Are You a Photographer Starting a Business?
By: Darryl Brooks
Tags: Life Lessons, Photography, Business, Photographer, Marketing

Are you a photographer who has decided to make some money with your art?

Maybe all your friends and relatives have told you what a great photographer you are. (Who may or may not be qualified to make that judgment, but that’s a different article.)

After a while, you listen to them and decide that yes, you will turn your photography into a business. So, the next thing you do is… what? What do you mean you don’t know? Just start selling stuff. How hard can it be?

Well, pretty damn hard, as it turns out.

Just like learning photography was hard. You had to learn cameras and lenses and apertures and shutter speeds and a hundred other little technical details.

In business, you have to learn income, expenses, inventory, taxes, licensing, permits, marketing, and a hundred other little technical details.

The reality is, if you want to turn your photography into a business, you have to learn how to run a business. Should be obvious, but trust me, it’s not. I’ve watched many amazing photographers fail at business. They sit in their homes, or worse, their expensive studios, wondering why the world hasn’t beat a path to their door.

Because just building a better mousetrap isn’t enough. You have to learn how to maintain proper inventory, get the proper permits and licenses, pay taxes on the (hopefully) income you make. And mostly, you have to learn how to get people to know where your door is.

If you take two people, one is a fantastic photographer but a poor businessperson, and the other a master at business but a hack at photography. The first will take some amazing images that everyone who sees them will gush over. The second will make money. A lot more money than the first person.

So, if your friends have convinced you to go into business with your photography, I have just one piece of advice.

Don’t.

Not yet, anyway. You have a lot to learn. First, learn the basics of running a business. You don’t need to be a CPA or an Intellectual Property Attorney, or a marketing genius. But you need to know a little about all of these, especially marketing.

So, take a business course. You don’t need a degree; just take a few classes. Preferably a live class with a teacher and peers with whom you can interact. Being able to get questions answered quickly and get ideas from other students is a big plus. But if that is not practical, especially during these times, take online courses. Pro Tip: Check with your local library. Many have free memberships to places such as LinkedIn Learning (Formerly Lynda.com).

You will need to study up on licensing, intellectual property law, your rights, and the rights of those you photograph. One important lesson from that is when to pursue a violation and when to let it go. If someone from another country steals an image to put on their website, it’s not worth your time and certainly not worth your money to chase down. But if your photo ends up on the cover of Time magazine illegally, then go for it.

And mostly, you need to learn marketing. This, more than all other things combined, will make the difference between a successful business and a failure. Getting your name out there and enticing people to buy your photographs or services is absolutely crucial. Social media is the key, and it will be up to you to learn which channels give your images the most bang for the buck. Instagram is made for photography but is so bloated you may get lost. Twitter and Facebook allow you to target your audience. But don’t forget LinkedIn, YouTube, and Pinterest. Each has its strengths and weaknesses. Experiment.

But don’t forget old fashioned marketing. Forget the Yellow Pages unless you live in a small town. But spend time and money designing and printing quality business cards. Get a lot of them and always have some with you. People need to know you are a photographer everywhere you go.

A good businessperson could pick up a camera and start making money fairly quickly. But a good photographer needs to learn and master the nuances of business to turn what was once a hobby into a successful business.