Why should I pick a niche?

Who are you servicing? Identifying an audience is the first step. You need to tailor your brand. The best example I can come up with is this. Your hungry you want Mexican food. Your husband said well lets go to chili's they have hamburgers, fajitas, steak, and pizza it is a one stop shop! Nothing against Chili's I love that restaurant, but when I want Mexican food I want authentic Mexican food. I want it from a a restaurant that specializes in Mexican, and only has that on their menu!

Marketing yourself is tough. but having a focus "Niche" makes identifying your audience easier. I promise you this will help you in so many areas of marketing yourself, and mastering your skills!

Identifying your Niche?

The best way to identify what your niche should be, is by asking yourself "what kind of photos do I love doing?" Take time to really ponder on that, If you are just starting out this may mean that you need to experiment. You may want to do several kinds of photography to decide what really makes your heart sing. I think you will find out pretty quickly what you true dread doing. We all get those inquiries that we just really don't want to do. For me it is anything that involves large groups. weddings, large family photos, group shots, and recently it was a Quinceanera. In the beginning of my photography business I thought I needed to master all the things. I thought I needed to be able to provide all the photography needs for all my clients. I quickly realized that it was causing me nothing but stress and anxiety. I knew the reason I started my business was to photograph newborn babies, and small children. That is where I poured all my heart, soul, energy, and education into. So naturally that is my personal Niche! I found it super hard to speak to high school seniors, an engaged couple, a new mom seeking newborns, a dentist office wanting updated headshots, a soccer team wanting action shots, and a realtor needing photos of a house. Sure, I am capable of doing all those things, and you may even be good at them, However, am I an expert at any of them.

How does picking a niche benefit you?

First you can finally identify your audience. Now you know who you are speaking to. So many doors for marketing have opened up. You no longer need to worry about mastering every area of photography. When someone is searching newborn photographer in southern. Idaho. I want that client to land on my website and see my credibility, and identify me as an expert in my niche. Now if they search southern, Idaho photographer looking for a wedding photographer, and land on my page I would hope they could quickly identify that is not a service I specialize in or even offer. When you have picked your niche you can focus on what you love. Ultimately you will become a better photographer, and I can promise you you will stand out!

Less stress and competition

When you can say no to photoshoots you don't love it takes the stress off of you, and you can support other local photographers in your area. Find the expert in that area and refer those clients to them. Like I have said previously big groups totally stress me out, and weddings are a hard no! HoweverI still get inquiries that request these kind of photoshoots. I now can confidently refer them to other photographers! I know many amazing wedding photographer that would jump at the opportunity to book a new wedding client. Then on the flip side when that newly wed gets pregnant those crazy wedding photographers don't want to mess with newborn photography so they return the favor!

Say no to everything else?

You don't have to say no to all work that doesn't fit in your niche. In fact I have done several family shoots, but I don't advertise for them. We all have friends that think just cause we are photographers we can take on all the photography jobs. I don't love family sessions, but I don't mind doing them when I want to do them. I have done several different things that aren't part of my niche, but i don't market myself for them. However, I love a challenge, and love to dabble in other things behind the scenes. Big groups stress me out, but when they are my friends I can relax, and have have fun.

Tips to helping you identify you niche

• What interest you?
• Experiment
• Forget about making money in the beginning
• What are you good at?
• Find what makes you unique
• What stresses you out?
• What excites you?
• What is there a need of in your area?