In the world of photography, we have all seen the success of those who have used online and offline media to promote their business. We all know that self-promotion is key to finding new clients and building an impressive portfolio, but many of us find ourselves struggling to think of innovative ways of promoting our work, both online and offline.
If you’re a photographer, you know how difficult it can be to market yourself. Not only do you have to make great images, but you also must build your brand and get people aware of your work.
The good news is, there are many ways for photographers to promote themselves online. In this article I’ll give you some tips on how to set up a website, post on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, and how to create a blog or newsletter.
Table of Contents
What is self-promotion?
Self-promotion is the act of marketing yourself, your business and/or your services to potential clients.
Why should I self-promote?
In our society, we are inundated with information about new products and services. If you don’t promote yourself in some way, then how are people supposed to know what you do? If no one knows what you do, then they can’t hire you. And if they can’t hire you, then you won’t make any money!
Create an online portfolio.
This is where potential clients will find photos of your work and contact information for how to reach you. You can create a free website through WordPress or Blogger that allows you to post photos from your camera or smartphone directly onto the site, so you don’t need any technical skills!
Set up social media accounts for yourself or for your business (if there’s one).
These include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest — there are many options out there today! Post photos regularly (no more than once per day) and include links back to your website so that people can learn more about what you do.
Post on social media. This can be as simple as sharing your latest work or posting interesting articles related to photography. Post consistently and regularly, not just when you have something new to share.
Facebook: A great place for personal updates and photos from recent projects. Use hashtags related to your niche (like #photography) so people can find more of what they’re looking for on Facebook’s search bar! You can also post about upcoming events such as workshops or meetups where you’ll be exhibiting prints or selling prints
Join photography groups on Facebook and Twitter.
These social networks are great places to connect with other photographers and share stories with potential clients. It’s a great way to get exposure and feedback on your work, as well as meet other photographers who might become collaborators or clients. Participate in discussions by contributing thoughtful comments instead of just promoting yourself all the time; you’ll get more out of it that way!
Post photos on Instagram.
If you don’t already have an Instagram account, create one now! This is one of the fastest ways to grow your following and get more exposure for your work. I recommend posting at least once every day so that people will remember who you are when they’re ready to hire a photographer.
Create a website
Create a website that showcases your work in full resolution so clients can get a sense of what they’ll look like when they hire you. This is probably the most important thing you can do when promoting yourself as a photographer. Create a website where you can post your portfolio and other information about your services. You can also create a blog on the site so that people can keep up with what’s going on with you professionally and personally. If you don’t have time or experience building websites or blogs, consider hiring someone to do it for you (or learn how to do it yourself).
Another effective way to promote yourself is through local events, such as fairs or exhibitions.
Many photographers make their name by entering competitions and submitting their work for juried shows. If you’re interested in this type of promotion, there are plenty of opportunities available online — just do a search for “photography competitions” or “photo exhibitions.”
When promoting your business, it’s important to be professional at all times. It may be tempting to post pictures of yourself having fun on Facebook, but that doesn’t paint the best picture of what your business is all about. Instead, focus on showing off your work and how it benefits others (not just you).
Partner with other photographers for group shows and exhibitions.
Exhibiting together can help both of your portfolios; you’ll attract more people because there’s more variety in the show, and they’re less likely to leave without seeing everything on display. It also helps build relationships with other artists — perhaps someone will be interested in hiring both of you for a project someday!
Attend industry events
These days there are more than enough industry conferences happening all over the country (and even in other countries). There are also smaller regional events that may be closer to home for those who don’t want to travel so far away from home base.
Keep an updated blog.
Blogging is another excellent way to promote yourself as a photographer because it allows people to see what you’re working on and get insight into how you think about photography from both technical and artistic perspectives. You can also use blogging as a platform for posting images, writing guest posts for other websites, networking with other photographers and sharing industry news.
Create a mailing list so that people can subscribe to receive updates from you when new work is posted or when there are special offers or promotions going on.