Business Advice

A friend was looking for advice on how to establish her photography business. I gave her some advice which I think is pretty universal for anyone looking to establish themselves as a professional:

Email addresses are one of the first things to watch out for in how your company looks to others. For instance, if you wanted to contact any professional and pay them good money for their services, would you be inclined to if their email address was ilovejustintimberlake@aol.?com? It’s pretty much the same concept as when applying for jobs. You want a professional email address handle like yourname@yourcompany.com (or whatever). It re-emphasis your branding of your name is a photographer.

As for money, you’re saying that any materials you use has to be free, correct? The next step after deciding your persona will be to work on your social media presence. Starting on here is step one. Have you taken yourself to Twitter? Write a blog about some basic tips or blogging about your experiences on shoots. Talk about new photography tricks you’ve learned. You’re working on building up your presence. The blog will establish you as an authoritative person on the subject in your local sphere.

At some point, take on an intern and show them the way around a camera. Plus interns can do monotonous tasks like color correcting your photos. It’ll also make you a mentor to someone else who can reference you. When people reference you, you are seen as a professional and people will want to know your opinion about photography.

Or you could start volunteering at places where they’ll be clients with money who’d like photos. AKA places with kids with wealthy parents. Also make sure to ALWAYS dress the part of a professional when you’re out meeting people.

These things mostly require time. I hope these suggestions will get you started on a more successful journey!