Profitable Photography: How to Get More Photography Clients

Trying to find more clients for any type of industry comes with difficulties. The same goes for photography. Getting more photography clients will require some careful planning and in-depth research. We have compiled some key points on how to get more photography clients, they will also give you a different look at your photography business.

Don’t presume that having more clients is better for your photography business. Having less clients with higher prices is usually the better direction for any photography business.

In order to have fewer photography clients for a higher price, you need to have lots of them in the beginning so that later you can increase your prices accordingly.

Let’s just jump straight into it.

Table of Content

How to Get More Photography Clients – Ultimate Guide

Increase the Website Traffic (Blog)

This is probably the most important step in your marketing. Increasing the website traffic will get you higher rankings on Google when someone searches for a local photographer.

How to do this?

Create a photography blog, this will help you a lot in getting more photography clients.

Having a photography blog gives you exposure to the clients, but your website also needs to have some style.

Get help to set up your website in the right order. It needs to look nice and be very responsive. Only then you are ready to start your photography blog.

This whole process takes time, but it is extremely rewarding.

Choose One Type of Photography to Market Yourself

Do NOT try to be the master of every photography type. This will only detour potential clients. They seek devotion and specialization.

If they are looking for a wedding photographer, they will choose a photographer that has only wedding photos on their website.

Why would they take someone who has general photography photos?

Choose your photography specialization wisely because not every type of photography brings profit.

Start Using Email Marketing

Email marketing is a powerful tool in the hands of the right person.

First, you are going to need an email list. If you don’t have the emails of your potential customers, you will need to create content in order to acquire their emails.

This is how you can build your list:

Blog post

Giveaway
Pop-ups

The best and the one that will bring you the most profit is creating an engaging blog post that will offer valuable information to the potential photography clients.

At the end of the blog post, you will have to create a subscription block. With this, you can acquire some emails of your potential photography clients.

Next up is some form of a giveaway. Look you don’t have to give your camera or money, you can give free photography sessions or a photography course.

Think about what you can offer to the potential customers that will prompt them to give you their private information (their email).

You can also offer discounts for your services.

Either you hate pop-ups, or you don’t, but you are seeing them everywhere. Trust me, people are interested to read the content on the pop-ups. This is also a great way to acquire more emails of potential customers.

Use an Automated Response

You need to be fast.

When someone orders one of your services or asks a question regarding the service you need to have an automated response for them. This is a great showcase of professionalism.

You can include an automated message that explains when they will hear from you regarding the mail.

Automated messages are a great way to give your potential clients more information about your brand while they wait for your response.

Strong Brand

Your brand is the thing that sets you apart from the competition.

Start out with your photography business name. Your photography business name needs to be unique and at the same time, it needs to explain to some degree what type of photography you specialize in.

Focus on the things you do the best, never take a job you think you are going to fail. Clients review has the utmost importance in today’s world.

If you see a profitable photography niche that no one is exploiting focus on it and try to develop your photography business around it. They are the fastest way to develop a working photography brand.

Identifying Your Targeted Clients

This step is usually done before starting your photography business but if you lack customers maybe you don’t know who they are actually.

Targeted client is the person who has the most chance of buying your service.

You need to know specific information about them, such as:

specific age range
level of income

reasons why they would want to purchase your product or a service

With this, you can make changes to your current business plan and suit your targeted clients’ needs accordingly.

Collaborate with Others

Building relationships within your local community will be beneficial for you. Connecting industries is a good way of getting more photography clients.

For example, team up with a makeup studio or a hair salon and set up different packages.

You can also offer discounts to clients referred to you by others, such as a hair salon or a makeup studio.

Seek an opportunity to work with others in similar industries, their clients can also become yours.

Build Credibility and Trust

Every customer’s review is important for you, especially when starting your photography business.

It gets hard sometimes with difficult clients, but try to work it out with them. I know that most people think that “the customer is always right” but sometimes they are not, and you have to say no. Some clients will ask the impossible of you, or maybe request something of you that is not in the written agreement.

Sometimes just do the extra work for them but if you see them going overboard with the requests, offer them that service at a discount or just say no.

This is a hard ground to walk because a few negative reviews can have a huge impact on the number of photography clients you are going to get.

