Getting clients

[Lute]

I'm just starting out in my own little business and the main issue I'm facing is just finding people to photograph. This is mainly because I'm still setting out a business plan and what I want my brand, my image to be, what services, prices etc etc... Before going all out (only to prevent potential customers calling only to just say "uhhhhhhh.... I'll get back to you on that!")

I'm confident in my skills as a photographer, I have worked with a local studio and have attended ~20-25 weddings as a second and shot 12-15 myself there. Since leaving the studio I have shot two weddings, both of which have been ecstatic with both the results and my handling of the day.

Both when starting out and established photogs, what have you found is the best way to get new clients in? Word of mouth? Advertising in local media? Referrals? Community presence? All of the above?

[andyw]

Originally Posted by Lute

I'm just starting out in my own little business and the main issue I'm facing is just finding people to photograph. This is mainly because I'm still setting out a business plan and what I want my brand, my image to be, what services, prices etc etc... Before going all out (only to prevent potential customers calling only to just say "uhhhhhhh.... I'll get back to you on that!")

I'm confident in my skills as a photographer, I have worked with a local studio and have attended ~20-25 weddings as a second and shot 12-15 myself there. Since leaving the studio I have shot two weddings, both of which have been ecstatic with both the results and my handling of the day.

Both when starting out and established photogs, what have you found is the best way to get new clients in? Word of mouth? Advertising in local media? Referrals? Community presence? All of the above?

This is part of the reason why the majority of businesses (not just photographers) will not see any real profit for at least a couple of years. Also why many fail in the first 1-2 years.
Unless you have enough bookings/customers to fill up your first year then you are going to be spending the majority of your time on marketing and advertising rather than actually shooting and hence making money.

How to find those customers?? The eternal question really.
There are a multitude of ways, some of which are fairly easy such as newspaper ads, local radio, notices in local clubs/organisations/schools etc (obviously depending on what you are shooting).
Then there are the time consuming ones such as trade fairs, stand in the local mall or even arranging for a days shoot at the local church hall or the like.

Before you do ANY of this stuff though, you have to have everything else in place, most especially your pricing and "brand".
Once you start putting yourself out there and saying "hey, come to Fred Bloggs Photography for xxx and yyy" then you cannot just chop and change your pricing and style for the sake of it.

One of the main parts of your overall business plan MUST be where are your customers going to come from. For that you have to research your area thoroughly and also be honest with yourself about where you want to pitch your services.

Your branding/pricing and everything else will then be geared to that.
If you do not know who your clients are likely to be or who you want them to be then you cannot really set your pricing.
It is pointless aiming for the higher end of the market with smart studio, top of the line production of prints, frames and albums if your area is a run down part of town where the unemployment rate is 20% and people are expecting a $50 dollar disc of shots.

Sorry not really any concrete information there but without knowing a heck of a lot more of your situation/area/skills etc then that is the best I can do.

[Lute]

Thanks Andy, it's all good advice

Pricing is hard, because the main competition are for lack of a better word, foolish, and do things like give away 60+ 5"x7.5" prints for $150 purely because they have a lab and got paper cheap. And offer wedding packages with an album for $300. So setting myself apart from them will be tough :/

As far as a marketing plan, it's a fairly small town so my main methods until the marketing budget builds are going to be: word of mouth, referrals and community presence. I have a few families that are interested in getting some shots done but as you say I want a concrete foundation of brand and pricing before opening the floodgates. Also I want to use them to market so I also want to plan that a bit more first :P I was thinking of a framed print if they referred someone to me (and they booked). Anyone had a great deal of luck with things like that?

[APhotoSchool]

Sounds like you know your way around business! Great, a lot of photographers have no clue....
Here's a little article I wrote on finding clients that may help you out: Finding Clients to Shoot For