How To Start My Photography Business – You are here: Home / Business / 26 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Started Business // Part 1
We started our photography business in 2006. That’s almost 12 years ago, but it’s like a lifetime, especially when we look back at everything that’s happened.
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But making mistakes is just a good little lesson in disguise. And although we have our fair share of challenges, we are able to learn and improve as a result.
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So, we’re going to pull back the curtain, share a ton of our mistakes, and things we wish we knew when we first started.
I hope that by sharing with you, you can avoid these mistakes, and have a ride to success!
Note: This is a two part post. You can find 14-26 in the second section here: 26 Things I Wish I Knew Before Starting a Business // Part 2
We shot our first wedding in aperture priority mode. At the time, it seemed like the easier option. But since then we have realized that he made it difficult for us!
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See, the importance of learning to shoot in manual mode is not because modes such as aperture values and system values are useless. They can be a good choice in some situations.
The real value of shooting in manual mode is how it forces you to understand what’s going on with your camera, and the light around you.
Learning this early will help you gain more control over your photos, and improve your photography skills quickly.
An added bonus is that manual mode also allows you to be more efficient with your exposure, helping you save time in your editing!
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So it’s not some photographic snobbery here. Learning how to shoot in the manual mode will help you in a ton of ways, and soon you will learn how to do it, you will get many benefits!
(If you need some help learning how to shoot in instruction, check out our guide on essential camera skills!)
When we started we thought that if we have good photography skills, we will have a good business.
You’re a photographer/specialist/book editor/marketing manager/social media guy/marketer/professional/treasurer/CEO /CFO/ and pretty much any other name you can think of.
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The sooner you realize that you need to be good at different things, the sooner you can start improving them all.
Good photography skills are important, don’t get me wrong. But you need a lot of others if you are going to make a business out of it!
It takes time to be successful in photography. It takes time to be successful in business. It takes time to get customer service. It will take time to complete in the business organization…
Basically, it takes time to master many of the things you need to do well to run a successful photography business.
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Even if you shoot landscape, your customers are people. And the better you can work with and treat the people you do business with, the more success you will see.
We didn’t realize how important this was until we read the book How to Win Friends & Influence People.
Since then, we have found that the more efforts we make to be good with people, the more successful we are.
This book changed our business and our lives. I know that sounds like an exaggeration, but I promise it’s not.
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(To learn more about the book, and how you can use it for your photography business, check out our guide to it!)
It is not difficult to convince yourself that if you only have a better lens, you will get better pictures, and your business will be more successful.
I don’t want to think about how much money we waste on things we don’t really need.
After a few years of this nonsense, we got smart and started thinking about buying.
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Our gear may not get a lot of envy from other photographers, but as long as it produces the images we want, that’s all that matters.
It’s the same for buying a business. Think carefully before taking out a credit card. It’s hard enough to get good results with photography without incurring huge expenses.
(Need help deciding which gear is the real deal? Check out our Gear Guide for all of our designs to help you decide!)
Along with our rarely used materials, is a large library of unused printed materials. Brochures, packaging and thousands (yes, thousands) of business cards. Everything is useless, and a waste of money and paper.
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When it comes to your brand, creating something personal, unique and consistent is important. It helps you stand out from other photographers, and communicate who you are.
But when it comes to ordering printed products, be careful. Do not think that a large order will save you money, because there is a chance that you will not use it all.
This is especially true early in your career, when you may change your business name several times before you find the right fit.
We went from ordering thousands of business cards to printing a few dozen at a time on our home printer. If you run out, then you know that you really use them, and can order a smaller batch.
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When we start doing photography, we will shoot weddings. We spend countless hours searching the websites and blogs of other wedding photographers.
We spent a lot of time talking to other wedding photographers. We read wedding magazines, and watch wedding programs. In fact, we were all over the world.
Don’t get me wrong, you can learn a lot from people who are involved in the same profession as you. But if you don’t look for inspiration outside of that area, you will find yourself doing the same as everyone else.
As a photographer, the sources of inspiration are almost endless, so don’t limit yourself to looking at photographers who do the same thing as you.
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Study the work of great photographers of history, explore new works created in different genres, read about painters, watch movies, flip through comic books – experience Beautiful inspiration is everywhere, so open yourself up to it!
The same goes for business inspiration. You can learn a lot from internet marketers, published authors and pretty much anyone in the business. After all, it’s all about helping your customers benefit from what you do. The end result is different, but the underlying principles are more similar than you might know!
Word of mouth referrals are the most powerful source of bookings for photographers. People are more likely to trust a friend’s recommendation than a social media post. You have to work hard to get referrals.
At first, we didn’t know we needed to encourage referrals. Sure, you will get some because people like to talk about good companies. But many customers may have no idea how important their referrals are to you!
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There are many ways to encourage referrals. You can set up a referral program to send customers to your new business. Or you can give them a set of business cards with their photos, and let them know that you appreciate them telling their friends about you. Or do both!!
(For more help with referrals, and some tips for setting up a referral program, check out our article Referrals: Easy, Affordable, and Effective Marketing)
Does this voice sound familiar? You start something. blog. place. Business. You are sure that you have a brilliant idea and it will be wildly successful. You made a stunning logo. You create an amazing online presence, full of witty notes and enticing images. You click publish, sit back and wait for the referrals and comments to flow.
It took us a long time to realize that, for the most part, no one cares about what you do. Only you make them care about it.
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Tell people what you do is interesting and useful. You can take the best picture in the world, but if people don’t know about it, you won’t see success.
Setting up your business with a website, name and logo and everything – that’s what gets you started.
(Need some ideas for marketing your photography business? Check out our free e-book, 7 Easy Ways to Market Your Photography Business. Owners eight were written for wedding photographers, but can be used for any type of commercial photography!)
One of the most valuable products you can create is a newsletter. These days it’s incredibly easy to send email updates, and provide a direct link to your best customers!
Things I Wish I Knew When I Started My Photography Business
We never put enough effort into creating a magazine for our photography business, and we always regret it. We just don’t know how important it is.
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