This problem is fixed by having everything on the paper before starting the job. Give them a detailed presentation of what they can expect and how the things are going to go down.

If they are happy with it they are going to sing it, if they are not, you can probably come to some kind of agreement.

Keep in Touch with Previous Clients

Like we mentioned before a great way of keeping in touch with previous clients is by email marketing software.

Have them on a separate list from the potential clients. You won’t send them the same emails. Their emails need to be more personalized for them, with potential offers and discounts.

Here are some examples of personalized emails for your previous clients:

If their birthday is coming up you can send them an email with a discounted photo shoot offer.
If you took pictures of someone’s child last year, you can send a throwback email with those pictures in it to remind them how that photoshoot had beautiful pictures.
Maybe you where the main photographer at someone’s wedding, remind them how beautiful it was and send them a discount for a photoshoot

Pet photographer can also use previous events to offer discounts to the people that were attending that event

You can also include referral offers. Use codes or names. If someone comes using their code or a name they will get a discount or a free mini photo shooting session from you.

As you see possibilities are endless with previous clients, you just have to remember them. This is why it so important to keep documentation of previous photoshoots for later use.

Also, by just keeping in touch with you they can recommend you because of the great service you did for them.

Have Your Prices (Charge Rates) on the Website (Optional)

First of all, you don’t have to do this. Having a price list on the website is a thing of taste.

For me, this shows transparency and professionalism.

Why would you hide your prices?

The only reason to do this is to get the conversation going. This won’t work.

Here is the thing.

If a person doesn’t have money for your service, he won’t buy it even if they call you and ask you for the price. They haven’t made any commitment by contacting you via email or a phone call.

Inviting them for a meeting without giving them your charging rates will look shady for almost everyone. It will make them lose interest and look for someone more transparent with the prices.

By the looks of it, you will lose more potential clients if you don’t put your prices on your website. They will search for it and they will lose interest if they have to contact you in order to get the price plan.

No matter how good your photos are, potential photography clients will walk away from your website if you are not sincere with them.

Also, have a reasonable price plan, don’t try to milk away every customer. Make them feel satisfied and happy with your service. In order to attract more potential photography clients, you need to be reasonable with the previous ones.

Maybe they will need your service again for a new kind of event.

Never burn relationship bridges in order to acquire more money.

Get More Photography Clients by Knowing How to Speak with Them

So, you have attracted the interest of some potential photography clients?

The main thing now is to present yourself and your photography business in the best way possible.

The best way to avoid losing potential customers when speaking to them is to use the “7 Cs of Communication” as a guide.

These are the 7 Cs of Communication:

Clear
Consistent
Credible

Confident
Civil
Concise

Compassionate

If you present yourself to the potential photography client using the 7 C’s, you are sure to close the deal.

Also, you need to watch your body language. Be friendly and in the mood, people can sense if someone is not feeling good or is being unfriendly to them. This can detour them from closing the deal with you.

Set up a Meeting Location

You don’t have to meet in the photo studio or in their house, find out a place that will reflect your professionalism and confidence. Find a place that you feel comfortable in, this will have a huge influence on your presentation.

Also, if they are agreeing on seeing you on your desired location they are making a small commitment, this means they are likely to close the deal with you.

Carefully Plan out the Meeting

By planning the whole meeting from the beginning to the end shows confidence and that you actually know what you are doing. This will show them they can depend on you to plan their desired even perfectly.

Do not take to much of their time, this will show them that you have to much time on your hands and that you lack clients.

I think 30 min is more than enough to show commitment, while not taking to much of their time.

Explore Their Fears and Dreams

To show them you actually care about the outcome you need to explore what they fear will go wrong during the photoshoot. Then you need to go point by point and explain to them what precautions you are using to stop those things from going wrong.

This will give them more confidence and maybe they will be ready to close the deal with you.

Also, don’t forget to ask them how their perfect photoshoot day would go, how are they imagining it. Let them talk for a while, you need to learn to listen.

Bring a notebook to the meeting and write little notes while they are speaking about their dreams, this will help in building that relationship.

Storytime

It is important to build a relationship with your clients, especially if you are a wedding photographer.

Ask them this:

How did they meet?

What attracted them to each other?
How long are they in a relationship?

