How to book more photography clients ASAP

I remember the days of being a pro photographer when I was barely getting by… I’d get a few clients and have a great month, then it was crickets. I’d scramble to make ends meet and pay the bills and dive head first into every single strategy out there with the hopes that it would all come together – and it wouldn’t pan out.

It’s a horrible feeling, but with the right moves you can get past this phase. And no, the answer isn’t to buy more high-end camera gear. Unless you’re shooting with your phone right now you probably don’t need new gear to land photo clients!

Where most photographers go to find clients

The first place most photographers head the second they need more clients is social media. Not to have conversations with specific people who may be interested… they go onto social media and use some type of strategy or tactic to get more followers. The problem here? More followers doesn’t translate to more sales. I know, I know, this is the opposite of what every single internet guru out there is telling you. They all claim that more followers is all it takes, but I’m going to call that out right here and say that you likely don’t need a ton of new followers to make sales. This approach is not going to get you where you want to go fast enough.

The most important thing to remember to book more photography clients

The key to making sales in your photography business lies in a few simple steps, some steps that my friend Heather Lahtinen of Flourish Academy tells every photographer to focus on no matter where they are in their career.

If you are staring at this article on your computer right now and thinking, “how am I supposed to get more photography clients NOW”, than Heather’s approach is for you. It boils down to just 3 steps:

1. Meet people
2. Tell them you’re a photographer
3. Make them an offer

Most photographers hear this and say, “duh”. But do they go out and do this? Not usually… They do something that I like to call “hiding behind their keyboard”. They take every single method possible where they won’t have to engage with anyone on a deeper level. They hope that their new flashy website, updated portfolio, or sheer volume of followers will do the selling for them. But unless you’ve been at this for a very long time and are a master marketer, it’s almost guaranteed that those approaches won’t work.

The easiest and quickest way to book more clients is by having conversations with people. Yep. It’s that simple. And if you’re anything like I was, you’re getting nervous at the thought of this just from reading it here. 

The only way to beat that nervousness? Go out and do it, or start with small steps by messaging and emailing everyone you know or have a connection with on your socials and elsewhere. Simply let them know what you’re doing and ask if they know of anyone who could use your services… Often times the people you reach out to first will be interested in hiring you for a job, but even if they aren’t, they probably have a few people that will be!

Referrals are incredibly powerful and work wonders to secure more photography bookings. This method follows the “popular show” effect. It’s where someone watches a new show and LOVES to be the person who introduces a friend to that new show. They are sharing something of value that they can feel proud of sharing.

When you speak to a friend or someone about what you do and ask if they know anyone who could use your services, it might feel like a little inconvenience for them initially. But once they reach out to a friend or two and let them know about you and your photography skills, they get the even more powerful, excited, and helpful feeling of being the person who introduced their friend, and the person who hooked you up!

You can watch Heather talk more about her approach starting at 4:53 in this video:

The existing client reactivation process

This is where I went any time I was strapped for cash, and it’s a very comfortable feeling approach. What’s crazy is how little this method is used…

Simply reach out to everyone in your contact list who has hired you in the past. Do a quick check in to see how they’re doing, and ask if they have any photo needs at the moment or if they know someone who might.

That’s it! This is the one thing that saved me time and time again. It literally worked every time I tried. Not everyone will have needs, but some will. And some will have friends who will make for great clients. You could also incentivize them with a discount for their next shoot, a discount for their friend, a free 4×6, whatever you’d like!

Turning your site into a consistent client landing machine

Here’s where we bring in the long term game. And this is what you should focus on only after you’ve focused on connecting with as many people as possible and developing a somewhat stable business. This is your parallel marketing for when you want to semi-hide behind your keyboard and also truly grow your business. But it’s the long game.

This method? SEO. It’s what I teach here through the Simple SEO Membership. I believe it’s the best method for online marketing a photographer can use.

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It’s where we make our websites fit exactly what Google is looking for so that they feature us at the top of the results for ideal clients.

It’s different than advertising because ads are interruptive – people are doing something else and an advertisement pops up. This means they aren’t necessarily interested in the moment and certainly weren’t looking for your offer at that time.

SEO on the other hand answers peoples questions. If you’re a pet photographer based in Seattle and someone in Seattle searches for pet photographers near them, you will show up in the top ranks once you get your SEO dialed!

This means you’ll have clients who are ready to hire you for exactly what you do, finding you automatically. It doesn’t get much better than that.

SEO has all kinds of factors that you’ll want to work on, but it’s something that can be improved over time as you get any chances to work on it. The whole process can be very flexible to fit your schedule.

The best part of this? As a local photographer you have a serious advantage. Your competitors are the photographers near you who are shooting the same thing as you. You aren’t competing with the whole internet. This makes it far easier to rank.

Where do I start with SEO?

The first place I recommend every photographer start is Google My Business. This is also known as Google local, or maps pack. It’s what shows up when someone is searching for a photographer in a specific area.

You’ll need to verify your business when you first set this up, and I highly recommend NOT using a physical location if you don’t shoot at your location. Google has really cracked down on that lately and it’s also easier for people to hack an account with a physical location.

As a quick recommendation, fill out every single field and setting that’s applicable. Then start asking existing clients for reviews and request them from every client you work with going forwards. This will help Google to trust your business more so they start to show you in search results.

For a more detailed start with SEO, check out my guide to local SEO for photographers.

Go Get More Clients Now!

The last and maybe most important pieces of advice? Get out of your own head, get out of your comfort zone, and start talking to people. Think about every person you know, think about your connections on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc… and reach out to start conversations. And remember, don’t be afraid to tell them what you are doing and what they can do to help you out. Good people love to help other people, and we all want to work with good people!