So, I made the decision of starting a photography business. Okay, that’s easy, I did all my homework:
Find a specialty-Check.
Get a business license-Check.
Buy a camera-Check.
Order business cards-Check.
Pass the business cards out-Check.
Pay for advertisement or do it the old fashion way, knock on doors and ask-Working on that!

I got this “business” set-up now what? So far I have asked my friends for their faces so I can take their pictures to build a portfolio and I have taken pictures of products like jewelry and other stuff that I think is interesting. So now what? You can’t be successful overnight. It takes time, finding ways that will help your business get off the ground takes work but it’s so rewarding when you figure it out. I have tried out a couple of things to get my business off the ground. I started a Facebook page and advertised that way through friends and family. This helped me get a lot of likes on my page. I even had some of my friends share my page on their Facebook page.

I also started a website, thanks to Word press. This also introduced my photography business to the public eye. I have recently started a free website through Word press names Welcome to Candylan_! (Be sure to check that out!) Photographs mainly from my iPhone.

My favorite, I signed up for a profile page on Thumbtack.com; it helps local businesses find local people looking for there type of services and business compete to get the customer. This gets me fired up and ready to compete with other photographers in the area offering competitive prices. I love a good competition! I was able to land my first paid photo shoot with a young fellow that needed head shots for a magazine. Sweet! I really could use the practice and he was able to submit photos to the magazine. I’m hoping to get a new gig soon via Thumbtack. But for now, I will steadily continue to grow my business and hope for the best.

My one good advice that I can give anyone wanting to start a business, from my personal experience so far; DO NOT listen to everything you hear. If you are like me, a lot of information can overwhelm you!!! Take it step by step, seriously! This may sound silly, but you will feel more accomplished if you jot everything down that you feel is of value to your company and do it one step at a time. If you start something, complete it BEFORE you start something else. I am the worse at this, I will have an idea and want to do that idea before I finish what I was doing previously. When you have an idea, jot it down in a separate notebook or journal and go to it AFTER you completed a task.

I have started to listening to podcasts that cater to entrepreneurs, to keep that motivation going. I get excited to hear someone doing well in my field and how similar their story is to mine. I also find listening to audio books is a great way to read valuable books to get me to understand how to start a business and how to keep it going. I actually listened to a book from front to back in about a couple of weeks versus reading it which would have taken me probably a month, if not longer.

Well I hope this helps! Talk with ya later.

-Candace