Photography is the very definition of a customer service oriented business. If you choose photography as a profession, and questions and inquiries from prospects are a source of anxiety and irritation for you, it might be best to choose another…
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The Brand Versus the Box
Are you building a box? Or are you building a brand? The first step is understanding the difference. With a name that has the word “brand” in it, you can just imagine what my social media ad feed looks like.…
Persuasive Selling: The Shameless Appeal to Pride
It is human nature to compare ourselves mentally to our peers. Instead of saying “you are cheap” you are saying “my clients are discerning and surely you aspire to be in that class of client.” We live in a world…
Cash Only. No Credit: Setting Your Photo Policy
This is the age old conundrum of every photographer. If I offer my photograph for credit, what do I get in return? Is it worth the risk, or do I demand payment? Do I operate like the Mom and Pop…
Brand Photography: Whose Responsibility is the Brand, Anyway?
Too many photographers fear that asking questions makes them look less skilled or capable. It’s up to the photographer to ask pertinent questions that assure the client that the photographer is using all this information to create a compelling visual…
Warning Signs: How-To Book or Recipe for Disaster?
Some of these start-a-photography-business books are obviously written for the get-rich-quick set who aren’t necessarily drawn to photography, but drawn to what the author insists is easy money. While it is true that photography has a low barrier to entry,…
No, It Isn’t the Price of Your Photography. It’s Theirs.
The vast majority of time, the thing that holds a quality photographer in place as a commodity, caught in the constant loop of self-doubt after each missed booking, is the confidence that they can be more than they are. Instead,…
What About the Pandemic Business Death Count?
Even years from now, when history sorts this out and we can read about it from a much more clear vantage point, there won’t be any answers for these questions. Like most people, my social media acquaintances have diverse working…
What Does It Take to Be a Professional Photographer?
My version of the simplified, yet (hopefully) informative response is actually a paragraph from my coaching welcome packet. Needless to say, I communicate with aspiring amateur photographers on a steady basis. Hobby-to-pro photographers are my coaching niche, after all. I…
How Packages Simplify the Pricing Problem in Photography
This could probably be titled “An Overly Simplified Explanation of Pricing for Photography” but it really just boils down to one main concept: Packages Pricing is one of the most critical components of any business. For a business that sells…