Being a freelance photographer is great fun. But even in the gig economy this isn’t easy, especially now. Photographers, and freelancers in general, are very affected by the current crisis. Therefore, they need to look for ways to keep clients coming no matter what.
For a freelance photographer this means diversification and better marketing.
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The following tips will help you ensure that you keep a good stream of income regardless of any crises.
Share your knowledge
Photography, editing, composition, and all other skills that you use in your profession. Obviously, you are good at these things. So, why don’t you make money off them in more ways than just making great pictures?
Skillshare, Udemy, Coursera, and a dozen other platforms are great places to share your skills in the form of courses.
Creating a few courses that teach each of the important things that a beginner or even a professional photographer needs to know shouldn’t be hard. You can use the same platforms where you plan to sell the course to create them.
The best thing about this particular side hustle for a photographer is that it generates passive income.
Basically, once you’ve launched the course, it will steadily make you some extra income while you focus on other things.
And if you are currently out of jobs because of the crisis, you can use this downtime to design several courses.
Launch a website and market it well
As a freelance photographer, the main tool for reaching clients you can use is your website. Accounts on social media and popular freelance marketplaces aren’t enough if you want to generate a steady stream of clients.
Therefore, the first thing you should do is to launch a website with a blog. You’ll need the latter for online marketing.
The good news is that it’s easy to make a great website without paying a fortune to expert web developers.
You can use the WordPress platform, which is free and already powers 35% of the Internet.
Then use some cool themes and one of the best photo gallery plugins to create your own virtual gallery.
But bear in mind that you need to choose carefully.
There are many great plugins, but each has some strengths and weaknesses.
Modula photo gallery plugin, which is one of the most popular, allows you to launch a professional-looking gallery in a few minutes. It also has a multitude of deeper features to customize your website.
NextGEN Gallery is more expensive but one of the most versatile and comprehensive photo gallery plugins for WordPress.
But note that there was a story about its SQL vulnerability. And remember that your website must not only look cool but also be secure.
Remember that as a photographer, your foremost duty is to make your website irresistibly attractive. Therefore, choose the gallery plugin with utmost care.
Once you are done getting your stunning website online, you need to start marketing it. This is when your social media accounts will come in handy.
You definitely should use Instagram to its full potential.
But you also need to use Facebook and YouTube to share the SEO optimized content you post on the site.
Consider virtual photoshoots
Kareem Virgo, a photographer from Florida, has developed an inspirational way to stay in business during lockdowns.
He is meeting with his clients on Facetime, takes screenshots, and then edits them to top-quality digital pictures.
Now, this method might be limited in what you actually can do.
However, it’s definitely a good option for a side hustle when your regular jobs are scarce.
And right now, a freelance photographer should be using every opportunity.
You can also get more creative using pictures you’ve taken before to make beautiful collages featuring shots from online chats with clients.
Improve your relationships with clients
Stay in touch with your clients even if they postpone or even cancel their shoots. They are also in a difficult position right now. Therefore, it’s only natural that photos aren’t a priority.
However, maintaining a good friendly relationship with them will ensure that once the situation changes, they will come back.
Moreover, if you manage to impress them by showing how much you care about every individual, they will surely recommend you to all their friends and family.
Word of mouth is the most effective marketing method for service providers, like photographers. And this is the best opportunity you could have.
All you need to do is to stay in touch through emails and occasional messages.
Your blog will come in handy as well.
You can use it to post content your clients might be interested in or even ask them to share their stories featuring your pictures.
For example, a wedding photographer could share a love story in photos with the couple’s interview.
Such personal care is sure to impress other couples looking for someone to shoot their special day.
If you still have questions? Share via comments.
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