They all laughed at me
Starting a new career in photography can be a bold move for a lot of people. Any new venture comes with so many hurdles to get over that you sometimes find yourself following what you’ve seen others do in order to not feel lost. When I started photography at a professional level, I did what most do. I hopped on Google and searched my area to see who the stand-out lens slingers were. I think this is the right moment to tell all of you rookie creatives that popularity in a small town is more important than being actually good, at first. Don’t get discouraged though. You can stand out from the mundane once you get the ball rolling. Here’s how I did it, despite being told it, “wasn’t the way”.
Make friends with your competition
Early on, I posted an offering to work with local photographers. I truly believe that you can learn a lot from other people in your craft while inspiring yourself to improve. I ended up getting several responses and spent time with each of them. We’d go out and shoot, show each other little tricks we’d picked up along the way and share stories of nightmarish clients and wild experiences. This was eye-opening for me as a newcomer because I got to see that some of the difficulties I was having were not exclusive to being a rookie. It also gave me a new perspective on handling some of the issues that I would later face.
get used to the eye roll
Grow some thicker skin. When you first start telling people about your new love of photography, they will usually be supportive and tell you how they have thought about it and plenty of other random comments. However, when you tell the same people that you are taking it to another level and plan to start charging for it, they will often change their tone, telling you how it won’t be easy and it’s fierce competition. This is their own insecurity talking and you should take the words and move on. Don’t let them get to you. At this point in your journey, it’s easy to get discouraged and fall into the negative trap of telling yourself you don’t measure up and you can’t do this. No matter how many people roll their eyes at you and chuckle, push through it. If you stay focused and positive, these people will soon start asking for sessions.
My biggest secret to growth in professional photography
I’m not sure that it’s a secret anymore, as I’ve been doing it for almost ten years now, but let me explain it. I noticed that all of the photographers were posting pictures of their shoots and the interaction was moderate, at best. I studied multiple accounts and carefully took note of what got traction and what simply fell short. This is when I realized that I was eventually going to get into social media marketing, but that isn’t the topic of this post. Photographers would post frequently about their packages and their promotions, and people just got sick of being sold something all of the time. I decided that instead of selling them an item, I’d make them come along for the ride and want to work with me. Think of it like dating… If you’re in a bar and bragging about all of your qualities and accomplishments, you’re going to lose their attention pretty fast. Now, if you are at the same bar and minding your business, but the person hears about you from their own friends, you’ve established a different kind of trust, because you weren’t selling yourself. Let me explain how this translates to what I did.
Shots like these create intrigue. People will let their curiosity lead them deeper into your work.
I started booking shoots, here and there, doing everything I could to provide a fun session and amazing finished results. I didn’t post the full results in an obnoxious album on my own social media. To my peers confusion, I had an “assistant” come with me and take shots of me taking shots. I started posting these shots of bts action and tagging the individuals in my posts.
Why did this work? Just like the reference to dating, I wasn’t the one bragging about myself or forcing my work down your throat, begging for approval. I was simply showing the world what I did. Either way, you’re going to get the reach from the people you’ve tagged, why not let them show the beautiful shots of their family, or their pet or whatever?
After the initial judgement of my odd method of self-marketing started gaining traction, it gained fast. I watched the analytics show me that these posts of behind the scenes were easily triple the engagement. I really noticed the difference when I learned about Facebook’s feature to compare your page to other pages. I stuck a few of my competitors names in the feature and saw that even though they had built up a larger following than I had and they posted every single day, I was reaching so much further. More people were seeing me through this cloud of promotions because I was just showing what I did from a unique and real angle. You don’t have to be flamboyant to stand out, you just have to do it differently.
Will this work for you?
It might. Nothing is a certainty in a creative venue, but you need to find a way to stand out in a world of people that are sick of being sold every time they sign on. I found a way to bring them in and make them feel part of the process, which then made them actually want to be part of the process, and it could work for you too. It’s also a way to appear like you are more busy when you’re just starting out and don’t have shoots with new people every day. Be honest with your audience and show them who you are and how you work. Don’t throw up a different promotion each week that is just some random 10$ off nonsense. Take your time and build a brand of your name. Cultivate your style and show off what makes YOU unique.
*If you would like to learn more about the psychology and analytic side of how this could work and mold to your needs, feel free to send me an email.