Practical thoughts, tips, and ideas on starting your own photography business:
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Dear friend,
A lot of us are stuck in the rat race of corporate, modern life. I think the first step to gaining freedom in our life (according to Diogenes, the most desirable human good), we must start our own business and entrepreneurial venture.
Whether we like it or hate it, we all live in a capitalist society. Rather than trying to overthrow the system (fight club), I think it’s better to figure out how to game the system; almost like hacking the Matrix to our own benefit.
In today’s world, if you’re self-employed and have enough money to pay for your rent, food, coffee, and wifi, you’re set. As I write these lines I’m in Dalat, Vietnam, where I can rent a good room for only $200 a month, and have phenomenal single origin espresso for only $1 a shot (La Viet Coffee House).
Anyways more or less, I have total freedom. Freedom with my time, schedule, and what to occupy my attention and human metabolism/brain on.
It’s amazing and I feel everyone should have this privilege. And also once I became self-employed and no longer had to worry about money, responding to my boss, or worry about getting laid off, I started to thrive. I started to (spontaneously) write poetry, make beats, and innovate in my photographic approach. I took bigger risks in life, created more stuff (like digital products, pdf books, print books), and I feel like I’m on a whole ‘nother level.
I feel like I’m living life to the fullest, and I want to share this empowerment with you.
Memento mori. Do you want to still be working at your company until you retire or die?
I actually think the biggest problem of being employed by someone else is this:
You become more timid, more domesticated, and concern yourself more with the opinions of others to judge your own self-esteem.
For example, when I worked my first corporate job out of college, this is what I hated:
- Not being rewarded by my performance: I could finish all my work in 4 hours, yet when I was done, rather than being rewarded, I was just given more ‘busy work’. To me this was bullshit.
- Not being able to go hone when I wanted to: I like some things about office life; playing ping-pong with my coworkers and friends, having free snacks in the kitchen, randomly bumping into coworkers and chatting, and that kind of social stuff. But when I was done with my work and no longer wanted to stay in the office, I felt like a prisoner. I wasn’t allowed to go home until I put in my 8 hours of daily work, which meant killing time on Reddit, Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, etc. Now that I’m self-employed, I can work wherever I want, whenever I want (ironically enough I work more now, but it’s only on stuff I’m passionate about)
Work freedom
When in Vietnam I try to explain what I do to strangers, I use the phrase: “Làm việc tự do” which means (work freedom). It essentially means I’m self-employed.
Yet the funny thing with this phrase is this:
Freedom is the emphasis.
I think freedom is what we all desire. Freedom to own ourselves, our own schedule, time, etc. Many of us think we want more money, but in fact, the money is a tool to obtaining freedom. The final goal is freedom, and to have the time and energy to pursue your own creative passions, not to be stuck in a cave with a dragon and a pool full of gold coins (Scrooge Mcduck style).
In today’s world which is run by images, pictures, photos, and videos, I feel there are so many opportunities for you to start your own photography business! Some ideas:
- Do both photo and video: The future is more video content. If you are a wedding photographer and can do both wedding photos and video, you’re gonna make extra bucks.
- Get into photography education: Nowadays everyone is a photographer, and this is a good thing! This means more photographers who are hungry to learn how to make better photos! You can teach your own photography workshops, arrange photography travel tours, etc.
- Create and sell photography products: Cindy and I started HAPTIC INDUSTRIES, and we make creative tools and products for photographers and visual artists. Our sales from our products have been enough to allow us to make a living from our passion in photography and art.
Do I need a business plan?
You don’t need a business plan to start your own photography business. You just need to take a “tinkering” approach, and figure it out as you go.
For example when I started this blog in 2010, I just made it for fun, and as a passion project; to share the lessons I was learning in street photography. I seriously didn’t have any plans on trying to make photography my living (I didn’t think it was possible / practical).
Yet after a year of being employed at my old company, I got made redundant. I then thought,
I wonder if I could make a living from this street photography/blog thing?
