Easy Networking via Instagram
Outside of hard work one of the biggest drivers of your success and brand will be your ability to network with other people and develop relationships. It would be great if business just fell in your lap and occasionally it will but knowing people, having relationships and getting your name into the right places is what will bring you the most opportunity for creating a connection that results in business.
Many photographers who are starting out simply don’t know enough people in the industry and I’ll admit meeting the right people can be tough. But over the years I’ve found that actually getting into the right circles is easier than one might think. For me Instagram is one of the easiest networking tools available. Here’s an easy made up example. It’s late summer and you want to shoot a bunch of images this fall and start getting your name out there. The problem is you don’t know many hunters who look good in front of a camera and who are in or part of the industry that you can tag along with. In comes Instagram and boom, problem solved! Now chances are if you love hunting you follow plenty of hunters on Instagram and chances are lots of them are in the industry or know plenty of guys who are. Let's say I follow a guy who loves to bowhunt antelope who works as a customer service rep at major brand A. Or I follow another solid hunter who in his photos seems to be in with guys at Brand B. Chances are I’d throw out a message to both guys saying something along the lines of:
Hey (dude’s name), I’ve been following you for a while and although we’ve never met you seem like a solid dude and someone who enjoys a good hunt. I’m looking to get out with some guys this fall to shoot some hunting photos and meet some like minded people. I just wanted to see if there was anytime on your schedule where I could tag along for a few days and snap some photos?
Now chances are they probably will say yes. A few things to keep in mind though. What does your profile look like? If they don’t know you they will go look at your profile before answering. If you have a bunch of poor quality hunting photos, photos of you sloppy drunk with your buddies, and random photos of cats (you never know, this one could be an advantage to some haha) they probably will not want to waste their time and say no. If your profile is clean, professional and gives them a little sense of who you are there’s a good chance they’ll say yes. Now even if you’re profile and social image is spot on they still might say no. That’s fine, learn one of the biggest lessons now and that is “Get Used to Hearing NO”. It’s a part of the job and if you struggle with this chances are you won’t cut it as a hunting photographer. If they do say no don’t be offended and be bitter towards that person. Move on with your life like a man and let them do their thing.
Now if they say yes make sure you go into your meet up with the right mindset. In this industry and business in general if you go into a relationship with only a mindset of what you can get out of that person then you’re going to make a poor name for yourself. There’s no denying that you might have reached out to get a connection that might help your business but that doesn’t mean you can’t make lifelong friends along the way. And good friends will promote and help you way more than some random dude you hunted with a few days. So when you meet up with this person focus on developing a friendship, shooting some great images and the rest will fall into place if it’s meant to be. Let the business opportunity grow from developing a good relationship with that person and showing them some amazing images that you took on the hunt with them. If you do both of those things then the conversation about your path as a photographer will come naturally and chances are that person will connect you with anyone that could help you out. And that’s just human nature. This is just one of many ways you can leverage Instagram to help you connect with more great people and the more people you know the better your chance of finding good gigs. If there’s other topics regarding Networking through social media that you’d like to learn about or great tactics you’ve used in the past please leave a comment below.