Hey, how’s it going? I’m Andy Jones and this is episode 88 of the Photography Side Hustle podcast.
Well, this weekend the podcast hit the 20,000 downloads mark. Up until a month ago Spotify accounted for over 50% of the downloads, and Apple only 8-10%. Now Apple downloads are close to 60%, and the overall monthly download total has doubled. So thank you to Apple for letting me show up in their directories. Here is one last podcast stat, in 2022 the podcast was downloaded in 1747 Cities, in 107 Countries.
Ok, let’s get on with the episode.
These are some photographers that seem to have it all together. You hear them in podcast interviews, telling the world how they make 300k a year working 2 hours a day, 3 days a week. Then on top of that, they take the summer months off to go to the cottage. Yes, I know it bugs me too.
Now some of these unicorns are inflating the numbers for the interview, but there are a few that have mastered the photography business. So these are the skills I think you need to be a successful photographer.
Being able to communicate with people is crucial in any business. Whether verbally or on your website, you need to address your customer's problems. When I say problems think about wants and needs.
The first time you make contact with a customer you need to find out what problems they need solving and help them. It’s no good waffling on about your new $5000 camera body and $8000 collection of lenses. They won’t know what the heck you are talking about, and chances are they will think you’re a nimrod and go with the photographer across town.
Every piece of copy on your website should be addressing customers' problems, and direct them to allow you to solve the problem.
So a customer's problem could be …
Take a look at other photographers' websites in your area and see if they are addressing customers’ needs and wants. If they are spouting on about their equipment, or their favorite color is pink, you have an opportunity to out-market them by solving problems.
Great communicators listen, identify problems, and keep the conversation fixed on the problems and how they can solve them.
When you are starting a photography side hustle all your thoughts are on taking photos. Once you get started you will realize that running the business takes up a lot of your time.
Successful photographers don’t do everything themselves. They don’t spend hours figuring out their taxes, they hire an accountant. They have lots of spare time because they use leverage.
They leverage using employees and software. The website is set up to take bookings, they have someone to deal with customers, and sales and marketing. They have a second shooter so when they are at the cottage the business is still making money.
Now as someone that is starting a side hustle, you might think this is out of your reach. But setting your website up to take bookings is an easy thing to do. Using AI software to edit your photos will give you hours back. Hire another photographer to shoot extra sessions, so you can shoot two sessions at the same time in different locations.
Oh and use an accountant or bookkeeper for your taxes. Don’t try to do everything yourself.
Successful photographers can take high-quality photos. I guarantee they know how to use their camera equipment and if they use lights they are capable of getting great results in any situation.
So you need to understand how your camera works and know how to use it. There is no magic shortcut, it just takes a little bit of effort and lots of practice.
Success won’t happen if you can’t get quality images from any situation. You need to use your camera as much as possible. Make mistakes and find out how to avoid making them again.
Take a course and expand your knowledge. Education is ongoing, there is always something new to learn. Cameras are getting better every year, so try to understand what the latest models offer. If you don’t understand what they can do for you, how can you make an informed decision when you’re upgrading?
Whatever the niche you shoot, find out everything there is to know about shooting it. Look for all the different ways to shoot it, and try to come up with new methods. It’s better to go a mile deep, than a mile wide.
Having a good work-life balance is so important for your health, especially if this is a side hustle.
When you’re starting out you just want to be busy, and that’s a good thing, but, you need to add control to the equation. Filling your evenings and weekends with bookings can lead to burnout. So you need to set time aside for your family, time for you to unwind and do none photography stuff.
If you need your side hustle to make a certain amount of money a month, but it takes too many hours of your time, you need to look at your pricing. That is one thing all successful photographers get right, pricing. They demand a high price for their work, and that money allows them to put in fewer hours, or employ people to work for them so they have a better work-life balance.
Being able to use editing software like Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop is so important if you want to be successful. You would think that top photographers produce amazing images straight out of the camera, well they are no different than you and me.
Around 2007/8 I used to read a blog by Zack Arias. He’s an excellent photographer, now he shoots commercially, HGTV is one of his clients. Anyway, he showed a screenshot of Lightroom after importing his images from a studio shoot with a model. Some of the shots were not perfect, some had the model's legs cut off or were crooked. It made me feel good because I did the same thing.
The one thing he did that I didn’t was edit his images to a high standard. His finished images were so clean and sharp and ready to go in a magazine. That was when I started working on my editing technique.
That one blog post showed me that my photos came out of the camera just like his photos did. His editing style though blew my images into the weeds.
When your editing improves you’ll see where your photography needs to improve too, they go hand in hand. This is such an important part of photography for you to master. This can put you on a level where you can get big money for your work, and separate you from your competition.
So, shoot and edit like a pro.
Ok, so those are the 5 things successful photographers do.
If you’re interested in reviewing one of my courses when they are ready in early February, you can sign up at PhotographySideHustle.com. There is a form on the home page.
Right, that’s it for episode 88, I’ll be back next week. Bye.