Photographers, Here’s Why You Need to Know Your Ideal Client

hen I first began my photography business, I would take any job that came my way. 

Portrait session with you and your plants? Sure.

Editorial shoot for a local artist just for the exposure? Yes please.

Elopement on the side of the road (yes, really) in the middle of nowhere? You ‘betcha!  

I’ll be honest, for a while, it felt like I was just trying to book anything that came my way. That way of doing business wasn’t so bad when I was first starting out, but over time it was like my business was running me and not the other way around.  Sound familiar?

Here’s why finding my Ideal Clients changed everything. 

Once I was able to start focusing on who and what I wanted to photograph, I realized that I was going about it all wrong from the beginning. I wasn’t considering the principles that I wanted to build my business on. I wasn’t trying to challenge myself in different ways. But once I decided to create standards and turn down shoots that didn’t fit my brand (totally TERRIFYING by the way!), everything changed. It meant…

No more portrait sessions with someone’s plants.

No more shoots just for the exposure.

No more side-of-the-road elopements.

Everyone might need a photographer, but you don’t have to be everyone’s photographer.  

Setting standards meant taking myself seriously, but more importantly, it meant taking my business seriously. It meant investing in my business and making sure that I was booking photoshoots with a purpose.