Here’s how I’d start & market a brand new photography business today if I were starting from zero in 2022. Starting or rebranding your photography business? This is for you.
Starting a photography business isn’t easy, but it can be a LOT of fun if you do it the right way. Or if you don’t know what you’re doing, can take years to get up and running while you stay stuck on struggle street, not knowing why you’re not getting any photoshoots or bookings.
Over the years I’ve had the chance to start and do the marketing for new photography businesses several times in several different countries, as well as hear from other friends & photographers in the industry who are trying different tactics with their marketing and business growth.
This video marketing tutorial is a roadmap for any new photographers or photographers who are stuck in their marketing and don’t know how to get clients when you’re just starting out.
0:00 – Intro
0:52 – Why Listen To Me
1:43 – Your Unique Niche & Perfect Avatar
5:05 – Portfolio & Testimonials Are Everything
9:48 – WHO not HOW
14:44 – Find the GAP
19:13 – Less not more
22:22 – Go ALL IN on ONE strategy
23:15 – Your #1 Action Item
GRAB 50% OFF OUR SEO FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS COURSE:
*MARKETING MEMBERSHIP*
**100% FREE LR PRESETS:
*FREE MARKETING TEMPLATES*
📸 My current photography gear:
Panasonic S1-
Sigma Art 35mm 1.4 L mount –
Panasonic Lumix 24-105 f4 L mount –
YONGNUO YN-560 IV Flash –
🖥 Computer Editing Setup =
2019 27″ imac upgraded with 40gb of ram:
When I’m working away from home, I use a 2015 15″ macbook pro with 16gb of ram – So you don’t NEED the brand new fancy computer… It just speeds up the performance and snappiness of Lightroom so you’re not waiting so long for previews to load or images to export etc.
Recommended laptop: 💻 13 inch S1 Macbook Pro $1249 USD
The new S1 Macbook Air and S1 Macbook Pros are AMAZING for photo editing and Lightroom Performance, even with their base model options With the new M1 macbooks, 8gb RAM works. With any other machine, I’d recommend going with at least 16gb of ram and 512gb of storage if you can swing it.
These same tips apply to any kind of photography marketing
-Wedding Photography Marketing
-Family Photography Marketing
-Corporate & Commercial Photography Clients
-Outdoor & Travel Photography Bookings
You name it.
No matter what kind of photography you’re into, these tips are going to maximize the results your marketing produces.
#photographybusiness #photographymarketing #photographyclients
Comments
26 responses to “How I'd Start A Photography Business From Scratch in 2022”
0:00 – Intro
0:52 – Why Listen To Me
1:43 – Your Unique Niche & Perfect Avatar
5:05 – Portfolio & Testimonials Are Everything
9:48 – WHO not HOW
14:44 – Find the GAP
19:13 – Less not more
22:22 – Go ALL IN on ONE strategy
23:15 – Your #1 Action Item
GRAB 50% OFF OUR SEO FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS COURSE (Link in description)
Get so good no one can ignore you..
I LOVE THIS THANK YOU
Very informative! Thank you for sharing the knowledge. I’m a complete beginner and looking to pursue my hobby and start a small business. How does one start a portfolio? Is there a consent process that needs to be in place before one posts pics of various faces?
As a photographer that "does everything", I'm not seeing much buisness, I'm 19, broke, with a client every once in a while. Starting by finding a niche and building a strong portfolio (specifically weddings). Reaching out to 2nd shoot is really important for me as I have some work but definitely not enough when it comes to weddings.
2:37 that's called the mitral valve (or sometimes called the bicuspid valve).
This was a very helpful video. I do have a question, when starting out did you make yourself a LLC or did you operate under your own name for a little while? If under your own name what steps did you take that allowed you to still look like a professional business?
Thank you. That sure was insightful
For sure, that was a good lesson in photo-business. A bonus point for mentioning MTB several times. That used to be my main "niche" for years, as a free-lance photographer/writer. With a few extras in outdoor raids and races, women sports, actors headshots.
