how you market yourself depends on what you want to do and how committed you are to it. a "photography business" isn't a breeze-in-breeze-out affair, because there are just too, too many camera owners out there that can get photos in focus often enough to make people think they are photographers.
the people that i'm seeing succeed are the ones that commit to a particular niche. the become experts, develop a portfolio that proves their capabilities, and they seed and nurture their market, cultivating it for the long haul. whether it's food photography or portraits, corporate events or product photography, pick the thing you would enjoy the most and focus on that. in time, you will build a reputation that will generate word-of-mouth business. trying to be everything to everybody just ain't what it used to be.
the other thing about building a sustainable business is having credibility. you do all the things you're supposed to do (business license, insurance, blah-blah-blah) and incur the overhead of having a legitimate business, and you charge sustainable rates that cover all your expenses, pay you, and generate some profit. doing these things allow you to sit at the adult table, rather than leaving you squabbling for scraps at the little kids table.
or you could just take your camera downtown and offer to shoot linkedin profile shots for $10 cash. shoot and transfer to a tablet and email them on the spot...
ETA: yeah, that FB$ was probably a waste. maybe not, but time will tell.
good luck :D
Message edited by author 2014-06-11 21:40:31. |