How I got my first paying client as a food photographer
3 years ago, I sat down at my desk with a coffee and attempted to do the one thing on my to do list: become a full time food photographer
I was pretty confident with my portfolio, I’d sorted a very basic website and I’d got my social media up and running. Now all I had to do was book my first paying client.
So to celebrate the 3 year anniversary of my business, I thought I’d share this blog post featuring the 3 things I did to secure my first job and all the unexpected lessons I learnt along the way.
I embraced the idea of free work
Free work can be brilliant for building a business, but this particular piece of advice came with a huge caveat: do it strategically. If I wasn’t going to be making money from the shoots, I needed to make sure I was getting something else from it, such as constructive feedback that could help me improve my service, testimonials from happy customers, and of course imagery to build my portfolio. I would also ask all of my clients to credit me in any use of my photos - something that isn’t typically required once you move onto paid work - to help me get my name out there and build a network of interested clients.
I also decided on a set number of shoots I was going to offer for free and was disciplined in offering no more than that.
I also employed this strategy a year or so into my business. My calendar had been a little quiet (this was a few months into the pandemic) and I decided that practising my craft for free was better than waiting around for a paid job to come in. So I decided to do a ‘pay it forward’ promotion which worked really well. I actually ended up making money from that promotion too, either because clients liked my work and wanted to book more in, or because they wanted to purchase more than the agreed 5 images they got for free (this was another good strategy: agreeing a set number of images I’d supply to the client and putting a price on purchasing more if they wanted to. Often they did!)
I emailed people, a lot!
I’d say this is the core pillar of my business and is how I managed to build up my client list pretty quickly. Once I had the free shoots under my belt and had some example work to share with brands, I made a list of everyone I’d love to work with and I got in touch with them to introduce myself and my work.
I started with a note on why I admired that particular client or product and the overall impact I wanted to have in the food industry with my work. I then shared one or two ideas I’d had that would help them raise awareness of their brand or business and asked them if they’d like my help to put that into practise. I’d always wrap up with some kind of personal touch and a thank you.
In order to see real success from this strategy though I had to (quickly) let go of two things:
The worry that I was emailing people ‘too much’
The fact that I’d never hear back from the majority of the people I contacted
Let’s dive into those two a little further.
The worry that I was emailing people ‘too much’
People are busy. They don’t always see the initial email and if they do, they don’t always act on it straight away. I had to constantly remind myself that following up in a genuine way wasn’t ‘pushy’ - instead it acted as a friendly reminder to the prospective client that I loved their brand and was keen to help them grow. I also kept a note of the people I’d contacted so that I could get back in touch 3-6 months down the line to see if anything had changed for them. Again, I kept it genuine and focused on giving value. Ultimately, I wanted to help them and figured if they liked my work there would probably come a time when they would reach out, even if the answer right now was no.
I’d never hear back from the majority
Most of the time however, I’d hear nothing back. And that’s okay! It was frustrating and disheartening at times, but it was so worth it for the people that did come back to me and were interested to hear more.
I like to remind myself that every ‘no’ is one step closer to a ‘yes’.
I’ve also come to learn that the phrase ‘I’ll keep you on file’ can in some cases be true! I had always believed it was a brand’s polite way of saying ‘no thank you’ (which by the way I would always prefer than someone trying to spare my feelings with a lie!) but only a few months ago I had an email from vegan chocolate brand, Ombar, who had kept my details on file since for two years and we ended up working together! You can see the results of that shoot here.
And to really prove this point, check out this video I shared on LinkedIn. I have no shame in following up multiple times!
I told anyone who would listen what I did
You never know where your next client will come from. My biggest job to date was with a brand that was managed by a connection I’d had in my old theatre advertising job, and neither of us had any idea we’d both end up working in the food and drink world.
I’ve found the easiest way to do this is to visit trade shows and events that are full of my kind of people. Bread and Jam events have been a brilliant way for me to meet emerging food and drink brands, and the Copy Club is to this day one of the best and most friendly networks I’ve come across, but even connecting with people on LinkedIn has been incredibly powerful.
I’ve taken every opportunity I’ve been given to tell people what I do, from the women in my Monday night ballet class to my new upstairs neighbours, and I always stay open to work coming from unexpected places.