I have a saying, “Visibility is Credibility; the more visible you become, the more credibility you earn, and the greater authority you command. The more credibility and authority you have, the more you can charge for your photography work.”
1. Can you please introduce yourself and share your background in photography and the photography business?
Hello and thank you for inviting me to be interviewed; it’s a real pleasure. I’m Jeff Brown, a photography business mentor, best-selling photography business author, President of The British Institute of Professional Photography, and an ambassador for OM System (Olympus cameras).
My professional photography career started out in the military where I served as a Royal Navy Photographer, later going on to become an Intelligence Image Analyst working for military intelligence. After 9 years of service, I left the military to start my own wedding photography business in 2004. Later, I opened four more photography businesses in boudoir photography, commercial photography, nursery school photography, and the business I still run today as a photography mentor.
After shooting over 750 weddings, 4,000 boudoir sessions, and countless nursery school photography sessions, I no longer shoot paid commissions. Now, I mentor photographers in over 20 countries worldwide on the business and marketing aspects of photography. We focus a lot on building a premium brand and also utilize LinkedIn, where I myself have grown over 60,000 followers and find a wealth of opportunities on the platform.
I live in the remote county of Northumberland in England, close to the Scottish Borders. As my business is mostly online, this has allowed me to move away from the city to the beautiful Northumberland countryside. Nature and the outdoors, along with travel photography, are my greatest passions.
2. In your opinion, what are the key qualities and skills that a successful photography business owner should possess?
You can be the best and most talented photographer in your area, but if you’re not getting seen and not making connections with the industry you serve, then you’ll struggle to find success.
I have a saying, “Visibility is Credibility; the more visible you become, the more credibility you earn, and the greater authority you command. The more credibility and authority you have, the more you can charge for your photography work.”
But being visible doesn’t mean posting content for the sake of it, and certainly not using your social media channels to constantly promote your services and try to sell to your audience. Social media is where people go to be inspired, learn, read stories, and engage with others. We build relationships with people we know, like, and trust online, and this can lead to countless opportunities. A photographer’s content needs to be inspiring, informative, tell a story, and be authentic. You also need to use your online presence to reach out to others in the industry by collaborating and building relationships.
The less I use my own social media to try to sell, the more sales I actually make. People don’t want to be sold to, but they do buy from people they like and feel a connection with. That connection comes through being authentic, inspirational, and consistent. Remember, visibility is credibility.
3. In your experience, what role does networking and building relationships play in the success of a photography business? Do you have any tips for effective networking?
We have more opportunities available to us now as photographers than ever before in the history of our industry but seldom do photographers reach out for opportunities. With my own photography mentees, I encourage them to reach out for opportunities every single week.
For any relationship to work, it must be mutually beneficial to both parties. So, let’s imagine you’re a wedding photographer. What can you do to grow your visibility, credibility, and opportunities through networking and building relationships?
Well, here are a few ideas that I’ve put into practice many times myself, and they've worked extremely well for my mentees too. Appear on a wedding or bridal podcast, sharing your knowledge of how to have a stress-free, fun, and enjoyable wedding day. Approach a bridal magazine and offer to write an article on the wedding styles and trends for 2024 through the eyes of a photographer. Collaborate with a wedding dress shop, offering a commission-based referral program. For every bride the dress shop sends your way, you offer to pay a fixed fee when the bride books your services.
I used to pay £50 to £100 for every booking secured, which led to around 30-40 weddings per year just from local wedding dress shops. Write a regular blog that provides individual in-depth reviews of local wedding venues, complete with beautiful photographs of the rooms, grounds, facilities, and food. Once you’ve written the blog, share it across all your social media channels, send it to your mailing list, and, most importantly, send it to the venue with your compliments. Later, you can approach this venue with regards to becoming one of their recommended photographers.
I’ve written a goal-setting and opportunity book for photographers that covers all these areas and much more. It helps photographers build consistent habits, reach out for opportunities, and take daily steps toward growing their brands and reaching their goals. It's called “The Ambitious Photographer’s Journal” and is available on Amazon in print or Kindle editions.
4. As a photography business author and mentor, what are your future plans and projects? Are there any upcoming books, workshops, or initiatives that you'd like to share with your audience?
As President of The British Institute of Professional Photography, I’ve been involved with our hardworking directors to rebrand and change the mission of our organization. We are the oldest professional photography association in the world, founded in 1901. Our mission is to help, support, and inspire photographers around the world through business, creativity, mentoring, and community. This month, we launched our new website, brand, and mission at bipp.com.
