8 Ways to Gain the Confidence You Need to Start Selling Your Photos

Do you want to start making money with your photography, but you’re not quite sure if you’re ready? The first thing you need to get started is confidence. Here are eight easy steps from Jay P. Morgan to help you become a strong, confident, money-making photographer:

1. Invest in Equipment

You need a camera and a lens. That’s it as far as shooting equipment goes. And you need a computer so you can post your images online.

As you grow, you will want to add more equipment, like a reflector and strobes, but you don’t need all of this to get started.

2. Gain Experience

Start shooting for people on an entry level. If you want to take pictures of children, then start photographing your own kids, young relatives, friends’ kids. Build a body of work. Do it for free at first if you have to; the important thing is to get the experience and the confidence.

3. Build a Portfolio

Take your photos and put only your best work into an online portfolio.

4. Don’t Turn Anything Down

You can’t afford to turn down job; every little job can turn into something bigger. You don’t want to miss out on anything. Start small, it grows from there.

5. Aspire to Move Up

Decide what type of photography you are passionate about and build a portfolio showcasing it. If you make your money photographing products, but you want to be a landscape photographer, then have two portfolios, one for each.

Practice taking photos of the subjects that most interest you.

6. Spend 50% of Your Time Getting Work

No matter if you’re dedicating a few hours a week or all your time to photography, you need to spend half that time trying to find work. Start making calls. Your confidence will go up as you talk to people and get a good response.

7. Help Your Clients Grow with You

They may not pay you very much in the beginning, but as you grow you want your existing clients to grow with you. As your confidence grows, you will be able to charge them more for the work you are doing. If they don’t grow with you, you have to know when it’s time to leave them behind and move on to bigger clients.

8. Find a Mentor

Find someone you admire who is further along in the process and will help you stay on track. Join a photo club, introduce yourself to people, and find that person you connect with. They will be able to help you stay busy, stay focused and continue to grow.

Following these eight tips will build your confidence. Once you have confidence, you will be able to grow and charge more money because you’ll know you are worth it.