What type of photographer are you? That's important to know since what you do to advertise your services or promote yourself will depend a lot on just what it is you do.

Let's make some assumptions. Let's say you are calling yourself a freelance photographer: no fixed studio, but you're willing to take on nearly everything that comes your way locally. You're just starting out, and while you don't want to get in over your head, you'd like to begin with some photography that can get you a quick return on your investment in equipment, time, and supplies. Since you can't spend a whole lot on advertising or a big promotional campaign, you decide to get some business cards that let everyone seeing them know that you're a photographer.*

That's a good place to start. The business card is the basic promotional tool of every photographer looking for work close to home, and if used, should bring you calls about your services. Since you're not sure who your customers are likely to be and don't yet have a specific target market in mind, you start considering some general, all-inclusive phrases to let people know that if they need photography -- of practically any kind -- they should call you. Here are some of the ideas you consider:

Photographer, Freelance Photographer, Freelance Photography, Professional Photographer, Fine Photography, Photographic Services.

Having decided on what you want your card to say, you go to a printer and within a week or two have 1000 business cards that you can leave dormant in a drawer or use to start telling the world about yourself.

Knowing why you bought them, you decide not to hand them out reluctantly, but to distribute them far-and-wide within the community, town, or area in which you reside, satisfied that when you've handed them all out at least 1000 people will know you're in business to take pictures.

So you start receiving calls. Some right away, and others later on, since a few people held on to your card and called when they needed photography. Seeing this starting to work and your confidence starting to build after completing a few jobs, you decide to get some more cards. Only this time you zero in a little more closely on some specific target markets.

Wanting to pursue more weddings, you get some cards that spell out Wedding Photography, or maybe Weddings - Parties - Reunions to take advantage of other gatherings you've been asked to photograph. You hand these out at every wedding (and party or reunion) you shoot. You also mail them out to brides-to-be, when you see their wedding announcements the your paper. You've even arranged to leave some of them with others in the wedding field: some of the florists, caterers, and dressmakers in your area... and you hand out some of their cards in return.

Gaining even more confidence, you decide to pinpoint other areas for special promotion and you get cards printed up for these. You have discovered that by being a bit more specific about what you do, you can use your cards to put suggestions into people's minds. For example, people who may never have thought of having their dog photographed, or didn't know who would do it, or who only toyed with the idea... with a card that featured Pet Photography or Pet Portraiture. Or young women who might be interested in modeling with a card that said Model Portfolios.

Armed with your specialty cards and the experience you've gained in placing them, you begin to distribute them appropriately and start to think of other ways of building your business, too!

Larry Stepanowicz

* When having business cards made, you might want to consider leaving off your address or using a Post Office Box as your address... and keeping an answering machine on your telephone.