Let them speak, a couple that is getting married are happy to share their story. Also, that information will help you during your photoshoot.

Explain to Them What Options They Have (Help Them with Their Decision)

Explain to them what packages you offer and for what price. Help them minimize the number of options you are offering to them.

First, give them your price plan and after that ask for their budget, you can probably figure something out even if they are not within your desired price range.

Show Them Your Portfolio

You need to have a portfolio during every meeting. Digital or printed, it does not matter.

Even if they saw your work on your website you need to show it to them again and tell the story while showing them your portfolio.

Don’t brag too much or they will lose interest. This meeting is about them not about you.

What Do Clients Want from Photographers

Being a photographer isn’t always about having the best and the latest camera or lens. In fact, most of your potential clients will look for various different things when choosing their photographer.

Your potential client will also want to see that you really know what you’re doing since snapping a perfect award-winning photo isn’t exactly simple. If it was that simple, we would all be professional photographers. Here are some things that your clients want from you.

Showing Effort When Shooting

If a photographer giving his best to shoot a perfect photo for his client, they will understand he knows his stuff. This can also be called Shooting Style, or the way a photographer tells how to pose or where to take position during the shooting process.

Clients don’t want to pay for a photographer that will snap a few shots then go and drink a couple of beers like he just did a marvelous job. Believe me, many clients will also check for your personality, so be sure to know what you’re talking about and doing.

Quality Image Processing

Image processing is very important in photography. It’s like doing bodybuilding contests without using some…well, performance-enhancing drugs.

Now, let’s think of image processing like this. If you capture an eye-catching photo, it can become even better with image processing. The clients will, in most cases, look if your image processing is consistent and in tone with your shooting style.

Furthermore, the customer might request a special style like B&W, vintage, hazy, or similar. You need to be able to fulfill their needs in a simple manner, which will allow you to gain their trust. Remember that taking a perfect shot is literally 30% of your work! The remaining 70% is what happens when you process the image.

Hefty Price

When you start talking about your services and brag about your unparalleled quality, many clients will just stop you and ask about the price. In a vast majority of cases, your potential client will reject hiring you simply because of the price.

To be honest, pricing is all over the place in photography. Some will charge you a ridiculous amount of money for their modest work, while some will really show you respect in that matter.
Your client will also want to know what you can do for the given price.

Are they going to get prints or digital files?

What is the price of the photo?

What is your hourly rate etc.?

That being said, stop being greedy, but also value your work.

Specialization in Particular Photography Niche

This one is pretty important, even though it’s not in the first spot. Before you start any kind of business with the photographer, it’s important to ask him about his favorite photography niches. Knowing this, your potential customers will do the same and if you aren’t suitable for their needs, you’ll probably get rejected. There isn’t a photographer that can do any kind of niche like a pro and that’s a pretty normal thing.

However, if you happen to be good at what your client needs, you are a lucky person. I would probably be happier if I won the lottery, but snapping a few shots for a dime or two isn’t all that bad, is it?

Flexibility

Clients will want a high level of flexibility from their chosen photographer. If you’ve seen a photographer lying on the ground and waiting for a perfect moment, you know what I’m talking about. I know it may sound extreme, but people really have crazy (or dumb) ideas when it comes to taking photos.

One time, you can shoot an ordinary family photo, while at the next moment, you could lie in the mud and wait for a perfect shot. Nobody said it’s easy, but hey, if you love torturing your camera, you’ll just walk it off like a true champ!

Respectable Background

In order to have a respectable background, a photographer should have some kind of background. Logic right? No, not exactly a landscape, but a portfolio or a website of some sort. A photographer is proud of his work and always finds a way to somewhat expose his recent work.

This is why clients want their photographer to have their own portfolio. If they don’t see his previous work, how can they trust his words? That being said, the respectable background is of high importance and is, in most cases, an indicator of a good photographer.

Photography Promotion Ideas

Photography is much different from other professions. Some say it’s an art and I definitely agree. And artists aren’t known to be the richest people on the planet, which is so sad, as they put an enormous amount of effort in their work.

But, how to get more photography inquiries and start your journey towards greatness?

You can start off by promoting your business, using some of our ideas below.

