Photographers across the globe are in competition with one another to reach as many new clients as possible and build a loyal base of paying customers. In a competitive industry, such as photography, it can be difficult to know where to start when trying to reach new clients to broaden your skills, earning potential and working experience. There are a number of techniques Clickasnap would recommend you try before giving up! Here are just some of their useful tips.
Curate Your Portfolio
To get more bookings it’s really important you market yourself in the right way. The majority of potential clients will find you online, so this is where you need to start! By curating your online portfolio, your images will be placed in the public eye. You could publish your content across online photo sharing sites and social media, for a broad range of audiences.
Creating a business Instagram for your photography
Instagram is an excellent free platform which many photographers utilise to share their content and curate an online portfolio. It offers the benefit of being able to interact and engage with your audience, making bookings directly in your DMs – what could be easier! Here are some reminders for keeping your business Instagram professional:
Do – Post your best images to Instagram
Do – Post regularly and engage with your audience
Do –Keep behind the scenes posts to a minimum (once a week)
Do – Incorporate your personality into your captions, posts, and stories
Sharing your photography on online photo sharing sites
Photo sharing sites are dedicated platforms on which photographers and content creators can upload their work as contributors to the site. These photos can then be viewed, purchased, and downloaded by visitors of the site. This may be for marketing purposes, for example. Photo sharing sites offer the chance for you to make an additional income, as users will pay for the download or purchase of your images. Across these sites you can also interact with other photographers, receive feedback, and comment on their photographs.
Identify Your Target Market
Many established photographerswill experience a time where they struggle to take new clients on board. This may be an underlying issue with your marketing strategy. You may need to identify your target market. If you are trying to work across several areas of photography you will only be making things difficult for yourself and your self-branding. It is a lot easier to market yourself within a particular area of photographer which you are most passionate about. This could be fashion, product, event/wedding, or sport. This way you will be able to target the clients requiring your style of photography and be able to prepare the best style, content, equipment, and marketing/sales approach when discussing your service to the right people.
Volunteering at local events
Taking the time to reach out to event organisers and offer your photography services free of charge is an excellent way to reach new clients. Attendees of events will get to see you in action and will likely get to see your work post-event across social media. From this, clients may come forward asking for your services at their events. Often charity events are a great way to volunteer, as not only will you be putting your name out there, but you will also be supporting a cause.
Don’t give up!
Competition is healthy in all industries and although you may feel alone in struggling to reach new clients, many photographers will be feeling the same. Giving up should not be an option. When you feel like the business side of your photography is weighing you down, remember your passion for this exciting skill and think back to why you started it all.
