This week, I’ll cover a topic I always discuss with photographers on consulting calls as the foundation for all other web-design & marketing efforts.

Let’s dive in!

DEEP DIVE

Mastering your photography business funnel

Above the funnel = “Traffic”

At the top of the funnel, you have your website traffic, your social media followers, and any other referrals/connections you might have.

At any given moment, you have a certain “reach” in the industry, based on how popular an online presence you have.

Common ways to increase “traffic” at the top of the funnel:

• SEO

• ads

• networking

• guest interviews/podcasts

• word of mouth

First half of the funnel = “Converting traffic into leads”

Out of all the people who hear about you or see your work, some end up liking your work.

The quality of your work is critical here.

And so is the quality of your photography website, putting your images in the best possible light.

Second half of the funnel = “Converting leads into clients”

Out of all the people who signal in some way that they’re interested in your photos or services, you’ll only be able to “convert” some of them.

This is where your soft skills come into play and how well you convince them that you know your stuff (aka “onboarding”).

Below the funnel = “Income”

Because income is ultimately the main goal of any photography business.

TAKE ACTION

Define your own photography business funnel:

1. Start by figuring out your niche and your target audience (see the previous lesson for this)

Sticking with our “funnel” metaphor, good positioning makes sure that you’re pouring the right water into the funnel. Otherwise, if you attract the right crown (or too broad of a crowd), you’ll get very poor results.

2. Keep caring about the quality of your images (and services)

I’ve made this second on the list, because if very important.

But this process never really ends. Striving for quality is a life-long process.

Because showcasing mediocre work on your site is like having debris stuck inside the funnel, obstructing the water flow.

3. Fix your funnel if it’s leaky

And it always is somewhat leaky. You can never convert 100% perfect of your traffic. But you can try to keep those numbers as high as possible (through the ways I mentioned above), to avoid losing water through the sides of the funnel.