During October I finally opened my brand new photography business!
After advertising on Facebook, local newspapers, and in a couple of shops that allowed me to put some posters up, I quickly discovered that newspapers are an absolute waste of money and no-one looks at posters either. All of my interest was generated from Facebook. I bought a new phone specifically for business activities, and it's been sitting here gathering dust. All correspondence has been conducted from Facebook.
What this tells me is it's a waste of money to print more posters, don't bother with newspapers which cost $120 FOR ONE FREAKING DAY, and just stick to Facebook. Which is $4 a day. And seen by more people.
I had a total of nine clients during this first month. Of course I was very cheap to generate interest in this first month, so I doubt my next months will be as popular. And out of those nine clients, only four didn't cancel at the last minute.
I didn't want to have a booking fee being a brand new unknown business, and I know that a lot of photographers have a fairly hefty deposit, and after this first month I totally understand why! So now that the first month is over, I'll be implementing just a small non-refundable booking fee which is more of a deterrent than a safety net for myself.
I just don't feel good enough, professional enough, worthy enough, to have a "proper" booking fee yet. Yes, yes, I know — I need to appreciate and believe in myself more. The thing is I know I'm a newbie, I know there are better photographers out there, and part of me is like, why should I charge that when I'm only worth that?
Maybe because the editing process is long and gruesome and I'm working for maybe $4 an hour at these low-low prices. Minimum wage in Australia is $23 an hour. HAHA!
Anyway! Out of my nine four clients, two have allowed me permission to share their photos on social media including Hive, and so, I hope you enjoy these amateur family photos. 😊 They're not super amazing professional photos, but I love them. I'm getting better. Practice, practice, practice. PRACTICE!
I already have one client booked for next weekend. And Christmas is coming up! After this client, I'm planning on decking out the studio all Christmassy and hoping that people would like some fancy non-Santa photos. 😆 Fingers crossed, Freddy.
If you've been wondering why I've been so quiet on Hive lately — this is why! I'm still here! I promise!
Until next time! 📷✨
All photos in this post are courtesy of me, 