Use Social Media

I know, you’re tired of seeing social media everywhere you turn. Be careful, some social media parts might be in your cereal. Jokes aside, social media is a place where a photographer can show off his best work and promote himself.

Don’t just use Facebook for posting your photos. Instead, try to automate your social media posts so you can post on every social media website out there.

For example, Instagram users love beautiful photos and they often get reposted by many users. The more users repost your photo, the more popular it’s going to get. Now, you won’t be able to surpass the popularity of Despacito, but you can get to a respectable level.

Set up Your Own Blog

Blog posts are an excellent way to show off some muscles. Many of you like to read blogs and since you’re reading this, I can say that you like it, too!

However, a photography blog should be colorful, vivid, and FREQUENTLY updated. Your potential customer will want to see that you’re busy putting your camera to work and uploading photos at least a few times a week.

Your blog should also reflect your personality and shooting style. If you’re doing an Event Photography, be sure to include photos from events such as weddings, parties, birthdays, and similar. On top of that, you can put your SEO skill to use, if you happen to know about that, of course.

Use Google Business Pages

Google developed a new feature called Business Pages and this one can help you a LOT!

This feature works fairly simple. You enter your business name, type in the location and the job you’re doing, and you’re good to go. Now, if you type in your location next to “photography”, you’ll see your created profile.

But, before you do that, be sure to fill out your profile and upload your photos. Once you get a couple of good reviews, you’ll feel happy and satisfied. Not only that, but you’ll be much easier to get by, which is all you need for a perfect start.

Try to Get Featured on Photoblogs

Photoblogs are all around us and no, I’m not talking about social media websites. Instead, there are blogs strictly focused on photography, promoting various niches such as weddings, portraits, landscapes, etc. Well, if you can, try to get your own piece of cake from such blogs. Not only that you’ll get to show off your work, but you’ll also be able to promote your effort.

If you want to get featured on a blog promoting a specific photography niche, you can shift your attention towards your favorite niche. There are literally tons of photoblogs out there and some of them are really popular.

Talk, talk, talk!

If you are a photographer and you’re proud of it, start talking now! The internet might be a great place to promote yourself, but so is real life. Get more people to know about you and talk about your services and your background, if you have one.

You can also ask your friends to do some shooting for them, especially if they host a special event.
Face-to-Face communication with your clients is simply unparalleled. So, if you want to meet some real-life clients in the shortest amount of time, start talking about your profession and most importantly, be proud of it.

Photography Referral Program Examples

How to get more photography clients?

Well, you may start referring people to your business first, which is an excellent way of increasing your earnings. It may sound strange, but saying that a referral program is important is an understatement.

So, here are some photography referral program examples that may help you.

Custom Business Cards

This one is pretty old-school, but it can be very effective. While some clients will just throw your business card in the first trash can, some will be interested in your photography services. Creating your custom business card isn’t really hard and handing them to whoever you know is a piece of cake.

Future Purchases Discounts

Discounts for future purchases (photoshoots) are great if you have a fair number of repeat clients. Giving them a 10% or 20% discount for their future photoshoots is a great way of maintaining and expanding your referral number in a short period of time.

However, this example won’t work if you have a small number of clients or have zero repeat clients. If so, you’ll be better off with the first example.

Free Photoshoots

Free photoshoots are great when you have some free time to spend since the only cost you’ll be paying is time. Now, I know that you can earn some cash for a photoshoot, but offering some free photoshoots from time to time is going to get more cash in the future. More referrals mean more job and more job means more cash.

Discounts for Groups

If you have a group of people that want to share your services, this is a great moment to give them a slight discount. You know how it goes; if you buy more, you pay less and if you buy less you pay more.

However, it isn’t easy to group so many people in one place unless you seek help on websites like Groupon. Nonetheless, I think this is also a good example of the referral program, although not the best.

Ask for It

Again, asking for it is great, as long as you’ve established yourself as a professional photographer. And people will value your work if you’re delivering what they love. In that case, they will want to refer you and help you expand your client base. Next time you meet someone, don’t be shy, go for it!

Pricing Strategy for Photography Business

At the end of the day, you want to monetize your hobby, and that’s snapping perfect photos of anything that seems pretty to you. To be able to earn money for your work, a good pricing strategy is a must. Thankfully, there are numerous ways a photographer can benefit from his exhausting job and they are listed below.

