How to Diversify Your Income as a Photographer

In last week’s post  we talked about why to diversify your income. Now, it’s time to dig into the actual how to diversify your income!

If you’ve had that lightbulb moment and know that you want to diversify your income as a photographer but don’t know where to begin or don’t have any ideas to start running with, I hope you find this post helpful.

In this post, we’re going to: 

• Touch on some ways that you can start brainstorming realistic, profitable revenue stream ideas you can integrate into your business
• Go over a few great options for you to consider getting started with right away

 

How to brainstorm realistic, profitable revenue stream ideas

 

STEP ONE: ASSESS YOUR TIME AND SKILLS

 

Before we get started on step one, I want you to notice the word realistic here. As an entrepreneur, I know all too well how exciting it can be to come up with new ideas for your business. However, I also know how easy it is to have an “eyes bigger than your stomach” moment and think that you can bite off more than you can chew!

 

I encourage you to assess how much time you realistically have to put into a new income stream before jumping in. 

 

Opening an online shop of branded merchandise might sound fun, but if you’re a busy mom who only has maybe an extra two hours per month that you can dedicate to chipping away at a new revenue stream, you might want to start a little smaller.

 

In addition to assessing your time, you want to look at your skills: what things are you great at? What’s a skill that you already have that you could put to use? Utilizing your strengths is smart in many ways, but the big one here is that leaning into your best skills will generally make the development process move faster and give you more impactful results.

 

For example, let’s say you’re a photographer who is fantastic at business numbers. Maybe you want to start offering two spots a month for clients to hire you for financial coaching. While this is a totally new income stream, the additional workload might not feel that heavy or like you’re throwing yourself into a whole new business. 

 

This is because: A) you chose something you had the time for and B) you chose something you’re already naturally skilled in. 

 

STEP TWO: LOOK AT THE NEED AND DEMAND

 

This step can be a hard one to take. 

Let’s say that you have an idea for diversifying your income that you love. You’re ready to take action, you’re excited, and so you jump right in and work as hard as you can. And then imagine when you launch… you just hear crickets. (Anyone else had that moment before? I know I have!) You worked so hard to create something, and no one wanted it–– ouch! 

 

This can happen, and in fact, it’s totally normal. Sometimes we have ideas that WE love, but there just isn’t enough of a need or demand for what that idea provides to our audience.

 

A felt need and tangible demand is what should drive your decision when it comes to choosing creating additional income streams.

 

How do you know what your audience needs or what there is a demand for?

 

You ask! 

 

When you come up with an idea, test it. Ask business friends what they think, put polls on your Instagram stories, create a survey and send it out to your email list–– whatever you want to do, get feedback from the very people who you would be selling to so that you can know if this is something they need and want and would buy from you.

 

Options for you to consider getting started with right away

Feeling like you still need some ideas to get started with? Check out this list of diversification options for photographers below!

 

• Open a fine art print shop of your photos on a site like Society6
• Start doing in-person sales and selling albums/prints to existing clients
• Offer coaching or mentorships for new photographers 
• Create client “add-on options” to your existing photography packages (floral design, client outfit selection, makeup services, etc.)
• Offer editing services to other photographers
• Create your own presets to sell in an online shop
• Offer virtual assistance services to other business owners
• Sell additional shooting time at a discount to existing clients (great for weddings)
• Adding an additional niche of photography, such as brand or product imagery
• Create stock images to license and/or sell
• Host an in-person workshop or event 

 

Still feeling unsure of where to get started? I encourage you to hop on the waitlist for my upcoming workshop course! Hosting workshops and events for photographers is one of the main ways I have diversified my income and I would love to teach you step by step how I am able to bring in additional thousands of dollars into my business each year this way. 

Want to sign up? CLICK HERE!