business help

so, i do mostly automotive and landscape photography (cars motorcycles trucks waterfalls docks beaches etc...) as well as photos at drag races and everybody likes all the stuff i do. As im getting better and better id like to earn some money at what i do, but im not sure exactly how to do so. can anyone help me figure out how i can make a little money at taking pictures ?

Can I ask how old you are? Also, can you link us to some photos you have taken that would show us a bit of your capabilities?

i am 17, heres some of my work...

I had a feeling you were young.

My suggestion is to take some business / marketing / accounting classes at a local community college. A lot of what I learned about how to sell my photography services were learned from my knowledge of business.

IMO....the first thing you need to figure out is who is your customer (meaning who is willing to give you money for your services) From there, you need to approach them and begin the selling process.....you need to convince your potential customers that your work is worth paying for. It's not an easy process but if you target properly and have a valuable product, it will pay off in time

jra wrote in post #14911106
IMO....the first thing you need to figure out is who is your customer (meaning who is willing to give you money for your services) From there, you need to approach them and begin the selling process.....you need to convince your potential customers that your work is worth paying for. It's not an easy process but if you target properly and have a valuable product, it will pay off in time

That sounds like what I learned in marketing class. The 4 p's - price, product, place, promotion. - http://en.wikipedia.or​g/wiki/Marketing_mix - which goes back to what I mentioned up there

how do my shots look? r they good enough?

I'm definitely not trying to be a wiener here, but I thought I should mention it because it may turn out to be really important.

Just last month I put out an ad for assistants (I shoot weddings) and got a whole bunch of replies back. I can tell you that I got a whole range of styles of replies. Some responded to my ad point-by-point in proper and full sentences, whilst others wrote in 'text-speak', meaning 'r u available 2 meet' etc.

Why am I mentioning this ? Well, how you present yourself has a significant impact on your business in terms of how people see you, how much confidence they have in you. If you appear 17 years old in correspondences with your clients, you will likely lose business. Hopefully u c what I mean.

Deleted.

I'm all about using proper grammar and such. But isn't having someone proof read a forum post kinda extreme?

If that was the point you felt I was trying to make, I sure did miss my target. For fear of my post becoming the subject, I'll delete it.