The Art of Building a Successful Photography Business

When it comes to building a successful photography business, there are several key factors that must be taken into consideration. One of the most important things to remember is that value for value is a crucial concept in any business relationship. This means that you must be willing to trade your services or products with other professionals in order to build relationships and gain new clients. For example, I recall a situation where I was hired to shoot a wedding about 2 years ago. The couple's sister called me out of the blue and asked if I would shoot her own wedding. At first, I declined, but then she reminded me that I had previously shot her sister's wedding and that I should have kept in touch with my clients.

I eventually agreed to shoot her wedding, and I was able to charge a premium rate for my services because I had already built trust and rapport with the couple. This experience taught me the importance of value for value in building relationships with potential clients. As a photographer, you must be willing to trade your time and expertise with other professionals in order to build your network and gain new business opportunities.

Another key concept that is essential to building a successful photography business is confidence. You must believe that your work is good enough to attract high-paying clients. This means that you must have a strong sense of self and be willing to take risks. I often see photographers who are hesitant to take on new projects or charge high rates because they doubt their abilities. However, this lack of confidence can lead to stagnation and a lack of growth in your business.

On the other hand, confident photographers who believe in their abilities are able to attract more clients and grow their businesses quickly. As an example, consider an athlete who believes in themselves and their skills. They will perform better on the field or court, regardless of whether they are winning or losing. Similarly, as a photographer, you must have confidence in your abilities if you want to succeed.

One common misconception is that talent and skill are interchangeable terms. While having talent and skill can certainly help you become a successful photographer, it is not enough on its own. You must also be willing to put in the hard work and dedication required to build a successful business. This means that you must be willing to continuously improve your skills and stay up-to-date with the latest trends and technologies.

Another mistake that many photographers make is thinking that success is solely based on their talent and skill. While having good work can certainly help attract clients, it is not enough to guarantee success. You must also have a strong business mind and be able to market yourself effectively. This means being willing to take risks and try new things, such as networking with other professionals or offering unique services.

In order to build confidence in your abilities, you must be honest with yourself about your strengths and weaknesses. You must also be willing to learn from your mistakes and use them as opportunities for growth. When working with potential clients, it is essential to believe in yourself and your work. If you are unsure or hesitant, it can be a major turn-off.

Word of mouth is an incredibly powerful tool when it comes to building a successful photography business. By delivering high-quality work and providing excellent customer service, you can build a reputation that will attract new clients and help you grow your business. On the other hand, if you are unsure or unconfident in your abilities, it can be difficult to build a strong reputation.

The best way to market yourself as a photographer is through word of mouth. When potential clients hear about your work from friends, family, or colleagues, they will often take notice and seek out your services. However, if you are unsure or unconfident in your abilities, it can be difficult to get hired by new clients.

