HOW TO START AND RUN A PHOTOGRAPHY

BUSINESS
Saturday, March 19, 2022
10:34 AM
1. FIND OUT WHO MY TARGET AUDIENCE IS AND FIND OUT
HOW I AM GOING TO REACH THEM.
2. MAKE PEOPLE AWARE OF WHAT I DO.
 
 Person to Person
 Social media posts
 Making Ads

3. Make Informative/Educational Content.

4. Be consistent on Social media and Have a good Website.
 
5. Start Stock Photography and Videography.
6. Join Facebook groups for Events and People of similar careers.
7. Enter Photography Contests.
8. Find Contractual clients. These are clients you work for on a
regular basis.
9. Open a you tube channel.
10. Make online courses
11. Sell merchandises. Ie Printed Shirts.
12. Licensing Photos on Shutter stock.
13. Product/Real estate/Wedding/Event/Portrait bookings.
14. Print Sales.
15. Affiliate Marketing.
16. Sponsorships and Brand Endorsements.
17. Writing blogs
18. Selling lightroom preset
19. Selling calendars
20. Photobooks/photo Guides.
21. Competitions.
22. Have contracts/Written agreements
23. Charge depending on the expenses you incur and profits
you want to make
 24. Checklist of what your clients want photos of during the
shoot
TRAITS TO BECOME A SUCCESSFUL PHOTOGRAPHER
1. Consistency
2. Resourcefulness- Use Search engines to Acquire The necessary information.
3. Disciplined- As Creatives we often come up with many ideas but the problem is that we
barely execute on any of the ideas. Focus and discipline are necessary in implementation.
4. Resilience.
GETTING NOTICED AS A PHOTOGRAPHER
1. Social media. You need to be Consistent your postings.
2. Patients is Key. The reason you have not been noticed because you have not been present
for long period of time. It takes years to master something and to actually get people's
attention when doing it.
3. Email Marketing. Find creative ways to approach businesses using Emails. Have an E-mail list
4. Become extra ordinary. You need to become so good that people just have to know you or
have to share your content.
5. Perfect your Portfolio. Your Portfolio needs to be actual perfection because you are
constantly working on it.
6. You have to be constantly showing up.
7. Be unique and don’t try to imitate others find out it is that will make you stand out.
8. Submit your portfolio to the right people.
9. You have to be Driven, Resilient and Disciplined.
 
 
HOW TO BECOME A SUCCESSFUL PHOTOGRAPHER
 
1. Practice your craft more than your competitors. If you can out-work them then you have a
chance. You have to be willing to outwork 99.9% of people in the planet.
2. Build a body of work in a series. A body of work stands a better chance of getting noticed
than a single image.
3. Become an Expert. You become an expert by making mistakes.
4. Become anti-boredom. You will have to do a lot of monotous tasks but it will all be worth it
in the end.
5. Avoid Trends. Trend setters have been sharpening their craft for a while. The have been
building a body of work for many years. Horning their skillset.
6. Become a trend setter. Build a body of work that emphasizes on creativity and uniqueness.
7. You're heroes are not as successful and bulletproof as you think they are. Its not as easy as
they make it look.
8. Everybody is busy worrying about themselves. Don’t think that people will automatically
drop their things to come to your aid. Don’t fall for the illusion that because I have a big
following that I have my shit together or am successful.
9. More Followers on social media don’t always convert to business.
10. If success and notoriety is your goal no amount of money or attention will ever be enough.
When you reach the goals that you want another goal will be staring at you ahead. When
you reach those 10,000 subs on you tube that seemed impossible to achieve 100,000 will be
your next target. If you are constantly chasing success then you will be the one to suffer.
11. If you don’t deal with your need for attention and affirmation you may lose your art
altogether. The need for your work to be appreciated is normal but when it is to emotionally
charged and sups you of you're energy then your going to loose your way therefore t you
need to pause and do some self evaluation and deal with it.
 12. Passion and love are everything. You need to ask yourself this question ; " The notoriety/
success that I have today is as good as it gets, from here onwards it all goes downhill would I
keep doing this thing that I love. DO you actually love doing what your passion."
You need to realize that the art form itself is its own reward. Money fame and success are
just the by-product of someone doing something that they actually love.
13. Learn to charge appropriately. Have a budget when you are starting freelancing career.
14. Work on your character be approachable, happy and full of energy.
15. Don’t be afraid to approach people on Instagram. Put yourself out there.
16. No matter what keep on creating
17. Striving for perfection only slows down production.
 
