When starting my photo editing business, I tried every method possible to gain clients so I could go full time with my business.

Some of those strategies were super successful and allowed me to gain clients QUICKLY.

But there were definitely things I did early on in my business that were holding me back from gaining clients. Had I known these mistakes starting out, well, I probably would have left my 9-5 much faster.

The same thing is true for you!

You can take your private photo editing business full time. Pinky promise.

Today I want to make sure you are not following in my early years of business. If you are reading this, I imagine it is because you haven’t quite yet reached your full time goal.

That’s okay! Because today we are going to talk about why that could be happening.

There are 5 common mistakes I see over and over again. These mistakes are holding you back from achieving your goals! You might not be making all of them, but I’ll walk you through why they are hurting your business and how to fix it!

Mistake #1. | Mixed messaging on your website

The first mistake I see editors make is that they have mixed messaging on their website.

The most common way I see this mistake being made is by lumping your editing services together with your personal photography website.

Your photography website should be used to market to your ideal bride, not your ideal photographer.

I actually made this mistake when I was first starting out. I had my wanna-be wedding photography website and added a new page that offered editing services.

I got very few inquires from photographers but it wasn’t until I created a brand around my editing business that I started gaining momentum.

Now when you go to any website looking for a service there should be a clear message right smack on the homepage.

Your editing website should be designed to guide the photographer through an experience. There should not be any question on where they should go or where to find content that they are looking for.

I want to show you an example really quickly of a website that has a really amazing user experience.

This is Go Live’s website. They actually design both custom and template websites.

On the home page you will see they have this clear messaging that defines what they do and how they can help you. So they design knockout websites so they can help you kill it online.

Then they go on to describe a struggle that the user may be going through, followed by how they solve that problem.

So now we see an arrow that is telling you to browse the shop with templates that a customer could clic on to look through.

After they show you some products they tell you how the process works. You choose a theme, easily customize it, go live, start killing it. Moving on, they have a client list and testimonials and even a blog section.

You can now see how a client would move through this website. It has a clear message and guides you through the page to show how to best use their services.

Mistake #2. | Not having an ideal client

The second mistake I see is that editors don’t have an ideal client.

Sometimes I think the phrase ideal client has become something we know we should have as a business owner, but we don’t quite know how to do it for our own business.

If you ever downloaded an ideal client worksheet from somewhere it tends ask all these really detailed questions first. For example you’ll find questions such as:

• What is your ideal clients’ name?
• What is your ideal clients’ age?
• Where would your ideal client live?

And while these specific questions about an “ideal client” are helpful, if you are anything like me, you get too caught up in naming your client like it’s going on a birth certificate.

So I want to suggest starting out broad and working your way into more specifics.

First things first, we know our client is a photographer. Alright so that definition alone makes things easier at least for me.

Now let me ask you a few more questions and you will see how I can narrow this person down.

• Does this photographer shoot weddings, portraits, newborns, or a different type of photography?
• What photographic style do they identify with?
• What is the minimum number of years of experience you want your ideal photographer to have?
• Do they look up to any other photographers?
• Did they take any educational courses or workshops from other photographers?
• Do they use any popular presets?
• Do you prefer communicating with a male or female?

Here is an example of how I used these questions to come up with a basic ideal photographer that I used for my business. A female who is a light and colorful wedding photographer with at least two years of experience who loved Katelyn James’ consistency course and uses her preset.

The reason this is so important is that you can now design your branding around this photographer.

I can say in my website copy that I love working with KJ’s consistency course students!

I can use the same language that she uses on her sales page for the consistency course. I can use bright colors that compliment Katelyn James’ signature teal color.

Will this drive away some photographers? Sure! Is that okay? YES!

It is actually probably helpful because that is one less email I would have to write to refer them to someone else.

However, this also now means that I am the go-to editor for this particular niche, which is super awesome to think about.

Mistake #3. |  You are not checking your Google Analytics

Now what is Google Analytics?

Google Analytics shows you how many people are coming to your site, what pages they’re visiting, how they got to your site in the first place, how much time they are spending on on your website, plus SO much more!

The reason why this is helpful is it can help you market your business better and can help show you why you are not getting any inquires.

Is it because no one is making it to your website? Or are they coming and not inquiring.

To be able to diagnose the question, “Why am I not getting any inquires?” you can look at the behavior of people visiting your site.

Do they just land on your page and then leave? Are they navigating to different pages to check out your testimonials? Do they ever make it to your about page? Your contact page?

I have the Google Analytics app on my phone and I am guilty of checking it every day! The data doesn’t lie! I am able to see how many people go to my about page which is how I can tell that my home page is working. I can see where I am getting the most traffic.

This tool was incredibly helpful in diagnosing why I wasn’t achieving a certain outcome.

Mistake #4. | You are not reaching out to photographers

If you know anything about getting traffic to your website than you know that it can sometimes just take time. If you are like me, this can be super frustrating when you are trying to achieve something quickly!

Which brings me to mistake number 4. You aren’t being proactive and reaching out to photographers. This is especially true if you are trying to build a client list as fast as possible.

Now I know what you are thinking, “Kristen, I’m not salesy.” I hear you. I really do.

However, if you believe that your business is a powerful service that has the opportunity to make an impact on a photographer’s life, you can pitch them on what their future could look like by outsourcing.

You don’t have to sell yourself. Instead, pitch them on this new world that they can have.

Here is an example of an email that I have sent to a photographer who I found on Instagram. I purposefully reference specific goals that she has mentioned in her posts as a way to help her visualize what outsourcing could look like.

“Hey Erin!

I follow you on Instagram and noticed you had posted about wanting to focus on more of a work/life balance in 2017.

I’m a private photo editor for wedding photographers who have grown to the point where they need help (Amy and Jordan Demos called this Amy’s “crying at the kitchen table moment”). I help get wedding photographers back to the things that matter most. Whatever that may be for you – date night with the hubs or for you to maybe focus on those creative shoots you want to plan for??

Basically my job is to learn your style of editing from you. Think of it like a virtual assistant just for editing. I attached my workflow guide in this email in case you just wanted to see what your workflow for a 2017 could look like.

I hope you have a happy new year girl and I’m cheerin’ for you!

Chat soon!”

The structure of this email shows more of what outsourcing can do for her than what I Kristen the Private Photo Editor can do.  I also provided her with a resource that could help her visualize what the post-production process looks like with outsourcing – from shooting a wedding all the way to delivering images to a client.

Friend, hear me when I say that sometimes the best way to build traffic to your site is by putting yourself out there and letting people know where to find you.

Mistake #5. | You are lacking community in the industry

Finally, mistake number 5 is that you are lacking community in the industry.

Making genuine connections with other editors has been the second best referral traffic to my website.

Through these connections you can uplift one another’s business’ by directly referring a photographer who is not your ideal client to another editor who you know.

If you don’t have a community or don’t know where to find one you can hop on over to my free Facebook group: Private Photo Editors with Kristen Neiditch.

Introduce yourself, share your goals, make friends! I hope to see you in there!