And 8 years later, I’m still here.
I’ve been figuring it out as I go. I’m sure I’m going to keep evolving until I die. Whenever I thought I had “the answer”, the answer kept changing (because I was constantly changing and in a state of flux).
I just learned from trial and error (bricolage styled tinkering).
Ignore any MBA or business major who tells you that you need a “business plan”.
Instead of a business plan, my simple approach is this:
Calculate what your monthly expenses are, and think of ways you can make money through your photography which can cover those monthly expenses.
And better yet, figure out ways to LOWER your monthly expenses and cost of living.
Remember, the point isn’t for you to become a millionaire or billionaire through your photography. The point is to first cover your rent and expenses, and gain FREEDOM!
Build your own (real) website
In today’s digital economy, I recommend everyone to start their own website (1and1.com or bluehost.com) and install WordPress.org
Avoid squarespace, don’t get suckered into just building an Instagram following or Facebook page.
You must own your own platform, or else you’re going to become a “digital share cropper” (remember when black slaves were tricked into thinking they actually “owned” the land they were toiling and tilling)?
With WordPress.org (open source platform) you can easily integrate digital payments (woocommerce plugin, or PayPal), you can customize your theme (I recommend Genesis theme), and you are indexed by Google (read my article on Google SEO and how to become #1 in your own category).
Treat your website like your own platform, headquarters, and home. Instagram right now is all the rage, but don’t you remember how popular MySpace used to be? Live journal? Xanga? Facebook? Flickr?
Anyways, on your own website (which is also a blog), you own it. Isn’t that amazing? A lot of us seek to one day own our own homes, instead of renting. Owning our own website is like owning our own home, instead of “renting” the space from Instagram or Facebook (remember, Facebook owns Instagram).
In your website put your portfolio, your about page, and contact email information. Also build up your own blog as a form or “content marketing“; you build trust with your audience/potential customers by humanizing yourself and “proving your worth” through the quality of your work.
Start local
A very practical tip: when you’re starting off your photography business, start local. Ask friends, family, and coworkers for referrals. Recognize you can start your own photography on the side (side hustle) while you still have your full time job!
Get a few potential clients, and offer a 100% money back guarantee. This will give you more “skin in the game”, and encourage you to hustle more to win their admiration and business.
When do I know once I have a “business”?
Once you get your first paying client, you’re in business!
For transactions, I recommend using PayPal to send invoices and receive payments. I generally discourage cash transactions, because accounting later on for taxes will be harder, and also with cash there’s no “paper trail”, which can cause future headaches.
I don’t think you need to make a full-time living from your photography before you can acknowledge that you have a “photography business”.
When you get your first paying client, screenshot the transaction, and print it out and stick it on your wall. Never forget this momentous moment!!!
Pave your own path
There’s no right or wrong path in photography entrepreneurship. Just think of everything in this article as tips, guidance, or information that might or might not help you.
Ultimately my final tip is this:
Take “calculated risks” when starting your own business. Know what your maximum possible downside is, and ask yourself:
Is my worst possible downside really that bad?
Then,
How can I pursue my photographic business without going broke or bankrupt?
After that, your photography business is all upside!
BE BRAZEN,
ERIC
Photography Entrepreneurship 101
Never stop innovating: “Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Photography Entrepreneurship“.
Photography Entrepreneurship 101
- Photography Entrepreneurship 101: Why You Must Start Your Own Email Newsletter
- TURBO CREATION: Why a Maxed-Out MacBook Laptop is the Best Investment You Can Make for Photography Entrepreneurship
Life and Productivity Hacks
- My Ultimate Productivity and Life Hacks
- Life/Productivity Hack: Write (Type on a phone) While Walking on a Dynamic Treadmill
- ERIC KIM Life, Creativity, and Productivity Hacks
How to Make a Living from Your Passion
- Build Your Own Instagram!
- How to Be More Ambitious
- Do It Your Way
- How to Measure Your Progress as a Photography Entrepreneur + Come Up With New Ideas
- How to Make a Living From Your Passion in Photography
Put a Dent in the Universe.
