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If you've studied photography for most of your life, if it's been your passion and at night you can't help but dream of lighting patterns, posing, shutter speeds and so on...your dream job (If you're like the rest of us) would be to work as a paid professional photographer. The question is, how?
You know you have talent, your friends and relatives are constantly on you to do their portraits and every time someone gets married, they expect you to "do a few shots". But, you're getting a bit sick of doing the same work - for free - that pros get paid thousands of dollars to do.
As long as we don't mind wearing a beanie with the propeller on top and looking like a clown we could go get a job at one of the mall photo studios. But, there doesn't seem to be much emphasis on creativity. We're expected to do the same poses using the same lighting on every photo session. Even worse, mall photographers make barely over minimum wage.
If we don't mind letting our dreams atrophy and die a slow, tortured death, we COULD work at the mall, but there's got to be something else. Hmmm...we could do the grunt work and lug around equipment all day as an assistant or intern to a photographer. If we last long enough, we might even get to touch the camera - someday.
Or, we could do what we've always dreamed of doing and start our own photo business.
It's really pretty easy. We learned by watching the mall photographers that most people are happy with a few basic poses and lighting setups. So, we make sure to include them in every photo session - We're already comfortable with the basics because of our studies and experience shooting our friends.
Then, once the basics are covered, we can get creative and add our OWN stamp to the session. The personal touches that will separate our work from the crowd. Our own visions that will give us the creative, productive life we dreamed of having. AND by cutting out all the corporate middlemen, we are making pretty good money too!
In the three steps to starting a business and living the life of our dreams, the first is by far the hardest. We have to have the courage to actually go for it!
The second and third steps can be switched around or done simultaneously but don't skip #2. Set up the mechanical side of your business. Get whatever business licenses you need, get a business checking account, set up your books (any accountant can show you what you need to keep track of), get business cards and look into setting up an account so you can accept credit/debit cards. It's all a huge hassle but needs to be done. Do it right so you can rest easy and avoid having problems further down the line.
Worrying about the third step is what usually stops us from getting a business started - the third thing we need is customers.
Good news, this is actually the easiest of the three steps! Consider this, virtually everyone uses a photographer at some point or other. We get our portraits done, wedding photos, Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, school photos, baby pictures, family portraits, Christenings, dance recitals and on and on.
So, finding clients is easy. Even better, in my experience more and more people are using photographers all the time. It's a growing industry.
The only trick is to find out where your potential clients are, and find a way to inexpensively reach them. Then, you'll have a never ending stream of potential clients all clamoring for YOU! That's where I come in, teaching you how to do that is my specialty. Click the link in the author bio box and it will take you to a free photo marketing newsletter. (Plus you get a free ebook.) Learning how to make money with your camera is a snap and you could be cashing checks in as little as two weeks. Try it, you'll like it. After all, there's nothing to lose.
Feel free to reprint and republish this article as long as it remains intact and unchanged, including the bio box.
Dan Eitreim is the founder of PartTimePhotography.com, a web-site and newsletter devoted to teaching YOU how to sell YOUR OWN photography. He says that he can teach ANYONE how to start earning a Part Time photo income in as little as 2 weeks. Go to: http://www.PartTimePhotography.com or http://www.FreelancePromo.com
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