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How to Market Your Photography Business Without Social Media
70 Plays16 days ago
Episode Summary: Are you frustrated with social media engagement and feeling like it's harder than ever to reach your ideal clients? You’re not alone! In today’s episode, I’m sharing three powerful marketing strategies that will help you grow your photography business without relying on Instagram or Facebook. Social media can be a great tool, but it shouldn’t be your main strategy. Instead, focus on these proven methods to build a sustainable and thriving business.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
- Why social media is "rented real estate" and why you shouldn’t rely on it
- The #1 strategy I use to book out my calendar a year in advance
- How to create high-quality content that attracts your ideal clients
- The importance of SEO and how to make Google work for you
Key Takeaways:
- Build and Utilize an Email List
Email marketing gives you direct access to potential clients without the unpredictability of social media algorithms.
Every time I send an email about session openings, I book clients—100% of the time.
Grab my free guide on how to start your email list (linked below)! - Create High-Quality Content on Your Website
Your website is content you OWN, unlike social media where you have no control.
A strong website should include a portfolio, a great homepage, an about page, and a blog.
Blogging about topics your clients care about (e.g., what to wear, how to prepare for a session) establishes your expertise and attracts new clients. - Optimize Your Website for Search Engines (SEO)
SEO helps your website rank on Google so clients can find you organically.
Good SEO means more high-quality traffic to your site—people actively searching for photographers like you.
Pair SEO with valuable blog content to maximize your reach.
Final Thoughts: Most of us waste time scrolling on social media, hoping it will magically bring in clients. But likes and followers don’t pay the bills. Instead, focus on these three powerful marketing strategies to build a sustainable and thriving photography business. Want to get started with email marketing? Download my free guide below!
Resources & Links:
📩 Download My Free Guide: How to Start Your Email List
📷 Follow Me on Instagram (For those who still enjoy social media!)
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Transcript
Introduction to Non-Social Media Marketing
00:00:01
Speaker
Hey friend, I hope you're enjoying these audio recordings. I am sure having a lot of fun making them. It just feels so fun to make these little bite-sized recordings for you. So anyway, I hope that you're on a fun walk right now, or maybe you're making dinner, or maybe you are driving the carpool and trying to get a little bit of education in.
00:00:21
Speaker
Either way, I'm so glad you're here.
Challenges of Social Media for Small Businesses
00:00:23
Speaker
So today want to tell you about or talk to you about how to market your photography business without using social media. Because let's face it, I heard somebody say that we're in a social media engagement recession.
00:00:34
Speaker
And I think it's really true. The screaming match on Instagram and Facebook is louder than ever. And the reward is lower than ever. And, you know, for me to say that is kind of...
00:00:47
Speaker
pointed because I actually really like social media and I still use it. I still do use it. But the truth is, is that Meta has come up with ways to become
The Unreliability of Social Media Platforms
00:00:56
Speaker
more profitable. And that's because Meta is a business and that's what they're going to do.
00:01:01
Speaker
And those ways have made it harder for small businesses to gain visibility on their platforms. And that's what we are as photographers. We are small businesses. And like I said, it's really no secret.
00:01:12
Speaker
I enjoy social media. I post on Instagram and Facebook every day. However, I can see why many photographers, especially newer photographers with smaller ah followings, can feel really frustrated.
00:01:25
Speaker
But here is my little secret. Social media is not the way, not the main way anyway, but really not even like 5% of the way that I get my photography clients.
00:01:38
Speaker
And that's probably surprising for you to hear, but it is the cold hard truth. And it's because I've known for a very long time that social media is rented real estate and that I needed to focus my efforts on content that I have control over or at least a lot more control over and content that is essentially my own.
Power of Email Lists in Marketing
00:02:00
Speaker
as should you. So if social media is not your favorite thing, you're going to love this ah next few minutes here that I'm going to share with you because the truth is, is that social media is rented real estate and I do not recommend focusing your efforts there.
00:02:18
Speaker
So first and foremost, the first thing that i recommend that you do if you do not want to focus on social media is focus your efforts on growing and utilizing your email list.