- Fear Disguised as Reason
- Distraction is the Enemy
- Innovate for the Sake of Innovating!
- Reality is Malleable!
- Stoic Entrepreneurship
- Against Self-Preservation
- The Purpose of Life is to Make New Stuff!
How to Succeed as an Entrepreneur
- You Have No Limits.
- Calculated Risk-Taking
- Invest in Yourself
- The Secret of Happiness: Shoot for the Moon!
- Moonshot Thinking
- Why We Should all Be Photography Entrepreneurs
- Memento Mori Entrepreneurship
- Why it is Better to Beg For Forgiveness than Ask For Permission
- How to Become a Digital Nomad
- Why You Must Own Your Own Platform
- First Principle Thinking for Photography Entrepreneurs
- How I Became a Digital Nomad
- Better to Beg For Forgiveness than Ask For Permission!
- Spurn Pleasing Others!
- Create Your Own Niche
- How to Gain More Exposure For Your Photography
- Intense Focus
- How to Conquer Your Fears as an Entrepreneur
- Define Yourself
- Let Dissatisfaction Drive You Forward!
- It Doesn’t Matter if Someone Else Has Done it Before!
- How to Succeed as a Photography Entrepreneur: Be Extremely Resourceful
- Open Source Business Model in Photography Entrepreneurship
- Entrepreneurship 101: Growth and Innovation Over Self-Preservation
- How to Create Value as a Photography Entrepreneur
- Why Become a Photography Entrepreneur?
- Why You Must Ignore Nay-Sayers to Succeed in Entrepreneurship, Business, and Life
The Modern Photographer: Tips, Strategies, and Tactics to Thrive as a Visual Artist in the Digital Age
Marketing, Branding, Entrepreneurship Principles For Success
MODERN PHOTOGRAPHER is your new philosophical and practical primer to succeed as a modern photographer in today’s digital world.
Business Mental Models

- How to Succeed as a Photography Entrepreneur: Be Extremely Resourceful
- Open Source Business Model in Photography Entrepreneurship
- Entrepreneurship 101: Growth and Innovation Over Self-Preservation
How to Monetize Your Photography
- Photography Entrepreneurship 101: INFLUENCE
- Should I Monetize My Passion for Photography?
- 10 Practical Photography Monetization Strategies: Pricing, Google SEO, & Entrepreneurship
- How to Make Money From Street Photography
Why Become a Photography Entrepreneur?
Take control of your own photographic destiny:
THE MODERN PHOTOGRAPHER
- CREATIVE CAPITALISM
- How to Monetize Your Photography
- 5 Practical Photography Career Tips and Advice
- 10x Thinking
- How to Hustle as a Photographer
- How to Become Your Own Master Marketer
- The ‘T’ Technique of Success
- Go Ahead and Sell Out
- What is Your Unique Voice?
- Why You Must Self-Promote Yourself
- What is Your Unique Angle as a Photographer?
- Photography Content Marketing 101
- Why You Must Become Your Own Publisher
- The Art of Cross-Pollination in Photography
Photography Entrepreneurship Articles
- Why You Shouldn’t Trust Your Pictures to Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Flickr
- How to Make Money From Your Photography
- Photography SEO and Blogging: How to Become Number One on Google
- Intrinsic vs Extrinsic Motivation
- Now is the Best Time to Be a Photographer
- PRODUCERISM
- What Is The Value of a Picture?
- Your Photographic Labor is Not Free
PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOPS 101
- Chapter 1. How to Make a Photography Blog
- Chapter 2. How to Price Yourself
- Chapter 3. How to Find Your Market
- Chapter 4. Why Teach Workshops?
- Chapter 5. How to Build Trust
- Chapter 6. How to Market Yourself
- Chapter 7: Why Should Someone Attend Your Workshop?
KEYS TO SUCCESS
- Why You Must Be a “Personality” in Order to Succeed
- THRIVE OR DIE.
