Right now in the photography business the thing is to specialize. Every corner you turn, every piece of advice is to specialize. I get it and I agree to a certain extent. I tried to jump on board and fully embraced the idea and slowly was getting rid of the things I didn’t LOVE to shoot. I started to focus so much on specializing that without realizing it I had stopped getting the people in my doors that were my ideal client. I had lost focus on the WHO of my interests and in doing so I felt conflicted. Business was doing great, it was growing, but I had lost site of my target market, which is exactly what I talked about last time I was on here! So I thought I’d give y’all some advice on how to specialize without loosing your target client, save you all from the misstep I had.
So first, if you haven’t already figured out who your target market is, go back and read my last guest post – Photography Business: 3 Tips to Brand Your Business, there are some great tips to get you started!
Let’s find you niche
Make a list of EVERYTHING you’re currently photographing, and I mean everything!
Once you have the list I want you to separate the different specialities into two lists, love it, or not so much. Be honest with yourself here, think about what sessions stir your creative soul, that get you giddy with excitement when you get in your car to head home. Those are the sessions to keep on your list. So now I want you to just look at the love it list and forget about those not so much sessions.
Guess what?! Now you have the areas you’d like to specialize in your photography business, yay for you! Maybe you’ve reduced your list down to one specialty, but maybe not, don’t worry if you’ve got several still. This is where I’m going to stray from the pack a little. True specializing is when you shoot one, maybe two different types of sessions, but if you’ve got more than that AND they connect with your target client then who’s to tell you that you’re doing too many different types?! I certainly won’t! What I’ve learned is that you really need to stay true to you and true to your client. If you feel like you’ve got too many specialities still, what I suggest is to keep shooting whats on your love list and as you continue to shoot each, you’ll see if there are any areas that just don’t float your boat anymore and you can remove them from what you offer.
The key takeaway I want for you all is to remember who your target client is during this journey. If you stay true to yourself then you’re staying true to that client and you’ll be happy. Don’t start focusing just on the areas you specialize in and how to get more clients. Just because they fall into that speciality doesn’t mean they’re your ideal client. You must remember who you want to be working with. If you lose sight of that person, I promise you will hit a point like I did where you’ve lost who you are and have to take some steps backwards to get yourself on the right track again.
Read more photography business tips
– Photography Business: 3 Tips to Brand Your Business
– Marketing to Photographers: 3 Ways to Use Videos to Stand Above the Competition
– Photography Business: Creative Advertising Through Giving Back
Excellent post! I’m still trying to find my niche. I love wedding and family photography and lifestyle photography. I’m slowly realizing that newborn is just not my thing as much as I’d love to love it.
Any tips on turning down clients that ask for something you don’t normally photograph? Or do you accept every job?? How do you do that?!
That’s great you’re recognizing the things you love and the ones you aren’t! I recommend finding a small group of photographers in your area that you’d want to send the sessions to that you no longer do. It’s a great way to be a supportive person in the industry and the person with the inquiry will also appreciate it. Maybe you know someone who only does newborns and you could send your inquiries her way and she can send you weddings etc.
Love this article. I am still trying to find my niche, I love shooting Newborns, Maternity, Engagement, Children and Family in this order. I do not care for weddings but, get asked to capture this all the time. I do not know how to say NO. I also have a huge issue with pricing. If you have any helpful tips on this. My area is full of Photographers who get new camera’s and shot cheap, My issue is some of them the quality is good and they charge $25-$75 a session. How do you compete with this. Nicole
Don’t worry about the other people. You don’t want the price shoppers as customers anyway. You want people who cherish your work and want your vision. So the answer, you don’t compete with them. They aren’t your competition. You set yourself apart from them and create such an amazing experience and produce beautiful work that people will pay you what you are worth and I wouldn’t worry about the other people.