I’m currently writing the 4th edition of my LinkedIn book called "The Photographer’s Missing Link" to bring it right up to date with the latest LinkedIn changes and updates. I’m also writing a series of travel books using photographs taken with my Olympus OM1 mirrorless camera. These books will include stories about the places, people, food, and customs of some of my recent travels. I hope to start publishing my first two books early next year. They will cover Gdansk in Poland, which I visited in August, and Tirana in Albania, which I’m traveling to in December.
I’d also love to do a lot more public speaking. I speak frequently in the UK for many photography associations at roadshows, major industry events, and photography labs. However, I'd like to venture overseas and give talks in Europe, India, and the US.
5. How can photographers balance artistic creativity with the demands of running a photography business, such as client expectations and administrative tasks?
I believe a lot has to do with time management. When you have good systems in place, you can start to automate some of your administrative tasks using studio management and online booking software such as Studio Ninja, Acuity, Mailchimp, Calendly, etc.
We have far too many distractions that can stop our productivity, making it easy to be pulled away from a task by a Facebook message or the ping of an email. I personally have my mobile phone set to silent, with all notifications switched off, and I’m very protective of my time. I’ve removed email from my phone and only accessed it from my computer two or three times a day.
I make posting to social media a priority at least four times a week. I block out time each day for my social media posts and set myself hourly uninterrupted working slots throughout the day to complete tasks effectively. As I write this article, I’m actually in one of my hourly uninterrupted time slots.
It's important to make time for being creative and working on personal projects. As an ambassador for OM System, I set aside time to get out in nature and photograph the great outdoors with my Olympus OM1. The OM brand is aimed at the nature/wildlife, outdoors, travel, and adventure market because their cameras are weatherproof, super lightweight, robust, and can easily be used hand-held for low light or moving water photography without a tripod.
By creating book projects, such as my Poland and Albania travel books, it adds another purpose to my adventures. It brings creativity into my personal projects and also gives me the opportunity to earn a passive income from book sales. I encourage many of my fellow photographers to do this as well since we can all become self-published authors thanks to Amazon’s KDP platform without the expensive outlay of traditional publishing.
Next year, I plan to ride the entire coastal circumference of the island of Ireland on my motorbike. I’ve mapped out my route, overnight stops, and the sights I want to see and photograph. This adventure should take me around 10 days. A bit of research has shown that there aren’t many books on Amazon about riding around Ireland on a motorbike, so I plan to write one myself. It will be packed with tips and advice for fellow riders, along with lots of photographs and maybe some photography tips on how to make the best of the images you capture.
As a photographer, you can take on personal projects to fuel your creativity. These personal projects can also lead to passive income, earning money while you sleep. Consider writing a book, launching an online photography course, or starting your own YouTube channel or podcast that can be monetized as your subscribers grow.
6. Which is your favourite book and why?
I struggled a lot at school and never gained any grades or qualifications. I suffered from dyslexia, which unfortunately wasn’t really understood in the 70s and 80s. But for me, my escape was always books. I never had problems with reading on my own, just reading aloud and writing.
One of my all-time favorite books, which I’ve read many times, is the classic "Lord of the Rings." Another great adventure story, based around true events, that I recently discovered is "Shantaram" by Gregory David Roberts, which I loved.
I read a lot of business books as well as inspirational biographies from people such as Nelson Mandela, the inventor James Dyson, founder of Nike Phil Knight, Stephen King’s own book on writing, and this week I’ve just downloaded the newly released audio version of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “Be ‘Useful.”
BIO:
Jeff started his professional photography career as a Military Photographer in the British Royal Navy. After 9 years of service, he decided to leave the armed forces and set up his photography company. Eighteen months later, he had a successful six-figure turnover wedding photography company, along with a commercial photography company. He also opened a separate school photography business, collaborating with sixty nursery schools. Additionally, he launched a Boudoir Makeover company, which was able to turn over 1,000 boudoir shoots per year.
Jeff has personally shot over 750 weddings. In 2015, he shifted his focus towards developing an online photography business mentoring program with the mission of helping and inspiring photographers worldwide to market their businesses better. He now mentors photographers in over 20 countries, guiding them in developing their brand to become the “Go-To Photographer” in their niche and achieve the success they deserve.
Jeff has authored three best-selling photography books: "The Photographers Missing Link-edIn," "The Ambitious Photographer’s Journal," and "Help My Photography Website Needs More Customers." He also regularly hosts LinkedIn Lives as a platform influencer with 35k photographer followers. He contributes to several photography magazines and associations and serves as an ambassador for OM System, The British Photography Awards, Studio Ninja, and The Societies of Photographers. Additionally, he holds the position of President at The BIPP (British Institute of Professional Photography) and is the UK and US Brand Ambassador for The Shutter Studio App.
Interviwed and Edited By - Pragya Lamba
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