Laura Keller Photography: Landscape, Travel And Lifestyle Photographer

10 Things I would do differently if I were to start my photography business (or any type of business, be it online or physical) from scratch nowadays:

1) Invest more into a proper SEO strategy and experts from the start.

Knowing how to maximize this early-on may save you years of trying to get your name up on Google search or other search engines. There is truly so much more that goes into SEO than just pulling off a “nice” website and expecting the clients to come rolling in. As a rule of thumb, every piece you put out there, including images etc., needs to be labeled accordingly for it to even appear on the interwebs and in searches. And no, I am not a believer in ads or “sponsored” content, for which you need to pay. If your SEO is working correctly and has been around for a little while (read: years!), no ads are necessary.

2) Build up a proper website from the start.

This goes hand in hand with the SEO point mentioned earlier. I know it’s hard to have the website thing figured out from the start. Having gone through x amount of website providers and having redefined my businesses more than once over the past decade has really shown me how important it is to have the core principles of a website homepage down from the start. Instead of having your clients guess what exactly it is what you’re doing. I came of age in the era in which people still had a single intro image on their landing page. Website users were meant to click on it to see what’s really behind a site. Needless to say, this is a terrible marketing technique. Your homepage is your entryway to your business. Want to know more about the 13 core elements a website simply needs in today’s times? Stay tuned for a business course in the future.

3) Choose 1-2 main outlets for content.

And don’t waste time on building out the others. Automated posting is fine but it already takes SO MUCH energy to simply create anything these days. It may be wise to maximize your energy in one place instead of dispersing it in many. It’s important to have 1-2 major outlets defined. For some people, this may be Instagram and Youtube. For others, Facebook only. Yet others can identify the most with Tiktok or whatever else works for their business. Find the one strategy that works the most for you and focus your attention on it. For some, automatic posting to several platforms may be another great way but only if you’re not spending endless hours of time on those. It is important to define your “hot market” and to stick with it. Hot markets may change over time, by the way.

4) Not rely on social media for marketing.

It’s a fun way to stay “relevant” but most of my clients don’t come from it. We all know social media is censored left and right at this point and that the only way you will get exposure for your business in an inorganic way is through the paid ads these platforms promote. I therefore decided to make mailing lists and other strategies more important than social media. Find what works for you. Disclaimer: This may take some time. Also, do not underestimate the blogging strategy and the SEO that goes with it. Even if you only blog once in a while.

5) Building out a passive income strategy way sooner.

Even way before Covid, we all must have somehow heard about the power of online courses, online webinars, paid online group meetings or events. But 2020 definitely brought a whole new ball to the game. Now even photographers or artists are posting their courses online – an industry which was heavily focused on “in-person” events and workshops. Passive income can come from many avenues. Courses are certainly one, so is ad revenue from streaming platforms and many other forms. While passive income may not be the most reliable way for some, it is certainly a major income stream for others and it’s worth looking into and seeing how you can maximize this benefit the most for your own business. At the end of the day, passive income is really where it’s at. Even in retirement age.

6) Let my business evolve and not have it all figured out from the start.

This might seem counterintuitive and as if it’s contradicting point 2. But as equally important as a beautiful website, I find it crucial to simply let your business evolve. Over the years, I have gone through several different taglines, headers, paragraphs and phrases in how to describe myself, my business and the category I fit into. Had I from the start done this and only this, I would have possibly missed out on so much growth, business advice, encounters and clients needed for my own growth. So don’t worry if you will evolve from one niche into another one over the years. We are all allowed to grow and spread our wings to new fields. It’s all part of this game called life and soul growth.

7) Not care if others hate me or love me for the principles and truths I put out.

The world is so damaged, it needs all of the truth speaking one can do these days. People will get triggered no matter what and it’s not up to you to change their opinion. Oh, and please don’t waste your time on answering “negative” or hurt comments, especially the troll ones. Which leads me to:

8) Set up strong boundaries!

Not only in your personal life but also your professional one. It will reflect in all matters of your life and work – trust me! And stay out of drama with others. Your business is your kingdom / queendom. It’s not up to others to define what they believe it should be or what they thought it would be instead. This comes from someone who gets a lot of (sexual) harassment from random followers, (hate) commenters and just random people overall. Being a woman in a mostly man-dominated field (photography) shows over and over again how people view you through their eyes. However, don’t let this define you and keep doing your thing.

9) Ditch collaborations with others, especially the ones in a similar industry.

This also goes hand in hand with following others on social media in the same industry and in a similar area of where you live (if your business is also location-dependent). It may be great to see what they’re up to or to get added business input. But at the end of the day, you are going to “compete” against each other. Although I hate the word compete, as I know there truly is no competition out there if you’ve found your niche and what you love (stay tuned for a separate blog post on this!).

Doing collaboration with others, who offer the exact same services you do or are part of the same niche, sets your brand and business up for failure. Not only are clients going to compare your services to each other but they may also hop from you to the other or vice versa. Oftentimes these collaborators may also have no followers on their platforms to begin with, which makes things double difficult to justify the added work load for you to invest in this collaboration with almost no reward on your end.

Instead, I would advise going after the big names in your field and see if you can do collaborations or interviews with them. No one ever made new or quality clients by promoting the same stuff with someone who does the same stuff. Unless that person is going in maternity leave or somehow quitting. You can however be the only one in your field doing what you do and stand out like that or in similar ways. Or you can collaborate with someone who wants to work with you and who complements your services. If you are a bridal and wedding photographer, consider working with bridal gown designers, florists etc. If you specialize in school portraits, consider collaborations with schools, extra-curricular activities (that Judo studio around the corner!) and kids product designers etc.

10) Follow that vision no matter how unattainable it seems to me or others.

Others won’t ever be able to make sense of your work before you pull it off because most people around you are most likely still in the “unhealed” and wounded phase. Meaning they are still followers instead of leaders themselves. There goes a saying that people would rather love someone for starting a new corporate job or promotion than someone starting his own business. This is actually very true because a lot of people are still programmed to believe a “secure” paycheck is where it’s at and that being part of a corporate job or rat race is the only way to be of value in today’s society.

However, your abundance, wealth, creativity and soul is limitless. And therefore only you will be truly able to put into practice what you envision. Don’t listen to the naysayers but instead do your thing and continue doing it – even if you encounter setbacks. We all go through those business ups and downs and the learning curve is steep if you are willing to learn from the down experiences. Believe in what you have to offer is worth it all and prioritize your time and needs accordingly.

There are of course so many more points to add…

But these are some key points, which I’ve learned over the past decade of running two businesses independently. And don’t hate yourself if you’ve been at this for a while and don’t see many results yet. Building up a business does not happen overnight (unlike those mega social media influencers want you to believe). Building up a business takes time – overnight success is a bit of an illusion. Don’t fall for the pressure these days that you can “make it in a day” – the disappointment by reality might be too real. Instead, slow, steady and consistent tends to win the race. It takes time to build up a (web) presence.

Want to add some wisdom of your own? Comment below!

~Laura from Laura Keller Photo is a landscape, travel and lifestyle photographer. Since 2011 she has been capturing those special moments and run this business through a lot of trial and error. In addition to photography, she also hosts group tours of various themes to adventurous and exotic places. Check out more on her about page and tours page.