5 TIPS - HOW TO START A PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS
Hello, and thank you for taking the time to open and read my blog page! Today I would like to talk about what I've been up to recently. These past few months have been a big learning adventure and sort of a trial period for me. I am very much still learning how to create a business out of my photography and discovering the different ways I can earn an income. As we have probably all imagined, this journey has definitely been no walk in the park. Here are 5 tips from my previous experiences to help you build a photography business.
1. START TAKING PORTRAIT PHOTOS.
As you may know, if you have been following my social media or previous blog posts, I began this journey by taking portrait photographs. Basically, I was going to the beach or to a nearby park and taking some pictures of willing models. By doing a few of these photo shoots I really gained a lot of knowledge and experience.
2. UPLOAD IMAGES TO MICRO-STOCK AGENCIES.
More recently though, I began to look for other means to grow my portfolio. I heard about stock photography and decided to submit a few images I had taken from a previous vacation. It took a few submission attempts, but I finally got some of my images accepted into a few micro-stock websites. Taking stock photos and uploading them to different stock websites was a little bit of a learning curve, and to be quite honest, it still is.
Some of the first few images that got accepted into micro-stock websites were landscape pictures. As I have learned, stock photography can be somewhat tricky to get into though, simply because of all the legal guidelines that are in place for people's protection. If you have ever attempted submitting images into the various stock agencies, then you know all about the many different model releases that can be required. Basically, if someone can claim what you are photographing as theirs, you need some form of a release to upload the image. This constitutes things such as people, property, buildings, land, etc.
I have been taking images strictly as stock photographs for approximately two or three months now. I have learned a lot in this time period as to what images may get accepted and which images will not (although this is somewhat different for every agency). The difficult aspect of stock photography, however, is understanding which images will sell. So far I have discovered that a stock image sells much better if it has a theme or some sort of conceptual idea. Cultural images, such as holidays (Christmas themed images to be exact) have been the vast majority of images that have sold for me thus far. Most of my images that have sold, regardless of the images theme, have been very simple images that are free of any visual distractions.
So far, through all of my experience and research, I know that you can definitely earn an income through stock photography. The biggest downfall I see from stock photography is the amount of money you earn from sold images. Earnings from stock agency members is very low. The price goes up slightly if the purchase is from a non-member. Of course, depending on the type of lease purchased, the size of the image, exclusive agency rights, and the amount of images in your portfolio all have a say in how much each image sells for. Some stock agencies even accept audio and video files that can be sold at higher prices than still images.
3. LEARN SPECIFIC SETS OF SKILLS.
Outside of stock photography, I believe there are also other alternatives to earn an income. There is money to be made in portrait photography, even in small cities. To be a successful portrait photographer there is a very specific set of skills that are needed to attract clients, just as there is a skill in understanding what images will be sold as stock images. Some necessary skills that come to mind as a portrait photographer are being very people friendly and out going. If you want clients you must be willing to go out and get them. This brings me to my next skill, which is being a good sales person. If you don't know how to sell yourself you may not get many clients, even if you have a great portfolio. Sometimes having a great portfolio doesn't cut it, you need to explain why a client wants to work with you specifically. One last important skill is knowing how to pose and communicate with your clients. Some clients will be easier to work with than others, but if you want to grow your business, you will need to work with all different types of clients and get great results regardless of the situation.
4. CREATE A WEBSITE WITH A BLOG PAGE.
Another method of earning an income as a photographer is by doing what I'm doing right now, writing this blog post. Money through a blog is earned in a few different ways: through ads, as a means of marketing and gaining clients, and possibly through selling products through the blog. I write this blog, not necessarily as a source of income, but because I have always enjoyed writing. I also want something to help keep me on track, and writing a blog helps to keep me focused on my goals.
5. CREATE EDITORIAL IMAGES.
As a stationary photographer in a small city, one avenue I have yet to explore is approaching newspapers and magazines about editorial images. This is something I plan on trying in the future, although at this moment I don't feel I have enough resources, or activities in my general area to contact an editorial agency at the moment. Some of the resources I look for are a steady stream of local and political events. I might be looking at this type of photography the wrong way as far as resources go, but I will get to this step sometime in the future.
With all this being said, each of these categories are all possible sources of income. I believe money could be made in each of these categories, however, if you don't have a tremendous amount of experience in any single category, or one extremely good client, one source of income is simply not enough to earn a living. One photographer I enjoy watching on YouTube, Brendon van Son, talks about the 'Income Octopus'. This is a strategy of creating income from several different sources, that once added together could potentially pay all the bills. In my opinion, this is how a freelance photographer earns a living.
I hope my story gives you the encouragement to continue the pursuit of your own dreams. As I said, creating a photography business is no easy road, but nothing good is ever easy.
If you're interested in viewing some of my photography work you can follow me on Instagram @ryanhoelphotography. I also have an online gallery on my website with images available for purchase as well as the several micro-stock agencies I belong to such as Shutterstock and Big Stock Photos. If you're interested in booking a photo shoot with me I would love to hear from you! My contact information can be found here. Thank you for taking the time to enjoy reading my blog! I hope to see you again on the next one!
