A few days ago while sitting at a table playing Settlers of Catan and passing around Swedish Fish, I got asked, “What would you say is your biggest tip for growing your business?”Let me preface by saying I’ve only lived in Pennsylvania for 2.5 years. I moved here without knowing a single person and without a single photography client. My first 6 months were spent settling into my new area and the only photography related thing I did was attending a workshop (which wasn’t even local) with the sole purpose of meeting people. And because I met those new people, I soon got introduced to other new people, and it kept going from there!

My best advice to successfully growing a business is NETWORKING!

I would definitely not be where I am today without the help of others. In addition to that workshop I attended, I also reached out to photographers that were based in my area. Obviously, business growth depends on your financial situation too. Making use of banking services available from the likes of Atlantic union bank can be hugely beneficial to your operations and keeping the business financially stable.

It doesn’t have to be complicated! I seriously just googled “Harrisburg wedding photographers” or “Lancaster wedding photographers” and looked up all the people that showed up on the first few pages. After that I just started emailing them saying that I was new to the area and I would love to grab lunch or a cup of coffee and chat. That’s it, and it snowballed from there! With each meeting, my intention was to make friends, talk about the business in the area, and offer my services to second shoot or assist with any shoots they have in the future.

Networking is beneficial in 3 ways:

1. I know from experience that most photographers may be more hesitant to work with someone they have never met before. This is exactly why it is totally worth the time, travel, money, and effort to meet in person.
2. This is your chance to talk business for free! Ask questions about the area, business, favorite vendors to work with, or anything really. Take advantage of your time together and answers to your questions.
3. And the MOST beneficial thing is offering your services. You just had a great time at lunch and now tell them how much you enjoyed their company and that you would love to work with them sometime in the future. When I first moved to PA I didn’t have any weddings booked or any clients. Through meeting other photographers, I was able to book up my year with second shooting gigs and also when they received inquiries that they were already booked for, they would refer me! It was through their referrals that I was able to start booking my own weddings and grow my business to what it is today.

So go network and don’t be afraid to put yourself out there!