Know-How Exchange : Career/Training

What type of photography? Puppies and kittens for calendars? Skinny girls for fashion magazines? Headshots for portraits? Action shots for journalism? Mountains and waterfalls for nature journals? Brides for wedding albums?

While you're here, visit the Search Questions link on the right side of the page. Try the keyword "photo" and you'll find some earlier Q&A threads about photography marketing.

- Shelley

Hi heathrow22,

You could explore the stock photo world. Leading websites for stock photo’s include --
www.gettyimages.com
www.corbis.com

These sites are great places for generating both income and exposure for photographers. They are also highly competitive and therefore difficult to get into.

I suggest you Google search for stock photo sites with specific photography that will interest you. For example, the surfpix site is just for surfing photography.
https://www.surfpix.co.uk

Hope this helps and best of luck with your career,

- Steve

Marketing starts with understanding your target audience, then showing up with what they need/want. If you really understand how they think and make decisions, you can position yourself as having a unique solution to their most pressing problem. That's the goal.

Put yourself in a customer's shoes. What is he/she looking for? What's going to appeal to the perfect client? Who is that perfect client?

Marketing isn't so much about selling what you have/do, but about finding the right market/audience -- the one for whom your skills/abilities are exactly what will solve their most important problem.

Start from that perspective and you'll be way ahead of most new marketers.

If you are looking for basic marketing advice to enable you to start a new business then melanie has hit the nail on the head.

Product - well you have that, you have your skill.
Price - research the market, forget the bigger trends, focus on what YOUR market will pay.
Place - work from home or from premises, how you project your business and how easy it is for people to contact you (phone, email, post, web etc) is critical today, if they can't find you or contact you, your prospects will go elsewhere.
Promotion - use any cost effective method at your disposal to promote yourself, get onto forums, look at networks (ecademy.com, linkedin.com etc), start my emailing suspects (names of local business or old contacts). Get a portfolio of work/testimonials etc. Get a decent website (welcome to the global economy - I'm based on the UK but done work for businesses in Australia and the US thanks to my website).

Add people too (I don't want to get into a debate about how many Ps in marketing, its too darn complex, but avoid People (i.e. the people you work with, if you are a sole trader, this also extends to family and friends etc) at your peril.
People - let them know what you are doing, whats going on, what your plans are

I hope this helps

Good Luck

ps. If you want any further marketing advice then get in touch, I might be able to help you.