How to Grow Photography Business
Congratulations—you’re a photography business owner! You’ve spent time creating a website, picking a photography business name, investing in equipment, designing a logo, and you have had some successful sessions with happy clients. Where do you go from here?
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If you’ve gotten started, but are stuck in a rut, not knowing how to grow your photography business or expand your client list, we have business coaching and mentorship designed to help. We provide guided support and feedback for all photographers, from new beginners to seasoned professionals.
Unlike traditional colleges and photography schools, Photography Business Institute’s coaches are working professional portrait photographers. Founded by profitable professional photographer, business coach, and New York Times Best-Selling author Sarah Petty, our mentorships are different from the online course options you’ll find online. And the model we teach has earned Sarah Petty over $3 million alone in portrait sales at here photography studio, resulting in Professional Photographers of America naming her one of America’s Most Profitable Portrait Photographers.
If you are struggling with how to grow a photography business, reach out to us today.
You’ve Started a Photography Business, What’s Next?
Growing a business can be extremely rewarding, but it is not without its challenges. One of the biggest challenges a photography business owner faces is finding the right balance between work and home life.
At Photography Business Institute, we believe in always putting family first. This commitment to family sometimes means shifting priorities when making business decisions. If you’re interested in mentorship that centers on balancing family and career, we offer guidance to empower you at whatever stage of the journey you’re in.
How to Grow Your Business
The process of building a photography business from start to profitable company takes education and dedication. While you must invest your time and effort, Photography Business Institute can help mentor you in the skills needed to take your business to the next level.
Let’s take a look at some important things you can do to help your business grow.
1. Be Intentional With Your Time
Balancing your photography business with all the other things going on in your life can feel overwhelming. If you aren’t intentional about optimizing your time, you may quickly find yourself on the road to burnout.
Being successful in any business requires learning how to manage time effectively. This becomes even more crucial if you are a photography business owner with a family.
One top tip is to schedule everything and share your schedule. Always start by scheduling family time. This can include set nights for family dinners, your kid’s school events, family holidays, and gatherings. If it’s not on your calendar you’re more likely to forget or schedule something over it.
Once you’ve created a combined schedule that includes photography sessions, client meetings, and all of your family events and obligations, share the schedule with your family. It’s important to remember that even when you are intentional about your schedule and your time, last-minute meetings or calls will come up, and you’re not going to be able to “do it all” all the time.
2. Set Up a Boutique Business Model
If you are seeing some success with your photography business but know that you want to grow and take it further, one thing to consider is your current business model. Many photographers, especially those just starting out, choose a digital file business model, which involves giving digital files to their clients after the session for a set price. This model is not scalable and results in very little profit for countless hours worked.
On the other hand, photographers who use a boutique business model experience much higher profits per client. They work fewer hours and earn a larger income as the focus of their business is on fewer, better clients who are interested in purchasing wall artwork. Boutique portrait photographers spend more time with each client and create custom heirloom products, including wall prints and fine art albums.
Choosing to be a boutique photographer will impact every aspect of your business, from branding, client communication, pricing, and marketing. At Photography Business Institute we help with how to grow a photography business using coaching centered on the boutique business model.
Boutique portrait photographers are about quality over quantity. As a Photography Business Institute member, you’ll better understand how to make a profitable income while putting your family and home life first.
3. Get Help Where You Struggle
When you start a photography business, you’ll soon learn you’re not an expert at everything. You may be an amazing artist, creating gallery-quality portraits and controlling light like a wizard, yet having no clue where to start on marketing.
It is a rare person who naturally excels at photography, editing and processing images, business management, marketing, building client relationships, and all of the other little details that go into growing a photography business. Luckily, you’ll always be able to find help with the things you struggle with. From business mentorship, workshops and online resources, Photography Business Institute can support you in every aspect of growing your company.
4. Use the Tools Available
Many new business owners try to do everything themselves and end up keeping all of their processes in their heads. As you grow your photography business, one important lesson to learn is to use all the tools available to you.
From online shared calendars, financial management software, Apple Time Machine for image backups, database management programs, and more, there are so many tools that can make your life easier.
