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<blockquote data-quote="Pretzel" data-source="post: 233135" data-attributes="member: 12257">What I did:1)&nbsp; Started a FB page for my landscape, critter, zoo and family pics and invited all of my &quot;contacts&quot; to like the page.&nbsp; This allowed them to see my skill grow over time, although you may already be at the &quot;skill level&quot; needed.&nbsp; This ended up landing me my first &quot;job&quot; which was second shooting a wedding with one of my buddies (and inspiration) whom I consider to be one of the best in the biz.2)&nbsp; Practiced &quot;portraits&quot; a LOT on my family.&nbsp; Every pic worth a second look would go online to showcase my ability and craft.&nbsp; I looked for unique angles and ideas that nobody else in the portrait &quot;mass market&quot; was using and posted it.&nbsp; This helped a lot.3)&nbsp; Advertised on that FB page that I would like to jump into the portrait business, so offered &quot;FREE&quot; sessions to folks that would allow me to use the pics I took for my portfolio.&nbsp; Each family would get their choice of 3 of the pics, edited and in digital format, plus a release to reprint as many as they would like and in any size.&nbsp; For the WHOLE session, I sold the complete set for a very reasonable price and gave them a release to print any pic up to 8x12 in size.&nbsp; I actually ran a contest, everyone interested could sign up, and I drew 3 at random.&nbsp; All 3 families were thrilled and purchased the entire sets of photos!&nbsp; I got to post their pics on FB and tag them, so all their family and friends could see, and it went from there...4)&nbsp; As of yet, I have relied on word of mouth after that, and my FB circle of acquaintances.&nbsp; I scanned local photographers in the area and checked the prices they would set on sessions, put out some &quot;promo&quot; price plans on my FB page that would come in just under the average, and let folks talk me up.&nbsp; Even though it's currently in the midst of winter here, I've already signed a couple of folks up for full family sessions (by way of offering &quot;Gift Certificates&quot; online), and two of the families that won my &quot;freebie&quot; contest have already scheduled me for maternity and senior photo sessions.&nbsp; Quite a few families have expressed interest when it's warmer, too.5)&nbsp; Like Ijustwant1, I'm talking to local coffee shops now to get some of my B&amp;W's and landscape photos on their wall.&nbsp; They get nice, local art and a small percentage of sales, I get advertisement, exposure and sales.&nbsp; Once I've been up in those areas for a while, I get the right to advertise &quot;As seen in XXXXXX coffee shop!&quot;&nbsp; Win/Win/Win.6)&nbsp; And, Like Jonathan said above, shameless self promotion.&nbsp; Online, business cards on local bulletin boards, craigslist, business cards in your pocket, etc. etc. etc.I could keep typing, but I'm at work.&nbsp; SHHHH!&nbsp; I hope some of this and the other great advice helps, and GOOD LUCK!!</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Pretzel, post: 233135, member: 12257"] What I did: 1) Started a FB page for my landscape, critter, zoo and family pics and invited all of my "contacts" to like the page. This allowed them to see my skill grow over time, although you may already be at the "skill level" needed. This ended up landing me my first "job" which was second shooting a wedding with one of my buddies (and inspiration) whom I consider to be one of the best in the biz. 2) Practiced "portraits" a LOT on my family. Every pic worth a second look would go online to showcase my ability and craft. I looked for unique angles and ideas that nobody else in the portrait "mass market" was using and posted it. This helped a lot. 3) Advertised on that FB page that I would like to jump into the portrait business, so offered "FREE" sessions to folks that would allow me to use the pics I took for my portfolio. Each family would get their choice of 3 of the pics, edited and in digital format, plus a release to reprint as many as they would like and in any size. For the WHOLE session, I sold the complete set for a very reasonable price and gave them a release to print any pic up to 8x12 in size. I actually ran a contest, everyone interested could sign up, and I drew 3 at random. All 3 families were thrilled and purchased the entire sets of photos! I got to post their pics on FB and tag them, so all their family and friends could see, and it went from there... 4) As of yet, I have relied on word of mouth after that, and my FB circle of acquaintances. I scanned local photographers in the area and checked the prices they would set on sessions, put out some "promo" price plans on my FB page that would come in just under the average, and let folks talk me up. Even though it's currently in the midst of winter here, I've already signed a couple of folks up for full family sessions (by way of offering "Gift Certificates" online), and two of the families that won my "freebie" contest have already scheduled me for maternity and senior photo sessions. Quite a few families have expressed interest when it's warmer, too. 5) Like Ijustwant1, I'm talking to local coffee shops now to get some of my B&W's and landscape photos on their wall. They get nice, local art and a small percentage of sales, I get advertisement, exposure and sales. Once I've been up in those areas for a while, I get the right to advertise "As seen in XXXXXX coffee shop!" Win/Win/Win. 6) And, Like Jonathan said above, shameless self promotion. Online, business cards on local bulletin boards, craigslist, business cards in your pocket, etc. etc. etc. I could keep typing, but I'm at work. SHHHH! I hope some of this and the other great advice helps, and GOOD LUCK!! [/QUOTE]

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