Starting a photography biz....

[bellacat]

I accidentally posted under the wrong forum so my apologies if some have seen this as a duplicate post.

I recently seriously started thinking about starting a photography biz. Honestly its something i have thought about for years but it wasn't until a few months ago that i have felt confident enough to jump into it.

I have only mentioned this idea to a few friends and family. I know a few people who have started portfolio building sessions but for some reason i feel i should have a portfolio put together before i start asking others to give me money of any kind so i have been recruiting neighbors and friends to allow me to take their photos for free in exchange for them to allow me to use the photos in my gallery.

I can't afford to spend $400-800 on a fancy professional photo gallery but i do intend to purchase a professional gallery template this week once i purchase a domain for the biz.

what kind of advise can you give a newbie like myself?

 

[Big Mike]

What type of photography are you planning on doing?

Building up a portfolio is always a good idea, if you can get friends, family & neighbors to model for you, that's great. You could also ask models to model for you on a TFP/TFCD basis. (Time for Prints / Time for CD).

Word of mouth is king in this business, so good customer service and a great attitude will pay dividends down the road.

 

[jenie_penny]

I would say the number one thing is having a strong online presence. I would recommend going with a template flash company like portfoliositez.com (not launched yet), bigfolio.com, or winklet.com. The other key thing is to showcase your best work online. I think one of the biggest mistakes people make is putting everything they've done up and not just the best shots.

 

[dvduval]

Are you going to be selling more to people in your area, or online?

 

[wildmaven]

I think one of the biggest mistakes people make is putting everything they've done up and not just the best shots.

I soooooooooo agree!!! If you do portrait photography, for instance, don't include sunsets/landscapes, close ups of flowers, etc. Show what you are trying to sell, and only show the perfect shots.

 

[bellacat]

I would say the number one thing is having a strong online presence. I would recommend going with a template flash company like portfoliositez.com (not launched yet), bigfolio.com, or winklet.com. The other key thing is to showcase your best work online. I think one of the biggest mistakes people make is putting everything they've done up and not just the best shots.

thanks for the links. I have only heard of winklet.com and bludomain.com so i will check out the others. No one has really seen my blog that i have up now so when i get a site put up that blog will disappear. After being on this forum I have learned that most of my shots on my blog need to be left out of the official website and I have lined up friends and neighbors to let me take thier photos so i have a variety of people for my galleries.