Photographer jobs are highly coveted with more and more photographers entering the market. The good news is that photographic content has never been in more demand as it is today. The bad news is that stock image sites and amateur photographers are eating into pro photographer jobs across the board. So how do photographers land paid jobs and develop their business?
CLIENT PROFILE
Whether you work in the wedding photographer sector, fashion photography or events, each area has it's own target audience. Knowing who your core prospective clients are will greatly increase your chances of landing photographer jobs. Write out 3 client profiles that you believe match your target audience. Be as detailed as possible and include age, occupation, likes, dislikes, interests, marital status and anything else that will help you visualise your target audience. This information is critical when targeting your ad campaigns or marketing efforts and will have an impact on the number of photographer jobs you're likely to land. Knowing your audience will even have an effect on the content you produce for your site so dig deep and get to know who you're working for.
Good and bad experiences when looking for photographer jobs:
Good – when you win a tender for a shoot, bad – when people expect free photos. - @pinkorangephoto
You say bad I say challenging - @HMPHOTOLONDON
SALES FUNNEL
Figuring out your sales funnel to ultimately land photographer jobs is another extremely important aspect of a photographer's process. A quick starting point is to write down the last 10 jobs you landed and where they came from. Try to find the exact origins of these sales. Were they word of mouth, if so who recommended you? Perhaps you find all your jobs online so where did they come from? Aside from straight out asking your clients, Google Analytics can provide a lot of important info in regards to your sales funnel. You might have a blog article that is getting thousands of hits and providing leads that you don't know about. Once you do know where your photographer jobs are coming from make sure to nurture that funnel, increase the budget or create more funnels in a similar vein.
RAISE YOUR GAME
The stark reality is that technology has had a major impact on landing photographer jobs across all sectors. The evolution of the camera phone and editing software alone has enabled the layman to produce a high quality shot at little expense and with minimal experience. Photographer jobs are becoming reserved for the top level photographer who can produce images that are a cut above the rest. This means there's no room for average photographers like there used to be. Only the top snappers are landing the photographer jobs and employers know this. Stay abreast of new technology, software and techniques but most importantly have a strong understanding of what makes a great photograph.