In order to build confidence and success in your photography business, you must believe in yourself and your work. You must also be willing to continuously improve your skills and stay up-to-date with the latest trends and technologies. By following these principles, you can build a successful and sustainable photography business that attracts high-paying clients and helps you achieve your goals.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: entoday's question comes to us from Kyle and Kyle writes Dear Mr Forbes I recently watched your episode called should I work for free I think you made some excellent points but honestly now I feel more confused than before I'm just starting out I need to be able to get some experience and I don't know how I'm supposed to do that I don't mind working for free now because I'm still learning and I think it's the best way to get experience I will start charging someday but after hearing your advice I'm not so sure I know where to start now can you help thanks and love the show Kyle Kyle thank you for question this has been asked a number of times both in the comments and I've gotten emails from people um about followup to that episode of well I'm am inexperienced I'm starting out how am I supposed to do this without working for free well I still stand behind everything I said in that episode um you should never work for free and I know that's my opinion but and I'm glad you asked about this but I really stand behind it and let me tell you why when you start doing jobs for free you develop a reputation as the person who works for free and when people don't have a budget you're the guy they call because they know you'll do great work for free because you put a lot into it when they have a budget they'll think oh we're going to go over the top and we need to get somebody else who really shoots well and they'll pay for somebody else they won't give you that money that's just how it works and it's very unfortunate and I know that goes against the grains of what you might think may be the obvious but it is fact that is going to happen uh you're going to do a lot of work your work is valuable it's worth something your cameras cost money your experience and your education and your knowledge cost money Andor time and that is all stuff that you should be billing for now I think there's kind of a second thing here that you're getting at and you're asking how you're supposed to get experience and so what I don't want to do is not answer that experience is different than working for free and I understand that breaking into the photography business depending on what you're trying to do and you didn't clarify that so I'll keep it General can be very difficult um most Avenues of Photography uh really are a tough business to get into uh they're very competitive there's other people that are shooting you're going to be competing with people who are willing to do it for free and it is hard to do first thing you're going to have to do is you're going to have to get some confidence in what you're doing and you're going to have to turn down things that don't pay that is absolutely essential um and this is really important when you're working there is a value for Value type thing that is going on here and what you can do is you can work for for a value trade out and so let me give you an example there's a gentleman who lives in my building who is a very good friend of mine and he's been a photographer for quite a while he actually was a video producer uh probably about 10 years ago and he moved out of that and started going into photography and very recently he wanted to kind of change roads again and he wanted to go into doing corporate head shots and so one of the things that he did we have a Facebook group for everybody who lives in our building where we keep up with one another and he put a little posting in there and he said hey I'm trying to get some experience in a portfolio together doing corporate head shot would anybody like to do a trade out if you'll come sit for me I'll be happy to share the images with you and you can use them on social media or whatever you want to do with them afterwards and that was actually a pretty good idea because he's not working for a really a job kind of thing he's trying to build a portfolio and so he offered a value forv value trade out his images have value and if somebody in the building said hey you know what I do need some head shot that I could use and I'll go sit and we'll do the trade out that way he gets a portfolio out of the deal and they get some images out of the deal and that works pretty well now he'll still have to go around and if he's selling corporate head shot either to somebody who Brokers that or to corporations um directly and he's still going to have to sell that uh but he does have a portfolio now of experience to do with that if you want to go shoot events find an event that you can take your camera to and start building that portfolio it doesn't matter whether you're being paid or you're there in fact it's probably more free to be there without a client because then you can shoot the kind of shots you want to take uh if you want to shoot weddings next time one of your friends gets married take your camera um there are two times in my life I've shot weddings and the first one I got the job because a friend of mine got married I took my camera and they liked my pictures better than the wedding photographer I didn't really give anything away I just took my camera I wasn't on the clock or anything and I took pictures when I felt like it so I didn't capture the whole ceremony I didn't capture all the right people and the couples or anything I just took some good pictures they really loved them I gave them the jpegs when they were done um I didn't give my source files or anything and I didn't do any printing but I turned over what they wanted uh about 2 years later this girl's sister calls me and she she said you must shoot my wedding and I said well I really don't do wedding she goes no I saw what you did at my sister's wedding and you're the photographer I want I charged for that job but I was already in the door because I had some work somebody had seen uh I later found out I had no interest in shooting weddings and that was that but that's how you get work and I kind of accidentally fell into that one one time but that's how you do it uh you have to find a value for a value tradeoff you know next time one of your friends gets married if you want to shoot wedding show up shoot the wedding do a better job than the photographer there you know I wouldn't give away prints or anything or source files or or don't get into anything where it's a client relationship but if they want the pictures later fine give them to them and see what happens CU what you need to understand is when you start getting into business how you Market yourself