New Photography Business Mistakes to Avoid

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Article: description: There are plenty of business mistakes you might make that could endanger your new photography business. This guide will help you avoid some of these pitfalls and get on the road to success!
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The percentage of new photography businesses that fail each year stays pretty consistent. A common factor in many failed businesses is making avoidable business mistakes.  

Here are a few common photography business mistakes and how to avoid them. Along with the business mistakes you want to avoid, we’ll highlight several simple-to-implement photography business tips you can use immediately.

Table of Contents: 

Jack of All Trades Business Mistakes

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We’ve seen it a lot…

An avid photographer is very good and always gets told, “You should be a pro!” This is a good thing; it’s how many professionals start, usually as a side hustle doing gig work or selling prints and photo books.

What gets new pros in trouble, making it one of the biggest business mistakes, is trying to take on work in anything and everything photographic. The thought process is legit; the new pro doesn’t want to miss out on business and wants to establish themselves.

The problem is that not all photography jobs use the same skills. Maybe we are extremely good at portraits; those skills don’t completely bleed over to commercial real estate photography, product photography, or making a wedding video.

As part of this discussion's business photography tips section, it’s usually better to specialize in a niche, one we’re very good at, or perhaps two niches. This is actually the business model for many very successful photography businesses. 

Another reason the Jack-of-All-Trades approach counts as one of the photography business mistakes to avoid is that it weakens our brand, which can cost us higher-paying clients. The saying, “jack of all trades, master of none,” is part of the awareness of paying clients, meaning that we will be looked at as lower-end photographers, good enough but not the best in a field. 

It’s Not the Gear (Unless It Is the Gear)

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Avoiding the first of our business mistakes as a photographer doesn’t mean we can't branch out into other fields. It can be a good idea to diversify what we offer to clients. The trick is to get good enough at the new field to match our first set of outstanding skills.

You have heard it said that it’s not the camera, it’s the photographer. The meaning of that is really knowing photography, we should be able to get good images with almost any gear, which is true, up to a point.

Certain types of equipment make it possible or easier to capture what’s needed for specific photo work, such as using a nodal point bracket for creating the spherical panoramas required for many commercial realty jobs, fast, sharp lenses for capturing images of special events, very long telephoto lenses for sports and wildlife, 4K video recording capability for making wedding videos or corporate training videos.

While we could piece it together with whatever gear we have right now, That’s usually when photography mistakes happen. We end up disappointing the client, one of the problematic business mistakes for a photography business.

Specialty gear is an added expense, but if we want to be able to offer those specialized niches, then we need to make those investments. In the long run, the positive effects usually end up paying for that gear over and over.

Pricing and Expectations

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As a new photography business, we wonder, obsess actually, about what pricing to charge. One of the business mistakes to avoid is expecting a side hustle to replace full-time income immediately after we print new business cards.

It’s also one of the more common photography business mistakes to not charge enough for the good work you're providing. While a photographer just starting out as a pro probably won’t command as high a dollar amount as a well-established business with a great reputation, you need to be paid what you're worth.

Unfortunately, no one price book can be used for photography. The location makes a huge difference in some genres of photography, while not so much in others. Online work muddies the waters of knowing what to price, too.

That’s all okay, by the way. Pricing can be confusing for established businesses. Simply adjust your expectations, and don’t give up too soon if the higher-paying jobs take a while to come your way.

Don’t Cheap Out On the Goods

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Many photography pricing ideas involve photography packages. Offering package deals usually means we’re providing some form of physical goods such as prints, gift items, and photo books.

One of the easiest photography mistakes to avoid is trying to cheap out on those physical goods. Yes, we want reasonable profit, but we also want repeat customers and referrals. So, spending enough on our prints and photo books to keep our clients happy actually pays.

One of the more useful photography business tips is to network. A high-quality photo printing company is a great idea for networking. Photo Book Press is the right type of photography printing company to use.

Their lay-flat photo books make an impressive display of your fine photography. Another impressive display is made with acrylic prints. The depth of color that a large acrylic print provides is stunning. 

Here’s the funny thing, their prices are great! Especially if you sign up for their Pro Services, which gives discounted pricing for repeat customers like you as a professional.

Working For Free Means No Profit

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This is the shortest of this list of business mistakes. Offers of giving you “exposure” for your work are almost always worthless for you as a photographer. Exposure is lousy currency; you can’t even buy a Big Gulp at 7-Eleven with it.

There are always exceptions, of course, but this is a useful rule to remember as a new pro.

Avoiding Business Mistakes

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Don’t worry too much. Avoiding business mistakes is easy to do once you know what they are. Keep your business, even if it’s a side hustle, out of the statistical column of failed photography businesses.

For more great ideas and tips on avoiding business mistakes, check out the video above by Philip VanDusen.

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