It’s so easy to think that all you need in order to “start” your photography business is a good camera.  In today’s day and age, anyone with a fancy camera and a Facebook page can go ahead and call themselves a “professional”… I’ve seen it time and time again.  However, if you’re serious about building a long-term, successful photography business there are a LOT of other things to think about besides the actual camera gear.  Here are a few things that are essential…

A professional-looking website – Your web presence is SO important to the success + growth of your photography business.  A Facebook page isn’t going to cut it if you want to be taken seriously… and attract the types of clients who will pay you what you’re worth.  When you’re first starting out, there is no need to hire a designer to create a custom website.  Chances are, you are still defining your business, style + your brand – and that’s totally normal!  However, you do need to create a professional website for your business.  This means investing in a customizable template website, at the very least – think Squarespace, WordPress.org, or Showit.  No ad-littered free websites, please – those types of sites just scream “unprofessional” – and if you aren’t willing to invest in your own business, how can you expect others to?  Invest in your professional online presentation and it will do wonders for your business + the types of clients you attract.

Website hosting + a custom URL/domain name – Along with your new website, you’ll need to host it somewhere and register for a custom URL/domain name for your site.  Give this some thought and make it easy to remember and spell.  Having a custom URL/domain name will help strengthen your professional reputation since potential clients will find your website at www.janedoephotos.com versus www.janedoephotos.weebly.com.

A dot-com domain name – This might be personal preference, but I think “.net” domain names look less professional than “.com” domains.  You might have to get creative with a “.com” domain depending on what’s available, but in the end, I think investing in a “.com” URL is the best way to go.

Business License + Retail/Sales Tax License – It’s very important to get your legal ducks in a row before you start charging for your services.  You’ll need to figure out whether you want to register your business with the state as a Sole Proprietor, LLC, Corporation, etc. and make sure that you’re 100% legal with the state.  Some states (like South Carolina) require that you have a business license in every city or county that you conduct business in, so be sure to check the rules + regulations in your area.  On top of a business license, you also need to have a retail/sales tax license so that you can collect money from your clients legally.  If this is confusing to you, please consult a lawyer to help you navigate all of this.  It can be overwhelming and confusing, but it is crucial that you do these things right the first time around.

Legal forms – This is also REALLY important!  Before you photograph ANYONE for any reason – you need to have, at minimum, a signed contract + model release.  I highly recommend having a lawyer look over them before you put them into use.  Each state is different and you want to make sure your bases are covered before you start charging money for your services – and even as you are portfolio building.  You can find generic legal forms online, but take the time to personalize them and add your branding to them to create a cohesive experience for your clients.

Insurance – As a photographer, you should not only have equipment insurance, but also liability insurance.  No excuses.

Sample products – If you are offering custom products to your clients, you will want to have sample products available for them to see + touch in person.  Before ordering sample products, it’s wise to sit down and decide what you want to offer your clients.  The less variety, the better.  You want to make ordering easy for your clients.  Therefore, choose only one or two types of paper for your prints.  Choose one album type and limit the options.  Trust me – this makes things so much easier for you + your clients.  Once you’ve decided on what to offer, order sample products and show your clients what you want them to buy.  I suggest investing in a sample of each product you offer with the exception of prints.  You really don’t need to have sample prints unless you are printing on funky paper – and in that case, get a sample!

Education + training – Investing in your education + training is ongoing and vital to running a successful photography business.  There are plenty of free education options available, but there are also some great in-person workshops and coaching/mentoring opportunities out there.  Do your research and commit to at least one conference or workshop/coaching session each year.  It will help keep you inspired and there is ALWAYS something to learn!

Marketing Collateral – At a bare minimum, you should have some nice business cards on hand to give to potential clients + vendors.  I’ve personally found that my best marketing strategy comes through word of mouth, so I don’t do much traditional or paid marketing.  I blog consistently, utilize social media heavily + network with local vendors often – but having some sort of marketing collateral is important as you start out so that you can get your name out into the world.

Professional editing software – As a professional photographer, you need to invest in the best editing software available.  Most photographers use Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop for their editing.  Investing in an Adobe Creative Cloud membership (or the stand-alone desktop products) is a must!

A fast computer + plenty of external storage – This is SUPER important!!  You absolutely need to have a fast computer with lots of memory (RAM) and a fast processor so you can edit images quickly + efficiently for your clients.  You’ll also need to invest in a TON of external storage + backup systems/drives for your clients’ images.  Hard drives fail all the time, so images should ALWAYS be stored in two different places.  Trust me, having a hard drive fail with no backup is horrible – and I can imagine it is an even worse conversation to have with your clients if you lose their images.  How unprofessional would that make you look?  Like it or not, photographers spend a lot of time on the computer and so having the latest technology + a good storage process is vital to building and maintaining a great reputation… not to mention your own peace of mind!

A domain-specific email address – Most hosting companies will give you the option to set up a custom email account through your domain.  So you can create an email address like hello@janedoephotos.com instead of using something like janedoephotos@gmail.com.  See the difference?  One looks WAY more professional than the other and let’s be honest – the success of our business relies heavily on the professional appearance we put out there.
There are – of course – a TON of other things that you may want or need down the road – but aside from professional-quality gear, these are the things you’ll really want to invest in at the beginning of your business.  Doing so will give you a great foundation from which to build and having that strong foundation will give you the opportunity to prosper and grow!!