Know-How Exchange : Strategy

Let's start with some basics: Who is your primary target audience? Where are they located? How/where are they getting their photographs now? What are their most important unmet needs?

The freelance photography market is enormous, and you're not going to do a great job of reaching it unless you focus your efforts and use a rifle instead of a shotgun.

Do you have a business plan? How will you know if you're successful? If all you want to do is spend money on marketing, there are lots of options. (You might start by creating a website for your business, for example.) Better to have a clear goal and a strategy for reaching that goal. Then develop a positioning which becomes the foundation for your marketing plan. It can be as simple as showing your portfolio or submitting your work to one or more of the online stock photo sites.

This doesn't need to be terribly complicated, but it does need to be more than "How do I market a freelance photography business ...?" Are you targeting news media, sports buffs, advertisers, teens, small business owners, etc.? Don't try to be all things to all people ... at least not right away.

If you like taking pictures, maybe you should look at an established and successful business model - like iStock. You could either just start submitting your material to them, or look at the things in that business that you like and then look at creating a new & better business with the innovations that you like.

One of the tools in our consultancy is photography and I can tell you that the industry is wildly different across the US. In some cities, photography is in very high demand; in others most people do it themselves. As with any business, step back and review your business plan, mission and brand, and then create a marketing presence that aligns with your goals. This is especially critical with photography. I recommend you join PPA and learn what it takes to market photography in these changing times.

Tandembike's suggestion in looking at www.istockphoto.com is great. If you have a collection of photos you can start selling stock photo's easily there. This will start getting you exposure and then start giving you an idea of what people like in your photos.

You can also apporach businesses that use photos a lot like realotors. If you can take excellent home photos there are opportunities there.

Mike