Hi all I am new to this board and have found tons of great help here. Anyways I will cut to the chase I am a young photographer that shoots for modeling agencies in san diego and La. I think I am a pretty good photographer but I dont know squat about business and it is hurting me now for the first few years I did ok but I am really stuggling. I have a very limited budget for advertisting and upgrades and I am just looking for a mentor that would take me under His/Her wing. I would like to create a stable business but I really dont know where to go. I have taken some business classes but in all honesty they havent helped much. I have read alot of books about marketing for photographers and those ideas seem good but rarely work in the real world ( well at least not for me but thats not saying someone else cant make them work) here is my website www.spicerphotographics.com I am going to redo my site soon but you all can e brutally honest I need it. Sorry about being long winded and thank you

Josh

Hey Josh,
Welcome to PPR, we'll be glad to help however we can.

This is all part of the path, I don't think there is a one size fits all program for success. I would recommend some of Mitche Grafs marketing tools. www.powermarketing101.com.

As far as the website goes, though it's not the worst site i've ever seen, there is some room for improvement. Look at the websites of your your competitors, idols and mentors and try to improve on what they have.

Recognize your strengths and weaknesses and if you are not a graphic designer, hire a professional to help you brand your business with a professional logo and website. This is one of the best things you can do to create a professional business image.

Most Importantly, Keep asking questions!

I hope this helps a little, if you have more specific questions don't hesitate to ask and we'll do our best to help.

Sincerely,
Cris...

Aloha Josh! And welcome to PPR!

I read your post, then I went to your website. I'm no web Master, but I think your site looks pretty good. I was surprised tho after reading your post that you are a model photographer to not see any reference to that fact until I checked your pricing page.

Since you asked about marketing, I'd like to just say that I think it's CRAZY to give the full rez images away. To me it sounds like you don't have pride in your work. You don't care who prints them or how they turn out. Even the fact that most people don't have calibrated monitors to view your images on, therefore they could be green or yellow or who knows what they look like on your client's computer?!

And you are severely limiting your income by giving away the images on disc! From what I saw on your site, you do a wonderful job photographing little kids! Don't you know that is a HUGE market for WALL PORTRAITS??! You can get way more for a single wall portrait than you charge for a whole disc of images! And when you sell portraits instead of all images on disc, you retain quality control.

Marketing comes down to giving VALUE to the client, and getting that message across. I'm not a marketing guru either, but the best advise I can think of is NOT to take advise from anyone who is NOT where you want to be. Don't copy what everybody else is doing...Copy what the most successful photographer you can find does. You are in a super competitive market there in LA.

Best wishes to you, Josh!

Thank you all. in regards to giving out full res images I started that because that is what the modeling agency's require. I am changing my pricing structure to sell prints only because I to think its crazy to give out the full res cd and it does kill my sales. As having pride in my work I take immense pride but I guess honestly I have been afraid to sell just prints but I am making the transition. Any other sugestions or criticism would be taken in stride I appreciate everyones time. And I am here to learn

Aloha Josh!

I figured it was because that's what you're used to for the agencies. So sure, the agency hires you and wants the images on disc. Fine. But for individuals, yeah, charge for your time and creativity, and then sell portraits!

Of course you take pride in your work! I was just saying that by giving away your images it seems like you just want to shoot and be done with it, etc. And it's always a little scary to change and do something different. But you'll be really happy about the results in income!

Marketing isn't easy, but it is an ongoing necessity.
All the Best!
Aloha,