 Thank you to Squarespace for sponsoring this video check out the link in my description for 10% off your first purchase Now as many of you guys know I've been a photographer and filmmaker for the past five or six years I've been doing it since middle school got really involved in high school And now I'm continuing it throughout college now a question that I get asked a lot is how to start your own Photography business and how to start making money from it something that you're passionate about and you want to You know make a few extra bucks on the side as a student I totally understand that so today I'm gonna be giving you guys my tips on how I started my own photography business in the Dallas area what you need the Connections that you'll need to make and everything that you'll need to know because that's something that's not often talked about and especially as a student It's hard to get your name out there and especially show people that you're credible and that you still have really good talent as a young photographer So without further ado, let's cue that intro I just turn on these lights But anyway the first and most important step is that you need to practice and you need to practice for cheap When you're first starting out you're gonna be making very little money if any at all obviously You're not gonna be able to make the big books of two hundred three hundred dollars because you don't have enough reputation You don't have enough credibility to show people that I am an established photographer and that I can charge these rates what I personally recommend And what I did was just go on photo shoots with your friends Don't think of it as I'm building my portfolio or anything like that just be like I'm just trying to get better at photography Which should be the main goal and should be the main purpose that you're doing it now my photography today Obviously didn't get to where it came from out of nowhere It took months if not years of practice to become the photographer I am today and I'm just constantly trying to improve which is why I think that practicing as much as you can is the best route Don't worry so much about the pricing or the rates or the quotes or anything like that Just focus on getting better and developing your craft before you start to charge some rates now The second most important thing is like I said build a portfolio This is probably one of the most critical if not most important part of Establishing yourself as a photographer and making your own business nowadays the fastest and easiest way to get clients is to show People your portfolio and show them the work that you've done so that they know that you're credible And that you're reputable and that you have great work that you can show them nowadays There are dozens of different ways to host a portfolio But the one that I personally use and recommend is Squarespace you've most likely heard about them before because nowadays Everyone seems to be hosting their website with Squarespace the reason that everyone's been raving about Squarespace lately is because it's so simple to use It's very user-friendly and all the features are super intuitive right now I'm in the process of redesigning my own website and I'm constantly amazed of just how easy it is to upload pictures change the gallery style Change every little thing that you could think about on a website. It's so easy to do I've also worked for other companies and helped them build their own websites And I always build it using Squarespace and like I said, it's so easy to use that once I set it up for them I just have to walk them through of how to use it and they can manage it on their own from there I personally had no coding experience and none of that was necessary because they have so many drag-and-drop features that you Don't need any of that another great thing is that they have an e-store already integrated within the platform So if you ever want to sell your prints, it's already easy to do I personally use it to use my ebooks and they also have an app on my phone that I can track the analytics Which makes everything super seamless and now if you hit that link in my description You guys can get 10% off your first purchase So I highly recommend getting yourself a domain hosting your website and building your portfolio because as soon as you have a Professional-looking portfolio the amount of clients you're going to be receiving is just going to exponentially increase So I highly recommend making that investment right now and go check out that link in my description Okay, now the third thing is to have consistent rates when you're building a photography business and having clients come to you asking What how much do you charge? How much is a wedding? How much is an event? How much are senior photos? How much is family photos? You can't be just throwing out random numbers that you feel like pulling out of nowhere You have to have some kind of consistent rate Well, there's on your website or by the hour or just a flat rate so that clients know that you're professional that you're consistent And that you're not ripping people off by charging, you know $300 for one person or $150 because they're your friends This can also get into tricky territory when you're working for friends or close family members Because then you are not exactly so sure of how much to charge them But if you have a consistent rate It just makes things a lot easier and they understand because you're an entrepreneur You're trying to start your own business and they should be supporting that as well However, when you're figuring out your rates, don't forget to take it to count things like editing time the transportation If you need to rent some equipment all that should factor into the final price of how much you're going to be quoting your customer Which leads me to my next point of contracts and invoices I didn't do this when I was starting out photography And I think that's a huge rookie mistake and something that I wish I would have done from the beginning because it would have saved me So much hassle in the long run having a contract will be such a life-saver because it lays out every single thing that you as a Photographer are in charge of and them as a client are responsible for paying once the deliverables have been received That way you don't have any problems of oh You're supposed to send me 30 photos instead of 20 photos or do I have a copyright for all these images? Can I post these anywhere like if you lay that all out in your contract? It will just make it a seamless workflow now invoices are also important because they allow you to charge the customer The rate that you guys agreed on and so that they have it for their own filing purposes And you can use it for your own filing purposes as well Especially if you need to do taxes later on now number five is customer service What I mean by that is your work is only as good as your reputation Especially if you're working in a small town in a small neighborhood where a lot of people might get to know your name And you're the only photographer then being a good photographer isn't the only thing that matters It's also about being a good person So you know being accommodating with someone's schedule if they need to reschedule because of the weather or they're really not feeling Well like the accommodating of that and I promise that's just gonna make your life so much easier as well Now obviously you are a photographer and you are a creative professional either trying to make it as a living or like I said as a Side hustle but at the same time your clients need to be respectful of your time as well and realize that our job isn't just to have a Fancy camera and to hold it up and take a few pictures and then just go in and throw a filter on like there's so much more that goes into The whole process of having a photography business alright I hope you guys have enjoyed this and I was able to shed some light on how to start your own photography business You know as a young kid and an entrepreneur and a photographer like I understand the difficulties of starting your own business So I hope that this was able to clarify things a little bit I know I haven't been doing as many photography or film videos lately But I am trying to get back into them So I hope you enjoyed it make sure you guys like comment and subscribe and I will see you guys next time