How To Get Photography Clients
Getting hired as a fashion photographer for the first time can be an overwhelming task. You see photographers that you admire on Instagram that look like they had overnight success, and wonder how on earth you’ll ever get clients of your own. Well, I’m here to tell you that getting photography clients doesn’t need to be as hard as you think. Let’s break it down.
Reach Out To Your Friends and Family
I know this one sounds like quite an obvious idea, but you’d be surprised by how many people completely overlook this tactic. But whenever I suggest that photographers just starting out ask their nearest and dearest for help, they always come back surprised by how well it turned out. Most peoples response to this suggestion is: “My parents don’t know anyone in the fashion industry!” or “My friends won’t be able to help.” But have you asked them? Without asking if any of your friends or family might know someone who could help you, you’ll never know. Your friends and family will be the people most likely to want to help you out when you’re just getting started, so use them to your advantage!
Start to share your work online
If you aren’t already, you need to start getting your work out that. So many photographers that I speak to, when they’re getting started, keep their Instagram profiles on private for fear of “not being ready” or because they worry about what people will think. Let me tell you this: you’ll never “feel ready” and I can also guarantee you that 99% of people will not judge you for wanting to get your work out there. People are more preoccupied with themselves. So please don’t let that fear hold you back!
Without getting your work online and sharing it, you’ll really struggle to get booked by clients. We’re living in a digital age now, and having a website + Instagram profile is a none negotiable. If people can’t discover you online and browse your work, they’ll really struggle to want to book you, won’t they? So my best advice is to get yourself on Instagram, or if you are already on it but have a private account, or one that you’ve used just for fun, start to take it seriously. Make it public, start to share nothing but your best work, curate your feed and start to use the internet to your advantage.Put flyers out in your town
This one is old school, especially after I’ve just gone on and on about using the internet, but I believe in balance. We need a bit of old, and a bit of new! When you’re just getting started, you need to spread the word as much as possible, and putting flyers/brochures out around your local area is a great way to do that. You can design really beautiful posters for free on a website called Canva, so don’t let the fact that you “can’t do graphic design” hold you back. You’ve got no excuse!
Go to networking events
Truly, there is nothing more powerful than meeting someone face to face, and building a relationship with them to lead to work. If you can, search for networking events that are in the fashion industry, or creative industries, and attend. If there’s nothing specifically focused on fashion in your area, absolutely still go to any business networking events. Chances are that there will be people at these events that either need photographers like you, or will know someone who does. I attended a networking event for small business owners on a whim a few years ago, and I met a man who was incredibly well connected. He liked my work, and although had no direct relation to the fashion industry, was a very kind to me and introduced me to a lot of people. He really helped me get my foot in the door, so don’t underestimate networking events.
Reach out to brands/businesses near you
Obviously it’s no secret that I’m a big fan of pitching to brands, so I couldn’t write a blog post about getting clients without mentioning pitching! Reaching out directly to brands or businesses that you’d like to work with is the single most powerful marketing move you can make. By taking control yourself, and putting your work directly in front of the people you’d like to work with, you stop yourself from waiting around for people to come to you. I stumbled into pitching by accident a few years ago when, on a whim, I sent an email to a brand I loved and asked them to lend me some clothes. To my surprise they said they’d love to collaborate with me, and this one shoot eventually lead on to me working with them for over 2 years as a paying client. I then went on to pitch myself to dozens of other brands that I admired. Pitching is truly what took my career to the next level. If you’d like to get started with pitching, might I suggest my free email course? It’s a 5 day email course sent to your inbox, totally free of charge. It’s got quick, actionable things you can do each day, and will really teach you the fundamentals of pitching to brands, and getting hired! I hope it helps.
