How Fashion Photographers Find Work

How do fashion photographers get work? That's always one of the number one questions that people entering the industry have - and I get it! It can seem really impossible when you're at the start of your career. 

So hopefully this email will give you an idea of some of the ways that you can go about finding clients as a fashion photographer. 

Word Of Mouth: 

This first one is quite obvious, and feels like a bit of a cop out on my behalf to add to a list, but it's here because it is true. Word of mouth (ie. when someone hears about you through someone else) is absolutely still the strongest form of marketing. People trust recommendations. Asking your previous clients, or people you know to recommend you the next time that they hear about someone looking for a fashion photographer is something that you should be doing 

LinkedIn:

My favourite social media for getting hired is LinkedIn. It's such an under utilised medium in my opinion. Fashion photography is commercial work, which means that you're almost always working for another business. LinkedIn is THE social media platform for business to business interactions. If you're not already using LinkedIn to market yourself, but want to learn how, you might like this previous blog post.  

Instagram:

I love Instagram! It's such a fun, inspiring place to hang out online. It's definitely the most popular social media platform, and is a great place to get discovered. I don't like to put too much emphasis on Instagram, because I believe that too many people get bogged down in trying to get more followers, or comparing themselves to other photographers, but it's another tool in a box of many other tools that you should be making use of. Read this email from last week to see how I use Instagram myself!  

Collaborations With Other Creatives:

Doing test shoots and shooting editorials isn't just to build your portfolio and try out new lighting techniques. It's also to tap into the audience and network of another creative in the industry. Every time you create something alongside another fashion creative, they're likely to share it with their network, talk about their experience of working with you, and maybe even recommend you for jobs. The work that I do with the people I collaborate with has always lead to paid work for me! 

Agents:

There's no denying that many of the most successful fashion photographers do have agents who help them to get hired by brands and clients. Agents help a photographer with reaching out to brands, negotiating on rates, sending out portfolio updates, and so much more. 

Pitching and General Outreach:

In my opinion, the most effective form of marketing, and the one which will get you the most results, is always going to be pitching. Every successful fashion photographer that I know of has dedicated huge amounts of time to emailing, calling, and sending imagery out to the people who work for the brands that they would love to shoot for. If you're not already spending time each week reaching out to people that you'd like to work with, you really could be leaving so much amazing work on the table. To learn more about pitching, and how you could start doing some outreach yourself, head to my blog. I've got a whole blog section dedicated to the topic! 

Now you tell me, what forms of marketing are you already doing? Have you tried all of the above?