- Impatience is a Virtue
- Create Your Own Category
- HOW TO DREAM BIG.
- Will Not or Cannot?
- Why Not?
- How to Think BIG
- How to Stay Ahead of the Curve
- How to Invest in Yourself
- The Two Camera Rule
- MEANINGFUL DIFFERENTIATION
- Advice For College Students
- How to Thrive in Uncertain Times
- CANNIBALIZE YOURSELF.
- DO AND GROW RICH
- Does Fear of Punishment Hold You Back?
- HOW TO GET MORE FOLLOWERS
- How to Innovate
- How to Build Your Own Empire
- YOU ARE ENTITLED TO HARD WORK.
- PICK YOURSELF.
- OWN YOUR PLATFORM
- 10 KEYS TO SUCCESS
Table of Contents
Learn how to make a living from your passion:
- Preface. BRAVE NEW WORLD OF PHOTOGRAPHY
- Chapter 1. How to Create Value
- Chapter 2. ZEN CAPITALISM
- Chapter 3. Scarcity
- Chapter 4. How to Brand Yourself
- Chapter 5. How to Build a True Following
- Chapter 6. The Blueprint to Success in Photography
- Chapter 7. HOW TO BE BOLD
- Chapter 8. How to Sell Out
- Chapter 9. GO AGAINST THE GRAIN
- Chapter 10. EXTREME ABUNDANCE
- Chapter 11. Photography Experience Economy
- Chapter 12. Why You Should Make Money for Your Photography
- Chapter 13. How to Become a Famous Photographer
Photography Business 101
How to Make Money with Photography

- How to Charge More Money in Your Photography
- Why You Should Not Pursue Photography as Career
- Can Photography Make You Rich?
- How I Earn $200,000+ a Year From Photography
- How to earn $10,000 a month as a photographer
- Why you must be an expensive photographer
Photography Marketing 101
- Why Have More Followers?
- Why You Should Do Photography Work For Free
- How I Became an Internet Famous Photographer
- Photography Blogging Ideas
- Why You Should Promote Your Own Name
- How to Build a Following
- How to Stand Out as a Photographer.
- HOW TO GO VIRAL AS A PHOTOGRAPHER.
- How to Master Marketing
- How to Sell Yourself

How to Hustle.
- Entrepreneurial Advice to My 18 Year Old Self
- How to Become Insanely Productive.
- 5 Lessons From Hesiod on Hustling
Entrepreneurial Principles
- It is Better to Beg For Forgiveness Than Ask For Permission
- The Free Way to Become Rich
- JUST DO IT.
- 7 Steps: How to Make a Living From Your Passion
- How to Do What You Love for a Living
- How to Create an MVP (Minimum Viable Product)
- How to Fail Big
- How to Invest in Yourself
- How to Be Bold in Photography and Life
- Mission: Cover Your Rent and Food
- 1,000 True Fans
- The “10x Principle”: The Only Difference Between “Success” and “Failure”
- Make More Value Not Money
- We Live in a Photo Utopia
How to be a Full-time Photographer
- How to Make a Living From Photography
- The 3 Principles of Making Money With Photography
- Advice for Aspiring Full-Time Photographers
- Don’t Go Into Debt For Your Photography
- How to Brand Yourself as a Photographer
- Trust: The Most Important Thing You Need to Succeed as a Photographer
Photography Blogging
- How to become rich from photography blogging
- How to Make a Living with Blogging
- 50 Blogging Tips For Beginners
- How to Start Your Own Photography Blog
- A Photographer’s Guide to SEO, Blogging, and Social Media
How to Teach Photography
- How to Become a Photography Teacher
- How to Teach a Street Photography Class
- Why I Teach Street Photography Workshops
Social Media
- Why I Deleted My Instagram
- The Social Media Blackbook for Photographers
- Why Do You Need More Likes or Followers?
- Instagram is Going to Be the Next Facebook
- Don’t Trust “Free” Photography Social Networks