Starting your own Photography company.

[Ryan L]

If you didn't have anything positive to say in reply to my simple question, why even read my thread in the first place?

My, my, my, aren't we the serious type...Have a sense of humor. Know what really bugs me when I walk into a business? A grumpy uptight business owner.:x

 

[ghpham]

This is a beginner forum. You'd get better responses (maybe) if you go to the business district section.

 

[gwenwon]

I think you need to look for some photography supplies at a good price except for the office and stationery.

 

[Ryan L]

:thumbup: for the troll above me...I would go with his idea. lol

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Spammer, not Troll.

 

[Ryan L]

Sorry, Spammer. Troll just sounds more derogatory and fun to use.

+1 to the Spammer 3 posts above!

 

[dak1b]

having descent equipment, having a business mind, and a good eye!

 

[ferguson911]

Start by building a kickass portfolio, to show your work, start offering you services real cheap to make a name in your area, and add to that portfolio.

People will speak of you, you will be known, people will want to pay you for photography.


If you can't show WHY your a serious photographer then you wont be near starting a buisness

 

[Morpheuss]

I would suggest just working for a photographer and learning from him or her and see about being more of an apprentice and then use what you learn from him or her.

 

[IceEateer]

I would suggest taking the criticisms a bit more lightly. You asked for people's opinions and they gave you honest responses and they were all polite responses -- maybe some with more rib poking, but nothing malicious.

 

[SrBiscuit]

i have no idea.
i would guess it would take some knowledge of photography, and some knowledge of business.

 

[Petraio Prime]

I would suggest just working for a photographer and learning from him or her and see about being more of an apprentice and then use what you learn from him or her.

That's what I said.

 

[KmH]

Alright, i'm not trying to make a living out of this business nor am I looking to make photography a profession of mine in any way. I'm simply wanting to recoup a little bit of money from when I go on rides with people and take pictures of them, or when I attend my buddies MX races or something. I appreciate the polite replies, those helped. As for the negative, rude ones I don't see the need for that. I simply asked one question. Yeah i'm sure there are plenty of threads about this, i'm on 28.8kbps dial up though so it takes enough effort to just get one post done. If you didn't have anything positive to say in reply to my simple question, why even read my thread in the first place?

So, all that ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ means you're looking to do retail photography.

Check out www.zenfolio.com. For $100 a year you can have a pro account and put your photos up in galleries. (you'll do better with your own domain name rather than having Zenfolio as part of your web site URL.)

Zenfolio is partnered with the great online print lab Mpix and people can buy your photos right there. Zenfolio will handle the money and forward it all to you, less their cut for their part of the work.

Mpix will print and ship directly to your buyer.

All you have to do is upload your photos, price the photos (gatta have the pro account to ne able to do that) and whatever other products you want to offer, like mounting and/or framing, standouts, stretched canvas, coffee mugs, whatever Mpix has to offer.

If you prefer, byhaving a pro Zenfolio account you can fulfill all the orders yourself or only offer digital downloads and Zenfolio's cut get sunstantaill reduced since they are less involved.

Beyond that, all you need to take care of is promoting and marketing your work and your Zenfolio site.

Easy peezy, extra cheezy. :thumbup:

 

[Snowmobiler]

Ahh thanks KmH. This is what I had in mind.

 

[KmH]

Ahh thanks KmH. This is what I had in mind.

Then, you don't want a photography company.
You don't even want a photography business.
All you want to do is sell a few photos.

Who do you think will want to buy your photos? I mean what demographic?