3 Ways to Set Yourself Apart as a Photographer
Try These Easy Tips to Generate More Business by Standing Out From the Crowd
Being a successful photographer takes more than just impressive images. With so many excellent photographers out there, competition for clients can get fierce. To maximize your success, you need to take additional steps to set yourself apart from the crowd.
Taking hold of your unique positioning in the photography community doesn’t have to be difficult, however. In fact, you can separate yourself from everyone else by following these three simple steps.
Create an Identity
A key component of setting yourself apart from other photographers is in how you brand yourself.
Branding is basically forming your identity as a professional. Your brand speaks to who you are, what you do, and what values you hold dear. And that identity, that personality that you develop, has a direct impact on how potential customers view you and feel about you.
So, whether you’re just starting out or you’ve got an established photography business that needs a refresh, one of the first things you should do is evaluate how you promote your brand. What’s your calling card? Are you approachable? Fun? Passionate? Reliable? Make it easy on yourself by generating a list of 25 or so adjectives that you want people to associate with you and your business. Then, thin the herd by focusing on the 4-6 most essential words that you can easily incorporate into your branding activities.
Once you have your essential descriptors, employ them in all your marketing activities. For example, if your style of photography is fun and adventurous, make sure you’ve got fun and adventurous photos in your portfolio. Include the words “fun” and “adventurous” in your about me section on your website. Add similar branding to your business cards and your social media profiles. The point is that the more you push the idea that you’re fun and adventurous, the more that identity will develop and the more likely it will be that customers turn to you for a fun and adventurous photography experience.
Become an Expert
People like to hire photographers that know what they’re doing, so giving the public evidence of your expertise is of the utmost importance if you’re to get noticed by potential customers.
As a photographer, your work will do a lot of the talking for you - if you create photos that are gorgeous and engaging, people will want to hire you. But, when other photographers have equally beautiful images, you’ll need to find additional ways to demonstrate your expertise.
One of the best ways to do this is to blog. Writing about your experiences as a photographer just gives more fodder to potential customers to say, “Wow, they really know what they’re doing!” You can write about new techniques you use for post-processing or a fun new method you’ve discovered to take better portraits. Write tutorials for amateur photographers or create short video lessons to give quick tips for taking better pictures. Just like with building an identity, it’s important to convey that you know what you’re doing and have the skills and knowledge to create amazing photos.
Give People Something Different
Part of the difficulty of being a photographer is standing out from the sea of other photographers in your area. A great way to do this is to offer something that other photographers don’t.
Take a look at your competitors and make a list of the products and services they offer. Look for anything glaringly missing from that list that you can then provide to customers. This might take the form of a specific type of photography - perhaps there’s a need for an event photographer in your area that you can fulfill, or maybe there’s a high demand for pet portraits that would make pet photography a lucrative undertaking
Offering something different might also involve unique services that other photographers just don’t provide. For example, most photographers send digital proofs these days, which can be a bit impersonal, so why not do something more personalized and thoughtful and send your clients customized printed proofs?
One of our favorite ways to do this is to use photo insert note cards from Plymouth Cards. Sending a physical proof to a client allows them to see the real thing rather than squinting at their phone or computer screen. Sure, it might cost a bit more than sending proofs digitally, but placing a tangible product in the hands of your clients is more likely to encourage them to order more products from you. To top it all off, Plymouth Cards’ products are made in the USA and are eco-friendly too, so not only can you use them to quickly establish your unique brand, but you also support American-made products and help preserve the environment at the same time!
Conclusion
It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there for photographers, so taking these measures to establish your positioning in the business world is essential to your success. If you can build a distinctive identity, highlight your expertise, and demonstrate to potential clients that you go the extra mile for them, you will be in a much better position to get more business. Each method is quick, easy, and inexpensive too, so what’s stopping you? Get started on setting yourself apart as a photographer!