Sign up for photography business mentorship today to learn more about the tools and programs we recommend and how best to use them before you waste money on tools that you don’t really need.
5. Take a Good Look at the Numbers
It’s commonly said that the numbers don’t lie. Keeping a close eye on the money coming in and going out of your photography business will allow you to make smarter financial decisions and grow an even more profitable company.
Growing a photography business will require certain investments. Whether you’re looking to rent a studio space, buy new equipment, or hire an employee, you must know precisely where you stand financially. If bookkeeping is not in your wheelhouse, consider hiring an accountant or bookkeeper to keep track of all of the numbers for you.
The Power of Immersion
If you want to learn a language, the best way to do that is to immerse yourself by staying in the country or place where it is spoken. It is the same for any new thing you wish to improve on. If you are looking to grow your business by becoming a successful boutique photographer, immersion will get you there faster.
Our Go Boutique Live event is three days of online photography business immersion. Each day, we will share information on better marketing and selling strategies, as well as insight into what is currently working in boutique photography.
In three days, your business and life will be transformed as you gain the tools you need to generate more profit and thrive as a successful boutique photographer.
Immersion is a gift.
While you may have small kids at home or other daily obligations, giving yourself permission to devote a few full days to the growth of your business will make a huge impact on both your business and your home life.
If you struggle with feeling behind your peers or not good enough to run a profitable business, come spend three days online with us at Go Boutique Live Virtual. You’ll find the confidence and skills you need to grow your business further than you ever dreamed.
How to Set Photography Business Goals
If you are looking to grow your business, it is important to learn how to set yearly goals. Setting goals for your photography business will help you to be intentional about where you want to be in the future.
When setting goals they should be realistic and effective. Take some time to consider where your business is currently, what is going well, and what areas you would like to improve on over the next year.
Your photography business goals may include improving your craft, increasing session pricing, booking more clients, improving online marketing strategies, expanding your community, or even transitioning to becoming a full-time photographer.
The best goals are SMART goals. This means they are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based. Once you’ve decided on what to focus on, it’s important to take regular action by adding tasks to your calendar and keeping track of your progress.
To learn more about goal setting and how to grow your business further, sign up for business coaching with the Photography Business Institute.
Cash Flow Planning
All businesses need a budget, and all business owners need to understand the ebb and flow of income and expenses.
Cash flow planning means being able to predict when money will come into the business and when it will need to be spent. By keeping track of your income and expenses throughout the year, you will better be able to predict those numbers in the future. Making calculated predictions about how much cash you will have each month allows you to make smarter financial business decisions.
Keeping close track of cash flow is especially important in the portrait photography industry, which often has busier and slower seasons. Learning to make future cash flow projections will be invaluable for financial planning. Coaching and mentorship with the Photography Business Institute will help guide you in creating a photography business budget and managing your finances.
How to Find Your Community
No man is an island. And no photographer is better off doing everything alone.
The connections you make with your clients, other photographers, local business owners and leaders, charities, and other creative professionals all contribute to growing your business and making the job more enjoyable.
Here are some tips for finding your community and building a database of people who can become paying clients or business associates. Remember to always be yourself in any networking or social situation. Genuine and reciprocal connections will last longer and take you much further than superficial ones.
1. Volunteering
Volunteering with charities in your local community is a great chance to meet new like-minded people. It is also a wonderful opportunity to gain exposure for your photography business. People prefer to work with business owners who support local charities.
Approach charities that align with your interests and passions. Devoting time and energy to causes that you care about will help you stay motivated to keep going.
2. Networking
Networking should start locally. Look to leaders in the community that you admire and businesses that share your ideal clients. You can start by connecting online, or by patronizing their business in person. Schedule meet-and-greets over coffee, learn what you can do to help their business and seek out local community networking events.
3. Coaching, Mentorship, and Workshops
Mentorship and business coaching through Photography Business Institute will introduce you to like-minded portrait photographers who follow similar business practices. Make new friends and collaborators for projects while honing your photography and business skills.
At Photography Business Institute, what sets us apart is our sense of community. From beginners to advanced professionals, better understand business management, marketing, financial planning, and more, with the support, mentorship, and encouragement of passionate, creative professionals who are successfully running portrait photography businesses like you.