Orange County Photographers: Learn from the Experience of Others

To succeed in the competitive photography market, an Orange County Photographer needs to learn from the experience of others.

There exist a number of businesses in this world that mark new ground each and every day of their existence. These businesses must be run without the lessons of those who have gone before. A photography business is not one of those types of businesses. A professional photographer should learn the lessons of those who have gone before. This will save time, energy and money. The following are a few of the lessons that experienced photographers have learned.

1. Never underestimate the amount of time, outside of the actual shooting, that is required to succeed at being an Orange County photographer. The reality is that new photographers spend a very small percentage of their day actually photographing their clients. The majority of time is spent in marketing, books, editing, fixing computer systems and filling orders. A new photographer needs to make sure these activities are represented in his pricing.

2. Success is built on two things - an excellent product and marketing. Most photographers love the work they do. Thus, they pour their hearts and souls into creating an excellent product. However, many photographers don't naturally think about marketing; as a result many a talented photographer with a strong work ethic and great product and are just scraping by. Most photographers I have worked struggle, not because of lack of talent, but lack of an effective marketing program.

3. Don't repeat anything work that does not need to be repeated. Often avoiding doing this simply requires keeping good records. Anytime a photographer has written an email response to a wedding inquiry, he should save that email. This response can be used (at least as a starting point template) for all wedding inquiries. Additionally, a photographer should create actions and macros for any effects he has developed. Using these actions will save an enormous amount of editing time. These time saving actions can be made in Photoshop, Lightroom and ActiveWord. ActiveWord allows a photographer to write a script that runs across several different programs.

Building a professional photography business can be a rewarding experience; however it is not a never tried before venture. The key to success lies in learning from the experience of those who have gone before.

Article Tags: Have Gone Before, Orange County, Have Gone, Gone Before

Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR