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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
The Turning Point ...
Ryan Gibson, Photographer
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Calhoun | GA | United States | Posted: 7:45 AM on 09.22.10 |
->> After 9 years working full time as a rug designer for a small company and working part time (full time hours) for the past 2-3 years to build my photography career, I was laid off yesterday from my once secure full time job. I've not been able to devote the time needed to build the photography career so while I am a bit nervous, as I have a family to support, I'm ready to hit the ground runnin' and make this work. My main focus to this point has been editorial / commercial portrait work. I freelance for my local paper shooting mostly high school football and they pay me somewhere between jack squat and a piddly amount. I love it but it will not pay my bills I fear.
I'm slowly beginning to build a small client base on the editorial side doing a shoot here and there for magazines and such and have laid the ground work by sending epromos and mailers to art directors and photo editors. Now I need to kick it into high gear. I'm scared, nervous, optimistic, excited all at the same time.
Any advice, anecdotes, words of encouragement from any fellow SS members who have dealt with a similar issue (or not) would be much appreciated.
God Bless,
Ryan |
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Jamey Price, Photographer, Assistant
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Scorton | North Yorkshire | England | Posted: 8:27 AM on 09.22.10 |
->> Never give up and never give it away for free.
I am a STRONG believer in the fact that the hardest times in life are what defines us. You being laid off from your job is tough Im sure. But it will probably be the best thing that ever happened to you. So waste no time and go make something of this. |
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Michael Chang, Photographer
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Robertsdale | AL | USA | Posted: 10:27 AM on 09.22.10 |
| ->> Good luck! |
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Israel Shirk, Photographer, Assistant
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Boise | ID | US | Posted: 5:45 PM on 09.22.10 |
->> A few things on your SEO that might help-
Target keywords that aren't invested in so much. "Atlanta People Photographer" is going to get relatively few hits. It's not a synonym people are going to look for when looking for a commercial, portrait, business, corporate, whatever else photographer. Unless you're aiming towards the long tail thing, but that's supposed to be auxilary. If you're from Calhoun, get yourself listed in directories. Don't target Atlanta right off the bat, you're one in a thousand (and probably the lowest budget of them all), target your local area which is relatively noncompetitive. Things like "Calhoun business portraits", , etc, will get you instant rankings on the exact people who are looking to spend money at the time - remember, you want to target the people who are looking to spend something, not the people who are just browsing.
Sign up for Google's local search listings - there are two photographers under "calhoun commercial photographers", you'd instantly be at the top. To improve your rankings, build links from other sites - both by listing yourself in as many directories as you can find (see David Mihm's "Local Search Ranking Factors"), and use your actual address. Sign up with Bing, Yahoo, Altavista, everyone you can.
Build links to your site - for example, if you haven't already, put a bottom band in on your sportsshooter page - it's a really valuable link since SS is ranked so highly itself. Write articles for popular websites in your area to get links back (you have plenty of time to!), especially on the topic of photography - which potential clients will see, along with Google.
Looking at the tags and content on your blog, it's all pretty arbitrary - for example
"Tags: atlanta people photographer, people photographer, rock climbing, sports photographer
Posted in Editorial, Sports | No Comments ยป"
All of those words are very heavily marketed already, which means you have to be dropping in the $100k range yearly to get in the first couple of pages on Google, Bing, anything.
What do people in Calhoun need? Executive and business portraits? Wedding photographers? Family portraits? Do the high schools/booster clubs want to set up a deal for you to shoot X number of games this season/next? Cross country and track instead of football?
Then, how are the best ways to reach those people? For weddings and business most people look online in addition to going through references. Family portraits, they're through people they've met or friends' families have hired. Sports are through the school or seeing you at a sporting event.
If they're willing to spend money, give them a way to find you, or go out and find them. Target the market segments that aren't oversaturated, or create a new one. Take any work that you can get, and once you have enough food on the table, narrow down.
If you're shooting events, don't sell online unless they've paid beforehand. The value of an image is in its being seen - and if someone can see your image for free they don't need to pay to view it. The main album-selling technique of one of the best wedding photographers in Australia is that he designs everything before meeting with a client to pick out which pages they want in the album (and he sells by the page)... They go through individually and he has them pick out the ones they don't want to see again, and says so (kindly of course).
Your portfolio looks really cool, but it's just one shot. They're all on a dark key and everyone looks kind of sinister. There aren't a lot of clients who will want just that... The blog shows otherwise but no one is going to get that far.
Hope that helps some. |
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Israel Shirk, Photographer, Assistant
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Boise | ID | US | Posted: 5:50 PM on 09.22.10 |
| ->> Oh, and don't let anyone tell you you need to spend money to get ranked well in SEO, or spend lots of money to get client contacts. Just make the most of the people you run into - "Hi, I'm Israel, I'm a professional photographer" and a big smile works wonders for me. |
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Butch Miller, Photographer
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Lock Haven | PA | USA | Posted: 6:14 PM on 09.22.10 |
| ->> Keep it simple. Don't go into debt or spend your savings for equipment by being content to use what you already have. Be consistent in your efforts to market your skills. Don't be discouraged due to minor setbacks. |
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Ryan Gibson, Photographer
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Calhoun | GA | United States | Posted: 8:48 AM on 09.23.10 |
->> Thanks so much to all for the great advice.
@israel - I know very little about SEO but will definitely be spending some time learning.
@Butch - just got out of debt, I have no plans to visit again :-) a lot of groundwork has already been laid as I've worked hard for nearly 3 years to market myself. I'm excited because now I can actually devote the time needed to make it work.
Gotta go - I'm late for work :-) |
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