We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Justine Cooper. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Justine below.
Alright, Justine thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s jump right into the heart of things. Outsiders often think businesses or industries have much larger profit margins than they actually do – the reason is that outsiders are often unaware of the biggest challenges to profitability in various industries – what’s the biggest challenge to profitability in your industry?
I have a high-touch photography business, mostly shooting families in all stages of life. I personally do all the photography for a client, rather than farming it out, so there is only so much work I can take on. That’s intentional. One of my favorite parts of my job is getting to know new families and seeing them each year. I realize folks might think “Wow, she’s charging $xxxx for a photoshoot, that’s $xxxxx per day. The reality is for each hour I shoot, I’m spending about 4-8 hours on the prep, editing & communications for that one job. I also use financial resources for education, upgrading equipment, backing up my client’s image files, insurance, my studio space (and keeping it clean!)
At different times in my career I’ve had a second photographer, or an editor to take care of overflow work and editing. That has increased my profitability, but also comes with providing more customer service and oversight. These days I’ve expanded what I shoot to include events, branding & headshots. And for fun I photograph artists and creatives, where I may have more latitude to be experimental.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I had a pretty successful art career before I had my photo business. When I had my second child, I really started taking on more photo clients. It was one of those moments where you realize children cost money, and I needed to use the skills I had, but make them more transactional, while still being a visual maker. So I can thank my kids for also making me a small business owner.
I may not be Domino sugar who’ve been around for 100 years, but I’m proud of the what I’ve built, and sometimes its hard to believe I’ve been at it for over 15 years.
I definitely show up for my clients, not just with camera in hand on shoot day, but also down the road. In the digital age, it’s easy to lose your images when a hard drive fails, misplace them, or get your laptop stolen. I have a very robust back up system, and have helped dozens of clients retrieve files they thought were lost forever.
Of course making images they treasure in the first place is more important. We are such an image based culture these days, and everyone has a pretty decent camera right there in the palm of their hand. Yet there’s still an art to guiding your subjects, seeing how the light is working, and capturing the best moments.
When my subjects feel like it’s all going to hell – the kids aren’t cooperating, they hate having their photo taken – and I show them the back of my camera and they say “Oh, I look reaaaallly good!” That’s my favorite moment.
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
Word of mouth has always been about 50% of my business and posting on local listserves occasionally. I’ve been fortunate that Google does drive business to me, even though I haven’t done anything special. I think it’s because I have a physical studio address and have been around a while now. When I started out, I did more community events, and I still do when I have time. For instance, I’ll shoot a Halloween event, or a school fundraiser.
I don’t think anyone has ever said they found me on Instagram organically, and booked me. But if I put more energy into Instagram maybe that would shift. That seems more like a place to showcase newer work, but not actually pick up clients in my experience.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
My premise in the beginning of my business was to “use what you’ve got” then figure out how to get the rest. I turned my art studio into a photo studio. I had media skills to do my own design and website building (it was pre-Squarespace and Wix types of platforms.) Then I essentially created my family photo business in a weekend.
I sent my husband away with my first child for 3 days.
I rented professional gear and shot pro-bono sessions all of one day after a call out to my mom community.
I edited and selected portfolio images and built a website on Sunday.
I traded photoshoots with a local graphic designer mom to create a professional logo for me, that I still use to this day.
I made physical business cards that I gave to local businesses.
I made online galleries of the free sessions and sold prints and files which paid for my first DSLR. I put the lenses on a credit card. I would joke that my telephoto lens was worth more than my car. (It was actually worth more than my car.)
I guess the gist is that I had to be a little fearless, but not totally reckless. I have a photography background, so it was a skill I already possessed. I had shot weddings in my 20s in Sydney, Australia, so I had directing skills and anticipating the moment skills. The leap of faith for me was that I could make a business doing it. I still struggle to be consistent with how I do things, but I have systems for most things in my business.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://justinecooperphotography.com
- Instagram: @justinecooperphotography
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinecooperphotography/
Image Credits
Charissa Fay, Sidney Stein, Juniper Stein, Nim Lee