3 Tips to Ditch the Dreaded Day Job and Do Photography Full Time
A photographer asked me this question the other day…
It’s a great question and one that I had to figure out the answer for myself over a decade ago after I was unexpectedly laid off with an 8 month old baby and zero wiggle room in our budget.
First off, let me just say that it absolutely is possible to make a comfortable living from your photography. I've been doing for over a decade now (even though I hadn't had one iota of formal business training and even though I live in a super saturated area)!
My students are getting similar results too.
However, like Annette, you may be asking yourself how do you make the jump from being in a job you don't love to financially replacing that steady paycheck with your photography consistently?
Here are 3 tips to ditch your dreaded day job and do photographer full time!
#1 Know Your Numbers.
I know, I know, as photographers, we tend to be more creative and less analytical. Most photographers I speak with (and even myself in the early years) feel anxious and overwhelmed talking about money. Yet if you are serious about turning your passion of photography into a sustainable business, you cannot overlook your numbers. Without fail, you'll need to define how much income you'd like to earn as your salary every month with photography.
This number is different for every photographer. Some may be super happy with a monthly salary of $2000. Others may be shooting for $10,000 or more! There's no right or wrong but you must define what "full-time" means to you financially every month.
#2 Build Your Savings Account
Every time you are paid for a photoshoot or wedding, allocate a percentage of that income to your savings account. I am quite literally suggesting that you open up another bank account that is purely for savings (and you do not touch it)! In time, this account will increase. The goal here is to have 3-6 months of your expenses in the bank that you can access if and when needed. This acts as a safety net.
I highly recommend Profit First by Mike Michalowicz. This book was a tremendous help for me in learning how to wisely manage my business finances.
#3 If You Haven't Yet, Consider Switching to IPS and/or Work on Increasing Your Sales Averages
If you refer back to Annette's question, one of the things she's struggling with is booking clients with a demanding full time job. It's a tough spot to be in. If your day job sucks up a lot of your time and energy, you'll need to be extra strategic in your business. One of the best ways to do this is offering IPS.
If you're not sure what that is, IPS stands for In Person Sales and refers to when the photographer offers albums, wall art, prints and digitals for an additional cost (meaning the digitals are not included within the session fee). It's a wonderful way to serve your clients at a higher level by providing them with custom finished products that are ready to be displayed in their home while also getting paid more.
Personally, I show my students how to confidently create consistent $1000+ sales per client (not including the session fee)! Once you master this, you may find that you don't need to book nearly as many clients as you think because you are getting paid more per client, thereby you free up your time.
I cannot reiterate how impactful this is. Years ago, my husband endured a chronic illness that kept him quite literally bed ridden for 2 years. I was left as the care taker for him and our two little boys. The only way we were able to manage that season was because I had honed in on my IPS skills, making $5k+ per portrait client. Because of those higher sales averages, I didn't need to book clients every day just to pay the bills. I could work with the ones who truly value photography and had more time to care for my family.
Now I homeschool my kids. I love it, but it's a big time commitment, which again, is another reason why I enjoy IPS: it allows me to make more per client, meaning I can photograph less / make more, and have a ton of quality time with my family.
I'm not saying you have to do IPS in order to have a full time photography business, but doing so would make it a lot easier!
Remember, if you want to dive deeper into how to create a financially stable photography business that will allow you to quit your day job, get your hands on the Profitable Photographer's Calculator, which will take out all the guess work and show you want to charge per client so you can finally ditch your day job and do photography full-time! You can download your very own copy of the calculator for free here!
Enjoy!
Heather