Spink Studio · The Blog

I’ve had several people ask me for tips and advice on how to start a photography business. I feel totally unworthy on being asked this because I just officially began my photography business a little over a year ago, but I have been a full-time self-employed artist for almost three years! So, I thought I would share some tips on starting an artistic and mainly a photography business. I want to share some tips from my design schooling where I learned LOTS about freelancing and how to market and promote yourself as a professional artist and most importantly, be successful and LOVE it!

I don’t know how many topics I will have on this subject, but I figured I would just go for it since a lot of these things have been on my mind to share with other beginners (and pros!). Disclaimer: I am NOT an expert on everything and every person is different. These are just my thoughts and opinions, which don’t always work for everyone. Here are a couple topics I scribbled down that I am thinking about covering over the next couple weeks. These may change….we’ll see!

1. Know Your Market
2. Know Your Competition
3. Know Your Stuff
4. Build a Brand
5. Develop Correct Pricing
6. Target Your Market
7. Smart Advertising
8. Create a Unique Experience
9. Keep Improving
10. Develop Balance

So this week, let’s discuss…

Know Your Market

So, you have decided to start your own business, or maybe you already have one! The most important thing when you start is to know your target market. Who are the clients you want to have and want to work with? Who are you marketing your services to? I would recommend you write down a list that describes who you are marketing to. If I was to describe the clients I want to have, I would put down:

fun, fabulous, great style, brides, love photography, classy, Texan, destination brides, love great design, mid to high-end budget, easy going, in love, willing to spend $3,000+ on wedding photography, willing to spend $800+ on invitations and wedding collateral, very computer savvy, loves my work, very friendly, will tell others about Spink

Basically, that is what my ideal client would be. Not all of my clients meet all these descriptions, but I would like most of them to. Now, this may be different depending on where you live and the type of client you are wanting to get. You may want a more artistic or organic type bride or you may be marketing to a higher or lower budget client.

The important thing is that you are reaching the right people in your market. If you live in a really small town (kind of like me), you may have a hard time finding brides that will pay $10,000 for wedding photography. You want to make sure that who you are trying to reach is within your reach and if not, how can you reach that market? We’ll talk more later about how to reach your target market.

Remember, your clients are your biggest advertisers! If they are not really in the market you are wanting, then you don’t want to have them as clients. You want clients that are in your target market because they will network and advertise to their friends, who would most likely be in your target market as well. Make sense? I am not saying that you should be turning away a bunch of work, but we will talk more on how you can achieve reaching that market and be getting your ultimate client every time!

Put This To Use: This week, make a list of who would be your ultimate client! Put it on a sticky note and put it on or near your computer and start thinking about how you can find brides/clients in that market. What is the best way to reach them? When you get inquiries for work, find out more about them and see if they are someone that you would REALLY enjoy working with and if they will promote you. Have thoughts or questions? Post a comment below!

I hope this first post was helpful and gave you some things to think about! If you liked this, please share this link on your blog or Facebook! Next week, we will talk about knowing your competition!

I’ve had a lot of people ask me where I get my inspiration from. Well, from God of course! But, I am also inspired by lots of different things around and it helps me come up with new and interesting ideas that I can use for my photography, design, home and other areas of my life.

I thought it would be fun to have a frequent inspiration blog post to share what I have been liking lately and how we can use it in our businesses. I am assuming that most of you all watched the Superbowl and of course, my favorite part is the commercials. Most of them didn’t interest me. But this one below really caught my eye!

You really don’t know what the heck is going on until the end and I loved that! You may not know that I actually have my degree in graphic design and when I started college, my goal was to land a position at a large ad agency. But after working for a short time in the corporate world, I realized that it was not for me at all. I liked having client interaction and being my own boss. But I still love to see what different ad agencies are doing to push the envelope and catch your attention. Ad agency, David&Goliath in California created this commercial above as well as this one below which is one of my all time favorites:

I still laugh every time I see this one. I LOVE how the ad agency took something totally unexpected like kid’s toys or hamsters and put them in a normal everyday setting and made them look like they belonged. So creative and so eye catching!

USE THIS INSPIRATION: I love how the first commercial’s tagline was “A Departure From the Expected.” How can we use this as inspiration in our business? I am going to challenge myself to do something unexpected and take something out of the ordinary, like an object or prop and put it somewhere ordinary. Or, I may take a unique subject and put them in an everyday place that you wouldn’t expect to take a photo in. What do you think? Share some ideas you have!

Happy Valentine’s Day! It’s hard to believe that this is Clint and I’s seventh Valentine’s Day together! So crazy! We woke up this morning trying to remember what all we did on our first Valentine’s Day together so long ago. It’s been just a little over two years since we got married, and I have to say, when you’re married, every day is Valentine’s Day! With that, here is a photo of our rings from our wedding that I’d thought I would share.

