1. Choose a Niche

You can’t be all things to all people. You’ll want to establish your niche. That’s because if you market yourself for wedding photography and then as a school photographer, you’ll confuse your potential customers. 

Some Niches you can choose from include:

• portrait photography: Portrait photographers shoot subjects in a studio or onsite. Some specialize in a type of photography like school pictures or actors’ headshots. Others keep it broad.
• wedding: You'll cover ceremonies and receptions. You also could be shooting rehearsal dinners and engagement photos. Some photographers offer video as well.
• Travel: Travel photographers travel around the world. You’ll be working on behalf of hotels, magazines, airlines, and anyone else in the travel industry.
• pet:  Many people love their pets, like children. These photographers shoot all sorts of pets. It takes patience for this work but you'll get high-quality photos with your patience.
• food:  Food photographers could work for a restaurant or food manufacturer. You’ll need to specialize in capturing portraits of food and drink. This could include raw ingredients or plated meals.
• real estate: You’ll be working for real estate agents, landlords, and sellers. The point is to produce marketing photos to convince people to buy or rent.

Each one of these niches has a different target market.

Don’t shoot everything that makes you money. That’s shortsighted and you won’t receive repeat business or referrals. Craft your photography skills and talents exactly what your target demographic wants, and you'll go far.

2. Do Market Research

Once you’ve established what you want to shoot, do some market research. What are your competitors doing, and who is your customer pool?

By analyzing what the competition is doing, you can define a unique selling proposition: who you are and what you do. This will make you stand out to clients.

Studying the competition will also give you an idea as to what to charge for your services.

3. Write a Business Plan

This may be a side hustle, but you still need a business plan to organize your business. Start by writing down your goals and how you plan to achieve them. This will keep you focused.

Then, determine your budget. What are your marketing and equipment expenses? Some expenses may be:

• buying equipment
• travel
• marketing
• develop an online presence

We go over a couple of these elements in detail below.

4. Register Your Business and Name It

You’ll want to register or legally establish your business. It starts with choosing a business entity and a name.

There are a couple of popular business entities to choose from.

Sole Proprietorship

This is free to form. It’s an unincorporated business structure owned by a single person. However the business and owner are not separate legal entities.

Although the owner is entitled to all the profits, she is also responsible for the business's:

• debts
• losses
• liabilities

So, the owner's assets and liabilities are the same as the business's. but one perk to a sole proprietorship is that it’s free to form.

Limited Liability Company

Many photographers form a limited liability company (LLC). With an LLC, you have reduced liability if something goes wrong, and your personal assets are more protected.

You can also choose to be taxed as an LLC, which has many advantages. (check with an accountant on taxing sole proprietors and LLCs)

Having an LLC also boosts your professional appearance.

Business Licenses

Some areas require a business license. Although the federal government doesn't require one, some states do. And often, local municipalities insist on having a business license.

Establish a Business Bank Account

Do Not mix your business account with your personal account. You’ll have a mess come tax time (talk to an accountant).

Go get an employer identification number (EIN). It's free, and you can open a business account with it. The IRS provides an EIN.

Name Your Business

Give your business a name that defines what you do and who you are. But don’t pigeonhole yourself in case you want to pivot later.

Your name can also be your website domain name if you choose to build one.

5. Purchase Equipment

Although many photographers have top-of-the-line equipment, you don't have to start out with the very best. Start with what you have and then upgrade as you gain more experience and earn more money.

Depending on your niche, you may need the following:

• camera
• lens
• external drives
• memory cards
• laptop for editing
• backdrops and lighting
• photo editing software
• tripod
• camera bag
• accounting software (you’ll need to keep track of expenses and revenue)

You may already have some of these items. If you do, your costs will be reduced.

6. Price Your Services

What are you worth?

The formula should be several items, including:

• supplies
• time plus labor
• fee for using your resources

Choosing your niche will help you determine how much to charge. Each niche has clients who will pay a different amount. For example, a wedding photographer can charge $3,500 to $5,000, depending on where they are and how big the wedding is.

In contrast, a family photographer may charge around $500 for a photoshoot.

Go back to what other photographers are charging. Look at your own experience and how yours matches other photographers.

When pricing, start to develop a portfolio to show what your worth is.

7. Develop an Online Portfolio

Have a strong digital photography portfolio. This will help you attract customers. Keep up with the competition by having an online portfolio.

You'll need a website. Remember the domain we talked about earlier? This is the time to use it.

When passing out your business cards, it's essential to have a webpage for the prospective client to visit to see your portfolio. This will help sell your services.

Organize Your Website

A website with pretty pictures isn’t enough. You need to organize it and add some tools to generate business with your portfolio. There are a few ways to do this.

Reservations and Payments

Reservations can come quickly, and people want to know they have a photographer. You don't have time to answer a phone if you're busy working your day job or shooting a pet portrait. Since people are used to doing everything online, it's important they can book you online.

There are plugins that can be installed on your site to handle bookings and/or payments.

Online Client Album

Create an online album for clients on their own unique landing page. Think of it as a mini-site. That way, all you must do is give the URL to the client, and they can see their photos and download what they want. Incorporate the cost of the site into the job cost.

Sell Pictures Online

You can showcase your portfolio and even sell artful pictures online. Your clients can see what they want and purchase it. Plugins like ShootProof can accommodate this.

8. Market Your Services

Hopefully, you will start getting some referrals once you've had a few jobs. But you won’t have these when you are first starting your photography business. And even if you’ve been at it for a while, you’ll still need to market yourself.

