How to Stand Out in Your Photography Market

Have you ever found yourself falling into a business lull where no matter how many times you post on social media, run ads and network you can’t seem to book clients? There is a good chance that your business and what drives your business either isn’t standing out or doesn’t pull your audience in like it should.

Photographers are exploring unique methods every day when it comes to standing out in their market from trying out the latest and greatest online platforms, mastering their ‘why’ and going against the current. Today, I want to break down a few basic methods you can use starting today in order to stand out as a photographer and start pulling ideal booking clients through your door again.

First, you need to ask yourself how your photography business is different from your competitors. This is the only time I encourage photographers to take time to check out what their competitors in their area are doing.

Start out by researching 5-10 of your competitors and ask yourself the following questions:

✨What message are they sharing through their marketing strategies?

✨What method do they use to respond to potential clients?

✨What type of experience do they offer clients?

✨How are they posing, styling and photographing their clients?

✨What price range are they in and what do they include?

After you have completed your research into different competitors in the area, you then need to sit down and assess the results. This does not mean that you review your competitor’s pricing, replicate their business and offer those services for $50 less. Spoiler alert, you still won’t book clients this way.

Instead, you have to review what your competitors may have in common with one another and take note of the pieces making your competitors unique, then you get to work. Standing out as a photographer means you are in tune with what it is that drive you to wake up and provide your services to clients each and every day, aka your ‘why’.

Ask yourself if your marketing is truly conveying a message that speaks to your why and evokes that emotion in clients who relate. If you look through your messaging throughout your social content, emails, or in person conversations and don’t feel like it is 100% true to you, it’s time to stop and revisit your ‘why’. If you are sitting here reading this and have absolutely no idea what I am talking about, you can listen to Episode 9 of my podcast for photographers, The Real Compass of Your Business | Your Why.

After you have taken a look into how your messaging is coming through in your business, you can start evaluating what your competitors all have in common whether that is how they handle inquiries, what they offer in their client experience or what is included in their pricing.

And then you do the opposite.

That’s right, in a world full of talented photographers charging a large variety of prices, you have to stand out in a way that makes comparing you and your competitors impossible. If you are providing an incredible client experience that speaks to your ‘why’ and you are giving your clients the opportunity to purchase wall art and solving their problems before they even come up, you can’t fade into the crowd. When you begin to value what you are doing, build an experience around that value and convey it through your messaging, the right clients will be drawn to you because of what you offer and why you offer it rather than price checking local photographers.

You have to ask yourself how you can be different in your market. Sometimes it takes doing the exact opposite of your competitors and being the most expensive photographer in the room. When you allow yourself to fall in tune with what drives you and express that message every time you talk, think or share something about your business, you are guarantied to own a photography business that stands out.

Did you enjoy reading about how you can stand out as a photographer and want to have discussions with other photographers working towards the same goal? You can join our free Facebook group, Photography Business Tune-Up With Karinda K.

If you feel like you need helping mastering your ‘why’ or building the profitable portrait business you desire, you can join our waitlist for Master Your Mind & Money, a one-on-one, course portal and group educational program dedicated to helping photographers grow profitable portrait brands.

You can also tune into my podcast every Monday where industry pros and I discuss all things Mindset & Money in the photography industry!