The other day I posted about how we’ve all been told a big lie and led down the garden path into believing that it’s really difficult to have a successful photography business these days. That we told that we are all competing in a saturated market or that it’s not even possible to make a living at photography any more.

(If you didn’t see the article you can read it here)

In that article I also told you that we have never had so many opportunities to create a prosperous and successful photography business – as long as we take responsibility for creating our reality.

It all comes down to focusing on, and implementing, a good strategy.

Tell me:

• Do you have trouble getting a consistent flow of leads and enquiries for your photography business?
• Do you get enquiries from price shoppers who are a bad fit for you and your business and just want cheap?
• Are you tired of trying different ways of marketing and frustrated because none of them seem to work?
• Have you spent a small fortune on the workshops and trainings from the rockstar photographers and yet still don’t have a sustainable photography business, let alone the one that you imagined when you were first starting out?

If you answered yes to any of those questions it all comes down to not following a strategy in your business. And I get it. I understand just how it feels because I’ve answered yes to all of those questions in the past.

Competing in a saturated market…

It didn’t matter what I tried, or how hard I worked, I just couldn’t gain enough traction to get to the next stage. I was tired of competing in a saturated market.

But what I didn’t realize at the time was that I was in that saturated market because of my own actions. I wasn’t focusing on a solid business growth strategy for my photography business, where I could create a market of one. Instead, I was jumping from tactic to tactic, trying to compete with everyone else because that’s what everyone was doing.

Instead of paying attention to what everyone else was doing (many of whom were no more successful than I was), I should have focused on a strategy for my business. A strategy that would help me achieve MY objectives using the tactics that were right for my business.

And when you think about it, why would you follow the tactics used by most photographers? How many of them are booked solid with a waitlist? How many of the hundreds, thousands of photographers out there have a business that you aspire to?

Stop Jumping From Tactic To Tactic

Instead I was jumping from tactic to tactic, always looking for the next magic bullet, because that was what the latest big photography name was talking about, never giving anything a chance to work, and with no consideration as to whether it was a good tactic for my business in my market.

But the good news is that with a clear and simple strategy you can attract more high quality clients who value your work with a lot more ease and less overwhelm than you are currently experiencing.

Once you get that strategy in place, as one client said “It’s like a quick demisting of the windscreen. It clears up a lot.”

You know exactly what to focus on in you your business and what you should be doing each day to attract those high quality clients that you deserve.

There are three distinct phases to a strategy for a prosperous photography business.

Three Steps To A Successful Photography Business

Success Foundations

This is your first step, laying your Success Foundations.

It is all about understanding your market, your clients, the language they use and HOW you can stand out in that market so that you attract more dream clients, and keep them longer whilst earning higher fees.

Most photography businesses get stuck surviving because they never truly understand the importance of laying the Success Foundations. Everything else you do in your business and your marketing hinges on this.

Your Success Foundations position you as the one and only solution for your prospects. 99% of photographers NEVER do this. Instead they waste a ton of money and time on dead-end marketing campaigns. Marketing campaigns that are as effective throwing a bunch of confetti at the bride and groom with your eyes closed in a 60mph wind. A tiny bit might stick but the majority is carried away on the wind never to be seen again. That is what is happening with your time and money.

Money and time that could be much better spent.

However, get this right and not only will you be way ahead of your competition. You will be well on your way to taking your photography business to the next level.

This is what enables you to market to the greater majority of people who don’t know that they want your photography services yet, instead of just the 2 -3 % who do.

Once you have your Success Foundations in place, and not before, it’s time to build on these with your Client Attraction Blueprint.

Your Client Attraction Blueprint

This is where you start attracting clients by developing a virtually unbeatable brand that your clients can’t ever forget. Your Client Attraction Blueprint is a natural extension of all that you have done in laying your foundations. It ties together everything into a consistently powerful message that attracts prospective clients and ensures that they receive the perfect message at the perfect time. This is where you create pathways that you guide your prospects along as you nurture them into valuable clients. And then, when (and only when) you are ready for a consistent and reliable flow of high quality traffic do you look at how to chose and prioritise your main traffic source, eliminating the overwhelm of jumping from tactic to tactic, without ever giving any one a chance to work.

Profit Strategies

The final step, now that you are attracting a continuous flow of high quality clients for your business, is to maximize your profits. This is where you increase your cash flow and bottom line by finding the hidden profit that already exists in your business. As well as developing evergreen systems to attract clients as well as putting in place strategies to enable you to safely, but powerfully, scale and grow your business.

We call this Profit Strategies and once you are here you are just a few short steps from entering the Prosperity Cycle.

As one client recently said “It takes a ton of hard work to be where you want to be but with the right strategy you can save yourself many wasted hours and a small fortune. Time and money that can be much better spent either on your business or with your family and loved ones”.

And the beauty of a good strategy is that it doesn’t matter where you are on the  Roadmap, it has the power to lift you and your photography business to the next level.

But it’s not for everyone – few take the time to lay those foundations so that they can go onto attracting a regular stream of high quality clients and create a prosperous photography business.

The question is – will you?