on your website for all to see? This question is the source of much debate among professional photographers, and it can be difficult for anyone new to the business to make the right choice. Here are some important things every photographer should consider before making a decision one way or the other.
Selling Fine Art Photography Online: How To Increase Your Chances Of Success
Do you sell your fine art photography online? The choice of website templates and online galleries is large, but most fine art photographers see poor sales and find it difficult to succeed. However, a simple change in approach may be all that's needed to sell more of your photographic work. If you want to know how to make money with fine art photography, you're in the right place...
How To Sell Fine Art Photography – An Interview With Karen Stiles
If you're having a difficult time discovering how to sell your fine art photography to the right people, listen to this great interview I had with fine art photographer Karen Stiles, as she describes how she achieved success with marketing and selling her fine art work.
Take The Stress Out Of How To Price Wedding Photography With This Wedding Package Price Calculator
Wedding photographers often have a hard time with pricing, with many caught up in a frenzy of tweaking to try to find the perfect price list, without actually paying attention to the numbers that matter - the cost of sales and their investment in time. This article on how to price wedding photography introduces a new Excel tool to help the wedding photographer come up with a better way of producing their price lists.
Take The Stress Out Of Your Photography Business: 3 Simple Steps And 1 Great Mobile App
Do scheduling appointments, writing invoices, and chasing up payments take up too much of your valuable time and give you headaches? Would you like to make your photography business more efficient, and get some of that time back so you can focus on serving more clients with your photography? In this article, guest author Sam Madden (co-founder of PocketSuite), gives you 3 simple steps to making your business more efficient.
Are You Getting Enough Wedding Photography Clients?
Getting wedding photography clients is hard. Increased competition, confusing marketing tactics, cheaper photographers, and struggling just to get noticed by your ideal clients, all add up to a frustrating time for professional wedding photographers. Here's how to have a better year...
