10 Ways to Increase Your Brand’s Value as a Photographer
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Want to increase your brand’s value as a photographer? If you’re constantly getting pushback on your pricing or not attracting your dream clients, it could be your brand’s perceived value.
Build your business from a position of strength, knowing what you bring to the table.
If you’re ready to become a high value photgrapher, add the following to your toolbelt.
Some of these tools are an investment of time, some a financial investment and some are mindset work.
CRM (Customer Relationship Manager)
Source: ColorJoy Stock
The key to working with dream clients is to make the booking process simple and easy. You don’t want to have 12+ steps before a client can book with you. Using a CRM will allow you to send them proposals (scope of work, contract, invoice) in one e-mail and start planning the shoot with them.
It looks more professional and organized, you can share files with them, and you can track so many details! I personally love HoneyBook, it has really streamlined my process, and made communications with clients much easier!
2. E-mail List
Source: ColorJoy Stock
If you want to get new eyes on your business and increase your value, grow your e-mail list! Although social media is a great way to grow your audience and sell your services, e-mail is the best way to increase your revenue, in my opinion. Once a potential client has opted in and receive your weekly or monthly e-mails, they’re much more likely to eventually book you.
Offer a freebie to encourage them to join your e-mail list (bonus points if it includes some of your portfolio work!) so they can already get a feel for your brand. I love Flodesk, for e-mail list building. It’s super user friendly, they have beautiful templates, and you can setup automations when someone joins your list!
3. Core Values
What’s important to you beyond the surface? How does that translate in your content and branding? Not just visually, but in your daily interactions. If you don’t know what core values are, they’re the fundamental beliefs and principles you practice in your business and life.
Your core values should guide everything you do. If you don’t what your personal core values are, check out this resource for examples. Once you’ve determined what they are, I recommend sharing them on your website and in your marketing.
But they shouldn’t just be words, right? Your clients should be able to see you walk them out in your daily life and work. Some of my core values are joy, fun, care, honesty, inspiration and confidence.
4. Boundaries
Set boundaries for yourself as an entrepreneur! This is going to prevent burnout and resentment. Trust me on this. Knowing your capacity for different situations will alleviate stress in the long run. Boundaries can look like:
Contracts. This will protect you both legally and professionally so you and the client are both on the same page with expectations, such as pricing, deliverables, turnaround time and how they may use the images.
A scheduling link. I use Calendly and Honeybook’s scheduler to streamline my booking process and to set availability for my services.
Automated e-mails for when I’m out of office for an extended period of time or to keep my clients updated on deadlines.
Zoom link for calls. I don’t freely give out my personal phone number or allow leads to text or call me at random times. We’ll communicate through Zoom, and we’re able to chat face to face if we’d like, and share screens to collaborate.
Packaged services so clients know what to expect regarding length of the shoot, amount of images included, number of locations, etc. You can also attract dream clients at various price points based on their needs and to expand your client base.
5. Testimonials
When you’re shopping for a product, you likely check the reviews to check the quality of the product and if it meets the customer’s expectations. The same applies to your service! Encourage testimonials from past clients by sharing a feedback form after a session.
Keep the form form short and sweet, and include guiding questions so you’ll receive more than “she was great!” feedback. Ask them to share their name and a headshot. I like to use Google Forms and Typeform to request feedback.
Also, offer to have clients share a video testimonial if they’d prefer. Video is so much more powerful anyway!
6. Consistent Editing Style
The key to booking dream clients consistently is providing predictable results. Your clients are booking you with the expectation that their photos will look like your portfolio work. It’s important to consistently improve your shooting and editing skills, so clients will keep coming back and referring their friends!
If you feel like your editing isn’t consistent each time, use or create a preset. Presets have saved me so much time and have literally grown my business in so many ways. Be sure to use a preset or edit that works for various skin tones, to attract a wider client base.
7. Your own brand photos
You need to be the face of your brand. I can’t stress this enough! What sets high value photographers apart is leading by example. If you’re a brand photographer who shares content about how to use brand photos, but you don’t have or share your own, you aren’t really practicing what you preach.
Plus, doing your own brand shoots gives you a firsthand perspective of planning a shoot, posing, etc so you can speak from experience. I recommend scheduling a shoot with a fellow photographer once per quarter to keep your content fresh. Book a photographer in your area, or offer to trade headshots. They likely need updates photos as well!
8. Photo gallery subscription
I used to send clients their photos through a shared iCloud folder (cringe). Not the best user experience. Photo gallery websites allow the client to see their beautiful new images in a more appealing way, they can create a favorites list and easily download the files to their computer and other devices.
I’ve been using Pixieset for a few years now, and it’s amazing! Super user-friendly, beautiful layouts for galleries and you can send a link directly to a client’s email to view and download or upsell more images in their package.
9. Website with pricing/portfolio
If you don’t have a website, I highly recommend getting one asap. It’s now super affordable to build a website. You can purchase a template for a fraction of the cost for a custom website, and you can have it built in a weekend. This is the most professional way to show dream clients your best and most recent work and your pricing and packages.
I’ve been using Squarespace for my website since the very beginning of launching my business, and I don’t planning on switching! It’s user-friendly, I can sell my digital products and they even have a Member Area if you want to create a membership or resources for your audience.
10. Content and marketing strategy
If you don’t have a strategy for marketing your offers, it’s going to be hard to attract new clients and get consistent bookings. Create a content plan at least a week in advance, so you know exactly what you’re sharing on your platforms.
You don’t have to be on every platform, but the essentials that have helped my business grow are: website/blog, Instagram, Pinterest and e-mail. Also, you don’t need to create a strategy for each platform from scratch. Create one long form piece of content, and then repurpose it for each platform. Having multiple touchpoints with dream clients increases the likeliness of them booking you, especially if they’re already following you (this means they like your work.)
Don’t solely rely on Instagram or one platform to reach your dream clients, as they may not see your content everytime you post. If you need ideas, check out my 30+ Days of Content for Photographers!
When I started implementing these tools, I stopped getting asked for discounts, feeling frustrated about my business growth and started feeling more confident in the results I could provide my clients!
Which of these tools will you add to your business strategy?
If you’re a photographer who needs a specific gameplan for your business, I’d love to work together! Schedule a 1:1 coaching call and we'll discuss your main pain points to take your brand and business to the next level!
