Starting over

imagineinfinity · Aug 14, 2013

I recently relocated, a thousand miles from home, and I know almost no one. Any advice on starting over pretty much from scratch? I've tried leaving business cards around in public places, and putting ads on Craigslist. I'm getting no calls. Advice?

*** edited to add... I didn't mean I post this in fight club.

terri · Aug 14, 2013

Hi there, no problem - I've moved this thread for you where you can hopefully get some discussion going.

Can you tell us some more about yourself? It sounds like you were a working professional in another state or area, and are looking for some hints how to open up a new shop. Something along those lines, or am I way off?

Big Mike · Aug 14, 2013

I took a seminar from a photographer that did something like that...move to a new town and start over.

They opened a studio and threw a big 'open house' type party. Made sure that it was well covered by the local media and generally did a bunch of things to get people to notice them.
It worked really well, especially at first...but it still took A LOT of hard work and marketing to continue to drum up business and keep the new clients they got.

Running any sort of successful small business, especially a retail photography business...has a lot to do with marketing. Many, many excellent photographers fail with their business because they don't market well and/or don't know how to run a business well.

Check these guys out. I took a seminar from them and get the newsletters etc.
No BS Photo Success

Besides providing info etc., I think they can act as photography marketing consultants, helping you to increase your business etc. (not free, of course).

KmH · Aug 14, 2013

You spend money on advertising and promotion and put in all the hard work Mike refers to.
Leaving business cards laying around in public places won't cut it. You give business cars to people face-to-face.

Certainly a new business plan is required, so you need to research the new market and tailor your marketing and promotion to the demographic you want to attract as customers.