This is Part II of my response to frequently asked questions. You can read Part I here.
Q. How did you get started with your business?
A. After discovering and developing my passion for photography I started dreaming of making it into a career. I joined a really great group on flickr called So, You Wanna Be a Professional Photograher for tips and feedback and began building my portfolio. I wanted to have a good variety of images to represent my work and aesthetic. To do this I offered PB (portfolio building) sessions at a discount (and often times free). Between these and hired sessions (family, friends, word of mouth) we felt I had "enough" images for my portfolio. I spent a little more then a year and a half honing my skills, researching our target market, developing our policies and investment details, etc. and in July 2007 our website went live! We just kind of went for it and like I mentioned yesterday I tend to do things a bit backward at times. There are still some important basic business details that we need to accomplish.
Q. Did you build your website yourself?
A. I am incredibly lucky to have my own personal IT guy, also known as my hottie hubby! ;) He's a humble person and doesn't like my doting about the website but I really do love it. We would love to have a fancy schmancy flash site someday but right now this is just right for us.
Q. How did you start building clients?
A. I am still "starting" to build clients. I am currently living in an area well outside my target market but I am too far in distance to actively begin building a client base in Orange County. With us planning to move the middle of this year I am going to start building and fostering relationships I have there as well as networking with other professionals.
Q. I am just starting out. Do you have any pointers?
A. The most valuable (and probably the most boring) piece of advice I could give you is to just keep practicing. The last couple of years have been an AMAZING transformation for me. I am constantly learning new things in my effort to master this beautiful art. Learn all about lighting.. I believe that will make or break you as a photographer. Once you're consistently creating good images develop your post processing. If you're anything like me, this will be a process, don't be afraid to go back and update your old photos to see what works best for you. Find your target market and think about what you can bring to this industry that's unique. Lastly, compromise is good but don't sacrifice your aesthetic for a quick buck.
I hope these answers have helped. Much success to you! :)
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