Automation is a very good thing. From streamlining our workflows to speeding up client interactions and accepting payments, we are living in a time where the right software packages make running our business much easier. However, blindly trusting that pieces of software are doing what they're supposed to do can lead to financial losses or worse. A few days ago, I found this out the hard way.
To stand out in a sea of photographers, you're going to need to think outside the box a little. Thankfully, some of the most effective strategies can cost little to no money.
If you want to keep your business relevant or have that breakthrough year you’ve been dreaming of, you need to have a plan in place that continually attracts quality clients. Here is where you can find them in 2019.
Okay, okay, maybe he did not exactly say that verbatim. But after watching this snippet from an interview from Complex with musician John Mayer and fashion designer Jerry Lorenzo, you'll see immediately that his analogy aligns what we go through as photographers throughout the creative process.
Could a very niche genre of underwater photography, that people travel great distances for, be capable of protecting bizarre critters few know exist? During a visit to the Lembeh Strait in Indonesia — a mecca for macro photographers — I met with Belgian researcher Maarten De Brauwer to learn more about his research into the economic value of muck diving and underwater macro photography.
While it is true that a photo or design element is instantly copyrighted the moment it’s created, there are still a few good reasons to update your copyright on your website and within your metadata in photos at the start of a new year.
When you make the big leap of faith and decide to turn your passion for photography into a business, one of the most difficult tasks is working out how much to charge for your services. Whatever it is, you should never make this mistake.
Client experience is one of the most important pieces of running a successful business. Kara Marie is known throughout the industry as a successful boudoir photographer, not only for her stellar imagery, but also for the experience she gives to each of her clients. Michael Sasser had the chance to interview Marie to find out just what it takes to provide this service to her clients.
As 2019 arrives, I look back at my camera-purchasing decisions over the last 12 months and learn a lesson or two about the meaning of the word “value.”
It's almost 2019, meaning that it's the best time to update all of our information and branding. New logos, new website designs, new profile pictures, and to go along with all of that, brand new business cards!
Check out this quick and highly entertaining video on the history of B&H Photo Video, the largest non-chain photo and video retailer in the United States.
As the old business adage goes: "not planning is planning to fail." It's time to get serious about your photography or videography in 2019, with an effective and actionable goal planner. Here's what mine looks like.
Photographers often have a hard enough time getting the proper credit and payment they deserve for the images they create. And now, Instagram is enabling brands to make money off your images without you ever even knowing it.
In the first article in this series, I discussed themes that would affect freelance photographers most: mixed-message branding, teaming up for video, and the opportunity cost. This second piece focuses on some of the issues that hit us photographers where it hurts most: profitability of video services, client satisfaction, and the sheer embarrassment of moving to the dark side!
December can be a trying time for photographers running a business. As business slows down, discouragement can creep in. Luckily, however, January is around the corner, which means a new beginning and new goals for a new year.
Photography isn’t an all-or-nothing venture; you can be a part-time photographer and do quite well for yourself while maintaining a full-time job. Here’s how to do it.
Stock photography can be a futile pursuit, but Adobe Stock instituted a program that finally made participating worthwhile.
The Instagram hustle is real, and it’s here to stay. Everyday photographers are using Instagram to get more coverage and be seen by their potential client pool. But with all the noise on social media, do you actually need a huge following on Instagram? I don’t think so, and here’s why.
Being a great photographer doesn't guarantee success in the photography industry. On one hand, some of the best photographers struggle to keep up a sustainable business, and on the other, some average (and even below average) photographers do well for themselves.
You do the shoot, you get to the end of the edits, you send the client the exports, and they ask for revisions. Then they ask for more. And more. What do you do when your client keeps asking you to change things over and over?
If you want to have Flickr host more than 1,000 of your photos, you'll need to upgrade to a pro account. It's quite a change from the free TB they've been giving users and photographers since 2013.
In what some might consider a rather surprising result considering the mixed reviews it's had, the Canon EOS R has topped the November sales charts in one of the world's biggest camera retailers.
Wedding photography has changed vastly over the years. And as much as there is a growing potential for newcomers, there is also an amassing amount of challenges that one has to encounter. It is wise to have a clear understanding of the industry before taking the plunge.
In our first two segments of building a business plan, we’ve talked about defining your product and forming a long term vision. In this final section we will talk about some of the practical steps you need to take to take those hypothetical concepts and put them into action.
It's that time of the year to reflect on the progress you have made so far and to start jotting down your goals and dreams for the next year and beyond. What little changes can you make to improve your business and your overall satisfaction and productivity?
We know there isn't a formula for getting clients for filmmaking projects, but someone else's successful way of doing it may work for us. Why don't we try it?
Does the thought of SEO produce in you a mixture of fear and confusion? It's time to stop putting it on the back burner and get your photography website noticed on the front page of Google with these SEO tips.
Boudoir photographers are constantly on social media's radar. Images are flagged daily even if they are subtle. With numerous lingerie ads being approved daily, boudoir photographers have been working to get an answer on why this type of photography is still considered against Facebook policy.
If you’ve run a photography business for any amount of time, I can almost guarantee that you’ve come across clients who make requests you don’t want to fill.
In Part One of this series, we began writing our business plan by focusing on the nuts and bolts of our business. In this section, we will start to expand on those roots and add to the "what" by knowing our "why".
