5 ways to find work and clients as a photographer

Are you a photographer and want to expand your client base? Here are some tips that may come in handy.

Needless to say, owning a DSLR is not enough to call yourself a photographer. Much more is needed. You need study, courses, top-quality equipment and plenty of experience.
While these things may be enough to make a photographer, they are not enough to stay in the market. To work as a photographer you have to study and understand all the worlds that revolve around photography in general and business in particular, from technological developments to communication.
Here are some essential aspects for anyone who wants to turn their talent into a career.

1 - Co-competing

Especially if you are under 40, know that this is not the time to "go it alone". The era of mors tua vita mea and unbridled competition is over; now, if you don't cooperate, especially with those who in the past would have been competitors, you sink. Forming consortia and promoting joint projects, such as photo exhibitions or accessible art projects with your colleagues, is a good way to get noticed by everyone's clients.
What matters is that, while partnering with everyone else, you differentiate yourself and specialise in something unique (see also points 3 and 5)

2 - Be social

One of the simplest and fastest ways to start building a "consortium" is also to share content and followers on social networks. If you run a professional photography business, you cannot afford to ignore the speed with which social networks spread images and news.
If you don't have time to keep up with social media marketing (which is not a hobby, but an exact science made of algorithms, search engines, analysis of statistics and data, etc.), invest so that someone else takes care of it for you.
If you want to handle it yourself, invest in a professional training course that explains everything about the difference between visual social networks and content social networks, tells you which rights you have and which ones you lose with every Facebook post, and also teaches you how to protect yourself and make social networks bring traffic to your website, where you offer your online services.

3 - Online services (of course!)

Try to have a range of small services you can sell directly online, such as

• mini video tutorials on how to take certain types of shots,
• full online courses with handouts, practical examples and even tests and an exam, or
• images to sell to agencies for their advertising campaigns.

Very often companies look for professional, generic photos to save on ad hoc photo shoots. This will help increase your traffic and get you known. Perhaps not only in Italy.

4 - Go international

In times of crisis, in a country that, optimism aside, is struggling to emerge from recession, you cannot rely solely on the local market. Manage your communication (your website, your blog, your social networks) in English as well. For every communication service you outsource, make sure it can be handled in two languages by the person or agency you turn to.

5 - New ideas and new equipment

By the same reasoning as in point 4 above, you have to innovate, innovate, innovate. It is important to always stay on top of things, to know the latest equipment and trends of the moment, and to know which direction the market will take in the coming years.
Just as fifteen years ago anyone who did not immediately invest in digital development was naive, letting others take important slices of a fast-changing market, today it is essential for a professional photographer to study dronotics, its regulations and required certifications.

Aerial photography and visual storytelling are two of the main developments in the photography market, which ranges from the use of telescopic poles and drones to photography apps and the specifics of mobile photography, which many professionals look down on, refusing to see it as a specific and technical discipline, and making a very serious mistake.

Take side courses or rely on other professionals, observe the changing world and don't shut yourself away in a symbolic darkroom. That's what you need (among other things)

For more specific advice on visual storytelling, certified drone pilot courses or courses on social media marketing and visual social, contact us any time: info@aerialclick.com