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What I’d Do First If I Were Starting My Photography Business Today
154 Plays15 days ago
Episode Summary:
Feeling overwhelmed by all the things you think you “should” be doing to grow your photography business? This episode is your permission slip to stop spiraling and start focusing. Elena shares exactly what she would do if she were starting her business from scratch today from where to spend your money to what tools are actually worth it in the early stages. Spoiler: It’s not a CRM, and it’s definitely not a $6K custom website.
Whether you're in the beginning stages or feel like you're spinning your wheels, this episode will help you cut the fluff and take real, actionable steps toward building a legit, professional photography business that actually books clients.
What You’ll Learn:
- The #1 investment to make when starting out (hint: it’s not gear or ads)
- Why a website is essential to taking yourself seriously
- How to keep your proofing process professional even when you’re low volume
- What you don’t need yet (seriously, don’t waste your money)
- The most important mindset shift that will light a fire under you
Links & Resources:
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Transcript
Overcoming Negative Self-talk in Photography
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey friends, welcome back to Empowered. I have been just feeling so, i don't know what the word is ignited, inspired to light the fire under your booty to get you guys up and running, to get you guys to a successful place.
00:00:21
Speaker
Why? Because I'm hearing a lot of negative self-talk from photographers in my community and that makes me sad because I know how profitable this can be.
00:00:32
Speaker
I know how successful having a photography business can feel. is that right? Did I just word that correctly? And I've seen so many people do it. I've seen thousands of people do it. Literally, i have helped so many photographers.
00:00:46
Speaker
I have friends all over the world who are thriving, and I want one of those friends to be you. So
Creating a Credible Website on a Budget
00:00:52
Speaker
I wanted to tell you that if I wanted to start this episode and make this episode really clear,
00:00:57
Speaker
If you are flailing right now in the beginning stages, feeling like there's so much to learn, all of the sudden you're a website designer, you're a graphic designer, you're having to learn about Instagram marketing and Facebook marketing, and now you've got someone like me talking about email and all of these things.
00:01:17
Speaker
Here's what I think you should do. Stop listening for a second to anyone else except, I mean, you can stop listening to me too and get to work. And here's what I would do if I were starting my photography business right now. If I were me back in 2009,
00:01:33
Speaker
scouring the internet and I knew I needed to figure out what to do and trim the fat and only do what mattered, this is exactly what I would do right now. First and foremost, I would start a website.
00:01:48
Speaker
Even if I didn't feel like I was ready, I would launch a website. If you are trying to run a photography business without a website in 2023, this was even the case back in 2009.
00:02:01
Speaker
You will not take yourself as seriously, which is the most important piece, but people won't take you as seriously because you don't have that professional storefront. So the first thing that I would spend money on, not a class, not ah spending money on ads, not on making brochures to send out, I would spend the money on starting a website.
00:02:22
Speaker
I would not pay somebody because you probably can't afford it. To be totally honest with you, I've only sought help for website design one time. I spent $6,000 and I wasn't happy with it.
00:02:35
Speaker
And I have friends in other industries who spend $20,000, $30,000 and they're never happy with them. Once in a while, you can find somebody who's good, but for the most part, it's really hard to find a good web designer that is cheap and you can't afford it if you're just starting your business.
DIY Website Creation and Essential Pages
00:02:52
Speaker
The other reason why I think that you should do it yourself is that in the earlier stages or always, you have to be able to update your website. And if you have someone else design it for you, you're not going to be able to.
00:03:03
Speaker
So don't tell me right now, I'm not good at tech. I don't understand all of that stuff. It overwhelms me. Neither am i Good news is these website hosts, these website platforms are like drag and drop.
00:03:16
Speaker
i do not recommend going cheap on a website i think that you should use one of these two and it's not because i'm getting paid by them i'm not i don't get any affiliate sponsorship from these two i just know that they're good for building search engine optimization and i know that they're good for um they're easy they're intuitive so i would recommend either squarespace or show it pick a template that you like and drag and drop what you need.
00:03:40
Speaker
Here are the only pages that you need when you're starting. You need a really good homepage that has a good call to action. You need a portfolio with at least 10 to 20 images per genre that you specialize in.
00:03:54
Speaker
You need an about page that can be simple but explains who you are. And you need a pricing page. You need to share what you're charging. Oh, and the fifth thing, an easy way for people to contact you.
Essential Tools for New Photographers
00:04:08
Speaker
So if I was floundering right now and I wanted to know where to direct my time and money, that's where I would say you should direct it first. You don't need a CRM in the beginning. You don't need HoneyBook or Sprout or any of those things when you are a low volume.
00:04:20
Speaker
You don't. Will you need them eventually? Actually, you never need them. You can always manage without. But should you get one eventually? Probably. but you don't need that right now you don't so that is what you need is the website the next thing that you need is a really beautiful way to proof your photos for your clients so in 2023 you are taking photos and probably giving some form of digital files or at least selling digitally I don't think that SmugMug is very professional.
00:04:50
Speaker
I don't think Dropbox is professional. I don't think WeTransfer is professional, because it's not it's not pleasing visually. I use Shootproof, but there are plenty of other ones. PicTime, PixieSet, those all work. They're beautiful.
00:05:03
Speaker
I do think you should invest in those um when you're first starting even, because you need a good way to share your photos. Now the good news is, is that most of them have a really cheap or even free option when you are low volume and you don't have that many photos on there.
00:05:17
Speaker
So those are the two things that I think you need right now.
Building a Portfolio and Gaining Confidence
00:05:20
Speaker
If you are feeling like you don't have good photos to put on a website, well, you need to do portfolio building photo shoots.
00:05:30
Speaker
You cannot skip that part. You cannot skip the practice phase. You cannot skip the discovery phase. So if you are starting your website and you think, you know what? I don't have 10 or 20 portfolio worthy photos.
00:05:41
Speaker
No problem. Still start your website. Now go out and seek out portfolio building shoots. I would say that you should seek out three to five in each genre that you are wanting to specialize in specialize in if you do not feel like you have enough.
00:05:56
Speaker
All right. No more excuses. Go get that stuff started. You got this. Be empowered.