00:02:29
Speaker
Now, if you've been receiving um or listening to business education from super entrepreneurs who are talking about selling online courses or who are talking about growing giant followings,
00:02:43
Speaker
then you've probably felt a little intimidated by the fact of an email list or the the idea of an email list because we're talking thousands and we're talking funnels and all of these terms that really don't matter if you are simply thinking about using your email list to grow, im i'm sorry, to build your photography business.
00:03:02
Speaker
All it means, in essence, is that you have a way to email people that you want to photograph, email clients, email potential clients directly.
Building Your Email List: A Guide
00:03:12
Speaker
And the legalities of it is that they have to have a way to log to um opt out.
00:03:18
Speaker
so here's the cool thing about email lists you own it you actually own your email list once someone opts into your email 100 of the people that you send that email to will receive the email 100 of them isn't that cool now open rates vary depending on size and your industry and all of that but just that simple fact the fact that when you send an email it shows up in every inbox you sent it to or at least unless there were some bounces or whatever, but a pretty high percentage, almost 100%, that in and of itself is reason to focus on that.
00:03:51
Speaker
So every single time that I send an email about session openings, I book sessions. Every single time. 100% of the time. And I have my booking family, I send my booking ah family shoot, my booking family email out a year in advance and I book my calendar out a year in advance exclusively with my email.
00:04:09
Speaker
You do not have to overcomplicate things. i really really want you to think about um I really, really want you to think about growing an email list. And in the bottom of this audio recording, I'm going to actually put a download for you to download um a guide for how to start your email list because
Creating Owned Content: Websites and Blogs
00:04:27
Speaker
it's so important. Okay, so focus on your email list.
00:04:29
Speaker
The second marketing tactic that I want you to focus on if you don't like social media is creating high quality content that your clients want to see and read. Now you're going to need a website for this. So if you don't have a website yet, I know, I know. Yes, you need one.
00:04:45
Speaker
You're going to need a website for this. And it's because you own the content on your website. It's extremely important that you have content that you own. You do not own the posts that you make on social media. Did you know that? Like they could delete your account with and you wouldn't know why and it would be gone.
00:04:59
Speaker
Yeah, and that happens to people sometimes. So you need and a website. You will do this with content on your website that is a great portfolio, a great homepage, a great about page, and a great blog.
00:05:13
Speaker
Yes, you do need a blog. Like I 100% think that you need a blog. And you can blog about things that your client actually cares about, like what to wear, how to prepare for a photo shoot, how to choose the best location, et cetera.
Boosting Visibility with SEO
00:05:27
Speaker
So that is my second tip for marketing your business without social media is by creating high quality content that you own that your clients want to read. And that leads to my third tip.
00:05:39
Speaker
My third tip is focusing on good search engine optimization on your website. So search out emden engine optimization, which will also be referred to often as SEO, is the practice of optimizing your website and its content to improve its visibility and ranking on search engines like Google, for example. Google being the one that most people use.
00:06:02
Speaker
The goal of SEO is to increase the quality and quantity of the traffic to your website, meaning the people who come to your website through organic search results.
Beyond Social Media: A Holistic Approach
00:06:14
Speaker
So you do this by going back to step two up there and creating great content that your clients need and love. Most of us waste a ton of time on social media.
00:06:27
Speaker
We just are there scrolling aimlessly wondering why our business isn't taking off. Don't be that person. You can use it to connect, to shake hands with potential clients, to be relatable and personable, but don't make it be your only strategy.
00:06:42
Speaker
By making it be your only strategy, you are missing out on other, more effective, long-term, reliable marketing strategies. Most of the metrics on social media are about vanity and popularity.
00:06:56
Speaker
Truth. How many likes did you get? How many followers, et cetera? Likes and followers are not going to pay the bills. Focus on the three tips that I gave in this audio recording, and I promise that you will be able to fast track your marketing plan.
00:07:09
Speaker
And I will link the guide to get your email list started underneath this recording.