Brand Yourself

Branding is a psychological switch that you must make. It will drive a lot of decisions in your daily life.

For example, you might see every new person you meet as a possible client. You might be tempted to talk about your photography business and possibly convince them to hire you.

You'll need a brand identity. One element of a brand is a logo. Your logo should go everywhere, including:

• online
• invoices
• emails
• business cards

Nothing should leave your hands without your logo on it. You can create your logo with programs like Canva, or hire someone to create it like:

• Fiverr
• Logura
• Upwork
• Tailored Logo
• LogoOrbit

Whichever route you take, make sure your logo symbolizes what you and your business are all about. You'll want a clean, simple logo that looks good online and on paper.

Social Media Presence

Just having a website is not enough. A website doesn’t draw people to you. But social media does draw people and establish who you are.

Once your website is up and running, sign up for every social media platform you can. Active pages on the major "friends-maker" platforms must be used when launching a business. This will help you build a community.

People who might be interested will book your services. Or they might know someone who needs a photographer.

Most often, it’s free. Boost your post when you can or better yet, buy advertising on social media. You can make as little or as big of a presence as you want. But make yourself known. There are numerous social media platforms but start with these three.

Instagram

Photographers absolutely should be on Instagram. It’s the epitome of shutterbugs.

The biggest plus of using Instagram is that you can post often; the time of day doesn't matter if you're not posting consistently.

If you’re worried about what time of day or day works best, experiment with it. But even though you’re experimenting ensure you’re posting frequently.

Keep a consistent style or content pattern. Your audience and potential clients will become conditioned to your pictures. If you constantly change your style, you're confusing them. A confused audience doesn't become clients.

Become good at using hashtags. Utilize hashtags every time you attach one or more to each of your picture's descriptions. The better you are and the more you add, the more likely you'll be discovered.

Facebook

Most people are on Facebook, although it does tend to skew older. But there are still enough young people to give you a wide variety of potential clients. Unfortunately, because Facebook is so popular, there's more competition on it than on other social media platforms.

Don’t mix your personal posts or stock photography with your professional ones as it is. Create a separate Facebook page for your business.

Use one of your most beautiful pictures as a cover photo and add a picture of yourself. Keep your business page title concise and short. Include only the most important details, like your name, followed by photography or photography.

Put your professional contact details on your page in the "About" section, including:

• website
• phone number
• Google-like map that lets future clients know what city you’re located in

Post wisely and regularly. Don’t overwhelm people’s feed but post at least three to four times per week.

Think about whether the content you're posting is something you'd want to see. If not, don't post it. Pick peak times to post. The most used time for Facebook is between 1 pm and 4 pm each day. So, when you take a lunch break at your day job, post.

LinkedIn

The best professional network is also a great place to find clients. LinkedIn is the third biggest social network in the world. Think of it as networking with businesspeople.

Businesspeople have weddings too. But they also have events and need headshots.

Google scans LinkedIn profiles. So when a potential client sees your name in the search bar, your LinkedIn profile will add to your credibility.

Ensure you fill out your profile completely with the following:

• intro
• experience
• education
• featured skills and endorsements
• recommendations
• accomplishments

On LinkedIn, just show a picture of your face in the profile. This is not the place to get creative with photos. Think of it as a virtual resume.

Build a Photography Blog

Since you have a website, why not have a blog about photography on it? This will help your search engine optimization (SEO) and bring more people to your website.

If you lack writing skills, you can outsource it to writers on Upwork or Fiverr.

Develop an Email List

Always ask for the email address of current or past clients. Use your website to ask for email addresses. If you receive a business card with an email address on it, add it to your list.

It’s old school, but a monthly newsletter is a great way to attract attention and get clients. A newsletter keeps you top-of-mind to potential clients. They may not need a photographer, but we guarantee they know someone who does.

Ensure you have something to say or a promotion in your newsletter.

Ask for Reviews

Always ask for a review when you complete a job. Most people will gladly give you one, especially when they're happy with your work.

Facebook allows your clients to place a review of your services. They let them rate you one to five or give a written testimonial.

This is where that email list comes into play. When you complete a job, send your client a warm email saying how you enjoyed being part of their special day. Ask them if they're happy (and we know they will be) and if they could give a review. Be sure to have your Facebook URL in your email for their convenience.

9. Bundle Offers

One item you can share in your email campaigns or on your website is bundle offers. If you're a pet photographer, sell a bundle where a client gets one pet's photo and the second one half off the bundle.

Family shoots could be similar. Or you could have a client buy the wedding package and the engagement pictures are at no charge.

Know your market and get creative.

10. Frequently Asked Questions

We've given you the steps to start your own photography side hustle, but you might still have some questions that we haven't covered. In case you do, here are the most frequently asked questions.

Should I niche down to one type of photography?

Many photographers niche down to one type of photography, which gives them the opportunity to focus their networking and marketing efforts. However, it's important to be able to pivot if need be. For example, most weddings don't occur in fall and winter. You might need to shoot holiday parties or school photos during those times.

Do I need to upgrade my equipment when I start?

You don’t need to upgrade your equipment right away. As you become more experienced and start earning money, you might want to buy new equipment.

Can you make a lot of money as a photographer?

You can make a lot of money as a photographer, but it takes work. You’ll need to broaden your client base. You may need to lower prices to break into the business, but as you gain experience raise them.