If you’ve been looking to make more money as a photographer and expand on your brand at the same time, then creating a branded product is something you may be interested in.
When you think of a celebrity, there are probably three things that come to mind: Their profession, the brand they represent and what they’re famous for. The same draws true with companies — when people think about Apple computers or Beats headphones, the first thing that comes to mind is usually not just how great their product is — but also how stylish the brand is.
What can we learn from this? That creating a branded product that represents your brand and what you’re about is incredibly valuable. It allows you to grow your photography business, get more exposure for yourself and your work, and get ahead of the competition.
How to get started
If you want to get started with offering a branded product or offering. There are some questions you have to ask yourself.
1. Identify your target audience
Who is your target audience? For example, is it other photographers or non-photographers who admire your work — or is it both?
You need to identify your target audience and see who is already currently interested in your business so you know how to provide an offering that is valuable to them.
For example, if your target audience consists of non-photographers who just admire your work, then maybe offering a paid eBook or course on photography tips wouldn’t be the best. Instead, you would want to create something that expands on ways to monetize your work such as selling prints, selling card boxes with your best shots on the front and back, etc.
The point is, you need to align your branded product based on your target audience.
2. Will it be digital or physical?
Are you going to offer something that your target audience could physically hold like a T-shirt, hat, mug, etc.? Or will you be offering something digital such as your knowledge in the form of education such as courses, eBooks, etc.?
If you are having trouble deciding what you should create, here’s an example.
Let’s say your interest and skill lies in portrait photography and you already have traffic/users either to a social media page, your website or you are already well known within the niche. And let’s say specifically that your skill set really lies in photo editing.
Here are some branded products or services you could offer:
- Adobe Photoshop actions or Lightroom presets
- Courses on how to better edit photos
- Create social media videos on how to edit better
- Offer coaching session on how to edit better
- Create blogs on your website on how to edit better
- Create posts on social media talking about how to edit better
- Offer services to edit other people’s photos for them
These are just some examples, but I hope you can see all the choices and options available to us in this digital-first world.
So go out there and continue to grow your personal brand by creating a branded product this year. Good luck!
