How amazing is it to turn your passion into a revenue stream?

If your passion is photography, you’re in luck because there are many ways to turn photography into a revenue stream. The hard part is knowing how to do it. Many amazing photographers go undiscovered by clients simply because they didn’t know how to market themselves.

So, if you’re wondering how to get into brand photography and score your first client, this is the post for you. Read on to learn the secrets!

Share Your Work on Social Media

Social media is an amazing invention for anyone looking to build a successful business. Everybody and their brother is on it and you have the opportunity to get the word out about your business for free (or cheaply with paid ads).

However, you have to know how to get noticed. After all, so many photographers are also on it jockeying for attention and you’ve got to cut through the noise.

At a minimum, plan one social media post + stories per day. Showcase your work and let people get to know you. People are more likely to reach out to you if they feel a connection with you as a person rather than just see a pretty picture in their feed.

Also, write one blog post per week and share it on your social media platforms. This helps get your name out there as well as establish you as an expert in your field. People want to feel confident that the brand photographer they are hiring knows what they are talking about. Also, try to speak as an expert on some platform once every 2-3 months.

Get Comfy With Reaching Out

Want to know how to book clients? Well, you’ve got to reach out to them. Ooh, this can be a hard one for many people. Some people are naturally confident go-getters who don’t have a problem putting themselves out there.

However, many of us (dare I say most of us?) have a hard time with this. Most of the people you reach out to will say no and that rejection can be hard to deal with. Just remember that if you do good work, that rejection says nothing about you as a photographer. There are a million reasons why people say no that has nothing to do with you.

So, set some goals for yourself. Reach out to 5 contacts per day. Yes, 5. Get all the “no thank yous” out of the way so you can get to the “yes pleases!” a bit quicker. And add 5 new prospects to your list each day so you never run out of contacts to reach out to.

Your next goal should be to set up 1-2 coffee or lunch meetings each week. That sounds like a lot, but come on, if you’re reaching out to 25-35 promising contacts per week, you should be able to land 1-2 meetings!

Attend Networking Events

The great thing about getting into commercial photography is that you’ll be working directly with businesses and brands. And what do they do? They get together regularly for networking events. It’s perfect! A whole bunch of prospective clients all in the same place. All you have to do is go talk to them!

The only problem is…that might be way out of your comfort zone for many of you. If you decide to do it “someday” it’s not likely to happen. Make a plan to do this 2-3 times per month.

Work Quickly

Once you get a lead, don’t let the trail go cold. Get back in touch with them FAST and set up a discovery call — ideally the same day. The sooner you get in touch with them, the more likely you are to close the deal. People might assume that if you are slow to get back to them at this stage, you might be slow to get the work done — even though that’s probably not true at all.

In the same vein, have your contract ready so you can quickly fill in the details and send it over quickly after your discovery call.

Find Resources to Help

You can do it! You can make the career change, become a brand photographer, and grow your own successful business. It will take some hard work, but I’m living proof that it can be done!

The average photographer makes around $15k-$30k per year. Additionally, many of them have to work long hours, weekends, and at the disposal of when their client can meet them.

My goal is to help photographers blow that statistic out of the water and create a successful business they love.

I love the transformation I experienced so much that now I’m helping other people do the same thing. I started Focus Creative with the idea of helping people like you get into brand photography and start spending your time doing what you love.

Reach out to find out how I can help you in your journey today!