What's required to start a photography business?
If you're wondering what's required to actually start a photography business, the simple answer is, very little. My wife began her photography business by shooting mini sessions for friends and family and she didn't even charge them at first. At first, she wasn't sure what type of photographer she wanted to become, she just knew she enjoyed being behind the camera. At first, you really don't even have to be very technical or have developed a complete skill set as a photographer... if you're not charging, and not taking on high profile work / once in a lifetime events like weddings, birth sessions, your new clients will just appreciate the free photos and you'll learn a lot from each experience. Eventually, you have to start charging, otherwise, it will just be a hobby forever. Once you've developed a small portfolio, and you can charge very little for seasonal mini sessions, you're going to be able to reinvest some of your money into upgrading gear, or marketing yourself online.
It's easier than ever to start and build a successful photography business these days. Here are some of the free tools to consider using when starting your business, and a few of the things you'll have to spend some money on at some point.
Also, don't forget to learn about local, state, and federal tax obligations. You know everyone wants a piece of the pie you're baking!
Free tools you can utilize when starting a photography business
- Youtube
What do you actually have to pay for when getting started as a photographer?
- Camera
- Lens
- Camera accessories such as batteries, tripod, etc.
- Compact Flash Cards
- Business License
- Website
- Computer - necessary for editing
- Adobe Creative Cloud for Photographers - recommended for editing
How can Session Savvy help you when starting your photography business?
Session Savvy can help a new photography business in a number of ways! Here are just a few examples.
Session Savvy provides you with an easy to customize inquiry/contact form that will give your potential clients a way to get in touch with you. You can share your inquiry form by sending a link, or embedding it directly on your website (don't worry, it's not as scary as it sounds!).
Once a potential client reaches out to you, you can handle all of your communication through Session Savvy. By utilizing customizable email templates, you can save a ton of time by not having to rewrite the same emails over and over again! You also don't have to worry about forgetting details, or copying and pasting the wrong client's name! (Yeah, that happens a lot!)
From your client communication, you can easily create calendar events! You can sync your calendar to your mobile device and computer and manage it entirely through Session Savvy!
Once you start booking more sessions, the work will start to stack up! That's where managing your workflows is so helpful. Your session workflow provides an overview of where you're tracking across all of your sessions so nothing slips through the cracks.
Sometimes you need to collect more information from your clients before a shoot. Rather than exchange 30 emails asking different questions to your clients, just knowing you're going to forget the little details at some point, you can just send them a simple questionnaire. Questionnaires can be created and customized by you to ask whatever questions you'd like!
Get paid! Last but not least, send your clients invoices allowing them to pay online with a credit card, or provide further instructions on other types of payment you accept. Building your product templates helps you create invoices in seconds. And let's not forget sales tax... it's calculated for you so you don't have to stress!
So there you have it, the basics of what it takes to run your photography business!