there are a bunch of ways you can do this but the most valuable way you can Market yourself possible is word of mouth and this is more valuable than any advertising you'll pay for online or doing a brochure or business cards or anything word of mouth is the best because what'll happen is somebody says hey this guy was really good uh he's the guy I recommend and that's the guy they're willing to pay for that also works the opposite you don't want them to say hey I know a guy who shot for me for free he'll probably do it that's what you don't want so those are things to consider value for Value the other thing I want you to think about is this is confidence and you must and let me repeat that you must believe that your work is good that is the key to everything I haven't even seen your work and it doesn't matter what I think you have to believe that you're as good or better than than anybody you're going to be competing with you absolutely have to think that way because as soon as that confidence starts to drift that's when we make poor decisions like taking a job for free because we don't have value in our own work and that's really important and I can't stress that enough look at any athlete out there and most will tell you that winning is the result of teamwork and confidence as soon as a basketball player believes that he won't make the free throws he will have a hard time making the free throws he will have a hard time with a lot of things and so that's really difficult you must believe in yourself you must believe in the work that you do that is seriously important the other thing you've got to understand and I think this is the downfall of a lot of creative people is that your talent and your skills as a photographer do not necessarily mean that you're going to have a successful business those are two different things I can see where people make that disconnect uh you know we when we're improving our skills at whatever we do it's personal and it's emotional and we hold a high standard for ourselves and we try to work through that and therefore when we go into the business world we kind of take that with us and that's a mistake and I can give you proof of that look around there are countless photographers graphic designers illustrators uh video people that do mediocre work but they have successful businesses because the two are not the same thing in the perfect world I would like to be good and uh be very successful but just realize that those are two different things you know it's good to want them both but don't ever think that success is because of where your work is because like you you say some things in here that you're still not sure of yourself and so you need to get real sure of yourself really quickly when you're talking to somebody who's a potential client and you believe in yourself you just might sell it if you come in and you're like well I'm just starting out and I'm a beginner and you pull all that that's when people don't see a value in it so belief in yourself confidence value for Value these are things you need to understand and you need to be creative about this I said in the beginning this is a tough business it's very competitive and that's why you got to put all that extra into it but those are things that will help guide you as you go along if you guys enjoyed this episode please remember to like it and share it with your friends and as always subscribe to the Art of Photography for all the latest and greatest videos delivered directly to your inbox anyway that's about all I got for today once again folks this been another episode of The Art of Photography I'll see you guys in the next video latertoday's question comes to us from Kyle and Kyle writes Dear Mr Forbes I recently watched your episode called should I work for free I think you made some excellent points but honestly now I feel more confused than before I'm just starting out I need to be able to get some experience and I don't know how I'm supposed to do that I don't mind working for free now because I'm still learning and I think it's the best way to get experience I will start charging someday but after hearing your advice I'm not so sure I know where to start now can you help thanks and love the show Kyle Kyle thank you for question this has been asked a number of times both in the comments and I've gotten emails from people um about followup to that episode of well I'm am inexperienced I'm starting out how am I supposed to do this without working for free well I still stand behind everything I said in that episode um you should never work for free and I know that's my opinion but and I'm glad you asked about this but I really stand behind it and let me tell you why when you start doing jobs for free you develop a reputation as the person who works for free and when people don't have a budget you're the guy they call because they know you'll do great work for free because you put a lot into it when they have a budget they'll think oh we're going to go over the top and we need to get somebody else who really shoots well and they'll pay for somebody else they won't give you that money that's just how it works and it's very unfortunate and I know that goes against the grains of what you might think may be the obvious but it is fact that is going to happen uh you're going to do a lot of work your work is valuable it's worth something your cameras cost money your experience and your education and your knowledge cost money Andor time and that is all stuff that you should be billing for now I think there's kind of a second thing here that you're getting at and you're asking how you're supposed to get experience and so what I don't want to do is not answer that experience is different than working for free and I understand that breaking into the photography business depending on what you're trying to do and you didn't clarify that so I'll keep it General can be very difficult um most Avenues of Photography uh really are a tough business to get into uh they're very competitive there's other people that are shooting you're going to be competing with people who are willing to do it for free and it is hard to do first thing you're going to have to do is you're going to have to get some confidence in what you're doing and you're going to have to turn down things that don't pay that is absolutely essential um and this is really important when you're working there is a value for Value type thing that is going on here and what you can do is you can work for for a value trade out and so let me give you an example there's a gentleman who lives in my building who is a very good friend of mine and he's been a photographer for quite a while he actually was a video producer uh probably about 10 years ago and he moved out of that and started going into photography and very recently he wanted to kind of change roads again and he wanted