How to advertise my Photography Business?

[aadi khan]

Photography is my Hobby and recently i decided to make it a profession. I am gonna work from home. Just wants to know that how can i advertise my business and get customers? I have recently opened a page on facebook and thats it.

http://www.facebook.com/Aadikhan747

[Rick]

Don't advertise until you are ready to compete with pros. Sorry to tell you but you need to improve greatly if you want to make money with a camera.

[sinead]

anyone can point and shoot u need to know how to work the model. So she looks her best. The modle did not look good. and not because she was ugly.

[Bruce M]

Well, what marketing research have you done? Posted this question only? If so you will fail so go do something else. Have you written a business plan? Do you own two camera bodies with lenses, flash units and know how to use them? Have you even looked into the insurance you are going to need and the LLC paperwork and taled with the local government yet?

Google will be happy to take your money but you will not get it back till you have done all of the above and even then you will spend over 80% of your budget for nothing and IF your lucky the other 10% MAY bring you some leads you still have to convert into sales....

[Eric Lefebvre]

Your advertising will depend on the type of clients you are trying to reach ... what type of photography do you want to do? Weddings, portraits, modeling portfolios, corporate head-shots and environmental, real estate, product photography ... so on, so forth.

Each of the above will require a different approach. You wouldn't get a booth at a wedding show if you are trying to get corporate head-shots. You wouldn't go door to door to businesses to drop off info packets if you are trying to get weddings.

Determine what your target market is and then build a marketing strategy around that client group.

Be aware that you'll need to spend money on marketing ... I'm spending over 6000$ on marketing efforts this year.

On a side note ... I know you didn't ask for a critique of your work but you need to work on your fundamentals. Some of the flaws I'm seeing are certainly caused by facebooks crappy compression logic but there's some bad lighting, bad posing, blurriness going on on some of your work.

http://sphotos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak...4211_n.jpg
Poorly posed, shadow on background (left side of the head), very flat lighting ...

http://sphotos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak...5632_n.jpg
Image isn;t very sharp at all, very flat lighting, glare on the models face, lighting and pose make the models jaw very man like ...

http://sphotos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak...0752_n.jpg
and
http://sphotos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak...7331_n.jpg
You need to try and grab the kids attention ...
The second image is also over exposed (clipped highlights on the cheeks for example and very harshly lit.

http://sphotos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak...8999_n.jpg
You really need to remove this picture from your portfolio. It has no place there.

You might say that a critique of your work has nothing to do with marketing but it has EVERYTHING to do with your marketing. Once you get in touch with a potential client, the VERY FIRST THING THEY WILL ASK IS TO SEE YOUR PORTFOLIO. If your portfolio isn't up to snuff they will walk away.

You need to present your best work, present it in a structured manner, you need to tailor your portfolio to your client group.

Right now your "portfolio" is weak ...VERY weak.

Here is a small sampling of my work:
http://flic.kr/p/dj6EFP

And I consider myself simply competent as a photographer.

[Suffolk Photo]

Hello,

The Professional Photography business is a massively competitive industry, to make a living out of it takes a few years and hard work.

Me and my team probably spend 10% of our time actually taking pictures the rest is spent updating websites, marketing, editing, generating and following up on leads.

You need to practise as much as you can and learn to play with your lights, and camera settings, 1 tip I can give you for selling images is remember that they are for the client, think and ask what they want don't just do what you like.

Don't be afraid to take some courses, or hire studio to practise.

Best of luck.

[ThisIsMitchellM]

Your images aren't impressive in any way and you definitely shouldn't try to charge people for them, not yet anyway.

[sillyicicle458]

Collaborate with mini and macro bloggers alike.

[fiddlerboy]

Firstly you need to know how to take photographs. The snaps on your facebook are just snaps. They will NOT do at all in a professional setting. Never mind what your friends and family tell you - your photographs are presently not good enough. You could maybe enroll for HND Photography in a college where you live. When I was accepted for HND Photography in 2004, fees were about £220 a year for 3 years, one day per week. You need to think about doing something like that. These days everyone has a digital camera and everyone thinks they are a photographer. Just like you. There is much more to it than that. Best of luck.

[Hooray]

Your photographs are terrible. Members of your family may say they like them to encourage you, or because they like the people in them, but you are clearly a complete novice and need to start from scratch. Take a look at all the online galleries brimming with SUPERB amateur work by people who still can't break through into pro photography. That is the minimum standard you need to produce consistently before you think about charging for it. Next thing you'll be pouncing on some poor relative's wedding and ruining a major life-event.

The best way to learn at all levels is with a tutor but that's expensive and you have yet to get to grips with the fundamentals. Books are well structured to provide a comprehensive foundation and there are numerous online tutorials for expanding on specific areas. Do not ignore the good advice everyone is giving you here. You'll only disappoint yourself and your victims.

You have a long, long way to go.