Review my blog: am i ready to go pro?

for about a year now i have been trying to get consistent business but I have not been successful. I bought a domain and displayed some of my work, tried using facebook, and printed business cards but to no avail.

i have been feeling really disappointed lately and think maybe i have to come to terms and call it quits if i can't turn this into at least a 1 shoot per month gig.

please review my website and be brutally honest. am i just not good enough to pay? or if you feel my work is decent do you think my marketing needs a jolt? maybe i am not doing something critical?

there are some photos on my blog that i am not thrilled about but i felt they were good enough to showcase, these are mostly the ones done in studio from a previous job (they look a bit over processed in the skin)

please give me your opinion on my work and/or what you feel i can do to promote myself more efficiently.

my website/blog: www.matterandmovement.​com

The short answer is that your work is pretty good. It's easy to find people making money with results not nearly as nice as yours.

The long answer is you have a lot of work to do to find out how to market yourself locally. Who else is out there? How many professional photogs are there? What are they doing? Who are their customers? What are they charging? Just to name a few.

Market research and a better understanding of your local market might help you understand where you might be able to fit in. Printing up some cards and rolling out a website is a great example of putting the horse before the cart, as it were.

One comment on your website: Shoot a series of portraits (or other subject matter) rather than just one image of a few people. A nice portrait 'set' with different outfits and settings both indoors and out would show a potential customer a range of talent and ideas.

dave

making money photography is around 2% photography, 8% marketing, 21% luck, 32% who you know, and 56% business savvy. Yes, that adds up to more than 100%, and if you want to make money as a photographer, you'll need to give more than 100% as well.

Your 'about' is very plain. You sound desperate and don't give a potential customer any confidence to work with you. "i'll work anywhere" sounds like something a homeless guy on the side of the freeway would say. I'd highly suggest a 'fake it til you make it' type of approach - make it sound like you're the best photographer around and in high demand, and hopefully someone will believe you enough to give you some gigs.

As was mentioned above, what are you doing to market yourself? how are you approaching potential clients? Who are your biggest competitors? What do they do better than you do?

Also, who do you know? do any of your friends work at a company that might potentially need photography? Could they introduce you to the people who make decisions? If not, have you tried going to some business mixers to meet people who do own businesses and manage budgets for companies?

thank you for the suggestions. though i have a few shots from a single shoot i have not added more outfits and depth into what is seen online.

the customer i have shot have all liked their respective shoots and have promised to tirelessly promote me (sarcasm) through word of mouth but its not growing as fast as i hoped.

"Printing up some cards and rolling out a website is a great example of putting the horse before the cart, as it were." this part confused me a bit, do you mean i am building/branding in the correct order or did you mean i am starting off backwards (putting the cart before the horse)

i appreciate your input

edit: jacobphoto: that is very good insight, i guess in a way i AM desperate because i want to shoot so bad sometimes i am willing to bend my own needs.

Pretty good photos, but work on the business side of it. There are a ton of S#!% photographers out there that make money because they have an awesome business mind. There are also great photographers who suck at business and never get anywhere.

oceanbeast wrote in post #13837994
... and be brutally honest....

The truth is you need to be a better businessman than photographer. Someone that is willing to hustle will out work a better photographer every time. The 80/20 rule is very much in effect in photography as it is in every other industry. That 80% of the business side (marketing, branding, advertising, networking..etc...etc.​..) is what you need to do to be able to shoot the other 20%. And unfortunitley the scale seems to stay the same. You need to increase the 80% to be able to increase the 20%. You just need to find the level you want to work at.

oceanbeast wrote in post #13837994
for about a year now i have been trying to get consistent business but I have not been successful. I bought a domain and displayed some of my work, tried using facebook, and printed business cards but to no avail.

What else have you done besides this? Having an internet presence alone won't bring in business, and that's true for any kind of undertaking.

These days going 'pro' in photography likens to a maiden going out into the dark wooded forest with only a candle light on a windy evening.

I think this is also a slow time of year for photography....nobody has money after Christmas (and they all did their family photos for xmas cards anyway, right?). Jan/Feb are our slowest months of the year, and it picks up gradually from Mar-May with seniors and weddings.

No, IMHO. Backgrounds are an issue, horizon positioning, and just general look isn't pro level. Also going pro is more a business thing than an art thing. I don't know what you'd be photographing, photographers tend to specialise.

Just my 2¢. If you are going with the blog format for your website, don't use the thumbs in the post, use photos you have sized for your blog. I sure don't like having to click on a photo to see it on a blog.

Noticed in Thanksgiving post you have 5 different types of wines pictured, yet there isn't one tag for any of them.

Thanks guys. I guess "going pro" is a bit ambiguous. I am doubting the quality of my work since at this point i have not shot a client in about 6 months, I do have a very demanding day job. I wanted to find out if the quality of my work was just not worth paying for yet. I would like to shoot at least once a month this year and I am already behind the curve.

I may need to promote more than ever. I have some flyers i will be printing soon, can you guys make some suggestions as to effective promotion ideas? I would like to specialize in portrait work but I am at the point were I will try almost any project in order to grow in any market.

you need to think about what you are posting both in the photographic sense and textual content.

for instance "i had my brother stop by to hang out..." yes wonderful content for family or friends but your customer will read "I had alot of spare time so i did this..."

consider using the same pics but with something about "This weeks sessions with... for..."

then i terms of images your wine images seam pretty weak poor angle, poor background choice(i can see tiles) and a odd angle choice to much perspective. only post strong images!

sorry i dont want sound harsh but this is the reality of business and if you wish to specialize in portraits you need to start building some a portfolio of them..

Don't grow frustrated because clients don't come pouring in. "Going pro" is not as much about talent as it is about marketing skills. When you have both, business will boom. Just don't feel discouraged about the art of photography, as you will continue to grow as long as you are willing.

I have no advice about the business aspect of things. Unfortunately, I have neither talent nor marketing skills...

I think your work is good but not very sale-able. It has a darker artistic or glamour look to it which I like, but most families and seniors are going for the bright sunny day look (which is disappointing sometimes).