Welcome to the blog fellow enthusiast! If you are a new photographer or hobbyist then this article is especially for you. In this article we will look at the steps you can take towards developing profitable and marketable photography.
A stumbling block that you will face or that you are facing right now is a lack of exposure. You have started to produce images, started to develop your workflow, and now all you need are persons (potential clients) to see your work. So how are you going to make that happen? In the era that we currently live, sharing content online is commonplace and fairly easy. There are many platforms you can use that are setup specially for sharing and displaying images. Some examples of these are 500px, Instagram, Pinterest and Flickr. Sharing your work to these sites will increase your reach, and eventually, allow contact with other content creators within the photography community and related communities. You could then suggest and organize collaborations with designers, makeup artists, photographers, models, and companies. More importantly, you will have an online portfolio to which you could direct potential clients.
Marketing your products/services is key when it comes to attracting clients. Bear in mind that marketing involves proof of competence, and visual appeal. When persons see your work and like what you produce, then your chances of being hired will increase. That is why it is important to hone your craft. Practise, practise, practise! You need to be able to constantly improve the quality of your images, and in turn, demand and prices for your services can be increased. It is important to do the calculations for all expenses involved for each service before you agree to any jobs. That includes transportation, equipment, printing, time spent, food (of course if you are working you will get hungry), paying assistant(s), type of editing, number of images, etc. There are more factors which we will discuss in fuller detail in another article. The point I am making is, do not rob yourself. Calculate the expense.
Other than online sharing, it would be good to create and print business cards, as well as a hard copy portfolio. Not all potential clients are up-to-date with web platforms and sharing sites. Therefore, travelling with those two things would increase your reach. You can have them on your person, ready to display if the opportunity presents itself.
I am glad to share these tips that I have seen as helpful so far, and I hope that you can benefit from what we discussed in this article. If you have any questions, send me a message and I will answer as soon as I receive it. Keep creating, and strive for community building over competition!