Essential Strategies to Scale Your Photography Business

Early in your photography career, you were probably happy just to play with your camera and get paid for it. Those first few years were spent building your portfolio, hustling to get clients, and developing a good reputation within your chosen industry.

At first that might have been enough to keep your business going, but after a few years of grinding, you might find yourself working all the time and barely making ends meet. It can feel like the money in your bank account does not match the time and effort you put into your photography career. If this is the case, then it’s time to scale your photography business.

Scaling your photography business doesn’t just mean working more hours. It means increasing revenue at a faster rate than costs, including the cost of your time. It means improving your workflows and becoming more efficient, so that you spend less time but make more money. Below are some essential strategies for scaling your photography business without breaking the bank (or your back).

#1 Think of your photography business as just that: a business.

While your interest in photography might have started as a hobby or a side hustle, if you want it to be a sustainable career, you’ll have to start thinking about photography as a business. There are countless books, classes, and online workshops about how to run a service-based business, so take some time to read up about the basics of business and apply those strategies to your photography business.

• Business Basics Overview: You need to create and implement efficient systems for marketing (getting clients in the door), production (making images and delivering to clients), and business administration (invoices, contracts, bookkeeping, taxes, client communication, etc.).

#2 Increase your prices.

That might seem like a no-brainer, but when was the last time you raised your prices? Since that price increase, your business costs have probably gone up, you’ve gained more experience, you’ve grown as a photographer, and you’ve likely upgraded your gear. These are all legitimate reasons to raise your prices.

• If you’re still hesitant about increasing your rate, do a time audit of the last project you were hired for. Count up all the hours spent emailing and talking about the project, brainstorming ideas, scouting locations, gathering inspiration images, planning the shoot, prepping your gear, traveling, actually shooting, editing, managing files, etc.
  
  Be honest with yourself and look at how much money you made for an 8-hour work day, or a 40-hour work week. Does that result in a sustainable amount for a yearly salary, before taxes? If not, figure out the number that is sustainable, and then set that as your rate. If you feel uncomfortable asking for the higher number, you’re probably headed in the right direction.

#3 Develop an effective marketing plan.

Your first client was probably someone in your circle of friends and family, and your second client was probably someone in their circle of friends and family. Word of mouth is a powerful way to get clients, but it’s unreliable and completely outside of your control.

What you need is a strategic marketing plan that consistently gets you and your work in front of your target market in a way that entices potential clients to want to learn more and book your services.

• These days, there are many cost-effective ways to market yourself: social media, monthly newsletters, direct email outreach, printed promotional materials, blogging, etc.
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• Scaling a photography business includes developing an actionable marketing plan that utilizes these tools to promote your photography business to potential clients.
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• Define your niche and your target market. If you’re a business-to-consumer photography business (B2C; weddings, family portraiture, seniors, pets, event photography), your target market is individual consumers. If you’re a business-to-business photography business (B2B; food, product, e-commerce, fashion, commercial photography), your target market is other businesses, more specifically individuals who work for other businesses, like marketing directors, creative directors, and art buyers.
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• Once you’ve identified potential clients, figure out where they spend their time, what they might be looking for in a photographer, and how your services would be a good fit to solve their problems. For example, a wedding photographer might want to put time into social media ads that are targeted toward individuals who searched for things like “wedding venue” or “engagement rings.” A commercial photographer might compile a list of creative agencies in their region and mail out a mini portfolio book to show off their best work. Tailor the language and materials to the person receiving them.
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• Don’t do too much marketing at once. Pick one or two strategies and try them out for a few months. If you get some client inquiries from those strategies, then keep it up! If you don’t get any leads, then consider trying other strategies until you find some that work for you.

#4 Improve your workflow and make processes more efficient.

As the owner of a photography business, there are probably certain steps that you do over and over again, whether they are daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly chores. Things like backing up your images, editing and color correcting, writing contracts, posting on social media, invoicing clients, taxes, and bookkeeping. Since you’re doing these tasks regularly, scaling your photography business means putting efficient processes in place so you’re not reinventing the wheel every time you sit down to invoice a client.

• Make a list of repetitive tasks in your photography business and create Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for each and every one. An SOP is a list of each step required to complete the job so you can do it the same way every time, without constantly wondering, “What’s next?”

• Automate whatever you can. With all the time-saving software options in the business world, a great photography business strategy is to automate certain tasks, like backing up data, scheduling meetings, or sending follow-up emails for overdue payments. These software services are typically inexpensive, and will save you loads of time in the long run.

• Figure out where you might be wasting time and adjust your calendar accordingly. If you usually schedule introduction calls for an hour, see if you can do them in a concentrated 30 minutes. Right now it might take you 3 hours to do your weekly social media posts, but if you really focus, maybe you can do it all in 2 hours. If you can trim the fat on your daily and weekly tasks, you can put more effort into marketing and upgrading your skills, which will have the most impact on revenue.

By thinking like a business owner, raising your prices to match your expertise, developing an effective marketing plan, and creating efficient processes, you can scale your photography business without throwing all your time and money into it. These photography business strategies are the key to building a sustainable career, making a livable income, and enjoying your days working as a professional photographer.