Congratulations on making the decision to turn your hobby into a profitable business! Being a professional photographer is a lot to manage, but there is no more satisfying type of business than one that stems from something you already enjoy doing. Here you will find some advice on managing the various aspects of a photography business and making your business profitable right away.

To start with, make a business plan. This is crucial for any beginning business, including photography. This business plan should fully describe what you want your business to be like. List your goals and the methods you will use to attain them. Organize your ideas by writing them all down and grouping them. What kinds of photography will you do? Which types are necessary to start with and which should wait until you get on your feet?

Get some help in writing your plan. Find people you know who have started their own businesses to act as mentors. They can take a look at your plan and let you know if you’re missing a crucial aspect, or if anything you’ve included in just plain unreasonable. Include a large amount of detail in your plan, from the global to the minute. What kind of packages will you offer? How much will you charge for each picture?

This plan will be changing as you go. It is a dynamic record of your goals, plans, and successes. Update it often and make note of your progress towards each goal. The plan can then serve not only as a plan of the future but as a record of the past. Keeping this in mind, make sure you make allowances for the unforeseen. There may be times of lower business or setbacks in your personal life that keep your ambitious goals from being fulfilled. Your business plan will need to have enough flexibility to carry you through these rough patches which every photographer experiences.

A good starting point for your planning is to calculate the price you will charge per picture. This may seem like a minute detail, but it forces you to take a look at many aspects of your photography business. Include the details of the calculation in your business plan.

What influences this figure? One factor is the cost of getting your photography business up and rolling. This is different for every photographer. Second, evaluate your competition. Who are they? What do they charge? Are there many businesses offering the same type of work as you will? Gather this information about competing businesses that have also just started and about ones which offer similar packages to yours. This will need to be continually reassessed as the competition changes and as your business grows to compete in other niches. Offer a better price than your competition, but don’t make it too low. If your prices drastically undercut the other studios, customers will assume your product is not as good.

Your reputation also affects the cost per photo. Have you already established a name for yourself? If people already know and have purchased your work, you may not always have to better the prices of your competitors. Take a look at the market you will be working in. If you are offering very specialized services in a specific niche in the market, you can charge a slightly higher fee.

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Now that you have your plan, let’s take a look at your finances along the way. These need to be tracked closely to avoid major upheavals to the original business plan. Keep detailed records of your costs. This should include both the daily, normal running costs and unforeseen, occasional expenditures. Keep detailed enough records that you can find all the hidden costs that are eating away at your business. Add up what you are spending by category: equipment, studio, personal expenses, etc.

Make a budget for your new business, and make it realistic. Don’t be too stingy. You will need to spend money on this business before you’ll be able to make money from it. However, don’t be so ambitious that you send yourself into a large debt that you won’t be able to get out of. Make a budget specifically for marketing. Consider the efficiency of the forms of advertising you are considering so that you can get the most from your money. Remember that you are marketing yourself as well as your business.

As your photography business grows, keep your prices up to date. As you gain reputation and size you may be able to charge more. Keep up on your research into your competition to make sure you are not charging too much or too little. Avoid the temptation to drastically raise prices to offset sudden business setbacks. Hopefully, temporary dry spells or setbacks are already accounted for in your business plan!

Next, let’s take a look at your marketing and advertising options. What makes an effective ad? First and foremost, your advertisement should contain the straight facts about your photography business. Make the name and description large and memorable. Include some form of resume that will communicate your experience and your qualifications for the work. Include details about what kinds of techniques you use. Show examples of your work and quote prices on some of your services. Don’t forget to devote ad space to contact info. You’ll want to find as many ways as possible for people to reach you, and make sure they are aware of all of them.

Then take a step back and look at your marketing strategy/advertisement. What impression does your ad give about your business and your work? Is all of the information correct? Does it answer the questions that would immediately come to the mind of the customer? Is it accessible to customers, in a place where they will see it? Would they remember your name after viewing the ad? It may be useful to get some help in this area. Ask your family and friends what they think of your advertisement. This will give you the perspective of a customer. Don’t be afraid to spend money on professional help such as a web designer for your website or a graphic designer for your flyers.

Consider all your available avenues for marketing. Having a website is crucial nowadays, as it is the first place many customers look for services. You can include much more information about your business and examples of your work than you could in other forms of marketing. Include a personal profile to make the customer feel like they are meeting a person, not a website. Make your website extremely attractive and user-friendly. The customer should be able to navigate the website easily without having to spend a lot of time. Many potential customers will evaluate the professionalism of your studio by their first look at your website.

If you choose to use an advertising agency, do your research well in advance. Check out websites of ad agencies both in your area and regionally. Get recommendations from other photographers or even owners of other types of business. What forms of advertising are they able to offer? How will their marketing carry out the goals you have set in your business plan? A good suggestion is to agree on a trial period for this advertising agency so you can see how their techniques work out with your plans for your business.

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This entry was posted on Monday, May 19th, 2008 at 11:46 pm and is filed under Photography, Stock Photos. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.