This Post Is All About The Creative Side Of Your Photography Business! Photography Business Name Ideas and More!
Hello again! Hopefully you are here because you have read the first part of this series: The Very Basic First Steps to Creating Your Photography Business!
If you haven’t read that yet, you can go back and check it out here!
This post will focus on the creative / marketing logistics of owning a photography business. I promise it’s a lot more than you probably thought but also a fun part of the process! The creative side of things will come easier than the business side (which we will cover in the next post!) to most photographers!
(This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a small commission if you purchase through my link, at no extra cost to you).
Name Your Business
For some people, this will come naturally and easily! Other people will have a hard time coming up with a name for their photography business. Here is a list of things to consider when coming up with some photography business name ideas:
Things to consider when choosing your photography business name:
- Pick something that is easy to spell and remember. You want people spreading the word about your business through word of mouth. If it’s hard to spell or difficult to pronounce, this will hurt you immensely.
- Make sure it’s not taken. This includes the available social handles. Check Google, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and any other social channels to see if the name/handle is available. Ideally, you want everything the exact same! Also, make sure it’s not already trademarked. This site can help with that: https://www.uspto.gov/
- It should go with your business niche. For example, if you are shooting weddings, you don’t want to call your business something like: “balloons and bears photography” as this indicates that you’d shoot kids.
- Also, if it makes sense, putting the actual niche of your business in the name can help in Google Rankings. For example, I should have called my business Anne Wilmus Newborn Photography, rather than just Anne Wilmus Photography.
- That said, if you aren’t completely sure of your niche just yet, pick something that is a little more versatile and can grow with you and your audience if you decide to change directions in the future.
You can use your own name. For example, my business is simply called Anne Wilmus Photography. Since I used my own name, I didn’t have to file a DBA (Doing Business As).
You can use Legal Zoom to file your DBA.
But before you decide to do this, consider a few things first.
- Is your name common? If so, it may already be taken as a business name.
- Is there any chance you would ever change your name? Either via marriage or divorce.
- Is your name hard to spell? If so, I suggest not using it as it will be hard for people to find when googling.
Pick Your Brand Aesthetic
What will you photography aesthetic convey? Do you want it to be light and airy, dark and moody, vintage inspired, etc?
- Pick the colors you want to use for your website and marketing materials. What appeals to you and what type of clients do you want to draw in? (Pinterest is a wealth of information on colors that work well together).
- Pick fonts. You should pick ones that are easy to read and stick to two or three of them across your marketing platforms. Again, Pinterest has excellent ideas for font combos.
- Have a logo designed. (This costs just about $10 on Etsy!)
- Pick a website theme and customize it so that it matches all of the above. (Again, Etsy has some inexpensive choices of themes you can customize)
When choosing your colors/logos/fonts, and overall style, be consistent across all marketing platforms and materials. Your brand should be easily recognizable!
Pro Tip! Client wardrobe is also part of the brand aesthetic. Consider how you will handle this to create the type of images you desire and that will attract the clients you want. Will you provide wardrobe? Refer them to a stylist? Provide recommendations?
Create Marketing Materials
You can create these yourself using tools such as Photoshop or Canva, buy a template from Etsy and then customize it, or hire someone to make them from scratch.
(Personally, I found that the cheapest and easiest method was to buy templates on Etsy and then customize in Photoshop.)
I recommend having the following:
- A Business Card
- A Digital Welcome Magazine (or at least a price sheet)
- A Product Catalog
Final Considerations
You may now be thinking of upgrading your gear. Here are my recommendations on top lenses to take your photography to the next level!
(Brand will depend on your camera body* but these are the focal lengths that are both sharp and versatile. I own all of them. You can buy on Adorama, B&H, or Amazon.)
*Cool tip! I just found this amazing tool on Amazon so you can check lens compatibility with your camera body!
50mm – literally the best lens ever- so sharp and so inexpensive for a prime lens! (It’s also an Amazon Choice winner with over 6,000 5 Star Ratings!)
35mm
85mm
27-70
70-200
105mm Macro
You may also be ready to upgrade to a Full Frame (FX) camera. ( The one I linked is an amazing camera at a great price for Nikon users.)
And finally, another great and inexpensive purchase is a reflector. I linked the exact one I have. Purchased back in 2012 and used hundreds of times since!
This Post Was All About The Creative Side Of Your Photography Business! Photography Business Name Ideas and More!
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