Firstly thanks for all the positive comments I have received relating to my first guest blog entry last Thursday relating to my involvement with the Mentor Me on Steroids mentoring programme with the Big Dog.

I have a number of topics that I am working on for future blog posts but if there is something particularly that you want me to cover then please feel free to contact me using my contact details listed below this blog post.

I want my guest blog entries each week to cover subjects that up and coming photographers will find helpful and one area that I didn’t find a lot of coverage myself when I started as a pro was the subject of starting in the world of being a pro photographer and advice on making the leap from being a semi pro to being a full time pro photographer. There is a lot of business advice on the web but nothing really relating to the photography business. So in the next few weeks I will attempt to cover the main topics and areas that I feel that an up and coming pro will need to consider before going pro. I hope you find it useful and I welcome all feedback.

I have split these ideas into 15 parts. For the first few weeks we’ll be concentrating on the basics and areas you need to consider before you start your own photography business. In the second series of articles we’ll cover topics such as accreditation, your website, training, marketing, getting customers and pricing your services.

Ok let’s get into it then.

Selecting a Company Name – think “Target market” and “Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)”!

Probably the first thing you need to consider is what you are going to call yourself. Things to consider are what markets you are going to be targeting (i.e. portrait, wedding, commercial, social etc etc.). Selecting a company name is the first step to creating your overall brand, branding as we discuss later on is key and getting this right is an important step to getting clients. The other consideration is whether another photographer already has your company name you are considering. Check the company’s house website to see whether anyone else is listed as the company name you are considering. The other major consideration is whether the relevant website domain name is available that you would need for the company name you have selected. Check the domain addresses here to see what is available.

Your other consideration has to be Search Engine Optimisation when selecting a company name. Certain domain names give you an advantage when you register them ensuring your site achieves a better page rank when people search for photographer in your area. More information on this will be covered in the SEO section later on.

You may consider calling yourself “Your Name Photography”, like I did, and my thinking behind this was that I wanted my clients to know who the photographer was and for the company to be very much based on me as a person, my values and overall my reputation. Obviously this can also be a disadvantage but this decision is very much up to you.

James Spencer

James is a professional photographer based in Bristol in the South West of England. James is self-taught in photography over a number of years; James is an active member of the SWPP and very much into the principle of continues learning through photographic training. James is also a course tutor on a photography degree course in the South West where he enjoys mentoring upcoming photographers work and helping them develop into full time pro’s. James’s passion is for photographing people through his portrait and wedding work. James is continuing with his photography journey in 2011 by being mentored by award winning photographer Damian McGillicuddy. James’s other photographic interest is post production techniques using Photoshop.

James’s other passion is computing and the web, with his specific interests being web development, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), CMS solutions, social media and web marketing.

Twitter: @JSPhotographyUK

Web: www.jamesspencer-photography.co.uk

Facebook : James Spencer Photography