Per-Image Pricing Strategy

We’ll begin with the most profitable one and why I think it’s the best way to go. Let’s say you charge around $2,000 for a photoshoot. You meet up with your clients, take some photos and go home. But, wait, you did it in just a couple of hours! Do you really think a client would want to pay you $2,000 for a two-hour photoshoot? Chances are, you’re going to get into trouble and argue with the people, which something you want to avoid.

On the other note, you can just meet up and offer $200 for a single photo. This way, you’ll put an emphasis on your photo, rather than your time for processing it. Do you see what I’m trying to say? Ten photos for $2,000 is better than a few hours at the same price. The only downside of this strategy is that you can’t apply it to weddings or birthdays.

The Package Strategy

Nowadays, photographers are mostly using the Package strategy. While the per-image strategy is more for amateur photographers, the professional ones will sometimes offer you a package. To do this, simply come up with a few (3 to 5) packages, price them differently and offer them to your clients. One package could include a photo album, custom online gallery, and several hours of work. The next package could exclude some of these features, and so on.

Be sure to price your packages with enough difference in price. The highest package should be much more expensive than the lowest one, and vice versa. Your best-selling package should be the middle one, offering the best bang for your buck. I would say this is a great deal if you want to avoid complications and pointless negotiations. Simply hand over the package program and let them choose.

A La Carte Strategy

A La Carte strategy is another commonly used strategy and it’s a contrast to the Package strategy. What A La Carte means is that you’ll set up a base value for your services and write them down in your A La Carte menu. Essentially, this means that you need to break the package into smaller pieces and give an adequate price. For example, you can put a price on your album, on a picture of different sizes, folios, and insert some bonus services.

The greatest thing about the A La Carte menu is its flexibility and comprehensiveness. It’s easy for your client to take a look at the menu and say “Ok, I want this and this, bye”. On top of that, A La Carte menu allows your clients to have full control over their purchases.

Per-Day Pricing Strategy

Per-day pricing strategy is awesome when used correctly, albeit less effective than the previously mentioned ones. Still, this can be useful if you plan to organize an event photoshoot which doesn’t take too much time. It’s a variation of per-hour strategy, but I think this one’s better simply because you don’t have to spend that much time snapping photos.

On top of that, you can still finish your work whenever you want and call it a day. The price you’ll come up with is up to you and depends on your reputation. On average, an event photographer can get $1,000 to $3,500 a day, which is such a delicious offer!
Unless you’re a top-of-the-line photographer, you can’t make this money if you base your pricing per hour, so I wouldn’t recommend it for a vast majority of photographers.

How to Network as a Photographer

As we mentioned earlier, networking plays a huge role in photographers’ success. If you manage to connect with a few excellent photographers, you’ll be able to get more work thus earning more cash.

For those who like to work with a lot of people, this could mean a dream-come-true, but for introvert people… well, that’s another thing. But, there are some ways you can do this, regardless of your shyness and communication skills.

Rent out Your Gear

The easiest way to link up with other photographers is to rent your gear. It’s as simple as it sounds! If you know a photographer that needs your help, you can offer him to borrow your gear for his next photoshoot.

On the other side, you can visit gear-sharing platforms and meet some new people, exchange gear, and learn more about unique business ideas. What’s even better is that you can earn some cash for your rent.

Either way, if the person you’ve borrowed your gear is satisfied, he is surely going to talk to you next time or better, link you up with his friends. Of course, you need to have the right gear to be able to rent it to someone.

Follow Photography Pages

Photography is a beautiful profession. All those landscapes, beautiful portraits, mind-boggling underwater shots… oh, yeah! You can find these photos on various photography pages, but also many other photographers you can link with. Sure, many of them amateurs or beginners, but if you successfully network with a few of them, you’ll be more than satisfied.

The best place to search for this kind of page is Instagram or even Pinterest.
Any website that is based purely on photos and videos can help you a lot.

Tumblr is also a great website for expressing your emotions through photos and meeting up with new photographers. That being said, don’t discard the internet as your networking option.

