What I'm doing wrong?

[D&D Photo Creations]

I am in the same boat as you. I have been running a SLOWLY growing wedding and portrait photography business for the past 4 years. I just finished updating my webpage with new work yesterday and having read this thread and a few other I think I have to start again.

I would love some feed back on my site - www.dndphotocreations.ca

Thanks

P.S. Great Idea on bringing prints to the companies that made the Items, I am defiantly going to give that a try at every wedding that I do this year.

[J Michael]

Add the churches to your list, they like to have those photos too and it helps you build rapport with the folks at the church.

Re niches, there are many and it might be worthwhile to start a niche thread. I could probably name a hundred or so off the top of my head, but it has to be something you really want to excel at. Even better is something that no one has ever thought of. Good book to read if you are interested in this type of thing is Brodie, "Virus of the Mind".

[TETRAGRAMATON]

Guys all of your answers were really helpful experience and also the forum is very alive. Some of the ideas and suggestions here were very inspiring to. I wanted to ask if someone has an experience within the Gallery business, as while ago friend of mine asked me if I had 1 million what was the first think, professionally, I was going to do, and now when I've been thinking and looking trough my photography, as I used to have the idea before, probably my answer was going to be to open my own Gallery and keep traveling around the world. But this is too big for me any way, just wanted to ask how the business is within the fine art prints gallery.

[john5189]

There is , in effect, no gallery business.
Photos aren't special to the average peep. And are not conceptually limited edition as a painting is.

There are some live photo galleries but they are usually ego enterprises that are not and will never make money.I know there are a few exception- but they are very few.

Except if you are FAMOUS then you can sell any snap shot because aesthetics are no longer important.

Oversized postcards of landmarks can be sold(this includes mounted prints at reasonable cost) but it is chocalate box/postcard images that sell, not the shots that you think are great.

If you want to get some stuff mounted and framed; a selection, get down to a street market in a tourist spot and especially near Christmas, then you will keep all the profit and you never know what might happen.

[transcend]

Originally Posted by Shadow on the Door

Unfortunately talent isn't as vital in photography as it should be.

A good business sense is infinitely more important to be a successful professional.

[magoosmc]

I checked the source code on your website. You are competing for traffic and page rank in a tough market. You need to do some SEO work on your site that will target potential customers in your local area.

[PhotosGuy]

Originally Posted by magoosmc

I checked the source code on your website. You are competing for traffic and page rank in a tough market. You need to do some SEO work on your site that will target potential customers in your local area.

Sticky: SEO - Search Engine Optimization

[Candyann]

The website and photos are fantastic. How are you marketing yourself? How are you getting out there and networking?

[Channel One]

Originally Posted by TETRAGRAMATON

Hello everyone I need help.

There’s an old saying that us in marketing live by, “a terrible thing happens when one doesn’t advertise…”

“Nothing…”

Wayne

[TETRAGRAMATON]

Hi guys.
I just started a small advertising campaign on google and facebook, I set up the facebook one for 10 days and the google's for about a month. So far I've noticed that I have more visits from facebook.
I wanted to ask you if someone know about the way this adverts work, what is important for my advert to be shown more frequently on the search results is it the cpc bid or my daily budget.
I will really appreciate any help on this...... I forgot to mention that I'm advertising my wedding photography website.
Thanks.

[x_tan]

When I search Yellowpage for any trades persons, I'll only call & give the jobs to the persons with a physical address.

Hope it help...

[Tanya De Leeuw]

Originally Posted by x_tan

When I search Yellowpage for any trades persons, I'll only call & give the jobs to the persons with a physical address.

Having a "storefront" isn't everything it's cracked up to be ... these days, with so many people having downsized their businesses and working from home, I understand why people (like me!) don't put their street address on their ads, business cards, websites, etc. As long as they clearly indicate what town they're in and/or what area they service ... and I'm able to track either via word of mouth or online reviews that they're an established, reliable business ... I'll call.

[dawnkyung]

I'm trying to get out there more this year as well - one thing that I've noticed that has helped me garner more interest is to shoot everyone and anyone that I think would be a great subject for free. People I was friends with in high school but haven't talked to in years, new moms on my facebook friends list, etc. Then I share their photos, tag them in them and usually I'll get a message or two from someone else who saw their photos and is interested.

Better to be shooting and making no money but getting exposure than not shooting and getting no exposure!

Your stuff is awesome, by the way.

[Phil V]

Originally Posted by TETRAGRAMATON

Hi guys.
I just started a small advertising campaign on google and facebook, I set up the facebook one for 10 days and the google's for about a month. So far I've noticed that I have more visits from facebook.
I wanted to ask you if someone know about the way this adverts work, what is important for my advert to be shown more frequently on the search results is it the cpc bid or my daily budget.
I will really appreciate any help on this...... I forgot to mention that I'm advertising my wedding photography website.
Thanks.

The Facebook campaign is targeted by you at specific groups of people and they get clicked by the curious. Adwords are targeted at people who are searching on google for specific things, and are clicked by only a few, many people actively ignore advertising on the web and zone it out completely. Your Adwords acct gives you some great tools for analysing the effectiveness of your campaign, they take some learning.

[Bumgardnern]

When I got my first photography gig the editor told me the key to success in this industry was "Just don't suck". You don't suck.

It took me about two years to build up a really good client base. When I started out I had months where I would not shoot a job. It was just part of building a business. You just have to keep on keeping on. Get on facebook, twitter, G+, 500px, foundfolios, and every other website to promote your work. Get out of the house and network with the type of people who you want to be your clients.

One of the best ways to get into the photo industry is to assist. You not only learn the ropes from someone who is already doing well in the industry you will get paid for it. Also many times the photographers you are working for will send some lower end work your way.

When it comes to photo reps I think it is way to early for you to seriously start looking. In my experience photo reps usually don't respond to blind inquiries. It is best to be introduced to a photo rep by someone that they know well.