I am fortunate enough that, despite the Covid crisis, my income has not changed and has actually increased in this crazy climate of 2020/21.

At the beginning of the crisis exactly 12 months ago, I thought I had to modify strategies and leave aside my extremely successful workshops/photo walks business  and commercial clients heavily linked to tourism and travel. They accounted for more than 200,000 Euro. So I sat down and decided to explore other areas and find different incomes

In 12 months I started three business ideas each of them became very profitable in less than 90 days

From creating a side-hustle to finding new clients I would like to share some business tips for photographers, emerging artists and creatives that find themselves in difficulties due to the financial stress.

The first thing you must understand is that you're a business, not just an artist. Realize that getting clients is just part of the game.

Monetize on your talents and experience and be active and get some exposure for the post-lockdown season.

Diversify Your Income

Especially in these difficult times with lockdowns and scarcity of paid work you may have come to the conclusion that you have been relying fully on commercial clients, or agencies or something else and then realize how important it was to have other money streams. Focus more on stock photography, as you can always photograph your own family, yourself, landscapes, and still lifes.

If you’re not sure where to start, spend some time brainstorming potential side-hustles, here are just some ideas

Start your very own photography YouTube channel as a long-term project. Join affiliate programs related to photography. Start a blog, and set up an online shop where I’ll sell photography resources, courses, eBooks, zines, prints.

Become a Specialist

There are many talented photographers out there but they are generalists, but in my experience what consumers want is experts, photographers with a particular insight and mastery of their skills. This year, if you have more free time, use it to build, learn and develop. Pick a niche and get extremely good at it to the point where you can offer the best service.

Build a micro-site dedicated to a niche of the photography world. For example, you could build a site for pet photographers, based on 3 - 5 blogs that you can share on social media.

Network, Network and more Network

It is still possible, without leaving a house, to reach out and network! It helps in to provide a possible customer communication outreach spreadsheet where everything from the name of the person, company name, contact details, outreach date, and any notes can be written down. If you don't hear back, make sure to follow up as it is not uncommon for it to take a few tries before hearing back from a potential customer.

Invite people to join a "Fan Page" and receive a login. In this way, they build their own personal profile page. The Fan Page can be displayed in the back of a session room or studio, where it can be viewed along with the other images that have been uploaded.

Use a referral program. This is an effective tool for indexing a viral spread, as users can share a link via email with friends and family, expanding upon the initial user. However, to make this strategy work you need to offer some incentive for users to refer the link.

Have continuous interaction with your network by starting conversations you care about. In the blog post How I Grew My Wedding Photography Business to $195,000 a Year Using Facebook, Pro Photographer Randy Joyner describes how he did just that.

Use Social Media, from Facebook to Instagram from Linkedin to Twitter!