Attend Bridal Shows

If you’re a more face-to-face person, you might want to dress like a badass and attend some bridal shows. This is the place where cameras are flashing like crazy and everyone’s looking for their piece of the perfect photo.

Remember that business card we talked about before? Now it’s time to put it to good use.

You can approach the vendors and offer them your business card. Since there are always a couple more photographers, you want to introduce yourself and talk about your mutual profession. Just be sure to get a nice suit, dress something elegant, and of course, carry your camera around.

The goal here is to meet as many people as you can.

Cooperate with Model Agencies

Models simply love cameras and LED flashes. During the past couple of years, model agencies have a lot of jobs with their new clients, being it male or female. And it isn’t very hard to get in touch with them as most of them have their phone number, email, Facebook or Instagram page. Here, you can offer them your services and talk a bit about your photography background.

An even better solution is to know a model from that particular agency. Your job will then be much easier and networking will be as smooth as a butter. One way or another, you’ve got to talk to people. It’s not just flashing your camera whenever you can, but also be a charismatic person in general.

How to Get First Photography Client

Being in a photography world is like riding a rollercoaster. The beginning is slow and when you get to some point, things sometimes start to go really fast. I mean, every profession is very similar to a rollercoaster. Getting your first photography client can be a bit frustrating and time-consuming, but NOT giving up is crucial.

Since you just bought your professional camera and gave your entire kidney for a fancy lens, you want something in return. So, how to get booked as a photographer for the first time?

Let’s set you on the right path.

Photograph Your Friends

We all have that one friend with a great camera, you must admit it. And since you have one, it would be a pity not to make that camera work for you. Well, if you happen to be that friend, we have some good news for you.

Before you start celebrating, put down your beer bottle and listen to this. Why don’t you take some great photos of your friends and see their reaction? If some of them publish their photos on Facebook or Instagram, you did an amazing job!

It’s always better to have more female friends since girls like good photographers. So yeah… call out some friends and let the show begin.

Show off Your Work at a Local Art Show

Local art shows are a new opportunity for every photography wannabe. As soon as you hear about the event, go to the vendor and speak with him about your work. If this is a local event, he will be glad to put at least one or two photos that you’ve made.

The great thing about this is that you’re going to get your own place to exhibit your work, which is great for gaining some audience.
With a bit of luck and knowledge, you’ll get some offers from attendants and here’s how you can kickstart your work.

As for the content, you can put up photos from different photography niches to show off your flexibility.

Publish Photos Online

There are 5.2 billion likes given on Instagram every day and your photos can get under that umbrella pretty easily. You just need to snap some cool photos, process them, and let them decorate your Instagram profile.

Oh, I know I’ve mentioned Instagram a couple of times now, but there are tons of photography websites where you can expose your work.

Don’t be shy, it’s just the internet and the internet is a place where all of us can show our hobbies and success. After all, you can’t just stick your photo on somebody’s wall, but you can stick it on your social media wall, which is kinda cool!

Check Local Businesses

If you like to take photos of food, you can contact your nearby restaurant or café. On the contrary, if you’re an event photographer, you can take advantage of weddings, birthdays, parties, public concerts, and much more.

The hardest thing to do is to actually call the local business and present yourself as a photographer.

Every business needs a photographer at some point, so be sure to always be on guard. You can’t always get a long-term job, but earning some cash is always welcome, especially for freelance photographers.

How to Get More Photography Booking for Different Types of Photography

How to Find Clients for Wedding Photography

Since Event Photography stands for one of the most popular niches in photography, you shouldn’t have a hard time finding clients. A great way to start off is by asking around if someone’s getting married. Yeah, I know it sounds a bit odd, but you surely have someone in your family that’s planning their perfect wedding. If so, try to ask them around and offer them your services at a hefty price.

Alternatively, you can make your custom business cards and market your special wedding photoshoots.

Another great way to find clients is to send your photo examples to the vendor. This will also work well if you have previous experience with this photography niche. Sending an email will “cost” you 30 seconds and you have nothing to lose. Introduce yourself, send some samples or even better, send them your website address if you have one.

Having a website will mark you as a serious and professional photographer, granting higher chances of success.
Weddings and similar events will never disappear or be abolished. This should encourage you to participate in these events and hang out with the other photographers if possible.

