CHANGING THE WORLD FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS

Image Credit Tenth & Grace

CHANGING THE WORLD FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS & CLIENTS

My name is Elena, and you might know me as the owner of Modern Baby Photography, Modern Bride Photography, or Modern Market, the online marketplace for professional photographers. My heart lies in being a photographer, and my passion is in helping fellow photographers succeed.

After years of teaching a business success class to photographers, I realized that there was a recurring problem with hundreds of photographers and it wasn't something linked to their quality of work, time invested, pricing, or business structure. The number one problem photographers have in today's world was booking quality clients who truly value what they do and see their worth.

It's a problem most photographers don't talk about because we live in a time that should make finding a business online extremely easy, but somehow along it became more and more difficult. To a point where now the majority of professional photographers struggle connecting to new quality clients. 

Photographers are putting so much effort into making sure their business SEO is done correctly, consistently post to Facebook and Instagram, network with local businesses, blog regularly and use all the right keywords and hashtags all in hopes that their business lands in front of new clients.

All this hard work and the majority of professional photographers still struggling to find clients who truly value what they have to offer. 

WHY IS IT SO HARD FOR CLIENTS TO FIND PHOTOGRAPHERS?!

I believe that there just too much information out there and that the online world simply buries small business owners making it nearly impossible to connect with the right people. My goal with this directory is to create a place designed especially for portrait photographers.

UNDERSTANDING SEO

Unless you spend a great deal of time learning about SEO, or made the jump to hire someone to handle this task for your business you probably know SEO is something that is important but has a hard time understanding exactly how this all works. It's one of those things most people know is important, but have a hard time implementing. Worst of all, if this isn't something you're doing, clients probably won't find you when they search for a local photographer.

All listings will be optimized for search engines helping you rank better making it easier for clients to find you online. My hopes are that this site will grow so large that it will be the go-to place for clients when they are looking for a photographer.

MASTERING SOCIAL MEDIA

Social media can be an incredible source for businesses when it comes to getting their business in front of the right clients. I've grown my business page to over 105,000 followers and plan to do the same for this site. Using my knowledge of how social media works my plan is to put photographers work directly in front of hundreds of potential clients. 

LONG TERM MARKETING STRATEGY

Ready to dream a little? If all goes as I hope, this site will become THE tool that is being used by clients to find their dream photographer. I want you to imagine thousands of photographers from all over the world being on this site, making it incredibly easy for potential clients to seek out exactly the photographer they have been hoping to find. Let's say a potential client visits the site and finds your listing, views your work, loves what you do and then decides to go back to what they were doing before. We all know that clients usually spend some time making a decision on booking a photographer. With this site, it will automatically track precisely who clients are viewing and then will advertise your business on Facebook, Instagram, and other online sites reminding them of your business.

I've spent years perfecting my marketing strategy and know exactly what works and what doesn't. I plan to do the same thing for other photographers so they can connect with more clients and continue growing their business. 


NOW YOU MIGHT WONDER, OUT OF ALL THE DIRECTORIES, WHY JOIN THIS ONE?

You see, as a professional portrait photographer myself, I realized two things. Directories were either too broad or too specific. There are hundreds of directories out there for ALL types of photographers. Including those who specialize in portrait photography, landscape, real estate, glamour, sports, etc. There's truly no way to visually design a site that would attract and speak directly to a potential client when there are so many different types offered. Then there are sites which are extremely specific; they often cater just to wedding photographers or newborn photographers and have designed sites to connect directly to the right client. These sites often work incredibly well, but they are so limited when it comes to photographers that millions of them often get left out.

The Professional Photographer Directory is designed for all photographers who specialize in portrait photography. A place portrait photographers can showcase their business, and clients can finally easily see who's close by.

EDUCATING CLIENTS

There are thousands of places online that educate photographers on how to run their business, how to price themselves, how to brand their business and how to create beautiful work. But none that educate clients who work with photographers. I plan to use this as a platform to do exactly that. Educate million of potential clients on how to find the right photographer, etiquette when booking, the importance of documenting special moments and explaining to them that booking a professional photographer is an investment. I want clients to see just how much work photographers put into their small business so they too can value working with them and see their worth as a professional photographer.

BEST OF ALL, IT'S 100% FREE! 

The success in this lies in making this the largest directory of incredible portrait photographers. I have built this site myself and have already invested so much time and energy into this because I know this will change the world for photographers. 
So far I have built five striving business, moved my family and life to the island of Maui and am incredibly passionate about helping other small businesses succeed. This is my way of giving back to the photography industry, and I can't wait to see what this grows into. Most of all, I hope you'll join me in this new adventure.