The Best Place to Find Your First Clients
Lesson 23 from: Launch a Successful Photography BusinessPhilip Ebiner, Will Carnahan
The Best Place to Find Your First Clients
Lesson 23 from: Launch a Successful Photography BusinessPhilip Ebiner, Will Carnahan
Lesson Info
23. The Best Place to Find Your First Clients
Lessons
Chapter 1: Introduction to Starting a Photography Business
1Welcome
02:26 2Why Do You Want to Start a Photography Business
04:40 3What Kind of Photography Business Do You Want to Start
05:38 4Important Personal Note from Instructor Will
02:25 5Case Study Starting a Photography Business
07:43 6Quiz - Chapter 1
Chapter 2: Basics of Starting a Photography Business
Introduction to Basics of Starting a Photography Business
00:52 8Choose Your Business Name
05:29 9Choose Your Business Structure
06:12 10Register Your Business Name
01:47 11Get Your Federal Tax ID
01:39 12Get Your Business License
01:16 13Get Your Business Bank Account
02:16 14Register Your Online Accounts
02:17 15Branding Your Business
02:18 16Set Your Prices
12:56 17The Photography Gear You Need to Start a Business
03:42 18Case Study - Business Basics
24:42 19Case Study - Equipment
10:05 20Quiz - Chapter 2
Chapter 3: Get Your First Paying Clients
21Intro to Getting Your First Paying Clients
00:44 22You Need to Prove Yourself
01:30 23The Best Place to Find Your First Clients
02:36 24What to Charge for Your First Clients
02:44 25On Set - Partnering with Other Creatives
01:57 26On Set - Getting Work in a Competitive Environment
02:38 27Use Your First Shoot Wisely
01:20 28Case Study - Getting Your First Clients
07:55 29Quiz - Chapter 3
Chapter 4: Create Your Photography Business Website
30Introduction to Create Your Photography Business Website
01:05 31Why You Need a Website and Platform Options
04:30 32What Needs to Be On Your Website
07:32 33Design the Perfect Portfolio
03:17 34Case Study - Looking at Photography Websites
12:56 35Quiz - Chapter 4
Chapter 5: Expanding Your Online Presence
36Introduction to Expanding Your Online Presence
00:55 37Use Instagram to Grow Your Business
02:29 38Use Facebook to Grow Your Business
01:21 39Get Listed on Google
03:53 40Get Listed on Yelp
03:20 41Get Listed on Review Sites
04:06 42Using Craigslist to Get Work
03:01 43Case Study - Expanding Your Online Presence
13:16 44Quiz - Chapter 5
Chapter 6: The Photography Business Workflow
45Introduction to the Photography Business Workflow
00:54 46Step 1 - Meeting Your Client
03:32 47Step 2 - Booking Your Client
05:53 48Step 3 - The Shoot
02:28 49Step 4 - Editing Your Photos
06:34 50Step 5 - Delivering Your Photos
01:05 51Case Study - Business Workflow
15:54 52On Set - the Shoot
02:50 53On Set - Backdrop Placement
01:13 54On Set - Paper Backdrop Rolls
02:01 55On Set - The Back Light
00:46 56On Set - Interacting with Clients
04:58 57Quiz - Chapter 6
Chapter 7:Scaling Your Business with Better Infrastructure
58Intro to Business Infrastructure and Continued Growth
00:46 59Productivity Tools to Make Your More Efficient
06:21 60Get Business Insurance
03:55 61Accounting Tools & Tips
04:20 62Business Tax Tips
03:38 63Scaling Your Prices Up
02:56 64Use Conventions and Meet Ups to Grow Your Business
04:01 65Case Study - Business Growth
11:04 66Quiz - Chapter 7
Chapter 8: Selling Your Prints
67Intro to the Selling Prints Section
00:56 68Why Should You Sell Your Prints
02:18 69Choose a Printer
02:59 70How to Price Your Prints
05:33 71Selling Your Prints Online
08:06 72Selling Your Prints in Person
02:38 73Wrapping up This Section
01:26 74Quiz - Chapter 8
Chapter 9: Conclusion
75Tips for Personal and Creative Well Being
04:38 76Conclusion
01:45Final Quiz
77Final Quiz
Lesson Info
The Best Place to Find Your First Clients
So now you have your content, you have your examples, you're ready to show people what you have. How do you get your first clients to expand that content, Start practicing, Start making money. Who do you go to first? I go to the people that are closest to me first, that's my family and friends now I'm not going to charge them an arm and a leg. I'm not gonna like tell them that they owe me thousands of dollars to start shooting them, but I will see if they need shots. Family is a good place to start. As far as weddings go as far as engagements go. Maybe there's a newborn you can go talk to. Maybe they need a new profile photo for their, you know, for their website or for their business that they're running. This is a really good place because you know them, there's an open dialogue that you can start shooting with your friends and your family, your friends and friends of friends are really the next step. And that may include getting to them through social media, something like putting a...
post on facebook and say, hey, starting photography business out willing and ready to give discounts or we'll shoot for cheap stuff like that. And usually friends of friends will start re posting that Now cool aspect of this too is if you even get a couple of friends to pay you even like $50 to shoot a photo or a head shot or you know an engagement session. They'll then post that on Instagram or on Facebook and that will lead to potentially another client. So it's really about getting a snowball going with your friends and family. It's kind of the core part of starting it, you shoot for them, they expand their network, they expand their network, they expand network and soon, once you're past your family and friends, you're into paying clients that you don't know new people, you're out in the public and that's really how you kind of get it going. And that's really how the business structure works. Is it starts to work as word of mouth. You shoot for someone, someone asked, oh that photo looks great, who did that? I'm like, oh well I'll point you back to this person and so that's kind of how it works. But you have to start with the people that you already know and the people that uh they know and that's how you really get going. So using your inner circle is really what I've seen as the most successful way to start. Eventually, you'll be on yelp, you'll be on google search, you'll be out there in the world, you'll be going to trade shows, you'll be meeting new people, you'll be on instagram, but in order to get to that point, you need to create more and more content. You need to start somewhere that you already have a connection with. Now, I already have connections with friends, I already have, connections with friends with friends and that's really the best and easiest way that I've seen work as like a quick and successful way to get going.
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