How Horse Sales Photos Can Lead To Paying Portrait Clients 

Have you ever offered sales photography services to a current client, local trainer or a new client? Did you know that while the immediate investment in those sales photos may not be your record sale but it could actually lead to a full paying client in the future?

Let’s take a moment to break down a few ways that you can provide high quality sale photos and do a few simple things to draw in that next excited client.

#1) Get Your Facts Straight

This is a very important step! Once you have scheduled a date and time to create sales photos, it’s time to gather a little information. First and foremost, you want to know everything you possibly can about the horse(s) you are photographing. That doesn’t mean you just want to know a barn nickname and breed, instead you may want to create a simple and straightforward questionnaire.

When you are building your list, consider what you might search online to find out more about your horse. That means a registered name, breeder, bloodlines, trainers, any potential show credentials and any other cool details about that horse! Sales horse questionnaires are typically simple and easy to fill out which makes everybody’s life easier. Once you have gathered up all of the information associated with that sales horse, you can move onto blogging.

#2) Blog, Post and Share!

Blogging is something you will hear me talk about regularly as it is a key tool in growing your portrait business. In this case, a blog about the sales horse(s) you photographed will be your golden ticket.

But what does that mean? It means you are essentially taking to images you created of a sales horse and are writing up a spotlight on that entire experience. This is your opportunity to write in your own voice all about the horse(s) you photographed, their history, and of course a shout out to the client/farm hiring you for the sales photos. 

This is a wonderful method in nurturing current client relationships to ensure they come back when they need future sales photos but it also can lead to paying clients as well.

#3) Understand SEO

In order to create a successful blog, you will want to have a game plan on what you want to write about. That’s where you look over your handy questionnaire about the horse(s) and even take a moment to search keywords associated with that horse! 

Having an understanding of how SEO can be your absolute best friend can make a huge difference in the audience your blog is reaching. Think of it this way, if you are writing a blog about a horse and forget to mention anything about that horse’s registered name, the breeder, bloodlines or any key history on that horse, you’re pretty much just writing for fun. 

Instead, you want to write a blog that is intentional in its wording that is using keywords to help new or old owners locate your blog and see the images you created. When you do this, you are now placing yourself in an opportunistic spot to have your blog land in front of someone interested in that specific horse. 

What does this mean? It means that you may photograph a sales horse one year and in another year or two, the new owner may be searching that horse’s registered name or an old barn and find your blog. Then, if you took the time to write with intention, that owner may begin following your social media at first or some might reach out immediately and that is where the fun part starts.

#4) Interaction

From the initial inquiry to the session, a blog and beyond, we as the photographer should constantly ensure that we are interacting with past, current and potential clients. It doesn’t have to be anything crazy, simple likes on social media, occasional comments, and going out of your way to say hello if you happen to see a client or potential client out in public. 

Following the client/barn hiring you for sales photos and interacting on their social media is a quick, simple and effective method in maintaining client relationships. 

Sharing their sales ads with your images and making sure that you share your blog about their horse with them is also an easy way to stay relevant and build trust. 

Don’t forget to start engaging on social media with a potential client who landed on your blog about the horse they purchased last year. 

It all starts with an initial inquiry for horse sales photos and overtime those images could be sold to the new owner which would then lead to a full portrait session with that horse and its new rider. 

Whether you have offered sales photos to equestrians or plan to offer those services in the future, taking the time to gather and distribute information as well as brush up on your social game will prove itself overtime! Remember, building that trusting relationship with your ideal client requires time and patience but will pay off in the end.

Did you enjoy reading our blog today and want to learn more about creating paying clients in your portrait business? I have a variety of educational resources available for photographers from our free Facebook Community, a weekly educational podcast and my coaching program dedicated to helping photographers build profitable and successful portrait brands.

Make sure you check out our amazing resources and feel free to let us know your favorite part about reading our blog today!