To Niche or Not to Niche? Why It's Important to Pick a Photography Niche.
Not niching down is hurting the growth of your photography business.
I know some (or a lot) may disagree with me, but hear me out on this…
After being a full time photographer for over a decade and teaching nearly 2000 photographers in my online programs, I have a pretty good idea of what’s necessary to get booked.
Niching down is one of those things.
Is this always the case? Not necessarily.
But if you find it really hard to attract clients and book them in, niching down can be the solution.
Let’s just say you enjoy photographing everything: landscape, babies, weddings, portraits of all kinds. You love photography and you are happy to simply have your camera in hand.
Ain’t nothing wrong with that!
But if you have all those things listed on your website with no clear strategy about the experience you provide for each and every niche....
...and if your social media is a hodgepodge of everything you photograph....
When a potential client lands on your website (or social media)….and they see all that you photograph....
Chances are they will internally think that you are a jack of all trades and a master of none.
If you are not yet well known in your community, or if it’s not a repeat client, you may very well get passed up to someone who appears to have more expertise than you.
If you are not getting as many inquiries as you’d like, chances are your messaging is muffled.
You see, in order to have effective marketing, you need to have clear messaging.
In order to have clear messaging, it’s absolutely vital you know who your ideal client is so you know who you are talking too (AKA: this is your niche)!
In other words, if you talk to everybody, you’re really talking to no one.
And doing that is a sure fire way to keep your calendar empty (and we don’t want that)!
The fix: Niche down.
I’m not saying you can’t photograph multiple different niches. You can. I do.
But it’s incredibly important to tailor your marketing message to each niche you photograph.
For example: My marketing messaging for potential brides is vastly different than how I market to book a high school senior.
They are two distinct client types with different values, who are in different seasons of life and who will also receive two very different experiences from me so how I speak to them (ie: my marketing message) is going to look different.
Niching down is perhaps one of the best ways to grow your photography business.
Be the best you can at one (maybe two) things. When you become the expert in a particular niche, that is when you become irresistible to clients. Then you can tailor your online presence by clearly articulating how and why you are best suited for that niche.
Just a thought!
Heather
PS: I share a lot more about effective messaging in your marketing in this free class. It’s so good that photographers who have watched this free class have booked 3 clients within 7 days of implementing the marketing strategies I share! How cool would it be if you booked 3 clients within one week too? Watch the class here and learn how!