Hey, how’s it going? I’m Andy Jones, and this is episode 190 of the Photography Side Hustle podcast.
Okay, in this episode, I’m going to rattle on about the importance of niching down.
So I know the good people of America pronounce it “nitch,” but I say niche, and I’m sticking with it.
So …
If you are still learning how to use your camera, get customers, and feel uncomfortable shooting professionally, keep this episode in the back of your mind. At some point in the future, you’ll find yourself going around in circles, unable to expand and earn more money. So come back and listen again.
Niche?
So, what does niche mean?
Well, according to Google, it’s a specialized segment of the market for a particular kind of product or service, and in your case, the market is photography.
Your niche, or specialized segment, could be weddings, macro, landscapes, or any type of photography.
Why Niche Down?
So, I would guess that 99% of photographers start out shooting everything and anything. I did it myself; I was a jack-or-all-trades, well, jack-of-all-niches.
The problem when you shoot everything is it’s hard to know who to market to. Do you try to attract more sports teams or the local couples that are getting married?
When customers are looking for, say, a wedding photographer, and they visit your website, they check out your portfolio, or maybe you have one for each niche you offer. You might be an excellent photographer, but they are seeing someone that dabbles. Dabbles in sports dabbles in weddings, and dabbles in headshots. They don’t see an expert.
Think about medicine. If you’re sick and not sure what is wrong with you, you go to your doctor, a general practitioner. If they can’t fix you with a prescription, they refer you to a specialist. Someone who is an expert in one particular field of medicine.
They are an expert in that niche, and people trust specialists.
Plus, who do you think makes the most money? It’s always the specialists who make the big money.
Photographers who try to offer everything to everyone generally have to lower their prices to compete and get bookings.
I listen to and watch a lot of photographers online, and all the successful photographers, the ones charging massive amounts, are specialists. You never hear them say, I do $30,000 weddings at weekends and kids soccer during the week.
They shoot one niche and market to one group of people.
The big money is in specializing and being an expert in one thing. The more you can niche down, the better. Just don’t go too far. Like choosing to shoot headshots for only one industry. It might pay off, but a headshot is the same for all industries. So why chop off a large part of your marketplace?
Now, I’m going to tell you how to specialize in one niche, and this is the same for any type of business. Not just photography.
In fact, this podcast is an example of niching down. It was originally called Photography Q&A, and it covered general photography questions. When I changed it to Photography Side Hustle, the downloads 10x’ed; that was because I niched down from a general subject to a specific one.
Problem
The first thing you need to do is find out what your potential customers need. What problem do they have that you can solve?
If you want to shoot headshots, think about who needs a headshot and what problems they might have.
Their problem might be that they have procrastinated and need a headshot by the end of the week. You can solve their problem by having an option for an accelerated 24-hour turnaround on your pricelist. If someone is in a bind, they won’t have a problem paying more to get what they need.
It might be that the last headshot they got was awful, and they need to find a great photographer. You solve their problem by having a fantastic portfolio. That is a portfolio that consists of great headshots and only headshots.
Wedding photographers need to think about a couple's immediate problems. First is finding a photographer who specializes in weddings and does the style they love. Again, you need to build a great portfolio of wedding photos.
Show the world that you specialize in wedding photography. You are someone that they can trust on their wedding day.
The second is whether you are available on their big day. Make it as easy as possible for people to book you. An inquiry form on the homepage of your website is needed. Something that sends you an email. Just make sure that you set up an alert notification for when emails arrive. You could also put your phone number on the site and accept text messages or use direct messaging on your social media accounts.
Whichever you choose, answer customer inquiries quickly, within an hour if possible.
You can use apps such as Google, Calendly, Zoom, and many others to offer instant online scheduling. If you have a Pixieset website, then you have the option to offer Booking & Scheduling.
You need the booking process to be fast and accurate. If it’s slow and clunky, it causes the customer to worry, and you just give them another problem instead of solving it.
Authority
Another way to show customers that you are a specialist in your niche is to give them free information.
Write articles and blog posts addressing potential customers' problems, like choosing the best wedding reception hall in your area. Or how important it is to resize your headshot photo for use on social media sites and mention at the end of the post that you do that for all your customers.
An article explaining why a family photo session from late afternoon to sunset is better than one done at noon. Another example is writing about the benefits of wearing certain colors for a shoot.
Giving access to all this free information gives you authority, putting you head and shoulders above your competition.
Solution
So, your aim is to address your customer's pain points. Make working with you as easy as possible. Then, fill your website with helpful information that makes their decision-making simple.
When you are just starting out, the thought of only working in one niche is hard to conceive. If you find you need to shoot two genres, keep them separate and use two websites if possible. If you have one website and two portfolios, you won’t be seen as an expert.
We all want to be that photographer who makes thousands of dollars instead of hundreds from a session, and the only way to do that is to niche down.
You need to be seen as a specialist in your field, an expert that has authority. That is where the big money is for photographers.
I just want to say that if you love shooting anything that comes your way, making extra money from your side hustle, all power to you. There is nothing wrong with that.
Okay, that is my take on niching down. I hope you find it helpful.
Right, if you need help with anything or just want to say hello. You can find me in the Facebook group, Messenger, Instagram, and Bluesky.
I’ll be back next week with more photography fun.
Talk to you soon, bye.
