Unfortunately, this is the harsh reality: if you want to do photography, you have to start your own business.
You don’t have the luxury of working for anyone else. As mentioned earlier, there are very few jobs in the photography segment, and there are only a few vacant jobs. On the one hand, your own business is great, since you are your own boss and do not report to anyone, but on the other hand, you have practically no one to turn to for advice or help. You are face to face with an inhospitable jungle of business and a highly competitive market.
Having decided to build your own business, you must understand and be prepared for the fact that you will not have an employer supplying you with work and orders; you will have to fully bear all the costs of maintaining your studio or office. As well as the tax burden to the state; you will have to take care of your own social security (health insurance, pension contributions, etc.). And yes – forget about paid leave or sick leave. Moreover, you may have to forget what holidays and weekends are! You will have to direct all your efforts, finances and time towards one single goal – to enter the market and successfully sell yourself. This is where your knowledge of marketing and strategic planning, as well as self-promotion and communication skills, will come in very handy.
In today’s reality, your success as a professional photographer depends almost entirely on your ability to successfully manage and grow your business. Unfortunately, almost nothing depends on the quality of your photos.
If you have the opportunity to take lessons from a professional photographer, then this will be a huge plus for your career development with easy backlink promotion.
What equipment do you need?
- Camera + lenses. This is perhaps the most expensive item of expenditure. For example, normal lenses cost from $ 1000 and up, and normal lenses cost around $ 4000. Someone might say that the amount is small, but for a beginner photographer it is quite an impressive amount of money.
- Flash.
- Tripod.
- Reflector.
- Computer, printer, and other small equipment.
The need for this or that equipment will directly depend on the area in which you will work.
Business ideas for photo business
In fact, there are many branches of business development in this area, available with hire link building companies. Below we will look at the most popular ideas, and you can choose something for yourself.
- Own photo studio. This is the most popular type of business, but also the most competitive. Rent of your premises, funds for advertising, purchase of office furniture, etc. All this awaits you if you plan to open your own studio. Main directions of activity: photo for documents, studio shooting.
- Wedding photographer. Although it is a seasonal, but very profitable direction. It is here that word of mouth works most vividly. It is worth working in this direction if you are no longer a beginner master, but have something to offer your clients.
- Photo sessions. In this direction, you can “fill your hand” and get some recognition from the audience. And by posting your work on social networks, you will undoubtedly be able to attract the attention of the public.
- Photojournalist. Cooperation with magazines and the media will help you establish a wide circle of acquaintances and gain a base of regular customers. But to work in this area, you will need a special education.
- Selling your works in photo banks. The startup Depositphotos, a vivid representative of the fact that this market is developing and will only grow in the coming years. And do not be afraid that this is a new direction in the photo business, you need to try, do experiments and you will definitely succeed.
Depending on which direction in photography you choose, for example, outsource photo retouching, the marketing plan will differ. But one thing is invariable, in any case you need it. Any business starts with this, and a photo business is also a business. In subsequent articles, I will explain in more detail how to write your own marketing plan and define your target audience.
Communication, a key link in the work of a wedding, portrait, children’s, family photographer (any photographer who photographs people). Take, for example, a wedding day: a beautiful bride, who may look calm at first glance, but is full of emotions inside. How to take beautiful photos if all the excitement is reflected on her face and someone or something is constantly distracting. This is where knowledge of psychology comes in handy!
To sum up
At the beginning of the development of the photography business, it is very easy to fall into a cloud of delusions, where it seems that the artistry of your photographs depends more on the camera, and even more precisely on the lenses, flash power and various other photography gadgets. Photo lenses convey the same picture in different ways, and they affect the quality of the photograph. However, no matter how high-quality the lens is, it does not bear any responsibility for conveying the sincerity of human emotions.
It all already depends on the skill of the photographer to catch the right moments, which is the result of practice and great experience, love for his clients and photography. Therefore, be careful at the beginning of the photo business and do not seek to acquire all possible “photo gadgets” and novelties. There are many advices how to turn photography into art in reputationx.com.
Photo by pixabay
Autor: Frank Hamilton
More articles from Frank Hamilton you can find here
Frank Hamilton is a blogger and translator from Manchester. He is a professional writing expert in such topics as blogging, digital marketing and self-education. He also loves traveling and speaks Spanish, French, German and English.
Statements of the author and the interviewee do not necessarily represent the editors and the publisher opinion again.
