How To Get Clients For Photography - Leads Clients Customers

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Getting new clients is a key part of making a living as a photographer.

Your current clients may think you’re the bee’s knees, but attracting new people and convincing them to hire you can be a tricky proposition.

In this post, we’ll go over some proven ways to attract new clients, including:

How to get your first clients?
How to grow your client list?
How to grow your business?

Let’s take a closer look.

How To Get Your First Client

There are several ways you can go about getting your first client. Let’s examine each of these options:

Cold Calling

This is the most time-consuming and tedious way to go about trying to get clients.

However, it is also the most direct and honest way of all.

The idea here is to make telephone calls to people who have the money and desire to buy photographs.

Do not call people who are too busy or who have a hard time paying for anything. Call only people who have the discretionary income to hire you.

If you’ve had a few good shoots with an established client, you may want to get together with them and ask if they’d like to have you take some more pictures.

This is a great way to get some new work from an old friend.

If you have a portfolio with decent work on it, you can use that to show potential clients the type of work you do.

If you’re having trouble getting the word out, consider writing a blog post about your work and putting it up on sites like Medium or LinkedIn.

Social Media

A great way to get new clients is to start a Facebook page or Instagram account and start posting your photos there.

Undeniably, this is a faster way to build a portfolio than cold calling, but make sure you do it right.

Make sure you have permission from all the people in your photos before you put them on the Internet.

And make sure you only post photos you took yourself, or that you have permission to use.

Don’t even think about using stock photo websites like iStockPhoto or Adobe Stock without the express written consent of the owner of those photos.

Those folks are extremely protective of their work and will take action against any unauthorized use of their material.

Blogging

If you have a blog of your own, you can add a link to your portfolio and show potential clients what you’ve been up to.

If you don’t have a blog, consider creating one.

Here are the best blog builders in the market:

Blogging is a great way to get new clients because it lets people know that you’re an active photographer.

This is important because it helps people trust you and want to hire you.

Lead Magnets

Another great way to get new clients is to write down a list of people you’d like to photograph.

Then create a simple, attractive lead magnet for each of these people.

A lead magnet is any type of content that people want to download and read.

It can be anything from a downloadable eBook to a checklist or worksheet.

The key here is to offer something that people will want to receive in exchange for your time.

Include some type of freebie in your lead magnet (like a free report or eBook).

This will make them more likely to buy from you and give you a chance to build a relationship with them first.

You will need a lead gen tool to build lead magents.

These are the best tools in the market, and all offer trials:

Try out each one, and see which you find the best for your business.

Email Marketing

Now that you have used the lead magnets to gain some new contact info, you need to send them emails.

Tell them about a recent project you did for a friend or family member.

Ask if they’ve ever needed anything like that done for them, and if they have, would you be willing to work for them?

This is a great way to get a second interview with a person you’ve already met. And it is an extremely powerful way to generate new business.

You will need an email marketing tool, such as:

All of the above offers trials – so check them all out.

Email Marketing Builds Trust

In a sales pitch, the strongest weapon you have is your credibility.

Once a prospect hears a story about how you helped someone else and was able to see your work firsthand, he will be much more likely to hire you.

How To Grow Your Client List

Now that you’ve managed to get your first client or two, let’s look at how you grow your list.

Build a Relationship with Your Clients

If you’re going to be successful at building your client base, you need to build a relationship with your clients.

On the whole, people will pay more for a product or service they like and trust.

The more time you spend getting to know your clients, the more they will want to do business with you.

Think about it this way: You can have an awesome product or service, but if no one knows about it, no one will buy it.

But if you have a mediocre product, but you spend a lot of time marketing it, then people will buy it.

And if you have a really bad product, but you spend a ton of money on advertising, then you’ll get a lot of sales.

So the best way to make money is to spend money on making money.

Get to know your clients on a personal level.

If they’re willing to give you their personal phone number or email address, do so.

Be Consistent

The most important thing you can do to earn your clients’ trust is to be consistent.

This means that you need to follow up with your clients on a regular basis.

Don’t wait too long to follow up with your clients.

The best time to send a follow-up email is when you have a new piece of content ready to send.

This can be anything from a blog post, a report, a webinar, etc.

The key here is that you need to have a new piece of content ready to go at any time.

When you send a follow-up, make sure it’s something that your clients will want to read.

In brief, make sure you offer value to them.

Make sure you tell them something they didn’t know before.

If you do that consistently, they will become more comfortable with doing business with you and trust you.

When you’re creating content for your clients, think about what they would like to read.

What are the types of things that they might want?

Would they want a list of things that you’ve done for other people in the past?

If so, why not create a blog post with some of those things and send it to them?

In fact, why don’t you send several different posts to them – one with case studies, one with testimonials, and maybe even one where you give them some free advice?

You’ll find that your clients will come to expect these regular deliveries of value from you.

And when you do deliver value to them, they will begin to trust you and be much more likely to do business with you.

Grow Your List By Giving Value

One of the best ways to grow your client list is to give your current clients more value.

It’s really easy to think that if you give away something to your clients for free, they won’t pay you for it.

But in reality, it’s not that way at all.

In fact, people will pay more for something they value than they will for something they don’t value.

So what does this mean? It means that by giving your clients something they value, you will increase their desire to work with you.

So what can you give your clients?

A new product or service?

A report on how to improve their business?

A free guide that will help them?

A webinar?

How To Grow Your Photography Business

The most important thing to me when it comes to business is that you work hard.

You want to take the time to figure out what’s going on with my clients, and if you don’t know how to fix something or improve it, then you’re not doing your job.

If you’re reading this and thinking “Yeah, but how do I grow my photography business?

Surprisingly, there are a number of things you can do that won’t cost you a cent… and… will almost certainly make a HUGE difference in your business.

Take Photos Of Your Friends And Family

The first little win is simple. It doesn’t cost anything (other than maybe some gas money).

And it helps you remember those important moments in your life, like birthdays, anniversaries and holidays.

Once you have enough photos, create a simple collage using Microsoft Picture It or Photoshop.

Then send the collage to your friends and family via email.

Create A Marketing Calendar

Write down all of the major events (big or small) that happen during the next 12 months.

Next, write down all of the things (big or small) that need to get done by you and/or your clients.

Now, go through each month and see if there is anything that falls into the “needs to be done” category… that… also happens to fall into the “event” category.

If so, put that item into your marketing calendar. If not, move on to the next month and repeat the process.

You will soon have a very detailed, year-long calendar that you can use to schedule your activities.

Use It!

Write A Business Plan

Once you’ve created a marketing calendar, it’s time to write a business plan.

A business plan will help you manage your finances, make decisions about your business and give you a clear idea of where you want to go.

Business Cards

Your business card is one of your most important marketing tools.

The more value you add to it, the more likely you are to get referrals from others.

When you’re in a meeting with a potential new client, take out your business card and show them how many times you’ve been asked to help other people.

This will inspire them to give you the opportunity to do the same thing for them.

Join A Club Write A Business Plan

There are hundreds of business clubs on every continent.

Most of them are made up of people who are just like you (they are business owners) and they are happy to welcome you as a member.

Some of the clubs are very expensive but that doesn’t mean you have to pay to be a member.

Many of the “big name” clubs like the Chamber of Commerce and the local Rotary Club allow non-members to attend for free.

If you belong to a club, find out what its goals are and see if there is any way you can help.

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