to go into doing corporate head shots and so one of the things that he did we have a Facebook group for everybody who lives in our building where we keep up with one another and he put a little posting in there and he said hey I'm trying to get some experience in a portfolio together doing corporate head shot would anybody like to do a trade out if you'll come sit for me I'll be happy to share the images with you and you can use them on social media or whatever you want to do with them afterwards and that was actually a pretty good idea because he's not working for a really a job kind of thing he's trying to build a portfolio and so he offered a value forv value trade out his images have value and if somebody in the building said hey you know what I do need some head shot that I could use and I'll go sit and we'll do the trade out that way he gets a portfolio out of the deal and they get some images out of the deal and that works pretty well now he'll still have to go around and if he's selling corporate head shot either to somebody who Brokers that or to corporations um directly and he's still going to have to sell that uh but he does have a portfolio now of experience to do with that if you want to go shoot events find an event that you can take your camera to and start building that portfolio it doesn't matter whether you're being paid or you're there in fact it's probably more free to be there without a client because then you can shoot the kind of shots you want to take uh if you want to shoot weddings next time one of your friends gets married take your camera um there are two times in my life I've shot weddings and the first one I got the job because a friend of mine got married I took my camera and they liked my pictures better than the wedding photographer I didn't really give anything away I just took my camera I wasn't on the clock or anything and I took pictures when I felt like it so I didn't capture the whole ceremony I didn't capture all the right people and the couples or anything I just took some good pictures they really loved them I gave them the jpegs when they were done um I didn't give my source files or anything and I didn't do any printing but I turned over what they wanted uh about 2 years later this girl's sister calls me and she she said you must shoot my wedding and I said well I really don't do wedding she goes no I saw what you did at my sister's wedding and you're the photographer I want I charged for that job but I was already in the door because I had some work somebody had seen uh I later found out I had no interest in shooting weddings and that was that but that's how you get work and I kind of accidentally fell into that one one time but that's how you do it uh you have to find a value for a value tradeoff you know next time one of your friends gets married if you want to shoot wedding show up shoot the wedding do a better job than the photographer there you know I wouldn't give away prints or anything or source files or or don't get into anything where it's a client relationship but if they want the pictures later fine give them to them and see what happens CU what you need to understand is when you start getting into business how you Market yourself there are a bunch of ways you can do this but the most valuable way you can Market yourself possible is word of mouth and this is more valuable than any advertising you'll pay for online or doing a brochure or business cards or anything word of mouth is the best because what'll happen is somebody says hey this guy was really good uh he's the guy I recommend and that's the guy they're willing to pay for that also works the opposite you don't want them to say hey I know a guy who shot for me for free he'll probably do it that's what you don't want so those are things to consider value for Value the other thing I want you to think about is this is confidence and you must and let me repeat that you must believe that your work is good that is the key to everything I haven't even seen your work and it doesn't matter what I think you have to believe that you're as good or better than than anybody you're going to be competing with you absolutely have to think that way because as soon as that confidence starts to drift that's when we make poor decisions like taking a job for free because we don't have value in our own work and that's really important and I can't stress that enough look at any athlete out there and most will tell you that winning is the result of teamwork and confidence as soon as a basketball player believes that he won't make the free throws he will have a hard time making the free throws he will have a hard time with a lot of things and so that's really difficult you must believe in yourself you must believe in the work that you do that is seriously important the other thing you've got to understand and I think this is the downfall of a lot of creative people is that your talent and your skills as a photographer do not necessarily mean that you're going to have a successful business those are two different things I can see where people make that disconnect uh you know we when we're improving our skills at whatever we do it's personal and it's emotional and we hold a high standard for ourselves and we try to work through that and therefore when we go into the business world we kind of take that with us and that's a mistake and I can give you proof of that look around there are countless photographers graphic designers illustrators uh video people that do mediocre work but they have successful businesses because the two are not the same thing in the perfect world I would like to be good and uh be very successful but just realize that those are two different things you know it's good to want them both but don't ever think that success is because of where your work is because like you you say some things in here that you're still not sure of yourself and so you need to get real sure of yourself really quickly when you're talking to somebody who's a potential client and you believe in yourself you just might sell it if you come in and you're like well I'm just starting out and I'm a beginner and you pull all that that's when people don't see a value in it so belief in yourself confidence value for Value these are things you need to understand and you need to be creative about this I said in the beginning this is a tough business it's very competitive and that's why you got to put all that extra into it but those are things that will help guide you as you go along if you guys enjoyed this episode please remember to like it and share it with your friends and as always subscribe to the Art of Photography for all the latest and greatest videos delivered directly to your inbox anyway that's about all I got for today once again folks this been another episode of The Art of Photography I'll see you guys in the next video later\n"