Keep in mind all photographers, their clients, their needs, and situations vary.

We all know you have to spend money to make money, but do you know how to do it wisely? There are many factors you need to think about when you’re determining who your target audience is and how you can cause them to want to be your client.

Look at your current clients, are these the type of people you want to work with?

  • YES) Start thinking about them, and what kind of other things they might like.
  • NO) Why not? Are they hard to work with? Unappreciative? Not valuing the quality of your work? Who would fit in better?

Choose what your ideal client demographics look like, (client = the person paying for the session, not the model):

Gender:

  • Female
  • Male

Age:

  • 18-22
  • 22-30
  • 31-40
  • 41-50
  • 51+

Location

  • __________

Marital Status:

  • Single
  • Dating
  • Engaged
  • Married
  • Other

Education:

  • High School
  • College
  • Masters

Occupation:

  • __________

Here is an example of a simple target market I could use for my business. For your own, you can feel free to break it down more.

  • Married women age 20-35, most likely has two children, and she is a college graduate
  • In Meridian, Star, Eagle cities (Idaho), loves the Boise River, and forest scenery of Idaho
  • Enjoys simple things of life like cooking, being creative/artsy, and singing or dancing
  • Actively engages on Social Media (Facebook, Pinterest & Instagram)
  • She works part-time from home or is a stay-at-home mom; she loves supporting small businesses
  • Her priority is her children’s happiness and education

Let’s break it down more. I already know what cities they live in, but now I’m considering what subdivisions they live in, what school their kids go to, where they eat, etc. There are many variables.

For attracting younger clients I have worked with a local preschool’s bookfair. Preschool is a great age for parents to start thinking about family pictures if they haven’t already.

Many of the higher scale neighborhoods in our area are near golf clubs. Not all the wives have memberships, but many of their husbands do. A great way to reach them is through a local golf club magazine that goes out quarterly. Magazines have a much higher use per copy over newspapers, flyers, or brochures. Magazines aren’t usually full of immediate information, so they sit around the home for longer periods of time. Through that time a wife, daughter, or other family member might pick it up at home and like the idea of a photo shoot. If you’re interested in getting in a local magazine like that, they usually start filling their spots during fall.

This was originally published in the House of Flynn Magazine, Issue 02.