 
HOW TO BECOME A PROFESIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER
1. Understand the basics. Try going beyond the normal things{Aperture}
2. Tell stories using your photos.
3. Aim to develop your own unique style.
4. Choose your niche. Shoot things that you enjoy.
5. Get the right equipment. Rent the Equipment you might need before purchasing it.
6. Don’t think you know light, KNOW LIGHT.
 
 

HOW TO START A PHOTOSTUDIO BUSINESS

1. A practical Plan, with a solid foundation.
2. Dedication, and willingness to sacrifice, to reach your goal.
3. Technical skills.
4. Basic knowledge of management, finance, record keeping and market analysis.
5. Identify your reasons; Freedom from the 9-5 daily routine/Being your own boss/Doing what
you want when you want to do it/Improving your standard of living/ Having a product or
service, for which you feel there is a demand.
 
6. PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS; MAJOR FLAWS
QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF
7. Are there any causes, such restrictions, monopolies, shortages) that make any of the
required factors of operation/production unavailable e.g. Cost or scarce skills?
8. Are capital requirements for entry or continuing operations, excessive?
9. Is adequate Financing hard to obtain?
10. Are there factors, that prevent effective marketing?
 
7. SELF ANALYSIS
 You need to understand that running a business requires 12-16 hours a day, six days a week
and even Sundays and holidays.
 Do you have the Physical stamina, to handle the workload and schedule?
 Do you have the emotional strength, to withstand the strain?
 Re you prepared if needed, to temporarily lower your standard of living, until your business
is firmly established?
 Is your family prepared to go along with the strains, they too must bear?
 Are you prepared to loose your savings {in case plans fails}?
 
8. Find a Niche.
 You need to find a business niche and fill it.
 The most critical problems you will face, in your early planning, will be to find your niche,
and determine the feasibility of your idea.
 Get into the right business at the right time.
 Many entrepreneurs plunge into a business venture, so blinded by the dream that they fail
to thoroughly evaluate its potential.
 
9. Determine the feasibility of the business;
 Identify and Briefly describe the business that you want to start.
 Identify the product or service, you plan to sell.
QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF
 DOES YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE SATISFY AN UNFILLED NEED?
 WILL YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE, SERVE AN EXISTING MARKET, IN WHICH DEMAND
EXCEEDS SUPPLY ?
 WILL YOUR PRODUCT OR SERVICE BE COMPETITIVE, BASED ON ITS, QUALITY, SELECTIOM,
OR LOCATION?
h
9. MARKET ANALYSIS
 For a small business to be successful, the owner must know the Market. To Understand the
Market you need to Analyze it, A process that takes time and effort.
 Analyzing the market is a way to gather fact, About customers, and to determine the
demand for your product or service.
 The more information you gather, the greater youre chances of CAPTURING A SEGMENT OF
THE MARKET.
 Know the Market before entering any business.
 
QUESTIONS TO ASK
1. Do you know who your customers will be.
2. Do you understand, their needs and desires?
3. Do you know where they live?
4. Will you be offering the kind of products or services, that they will Buy?
5. Will your prices be Competitive, in Quality and value?
6. Will your promotional program be effective?
7. Do you understand how your business compares with your competitors?
8. Will your business be conveniently locate, for the people you plan to serve?
 
1. Planning your start up
 
1. NAME AND LEGAL STRUCTURE
 Have you chosen a name for your Business?
 Will your business be a sole proprietorship, partnership or corporation?
2. BUSINESS PREMISES AND LOCATION
 Have you found a suitable building, in a location convenient for your Customers?
 Can the building be modified, for you needs at a reasonable cost?
 Will you have a lawyer check the zoning regulations and Lease?
3. MERCHANDISE
 Have you decided what items you will sell, or produce, or what services, you will provide?
 Have you made a merchandise plan, based upon estimated sales, to determine the amount
of inventory you will need, to control purchases ?
 Have you found reliable Suppliers, who will assist you in the start-up?
 Have you compared the prices, Quality, and Credit terms of Suppliers?
4. BUSINESS RECORDS
 Are you prepared to maintain complete records of;
 Sales
 Income
 Expenses
 Accounts Payable
 Receivables.
 Have determined how to handle
 payroll records
 tax reports
 Payments
 Do you know what financial reports, should be prepared, and how to prepare them?
5. FINACES
 
 A large number of business, fail each year. There are a number of reasons for these failures,
but one of the main reasons is INSUFFICIENT FUNDS
FINACIAL QUESTIONS TO ASK
1. How much money do you have?
2. How much money will you need to start a business?
 You will need to prepare an estimate of all your Start-up Costs.
Probable expenses
 Decorating and Re modelling.
 
3. How much money will you need to stay in business?