And NOW….the winner of a free mini-photo session from Spink Studio is….

ROMEL!!! Congratulations! I look forward to taking your photos!

Thank you to everyone who shared the love and told friends about Spink Studio!

Colorado friends, don’t forget to sign-up for your mini-sessions soon!

Love our photos, but can’t pay for a session? Because we love our fans, we are giving away a FREE 30 minute session with online ordering gallery and CD of all your high-res images! This could be a portrait, couple, engagement, family, bridal, trash the dress, maternity, senior or kid session for clients in West Texas or Denver, Colorado! Winner will be announced on Valentine’s Day!

What: Fabulous Mini Photo Session
When: Midland, Texas at anytime OR Denver, Colorado on April 10
You Get: 30 minute lifestyle photo session with dozens of fabulous images put in an online ordering gallery & CD of all the high-resolution images

Want to win? Then share the love! Here is how to enter the contest: You must do one or more of the following. For each item you do, leave one separate comment below stating what you did and you will be entered that many times into the drawing. So you will have between 1-5 comments below depending on how many items you complete. No more than 5 comments per person.

1. Post the link about this contest on your blog.
2. Post the link about this contest on your Facebook page and/or Twitter.
3. Send an invite to ALL your Facebook friends inviting them to be a fan of Spink Studio.
4. Email 10 friends telling them about this contest.
5. Tell an engaged friend that doesn’t have a wedding photographer about Spink Studio.

Comments must be submitted before 11:59PM CST on Saturday, February 13. Drawing will take place on Sunday, February 14!

COMMENT BELOW - Only 5 Entries Per Person

Hello, to all my loyal blog readers! Just wanted to give a shout out to you and say thank you for dropping by frequently and checking out what is going on with me. I know that some of you have been following my blog and my life journey since I started blogging back in 2005. I have blogged about everything from scrapbooking to design school to my wedding planning! Thank you for following!

I would love to hear from you! You are the reason I keep on posting and I would love to hear about what you would like to see on my blog. More photos? More how-to? More about me? What are some topics you would love to see me post about?

Please leave a comment below and let me know or just say hi! I would love to hear from you!

So, the other day, I went back and looked through ALL my blog posts from 2009! WOW! What a great year!

Some of you may not know that 2009 was my first full year as a photographer! I’ve been shooting photos of people since I was in high school, and it has been my passion for a long, long time. Last February, I launched my first photography website and started promoting myself as a wedding and lifestyle photographer. A year ago, I had only shot two weddings for friends and only a handful of sessions. I was so blessed to have a VERY successful year and shot SO many fabulous weddings and we got to travel to Las Vegas (twice), San Antonio (twice), Lubbock (twice), Breckenridge and the Caribbean! WOW! Talk about dream come true!

It was such an awesome year and we got to meet some amazing people and get to know so many wonderful couples!

This year I know is going to be even more amazing and I am looking forward to what God has in store! I am going to try to blog more about Clint and I and our life adventures. Anything you want me to blog about? Leave a comment below!

Enjoy these photos of Clint and I in action in 2009!

At the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas using the Love ad for a ring shot.Can you count how many items I am holding? I think I have the brides flip-flops and water, my coat and about a million pounds of camera equipment strapped to me.Reviewing my image.Um, notice how much shorter I am than every one else! I am seriously short.Seriously! I am so short. Note to self: get some shorter black pants!This is what Clint calls the “pop-a-squat.” It’s a Kayla signature move. THIS is why my quads and shins are killing me after a wedding.Oh yes, I am so funny! Yeah, right!There it is again! The “pop-a-squat.”I am also and expert dress fluffer.Those girls were workin’ it!Come on boys, get in a straight line.Hello, HOT husband! He’s looking good while shooting!Giving instructions during a rehearsal. Me = part photographer + part wedding coordinatorCheck out that view! Remind me again why I moved to West Texas….That’s right! I am a hair stylist too!Doing Adrienne’s hair and make-up and Clint shooting the getting ready shots.Shooting barefoot in the sand…for the win!Work it, Clint!Love this blurry one of me! Having SO much fun and loving my life!

We were so blessed to get to shoot so much in 2009! Thank you to all our couples and clients! Love you!

Yay! I am finally posting photos from my sister-in-law’s baby shower! Her friends and I had a great time throwing this French circus themed baby shower for her. I got the inspiration for this shower from Hostess with the Mostess, one of my favorite party blogs. I designed the invitation above along with blessing cards and bingo cards. I did all the decor and the other girls helped by bringing fun, circus inspired food including red velvet mini-cakes, blue popcorn, peanuts and animal crackers! It was so fun and we had a great time showering Kim and baby Andrew with gifts!