Working on Starting my own business

[wurfie]

Hi all,

I'm pretty new to photography but have fallen in love with it. I'm working on starting my own business. I have been trying to contact other photographers in the area to see about second shooting weddings. I've never shot weddings and want to learn and see if i like it. I have been doing free photo shoots with family and friends to build up my portfolio. Does anyone have any tips for starting a business?

Also i'm contemplating my photography name. Originally, I thought of Erin Leigh Photography because that is my first and middle name but i google it and there are a ton of others in the US. None with that name in Kansas City where I live but still. So then the domain names aren't available either. Any thoughts on determing a photography name? I've thought of another one not related to my name but not sure if it sounds silly.

thanks for your help!

~Erin

[junglebear]

I read the other day that you should look for a domain name that people are likely to search for anyway, if it hasn't been taken. For example, people might put in the address bar "www.kansasweddingphotography.com" or something like that. If one like that is available, take it and you should get a decent amount of traffic without doing anything. Then you can just give your business that name, although it's not very inspiring.
That's according to the article I read anyway, I haven't tried this!

I know this doesn't really answer your question, but I thought it might be useful.

[Nekrose]

Originally Posted by wurfie

Hi all,

I'm pretty new to photography but have fallen in love with it. I'm working on starting my own business. I have been trying to contact other photographers in the area to see about second shooting weddings. I've never shot weddings and want to learn and see if i like it. I have been doing free photo shoots with family and friends to build up my portfolio. Does anyone have any tips for starting a business?

Also i'm contemplating my photography name. Originally, I thought of Erin Leigh Photography because that is my first and middle name but i google it and there are a ton of others in the US. None with that name in Kansas City where I live but still. So then the domain names aren't available either. Any thoughts on determing a photography name? I've thought of another one not related to my name but not sure if it sounds silly.

thanks for your help!

~Erin

Junglebear has given you some pretty great advice.

I think that before you start charging, you should build your portfolio up. You can check model mayhem for models just starting out, and do a free shoot with them. Try and have a wide variety of images before you decide to start selling.