As photographers in the current climate, it’s easy to get stressed thinking about what the future brings for the industry. While we have no way to control what happens in the future, we can use this time to improve our businesses and make it easier for us to find work in the future. We understand finances are tight during this time, so we put together a list of 5 ways you can up-level your business now without spending any money.

1. Update your website

This one is probably a no-brainer, but it’s also one of the first things that tends to get neglected when you’re busy running a photography business. Now is the perfect time to go through your recent sessions and weddings and blog your best work. Updating your website with your current work will help future clients know what to expect in terms of your shooting and editing style. It’s also a great opportunity to work on your SEO, which we’ll talk about in a bit.

As the face of your brand, it’s important that future clients are able to see who you are and connect with you. This means that yes, you need to have pictures of yourself on your website! Not everyone will click over to your bio page, so it’s also a good idea to show up on your homepage. Your ideal clients will hire you because they want to work with YOU, so make it as easy as possible for them to figure out who you are and connect with you.

2. Work on SEO

SEO is important for potential clients to be able to find you through a Google search. The better your SEO, the higher your website will rank in the search results. SEO really is a strategy, not a one and done type of thing so it can take time to see results. Now is the time to start implementing an SEO strategy if you don’t already have one. If you are completely lost on where to start, try searching YouTube or Google for helpful tips. If you’re a Narrative Publish user, check out our Narrative specific SEO guide here.

3. Update/streamline business processes

This one isn’t as “fun” as some of the others, but it’s important to stay on top of the business side of things so that when you are able to take on new clients, you can hit the ground running. This is a great time to update your contracts and make sure you are legally covered in the case that any unforeseen events prevent you from fulfilling your service (you know, like a pandemic). It’s also a good opportunity to review your client experience and see where you can make improvements to better serve future clients while also offering more value.

4. Reach out to past clients and ask for reviews

When it comes to spending a large amount of money, word-of-mouth plays a significant role in whether a potential client will book or not. Having reviews posted on your Google listing and your website will make it that much easier for future clients to hire you. Now is a great time to reach out to past clients and ask for reviews. People want to support small businesses during this time, so odds are, your clients will be happy to help you by leaving a review. You can utilize the reviews across all your platforms to help establish trust with your potential clients and give them an idea of what working with you is like.

5. Create client guides

Client guides are a great way to increase your value as a photographer whether you photograph families, seniors, weddings, or couples. Guides help set client expectations and assist them with everything from what they should wear, to ideas for locations, to how to plan a wedding. It’s likely your clients have never been photographed professionally before, and even less likely they’ve planned a wedding before. You are the experienced professional in these cases, so don’t be afraid to share your knowledge. Not only does it increase your value, but it also helps the actual shoot go smoother as your clients are on the same page as you.

We hope this sparked some inspiration of ways you can uplevel your business during this time. We are thinking of you all!