how to make money from photography
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Making Money From Photography
Andrew Mason36exp Photographers’ School
www.36exp.co.uk
Agenda• Summary of ways to make money from photography• Where to look for work• How to start from scratch and build a portfolio• How to develop your portfolio• Importance of developing a style• Website development options• How to get found on the web• Intro to social media for photographers• How to make customers happy• Basic sales and marketing techniques• Non-creative considerations• Can you go full time?
Ways to make money from photography
Andrew Mason36exp Photographers’ School
www.36exp.co.uk
What are they?
• Stock
• Portraits
• Weddings
• Travel
• Interiors
• News
What are they?
• Photojournalism
• Art
• Estate agents
• Google Business View
• Cars
• Product
What are they?
• Commercial
• Fashion
• Schools
• Events
• Corporate
• Competitions
Where to look for work
Andrew Mason36exp Photographers’ School
www.36exp.co.uk
Where to look for work
• BJP website
• People Per Hour
• Photographers.co.uk
• Artsjobs.co.uk
• Demandstudios.com
• Gumtree.com
• Photographers’ agencies
How to start from scratch and build a
portfolio
Andrew Mason36exp Photographers’ School
www.36exp.co.uk
What’s in your portfolio?
• Photos that represent what you can do
• Photos that represent the type of work you want to do?
• Your favourite photos?
• Your holiday snaps?
• Your cat?
What should be in your portfolio
• Do your photos look professional?
• Do your photos look amateur?
• How many photos?
• Who is your target?
• Is your portfolio for personal pleasure or to find work?
How to start your portfolio
• Who’s going to pay you to build your portfolio?
• Will you work for free?
• Can you assist?
• Second shooting
• Hiring models
• Hiring studios
• Work in a group
How to start your portfolio
• Join groups and clubs
• Take part in workshops
• Gain skills
• Working for free is valuable experience
• Get used to dealing with clients
• Make mistakes
• Gain confidence
How to start your portfolio
• Get feedback
• Work for charity as a volunteer
• Only max 2 or 3 shots of each person in your portfolio
• Needs variety
• Decide what to specialise in
• Don’t turn anything down
Develop your style and portfolio
Andrew Mason36exp Photographers’ School
www.36exp.co.uk
How to develop your portfolio
• You can’t please everyone
• Decide on an area to specialise in
• E.g. food, product, portrait
• Some are related e.g. portrait and wedding
• But, food and wedding?
• Too many subjects will confuse your clients
How to develop your portfolio
• Be brutal, you’ll have to cull some images
• Don’t include your holiday photos or your cat
• Stand out from the crowd (in a good way)
Develop a style
• Who are your favourite photographers
• Why do you like them?
• Take inspiration
• What is a style?
• Takes time to develop, and constantly evolves
• People need to know what they’ll get from you
• Not everyone will like your style, but enough should
Website development
options
36exp Photographers’ Schoolwww.36exp.co.uk
Build your own or off the shelf?
• Off the shelf packages:• Clikpic, Layerspace, Squarespace, Zenfolio
• Build your own:• Wordpress is most accessible
• Flickr, 500px?
• Domain name and email address
• What functionality do you need?
How to get found on the web
Andrew Mason36exp Photographers’ School
www.36exp.co.uk
Content and links
• Content is king
• Keyword research
• Keyword competition
• Go for long tail keywords
• Titles and meta
Content and links
• Image alt tags
• Build links
• Get social
• Analytics
Intro to social media for photographers
Andrew Mason36exp Photographers’ School
www.36exp.co.uk
Build a following
• Pick your channels – Facbeook , Twitter, G+ as a minimum
• Set up FB business page
• Pinterest, Instagram
• Share stories & helpful info
• Don’t sell
Build a following
• Follow and engage influencers
• Build organically
• Tag people
• Get reviews
Make customers happy!
Andrew Mason36exp Photographers’ School
www.36exp.co.uk
Customer delight
• An unhappy customer will tell 7 people, a happy customer will probably tell no one
• Always exceed expectations
• Under promise, over deliver
• Don’t reply instantly to bad emails
• Be nice
Basic sales and marketing techniques
Andrew Mason36exp Photographers’ School
www.36exp.co.uk
Sales
• Identify needs
• Build rapport
• Ask questions
• State benefits, not facts
• Ask for the booking
• Get contact details and follow up
Marketing
• Create a brand
• What makes you unique?
• Why should people choose you?
• Communicate your strengths
• Create a brand name and / or logo
• Control what you publish
Marketing
• Create promotional materials
• Send follow up emails
• Identify your target market
• Where do they go?
• Hit them 3 times
• Consistently be there
Marketing
• Create a marketing plan
• Don’t expect instant results
• People are not always ready to buy
• Always follow up
• Stay in touch
• Create content and stories
• Network
Pricing
• Should match your offering and your target
• Too cheap = low quality
• Too expensive = no customers
Non-creative considerations
Andrew Mason36exp Photographers’ School
www.36exp.co.uk
Legal and above board
• Finances• Tax• Sole Trader / Ltd Company• Bank account• Record keeping
• Insurance• Your equipment• Yourself
Sole Trader
• As freelance photographer, sole trader is probably the best option
• You are the business, not an employee
• Simpler and cheaper to administer than a ltd company
• Register as a sole trader with HMRC
• You will need to complete a tax return every year
Ltd Company
• You own shares in the company and are it’s employee
• Pay yourself an income from the company
• May be more tax efficient
• Need an accountant
• More admin and cost
Be Organised
• Have a separate bank account
• Keep records of income and all business related outgoings
• Sole trader – self assessment is easy if your records are up to date and you are organised, but painful if not
• Ltd co – accountant will do accounts and tax return
Tax
• If you have another job all photography income will be taxed, could be at 40%
• You will pay your tax as soon as your tax return is done, deadline is 30 Jan for previous financial year
• Save a % of your photography income for tax, it can add up
• VAT is only chargeable if you have turnover of over £80,000
Insurance
• Camera Equipment – insurance for personal use probably doesn’t cover business use
• Check locations covered
• Personal liability
• Professional indemnity
Can you go full time?
Andrew Mason36exp Photographers’ School
www.36exp.co.uk
A salary?
• How much do you need to live on?
• How many jobs can you get per week?
• How much can you charge for each job?