Tag: photography business

How I started Freelancing in Photography: 3 Steps you can take today

Posted on October 3, 2016 by Alice Zilberberg

Despite what you may think, you can start freelancing today. You don’t even have to wait until you’ve set up a website, a Facebook page, printed business cards and worked on your SEO before starting to use your skills to generate a side or full-time income. Use the steps bellow to save hundreds of hours on missteps and planning. Get paid immediately.

Get 3 clients

A couple of years ago I thought I needed to do a large list of things before getting paid for photography. I remember thinking that if I just did a couple more photo-shoots to strengthen my portfolio, updated my website, and worked on my online presence a little longer, then my dream clients would magically find me. I quickly learned that I was spending too much time on my business instead of testing the market for the services I was offering. I tried a different approach. I started contacting people I already knew – family, friends, and potential clients, to offer my services. I got jobs right away.

Whether you have a 9-5 job and want to earn some extra income on the side or want to convert to freelancing full time, the first step is to get 3 clients (or more). Do this by thinking of what skills you already have, and letting people know about what you do. Pitching specific projects to people that they haven’t even thought of yet is a good idea. For example, if you want to be a portrait photographer you can offer romantic photoshoots to couples you know, with visual references of what the final product will look like. Once you’ve worked on a couple of jobs, you’re onto something.

You can use this email template to send to potential clients.

Hi —Name—,

My name is Alice Zilberberg and I am a Toronto photographer and visual artist. I am a big fan of your work, particularly the project you did for ________.

While looking at your work, I began to realize that my work could greatly compliment your – Name of trade—.

I believe my photography could add hints of flavor, style, and realism to your –

Types of projects –. I would love to have the chance to do some photography work for you. I’m sure you have a project or two in the back of your head that you haven’t had time to work on. Let me do it for you!

A little bit about me: I am a graduate of Ryerson University’s Photography program. My work has been exhibited across Canada, the US and Japan, and published internationally, most recently in PHOTO+ Magazine in Seoul, Korea. My work sells in international auctions and has won several awards, including Applied Arts Photography Award and Magenta Foundation’s Best Emerging Photographer in Canada.

You can give me a call at ###. You can also check out some samples of my work here: [website]

Thank you for your time,

Alice.

Get Referrals

The second step is to generate more clients from the clients you already have. Referrals generate the biggest percentage of new income for freelancers. Get referrals by contacting your existing clients to ask them to forward your information to 3 or more people who may be interested. I’ve found that if people get introduced to your work from someone they know instead of getting an email from someone they don’t know (even if your work is great), it is much more effective.

Use this email template for your clients to send to their contacts:

Hi —Name—

How are you? Well, I hope!  Did you have a good time at — last Friday?

Just wanted to let you know about this Photographer friend of mine who is based in Toronto and New York. She is a great photographer, very nice to work with and I thought you might be interested in her services, for –business name–. This is her website www.alicezilberberg.com

Have a great day and I hope to see you soon.

All the best  

-Your name

Note: It’s important to keep in touch with your clients. Your relationship with them should be similar to a friendship. Don’t disappear after you’ve done a job for someone, and only contact them when you need something. You never know when someone from years ago might contact you again or direct a friend to your business. If you don’t keep in touch, they may forget about you. This could simply come in the form of putting them on your mailing list, adding them on Facebook so they can see your posts, or just sending them an email to say hello every once in a while.

Different income streams within your field

When I started, I thought that concentrating on just doing fashion photography and ignoring everything else would keep me focused and get the most results. This is the wrong approach when you’re starting out (and even once you’ve advanced). Finding different sources of income within your field is the best way to test things out and get paid more. I started offering lessons, photo-retouching services, and offering my fine-art photography for licensing. The result? I’ve now created my own retouching company, www.betterpix.com, where I’ve hired a team of freelancers to take retouching jobs from across the globe, and my fine-art photography is being featured on the set of a TV show this month. These are completely passive streams of income for me.

Start thinking of ways you can expand your services and test if there’s a demand for it. If you do art photography, maybe you can offer your images to be licensed for band album covers.

Extra steps

Marketing your work online is important, and should by no means be dismissed. After you’ve started freelancing and identified a demand for your services, focus some effort on websites, social media, and your online presence. You may want to hire a virtual assistant with a service like AskSunday to help you with SEO, and other time-consuming tasks. This way you can spend your time and energy on the things that really matter! Like photography!

What steps have you taken to start your freelancing business? Have you generated creative income streams from your services? Comment bellow and let me know what else you’ve thought about!

How to Deal with Difficult Clients – Photographer’s Edition

Posted on August 17, 2016 by Alice Zilberberg

In a creative field like freelance photography, it’s not uncommon to encounter difficult clients and have to deal with their strange requests. Don’t start pulling your hair out. Instead, consider the following when a challenge arises.

Smile

Yes, that’s right. The first thing you should do is smile. Whether it’s in person or on the phone, start on a positive note and don’t get emotional. Don’t criticize, condemn, or complain. This will only make the situation worse. This alone is likely to make them like you, and consider the situation handled without even knowing why. If they feel positive about you, they’re less likely to be difficult.