Remember that you can always ask for help if you know a photographer that’s more experienced than you.

How to Get More Newborn Photography Clients

While not the most profitable photography niche, Newborn Photography is perhaps the cutest and the most satisfying niche out there. We all love babies and capturing a perfect photo of a newborn will make your body produce some endorphin.

Now, as for the clients, you can again start off with your family members. You surely know people who have a baby on the way. Ask them politely to take a couple of pictures and be sure to let them publish the pictures to your portfolio.

Get to know more people. Get them to talk to you and emotionally connect with them. This will help you build a great relationship with the parents that are willing to let you take photos of their baby. Things will start to get much easier when you build up your portfolio and publish dozens of newborn photos since people enjoy watching these photos.

How to Get Real Estate Photography Clients

Real Estate Photography isn’t among the most popular niches out there, which doesn’t mean you can’t gain profit from it. However, finding these clients can be a bit time-consuming.

For example, the hotel photography business is a fine way to start off. Begin by making a list of nearby hotels or even real estate agents in your area. I know, this is probably the hardest part, but you need to make your first (and hardest step).

When you finish your list, check the pricing of each hotel or real estate agent. The higher the price, the more successful this business is. Not every hotel or real estate agent needs a photographer, but you can always make some calls and ask if they need it.

You can get a pretty nice amount of cash if you try to make a living out of this niche. Whether it’s hotel photography or house photography, you’ll have a lot of jobs with a successful real estate agent.

Promoting your work online will be less helpful in this situation, so be ready for a jaw workout as you’ll need to talk to people directly.

How to Get Product Photography Clients

A product is an umbrella term for everything that’s made by a product manufacturer. With this in mind, it’s hard to tell exactly how to get more photography business in this niche. First, you’ll need to make a choice in terms of what products you want to work with.

Beware that these photos are often used in an advertising campaign for the product and have an extra sense of photography is always welcome.

When you make a final decision, you should simply contact your local product manufacturer or manufacturer that you want to work with. It’s also great if you have your portfolio or website since the manufacturer can take a look at your previous work. There isn’t any special thing to do here. Just be sure to communicate and hang out with entrepreneurs and you should be successful.

How to Get Fashion Photography Clients

Fashion Photography is very popular nowadays. These fashion models often crave additional attention and camera flashes, which is great for a hungry photographer.

The best way to start your journey is to reach out to various model agencies. If you aren’t comfortable to do that yet, you can ask some girls to take some photos of them. Unlike Real Estate Photography, in this niche, the internet will play a huge role.

Since a portfolio is a MUST, you’ll need to have dozens of pretty girls on your website to get some new clients. The good news is that fashion photographers can make money from a single person, as many people want a one-on-one photoshoot.

How to Get Commercial Photography Clients

Commercial Photography includes advertising, fashion, product, editorial, and food photography. You see, this is a pretty broad term for several photography sub-niches.

The common thing, though, is that your photos are used for money-making purposes. Like Real Estate Photography, this one needs a fair bit of research. The best way to start is to search Google or Facebook for companies that have their own products.

If you are lucky enough, you can find newly-opened manufacturing companies that can offer you a job on sight. On top of that, you need to make your portfolio in tone with the niche we’re talking about. No girls on the beaches and definitely no photos from your party. Instead, try to build a serious portfolio that will easily attract wanted clients.

Lifestyle Photography Clients

While Lifestyle Photography isn’t as lucrative as Event Photography, lifestyle photos are generally amongst people’s favorites.

The reason behind this is that they can greatly vary, depending on the photographer’s lifestyle! With that in mind, the first thing to do is to define your own style on your portfolio or social media profile. Not every photographer does the same type of photos and letting your potential clients know more about your style is a must.

Another thing to do is to often and exclusively share your photos everywhere. By this, I don’t mean to share every single photo, but only the exquisite ones. If you spend a lot of time processing your photos, you’ll easily spot the best ones and put them on your portfolio.

If you don’t have any idea where to start, it’s always a great option to talk to people.

Talk to your family and take some photos of them. Use your pet to make some pretty photos or go out in nature and snap some shots of our beloved mother (nature). The more you fill out your portfolio, the more clients you’re going to get. This is how Lifestyle Photography works.

