3 Essential Steps to Launch Your Photography Business

How to start a photography business in 3 simple steps. I got a question from one of my YouTube viewers, love you guys, uh, Debyein, Debyein, however you pronounce it, wrote in, "Hello Evan, I need your help. I have a computer and I have good skills in photography. Now I want to get into the business of photography. What should I do? How should I go about starting?" So this is a great question because photography, it's one of the most competitive businesses you can get into because everybody thinks they're a photographer. So you're going up against professional photographers as well as a lot of amateurs who do it for free, you know, families, relative members. So it's, it's hard to get this business going. Here's how to do it in 3 steps, okay? Number 1, have an edge. You have to have something that's different about your photography business because there are so many photographers. What makes you different? What makes you stand out? And it's not just targeting weddings because tons of photographers target weddings too. What is different? And you want to think about the kind of style that you bring because some people will love your style and some people will hate it. So describe it so that people can help self-identify themselves. Here's an example. A buddy of mine named Rich runs a company called You Gotta Love. It's yougottalove.com. And his style, he calls it heightened reality. So all of his stuff is over the edge, wild, over the top, and he works with celebrities like Lady Gaga and Cardinal Officiel. These are the people who ends up hiring him because they love his over-the-edge crazy style. And so he attracts people who are over the edge and crazy through his heightened reality branding, messaging, website. What is it that's different about you? Because if you just say wedding photographer, you're not going to stand out. So think about how you take pictures, your process, the style you like, the feeling you want to get across, and make that evident in everything that you, you talk about on your website, in your marketing, so that When somebody who feels the same way sees your stuff and hears what you're saying, they're gonna say, "I have to have that guy. He's my photographer because he is XYZ." Okay? Step number 1. Number 2, I would honestly start by going to work for somebody else. And you might be thinking, "What, Evan is the entrepreneur guy? You believe in entrepreneurs, you're telling me to go get a job?" The reason why you get a job is to learn. And if you can go work for a photographer that you look up to and respect, you'll learn so much more than just trying to do things yourself. And that may mean working for them for 3 months or 6 months. I'm not talking about taking a 10-year career with them, just enough so that you learn how the business is done. You'll learn how to get clients, you'll learn how they take shoots, you'll become a better photographer in the process, and editing the pictures as well. Everything you'll get better at, and you'll get paid to learn about this business. And when you go and you start yourself, you will have a much higher degree chance of success because you've made your mistakes on somebody else's dime. And number 3 is go get partnerships. The fastest way to grow business is to partner up with somebody who's already selling to your target audience. So think about who is selling to your target customers and find a way to partner up with them. People who are selling non-photography related products and services. So if you're selling to the wedding industry, you can think about who's the caterer, who are they buying the— getting the limo from, where are they renting the tuxedos from, where are they buying the dress from. All of those guys are potential referral partners for you. So meet with them, let them know what you're all about, let them know what your messaging is, you know, what makes you different from all the other photographers. And you actually make their job easier if a bride comes in and wants a certain kind of style with her wedding and they know that that matches up with what you do as a photographer, it will make everybody feel better, right? They're providing a service to that client and they're building a better relationship by passing their name on to you as well. So those are my 3 tips. Good luck, let me know how it goes, and keep believing. For those of you watching, you like the video, please give it a thumbs up below. Let me know what you think by leaving a comment underneath, or if you have a question, put it below, I'll make a video response. And if you like the channel, you can subscribe above and see what else I'm gonna come up with soon. So thank you guys, and I'll see you soon. Cheers!