Starting Your Photography Business: A Step-by-Step Guide
You found a passion. PHOTOGRAPHY!
What started as a hobby…you’re considering as an actual career.
Whether it’s been a dream, a side hustle, or your neighbor offered you $50 to take photos of her kids and the light bulb went off, doesn’t matter!
The idea was born…but you have no idea where to start.
I started my own photography business over 10 years ago now, and quickly realized that the actual art was a very small portion of what I needed to know in order to run a profitable business. I went all in, headfirst, and there were A LOT of things I learned along the way.
I’m going to walk you through the top 5 steps I would suggest you take in order to begin building your photography business. These are the TOP 5 things I REALLY wish I would have known when I made the choice to actually build a business as a photographer.
Step 1: Get Legit with Business Bank Accounts, an EIN, Etc.
As in, get a EIN (Employee Identification Number) a business bank account, create a name, and go through all the really annoying stuff first. It’s not fun, but making sure you are all set up for taxes, and official, is really, really important. Trust me.
When you start making money, you are going to want to make sure your personal and business finances are separate, that you can track expenses and payments, prove what you’ve both spent/made and keep yourself from getting audited.
I HIGHLY suggest always having a CPA do your taxes as well. Even if you can’t budget in a bookkeeper for the monthly maintenance, having a professional do your yearly filing is really important and you’ll feel much better. And while I am personally NOT a finance wizard or accountant, and I can’t give you in depth financial advice, I can tell you from experience, that the numbers and money stuff and paperwork matters.
Step 2: Define Your Brand’s Identity
Before diving into the logistics of running a photography business, it's crucial to establish your brand identity.
Your brand identity encompasses everything from your logo and color palette to your unique style and values. Your BRAND is NOT just your colors and logos though. While yes, that is your VISUAL brand, there is also the emotional brand and your stories that make up the other pieces of your brand. Take some time to reflect on what you hope sets you apart as a photographer and how you want to be perceived by your target audience.
I cover a lot about not only visual, but also storytelling, emotional, and foundational branding.
All the different styles of branding is all stuff I cover inside The Business Blueprint, my business program I created specifically just for photographers. You can get more info on that here.
A strong brand identity will help you attract your ideal clients and stand out in a crowded market, and it’s SO important in the long run. My suggestion, don’t worry too much about the visual part in the beginning. It’s okay if you need to grab a premade logo off Etsy or Creative Market or make your own in Canva. Most likely, it’s going to take a year or two until you really start to figure out your visual identity as a brand, and it may change! So I wouldn’t suggest heavily investing in any custom branding services until you are more established.
Step 3: Nail Down Your Business Plan & Pricing Strategy
A solid business plan is the foundation of any successful venture. Start by outlining your business goals, target market, and pricing strategy. Consider factors such as your expenses, and desired income.
If you HAVE NO idea where to start with pricing, I have a FREE PRICING TOOLKIT you can download here and it will walk you through how to figure out how much you need to work or how many clients you need per month in order to hit your target income OR how much you’ll need to charge if you know how many sessions you can take per month.
Having a clear roadmap will not only keep you focused but also increase your chances of long-term success.
Again, just like the visual branding, these things will change and shift over time! That is completely normal. I suggest reviewing this every 6 months when you first start your business, and once you have a groove going, every year.
Step 4: Set up Systems for Effective Client Communication & Experience
Effective communication is key to building strong relationships with your clients and ensuring a smooth photography experience. From initial inquiries to post-shoot follow-ups, strive to provide clear and timely communication every step of the way.
Be responsive to questions and concerns, and always set realistic expectations to avoid misunderstandings.
I go over my favorite Client Relationship Management program as well as how to set up a proper workflow, handle inquiries, and what policies to have and contracts should include all inside of my Business Blueprint for Photographers program as well! Seriously, it’s the program I wish would have been around when I started my business, and I made sure to include every aspect of the ‘business’ side of running a photography business that I could.
Step 5: Market Your Services Right Away, but don’t do any paid ads!
Once you've laid the groundwork for your business, it's time to spread the word and attract clients.
Utilize social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook to showcase your work and connect with potential clients. A HUGE help for photographers is SEO, as when most people go to search for something like a photographer, they will often go about it a few ways. They’ll ask friends or family or social media for recommendations (so having a good referral program is good to incentivize people to refer you!), they’ll search social media (you want to make sure you are active and visible with keywords in your profile!), or they go the search engine route like Google. Which means you not only should have a website, it should have SEO optimized, and you should have a Business Account and listing with Google so that people can leave you reviews!
Starting a photography business is no small feat, but with dedication, perseverance, and the right resources, you can turn your passion into a profitable venture. I know, because I’ve done it! I started my own photography business in a small apartment as a single Mom, with a crop sensor Nikon camera and a big idea. Here we are, over a decade later, and we are still going strong!
If you're ready to take the next step in your photography journey, consider joining other photographer’s just like you, and hopping into The Business Blueprint.
It’s the ultimate resource for aspiring photographers looking to launch and grow their businesses. It has everything inside I wish I would have known when I started mine, as it would have saved me a LOT of heartache and time getting to where I was going faster!