So… you deserve a lesson in French. Free of charge, my pleasure. The word "niche" (used on purpose in my first paragraph) has no "t" and its pronounciation is "neesh", simply. For once, a French word without any complicated sound… how nice ?
But with a double-meaning ! It means "small hole or tiny cavity in a wall, mainly to display a statue or an accessory (cult, decoration, architecture)", but it also means "the house of the dog".
Second shooter? I live in Minneapolis Minnesota (US) and have reached out numerous times back in May-2022 to wedding photographers that I wanted to work for free. Praised their portfolio, told them my aspirations, and listed out all of my gear. Lots of them have ego's (or perhaps they're scared of me stealing their business) and they never respond back.
Since May-2022 however, I've hosted 4 Corporate Photoshoots at our office (office of 3000 people) for free – people give me money for the photos, but I donate all of them to charity (about $5k since May because we cannot be making money on the "side" while being at the office). People give their consent to allow me to use their photos, so to-date, I have atleast 500 pictures of Corporate photos. Some people love their corporate photo so much, that after event, they personally reach out to me asking me to do a family photoshoot of their family (and they want to pay).
Hi Ryan.
Thank you sooo much for this very helpful video.
Sounds so easy, once you know.
I'm just starting out. I am very interested in the creativity of BOUDOUR PHOTOGRAPHY.
Then my mother died very recently and I am now also drawn towards FUNERAL PHOTOGRAPHY.
Any comment would be gratefully appreciated.
These are great tips…thank you so much! I am not looking to be a photographer, but I am looking to network with them for my decorating business. So these tips come in handy and I can get an idea of what the photographers go through.
This was the best advice! it was perfect for where I am right now! thank you! I spent my whole day trying to make a portfolio that i will probably not be using now.
youre awesome bro
This video has been the most helpful video I have come across! I have always had a love and passion for photography. I am finally stepping forward and pursuing a career in that field. Starting from scratch is very challenging and there is so much to learn : ). You have touched base on all the major concerns and questions that I had. I currently have no portfolio and this was helpful advice on how to get started. Thank you so much for sharing! You have gained yourself a new subscriber.
My action step I will do is reach out to wedding photographers and see if I can do some second shooter work.
Planning to start my own business, believe you me. You are a life saver, have benefited greatly from this video, big up
Thank You for this video. I'll be working on getting my Niche down to a specific and legally registering my business. I feel a bit lost, trying to build my confidence and take that first step.
Great video!! I recently jumped into contacting venues and event halls directly and it's made a HUGE difference, not only in what types of jobs I now have access to, but in how I feel as a professional. Sitting down with local people and figuring out how we can work together feels awesome. I'm going to buckle down and do it even more!
What if you're motivated by money?
Who not how. Gold!
the best video ever?! Yes! Thank you for those specific questions you asked! Best tips for a beginner/intermediate!
Phenomenal content and great information man, so simple but easy to overlook. Thank you for planting the seed, subscribed off of this video alone, looking forward to viewing your others.
Thanks again!
Love this video, so helpful, thank you.
This was extremely helpful! I am in the midst of building my business and your ideas have helped me think differently
Great video! Some solid steps to actually do instead of vague concepts! Thank you for this. I am also thinking a lot about building a photography business and keep running into discouraging advices or just how easy you can fail. This video is so good that it helps you to at least start and see how far you can go with it
Step 1 Say i do just oe thing and i do it better than anyone else. Wait i thought we were just starting out??? I watch these videos as an aspiring photographer i currently shoot for free to to get a portfolio, i think thats a good tip but it somehow never is given. Like you wanna be a fotographer you now write online taht you only do weddings and you have never done a wedding before ever and have no pics to show???? Guys when you make videos like this actually imagine for a second if it would work if you had to start from the beginning because some of us do and these tips are stupid