The Biggest Challenge for Photographers is Not Bad Business Skills, It’s the Acquisition of Clients

It is finding clients — people and businesses — who want and need their services.

There is no wall between photographers and clients, although many photographers perceive there to be. Let’s cut that wire now! Photo by author.

Occasionally, I have something going on and want to share it with you. I am a mentor and coach for photographers, and I have a program I am currently offering. Hence this post.

The biggest challenge for photographers today is not negotiating skills, lighting, choosing which camera to switch from for their next YouTube video rant, or even marketing.

It’s the simple act of finding clients.

Some paths were tried and true, and continued to work all through the 2000s, 20teens, and then… Pandemic bullshit broke those paths into slivers of unicorn dust, never (possibly) to be seen again.

One of my very good friends was a photographer’s representative and a good one. She told me that today she wouldn’t even know where to turn for most of the clients she worked with.

Agencies are hard to get into for a lot of reasons.

The centralized system of client acquisition is simply not working today. Well, it may be for a chosen few, but if you are trying to grow your business without a powerful group of clients, it is extremely hard.

The promise of social media is really a siren’s call for endless content creation. Again and again and again.

Get on that treadmill, and it is hard to stop.

https://youtu.be/QETfA9_b7wM?si=ojPvudNHelgB8pJz

Posting photographs on Instagram, Facebook, and even Twitter can seem like a long slow slog when there is no traction, no feedback, and no engagement.

Oh, it can still work, but it is going to take some heroic efforts on your part.

And while there is nothing wrong with heroic effort, we also need something expedient, measurable, and cash-flow-creating while we are working our super-hero magic here.

The realization that, while some social media is indeed needed, basing your entire strategy on it is going to be fool’s folly, my camera-toting friends.

You can’t post enough to move the needle.
You can’t write enough blog articles to move the needle.
Tikking and Tokking your way to the madhouse ain’t moving no needle, either.

You have to understand the changes in the market, the changes in the needs of clients, and the fundamental tsunami of change that has swept across this industry faster than high-speed sync on butterfly wings.

This is serious stuff.

If you are finding yourself stuck, or if you have reached a point of stagnation in fees, we have to look at what is causing the problem.

Finding more clients — higher-paying clients — is the best way to grow.

If you are just starting or have found yourself stuck at $60K or so, you need to make some highly focused client outreaches.

In this webinar, we will ask and answer five important questions:

1. Where are the clients?
2. What happened to fees?
3. What is my most important asset?
4. How much time do I have to spend?
5. What do I need to do?

I have a 40-minute presentation, and we will have some time for questions and answers. I am NOT going to heavy-sell you like most webinars do. I am going to give you real, actionable ideas and strategies that you can use tomorrow.

I hope you have the time to drop by this evening.

This is the page with more info on it, and the webinar link is on the page.

This free webinar is open to any photographer who is struggling with finding clients in their area or region.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming tomorrow.