How to Find Headshot Clients

I’m sure some of you have already had experience with headshots in video games, but these headshots are much different and non-lethal. To successfully gain some clients in this niche, you first need expensive gear.

Sure, every camera can capture nice headshots, but capturing those fine details or even facial expressions is much better with a quality camera.

The next thing to do is to organize your portfolio so it’s nice and clean. You don’t want hundreds of faces staring at your potential client and spook the hell out of him. As for the photos themselves, be sure to experiment and be original. You can capture various facial expressions and even capture people in motion, as spontaneous pictures often turn nice.

Beware that this style of photography takes a lot of practice and patience to be done correctly. You can always ask your friends or family to help you practice, so try to capture a few photos every day. Of course, consistency is your best friend.

How to Find Photography Clients on Instagram

As we mentioned before, Instagram is a photographer’s definition of heaven. To be honest, finding photography clients on Instagram is one of the easiest things you can do, but there are still numerous ways to do it.

The first thing to do is to, obviously, create a PUBLIC profile. Nobody wants to follow a private profile and people usually don’t waste time on such profiles, at least I do.

Your Instagram profile should be professional, with added links to other social media profiles, as well as a link to your portfolio. Again, it would be nice if you have one. Since you are a photographer, your profile will be filled with photos and that’s cool. However, while you’re there, you need to do some networking in order to increase your chances of success.

There are tons of photography pages and profiles on Instagram, making it a magnum opus of photography business development. Upon publishing a photo, you can tag a specific page or send them your photo, but don’t spam. It’s also important that you return follows and be friendly to people. If you act pretentious, your progress will probably be abolished.

How to Get More Photography Clients on Facebook

Facebook is popular for more than a decade now and there are dozens of ways that you can get more photography clients here. But, it’s quite important to say that Facebook is now drastically overshadowed by Instagram, at least where I live.

Nevertheless, you can get tons of clients just by having a clear vision. For example, choose your photography niche and stick with it. If you are a wedding photographer, name your page accordingly and publish your photos from weddings.

Of course, being serious is a MUST. You must give potential clients a strong and memorable first impression. One classic method for getting clients is to make your followers share your picture, but for a reason. For example, a lucky follower can get a free wedding photoshoot. If you have a few clients already, ask them for a tag. This can drastically improve your chances of finding new clients. Another easy way to promote your work is no other than ads.

Thankfully, Facebook offers you a chance to advertise yourself for free. How many times you’ve seen a suggested page at the right side of your Facebook feed?

Well, your page can also be there and who knows… someone will check it at some point. Finally, try to link your Facebook account with other social media platforms. The more you appear online the more clients you’re gonna get.

How to Get Clients as a Freelance Photographer

If you’re a freelance photographer, you know the struggle at the beginning. It’s like building a mountain all by yourself or rolling a boulder up a hill like Sisyphus. Regardless of that, you can always take your camera for a walk and attend local events.

It would be a bit harder to attend a wedding if you aren’t invited, but public events could be a great opportunity for you. Carry your camera around and ask people for permission to take some photos. This will get you to talk to people, which gives you a chance to promote yourself.

Be sure to leave your business card or give them your email address in case they want a photoshoot. Alternatively, you can offer them a free FIRST photoshoot.

As a freelancer, you want to have your own portfolio or website to expose your work. I mean, being a freelancer and not using the advantage of the internet is pointless.

A freelancer’s career mostly depends on the internet, which is why you must set up your website or portfolio.

Speaking of the internet, you can also try to find work on Fiverr, which is a great website for freelancers. Here, you can offer your photos for a decent price and it’s pretty easy to begin working.

The most important thing for any kind of freelancer is to stay consistent and focused at all times. Remember, you are a tailor of your luck and with a bit of effort, you can earn some cash.

Not Everyone Starts Their Business the Right Way at First

Hope we will help you in acquiring more photography clients.

Your photography business has to have the right fundamentals for you to be able to get more photography clients.

During the brand construction, we all do some tweaks. All of this is a learning curve, with more experience you will get a better understand of your past mistakes. They will help you get more future photography clients.

Trial and error are within every business, but these tips can help prevent you from losing potential photography clients.

As always, best of look with your photography business!

Profitable Photography: How to Get More Photography Clients

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