master photographer | photographic craftsman | certified professional photographer
If you don’t yet have a website, at some point, you will want to arrange for that. Websites are technical time-suckers and can be lessons in pure frustration.
The simplest way to get started is with a blog, and best of all, it’s FREE. There are a number of blogging platforms and services available that you can use, but I’m going to steer you towards WordPress. WordPress ROCKS!
Today we’re going to talk a little bit about marketing. Marketing is a HUGE part of running a business, and I’m not necessarily a marketing guru, but I do have some advice for you:
Do not market yourself as a CHEAP/AFFORDABLE photographer.
If you have decided to try your hand at studio photography, you have probably had to deal with getting a background. And yes, some of those backgrounds are high dollar. And you probably looked around and figured out that you could get a king-sized bed sheet at the dollar store for $12. Ha ha! You just saved yourself a couple of hundred dollars. Wow, I’m so impressed with your ingenuity that I have this lovely cone-shaped hat for you. Put it on and sit in the corner.
Oh, there she goes again, ranting and raving.
Yep, I’m in a soapbox tangent phase right now. I’m a 48 year-old woman with hot flashes. You figure it out.
So many times I see relatively new photographers try to make a name for themselves in their community by doing good deeds. Honey, donate your time at a cat shelter or give a cash donation in your business name, but for the love of all that is holy, do not volunteer to photograph the animals that need adopting if you’ve never photographed an animal before.
Continue reading “If you aren’t good enough to charge, you aren’t good enough to donate.”
“Copyright shmopyright! “
This is the attitude I hear often from beginning photographers. If this is your attitude, go away. I have no tolerance for ignorance. If you wish to remove that ignorance from your brain, sit down in the front row and listen very carefully.
There. I said it. If you’re not offended now, then I welcome you to my little corner of the internet. We’re going to have a real beneficial time chatting (or rather YOU will have a beneficial time reading MY chatter). I hope.
So, what the hell does that mean? (OK – 2 cuss words in an article is my limit, you can uncover your ears now).
OK, let’s get down to the nitty gritty. If you’re like me, your desk is covered with paperwork, your voicemail box is full of half-listened to, saved messages that you mean to return later and your to-do list is about a mile long. *big sigh*. Alright, that’s enough whining – time to roll up your sleeves and make yourself a daily schedule.
Quit laughing.
The quest for education continues…
I realize that sometimes it’s difficult to get the training and education we need. When I first started out, I was at my wit’s end trying to find classes. My local community college didn’t have any classes and I’d already taken the ones at the local adult education vocational school.
I had taken a class in college almost 20 years prior, so I had a basic knowledge and needed some more specialized instruction.
Then I found BetterPhoto.com
While I absolutely adore the PPA, I’m going to make one point loud and clear:
Buying a membership in the PPA does not mean that you are a professional photographer. It only means that you have enough money to buy the membership.
Continue reading “Organizations: Professional Photographers of America”
For years I’ve been stuck with those clunky black camera bags that look, well… clunky and black. Don’t get me wrong – I have several bags by LowePro that I swear by, but sometimes a girl just needs something a little more stylish.
