businessadvice

Urban Hubs Are No Longer a Living Requirement for Creative Success

The "Creator Exodus" is a phenomenon that has been accelerated by the COVID-19 era. With the requirement for non-essential businesses to operate from a remote-first capacity, the 2020 experience has encouraged creators at all levels to redefine their metrics for productivity and success.

How Yelp Scams Photographers (and Other Business Owners)

If you’re a local business owner, you know that your number-one priority, day-in and day-out, is marketing your services and finding new customers. And in this digital age, the available options for marketing are surprisingly limited.

These Five Mistakes Can Hold Back Your Photography Career

When photographers are just starting out in their careers, they tend to make the same set of mistakes that cost them work and, therefore, money. In this short 4.5-minute video, photographer Scott Choucino cites five mistakes that held his career back and urges you not to make them yourself.

The Pros and Cons of Working with an Agent: Advice for Photographers

When you’re very early in your photography career, getting an agent will seem like a mysterious process. Many photographers feel that signing with an agent will offer the key to their fortunes. When they do sign, some photographers will feel they have finally made it.

Photographers, Here’s a Quick and Free Way to Improve Your SEO

Backlinks are a pillar of SEO. As photographers, we have a unique niche in to getting backlinks. Websites need images for their pages, we have images, and some of these websites might be using your images and mentioning your business, but not linking to your website. These are called unlinked mentions, and they are some of the simplest backlinks you can get.

Advice on Handling Contract Cancellations for Photographers

On March 12, 2020, the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) held a webinar with General Counsel Thomas Maddrey entitled “Potential Business Ramifications of Coronavirus (COVID-19).” Maddrey covered a variety of topics, including cancellation clauses in photographer contracts.

7 Things I Wish I Knew When I Started My Photography Business

A few weeks ago, I was in town when I heard a lady say to her friend, “That photo you posted of Sebastian was soooooo beautiful. While you’re on maternity leave, you should totally start doing photography as a business…”

How Empathy Can Transform Your Work and Help You Connect with Clients

Talented creator Daniel DeArco—who goes by "Industrial Content Director & Creative Consultant" these days—recently dived into a topic that isn't often covered for creative business owners, freelancers, or just creators in general: empathy. Specifically, how empathy can transform the work you do and help you connect with clients.

For Pro Photographers, the Hustle Never Ends

“It was constant hustle for me the first three years (in business) full time.” I read this quote from a photographer-turned-business coach. It was advice in a Facebook group. I’m not certain the question that elicited this reply, but it doesn’t really matter. The statement stands alone.

Confessions of a Newbie: Business Advice I Wish I’d Known

I have to admit, when I first started my photography business I didn’t think it was going to be that difficult. I thought I’d get a camera, take some photos, put some stuff out on Facebook and people would start hiring me. They would give me money, I would give them photos—done deal! How tough could it be?