How are you making a living with photography in a small town?

[Photobe]

Hi everyone!

For those of us in small town, where we don't have a lot of potential customers, what are some ways you're surviving in your market? Do you only do photography part-time? For those of you doing it full-time, how are you finding a steady stream of paying clients?

Thanks for your advice!

 

[table1349]

Basic law of economics, supply and demand. Supply is you talent/product. Demand is you demographics.

If you don't have enough demand you have two choices. Expand your options, IE part time photographer part time something else or expand you market of demand.

Expanding you demand is somewhat limited due to geography and population density unless you are willing to change your geographical location. Expanding you options would probably be easier although it would probably mean being a part time photographer.

 

[astroNikon]

Define small town ?

I've been through some small towns that have about 200 homes.
Out of 200, how many would want a photographer ?
What are the Supply/Demand statistics in rural vs suburbanite vs urban locations which I'm sure vary based upon financial class.

If you cannot make a living in your small town then you have to expand your reach, or as mentioned, find another source of income. Many small towns have a gas station and small food/grain store or two, and maybe one flashing yellow light.

I don't do this as a profession though.

 

[robbins.photo]

Define small town. Ok, a town in which all the streets going one way are numbered and all the streets that go the other way are named after trees

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[dennybeall]

There are some related tasks that may add a little income. It's mostly grunt work but can make some money. Things like scanning and digitizing family photos and old films and videos. Also, using Photoshop to restore old and damaged photos. Another item is creating slide shows from old photos for weddings and other life events.

 

[sniper x]

Define small town. Ok, a town in which all the streets going one way are numbered and all the streets that go the other way are named after trees

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LOL! I'd have to agree with this! I'll say Albuquerque is a small town compared to where some live. I work in Albuquerque but live in a "Really small town" Called Tijeras New Mexico. We don't even have numbered streets! But a lot of our roads (most aren't paved) are named after trees. But all are the Spanish names of trees. I've already decided to not try to make money off of photography anymore. Some of the reasons have been discussed here to no end. But I do look into these threads to see if I am missing something....

 

[pixmedic]

I imagine few professional photographers make their living entirely in one town, regardless of its size.
in order to do that, if thats what you want, then you have to figure out what the demand is for photography and then charge accordingly...IE, charge enough money to make your living based solely on your towns photography demand.
perhaps the more likely option however, is to branch out into surrounding areas. travel as far as you need to in order to have enough clientele to meet your monetary needs.

 

[beagle100]

Hi everyone!

For those of us in small town, where we don't have a lot of potential customers, what are some ways you're surviving in your market? Do you only do photography part-time? For those of you doing it full-time, how are you finding a steady stream of paying clients?

Thanks for your advice!

I live in a small town but don't know any photographers "doing it" full time. But I know plenty of amateur photographers shooting various events, sports, portraits, etc. for free

 

[dennybeall]

I think beagle100 hit the nail on the head. That's the main problem with being able to make a living as a photographer. How do you get around that? The only way I can see is to be noticeably better and/or offer something that the pseudo-pros can't! Great lighting, drones and processing are a couple areas where you can make a difference.
I also wonder about being able to offer, along with your photo coverage of the event, a service where you compile all the photos taken by the amateurs into a video or collage for the client???

 

[kathykitty778]

My town is too small to do this full time. But I do like the lack of competition

 

[Photobe]

I appreciate everyone's answer, thanks again for sharing your advice or thoughts. I've been asking around on some other forums and spoke with a number of photographers about this issue. I ended up writing an article with the advice I got and it's been published.

 

[pixmedic]

I appreciate everyone's answer, thanks again for sharing your advice or thoughts. I've been asking around on some other forums and spoke with a number of photographers about this issue. I ended up writing an article with the advice I got and it's been published.

so....
lemme get this straight....

you have a blog/newsletter offering advice on everything there is to know about being a photographer, but get your information by soliciting the answers from other people?
sounds kinda disingenuous to me.
nice clickbait though.

 

[vintagesnaps]

My thoughts exactly. The OP was seemingly asking for advice and did not make it clear what he was really doing. Feels like we just got used.

 

[Photobe]

I'm glad you made this point.

I can definitely see how you can take this as being disingenuous because I run a newsletter that shares advice with photographers. You may see me as someone purporting to be a know-it-all with all the answers, and then here I am in your forum asking the same question I am answering. And I understand how you may have felt used if I didn’t make it clear WHY I was asking the question.

First, in the future I’ll be sure to preface the question if its for research.

My newsletter is by design condensing the best advice on some of the toughest marketing issues new or established photographers face. I don’t pretend or intend to share advice on photography techniques or everything there is to know about photography as there are much more qualified individuals and better resources out there for that. The marketing advice I share comes in the form of interviews, articles, or videos. For some content, other photographers are interviewed and in this case, I wrote an article. When you sign-up, I make it a point to tell you exactly the kind of information you're getting and that it all does not all come from me. My first email speaks to my background and experience as well.

When I write the content the advice comes from my own experience, background in small business marketing, and other advice I've read. But, I know that everyone has different markets, attitudes, goals, and approaches for their business. I almost always want to seek other perspectives when researching a question because *TADA* I don't know it all and someone may have another piece of insight or perspective based on their unique experiences and knowledge. I want to cover all the bases when answering a question so that my readers can save time by not having to research the answers themselves and they get a complete and comprehensive answer.

The value this newsletter provides is that the advice is proven, well researched, and comes from people who have had success with them. This precedent is nothing new. You'll notice that many of your favorite blogs, podcasts, and videos on photography feature interviews and guest posts from people who do not actually run that blog or podcast. The value is a medium where you can easily digest and consume the information to the questions you have in running a business in a style that you find entertaining or easy to learn from.

And finally, I'm well aware of the skepticism you have of anything claiming to have all the answers or people claiming to be experts. If anyone reading my material decides it isn't right for them, or for some reason they don't find me credible, that's cool. There are other places (such as this forum) that may be a better fit. But, I would challenge them to apply the advice shared and give it a try before discrediting it.

 

[pixmedic]

do you state anywhere in your article that it is a compilation of research and information gathered from other photographers, or do you let the reader assume that your the one with the expertise and knowledge?