Show that you care

Listen to what they say, repeat it back to them, offer a solution, and then ask them how their son’s graduation was. Becoming genuinely interested in people and talking in terms of their interests is important with any client, difficult or not. Showing that you’re listening to them is crucial here, even if you disagree. Proving your points about how wrong they are will not get you anywhere good. Tell them that their issues will be taken care of and take care of them. After doing this, encourage them to talk about another subject like something personal you know they care about. Their kids, an article they posted on Facebook, or simply ask them how everything else is going. This is likely to clear the air and leave them feeling happy.

Don’t over-communicate with clients

Difficult clients are known to be creatures that harass you all day long with their requests. Consider that if you engage in this, you are using valuable time (typically unpaid) that you could instead allocate towards finishing the job or working on something else. Selectively ignoring your clients can be useful here. If your client tends to write you lengthy emails about what they want, do not reply to them with the same level of detail. If you understand what needs to be fixed, replying with “will do” is enough. I very often write emails using only the subject line. Putting “Updated images are in Dropbox” in the subject line and clicking send will take a few seconds, instead of writing a novel about your thoughts. If they interrupt you with many emails throughout the day, consider waiting until the end of the day to go over and reply to all of them at once. If they like to get on the phone and play personal therapy session for an hour, let them leave a message and let them know you have received their notes.

Finish the job

Don’t get immersed in the drama of it all. If you get frustrated, focus on finishing the job. Even if there are many disagreements, consider that it could be best to put money and creative differences aside, and just do what they ask. You can always introduce new terms for the next job you do for them. Doing this will show that you provide excellent customer service, something that may be seen as more valuable than getting an extra dollar or providing your best creative work.

When to fire clients: The 80/20 rule

If things get really frustrating, it’s important to consider whether you want to work with your client again. In the Four Hour Workweek, Tim Ferris explains that in any trade, 20% of the work equals 80% of the income. This means that 80% of what your time could be spent on things that are not efficient or effective for you and your business. Instead, it is better to focus on the 20% that you know brings you income. If this client is taking up a lot of emotional space and time, maybe they are not in your 20%. Consider saying goodbye and instead of generating new leads and focusing on jobs from other clients who are a better fit for you.

Get on the other side of the lens

Posted on June 2, 2016 by Ebby Lowry

It wasn’t until someone forced me to take photographs with my boyfriend John that I realized how nerve wracking it really is. As a wedding and engagement photographer, I am constantly telling couples to kiss, put your foreheads together, stare into each other’s eyes, etc. For me, it has become the norm and prior to my experience on the other side of the camera, I had no idea what my clients were going through. A couple of summers ago, I photographed a wedding in the Dominican Republic. The bride was a photography major in college and loved taking photos. When in the Dominican, she decided it was an absolute must to get my boyfriend and me in front of her camera. From this experience I gained so much insight from my clients perspective and as a result became a much more relatable photographer.

Insight #1 – It is AWKWARD!

I was so excited to get cute pics until I actually got there and she started directing me. You want me to do what?! You want us to kiss and hold the pose there while you rearrange your lighting? But it’s hot outside… this is so uncomfortable… I feel my nose sweating…

Those were just some of the thoughts going through my head in the first five minutes of our session. John and I felt so uncomfortable and couldn’t help but nervously giggle. As the session went on, we gradually got more comfortable and settled into ourselves and really had a great time.

Ebby L Photography

Above, John and I had been holding that kiss for what felt like hours. The entire time, we tried not to laugh holding the pose and I am so glad we kept it together. I mean, look at that wave behind us!

The important takeaway from the awkward insight – make sure your clients know it’s okay to be nervous in the beginning. Make silly jokes or share your own experiences on the other side of the camera. Tell them about other clients getting a beer before the session or staring in the mirror way too long to figure out their good side.

Insight #2 – Photos of yourself are important!

Being a photographer, I am constantly sharing photos of clients I take pictures of. In the first 3-4 years of business, my Facebook profile and business page were cluttered with images of others. It wasn’t until I saw another photographer post portfolio pictures of herself that I realized how important it was. Your clients want to know who you are! By showing them pretty pictures of yourself, not just iPhone selfies, you’re helping them identify you with your high-quality work. For an added bonus, hold a camera in your pictures to give them an even bigger reminder. For other social media branding tips, check out the article Official Portfolio vs. Instagram.

The photo on the left is a step in the right direction but a poor quality image. You want the photos of yourself to be a representation of the images you will give your clients. For more insight on how to take better “selfies”, check out Bill’s article and learn to take super selfies.

Ebby L Photography

Insight #3 – Confidence booster

Yes… you read that right… after my nerve-wracking, giggly experience taking photos with John.. I actually felt more confident! I gained assurance in myself after seeing that even though we felt like the definition of awkward, we still got great pictures! I also became more certain in my ability to take pictures. After learning how my clients could be feeling, it made me realize that them getting back their beautiful images I took is even more exciting than I thought. Now when I hear clients say, “I hope we weren’t too awkward!” or “ah does my hair look okay?” I feel confident showing them a sneak peek on my camera screen to reassure them that yes you guys look THIS GOOD and that you have nothing to worry about.

Ebby L Photography Ebby L Photography

So overall, get on the other side of the lens! Ask a photog buddy to take an afternoon and exchange headshots with you. Make a day of it with your significant other and teach them to use the camera while also getting pictures of yourself. Learn how you feel in front of the camera. Show off the photos of yourself and use them to represent your brand/business. If you’re just starting out as a photographer, make sure to read 8 Things I wish Somebody Told Me When I Was A Beginner Photographer.