Miami Dispatch #3: Paint Turkey

Sometimes you have to paint the turkey to sell the photo.
This is one of the many food photography tips we heard today from Michelle Mauer, food stylist extraordinaire who has created and styled the food on advertisements for Burger King, Publix grocery stores, and more…
While she doesn’t recommend ingesting the food once she’s done with it, Michelle designs and arranges images of food that are sure to make your mouth water.
Our attendees not only learned how to photograph steam rising from a hot cappuccino, but they also came away with key marketing tips from our team of professional photographers during the group panel discussion.
Efrain told us the first rule of getting anything is asking for it. He began his career by sending out business cards and flyers with his photos and information. About a year after he began this process, he landed an $18,000 gig photographing empty lots for a developing firm’s website – solely because he stuck his neck out and asked for their business.
On the other hand Shelly and Danny, as stock photographers, don’t need to market their photography as much. Stock agencies are getting paid to market you as a representative, so you can focus on creating the best, most unique photos possible.
According to Rich, marketing is all about somebody seeing your stuff. So he makes sure that his fine art photographs are placed somewhere people can see them… a local library, coffee shop, or doctor’s office, for example. If somebody can see it… somebody will buy it.
And, in time, your business will expand through word of mouth. Niels Johansen has never paid a cent on marketing, but relies on his website as a referral for people looking into his work after hearing about him from a past client.
Every photographer has a different marketing strategy because every photographer’s style is unique.
Just get yourself out there and take action. Be passionate about your work, keep at it, and success will come.
[Editor’s Note: Learn more about how you can turn your pictures into cash in our free online newsletter The Right Way to Travel.  Sign up here today and we’ll send you a new report, Selling Photos for Cash: A Quick-Start Guide, completely FREE.]