Have you ever been ghosted? You know, when you get an inquiry and you immediately reply to their question. But then you don’t hear back. Does this sound familiar? And just like that, like many photographers, you have been ghosted. 

Since the pandemic, a lot of photographers have joined the industry. So when there’s more competition, chances are higher that you might experience not getting booked. 

When there are more photographers around, it’s even more important that you stand out, and that you know who you want to work with. While there are many photographers out there, it’s actually a great opportunity for you to specialize and stand out. If you don’t grab this opportunity, you’re just going to be like any photographer out there, and you are going to experience getting ghosted more. 

Why do you keep getting ghosted?

When there are more photographers around that look and feel the same, people will be price shopping even more because if the photographers are too similar, the price is the only thing that someone can tell you apart from someone else. It’s more likely that you’re going to get chosen because of your price. And we don’t want that because you have so much more to offer than just being the cheapest photographer. Standing out is key to avoiding this.

Learn to stand out so you get booked

Episode 11

Another reason why you might get ghosted is that people are having less and less attention span. Meaning that there’s so much going on. There are so many apps. There’s so much communication everywhere. That is when they send in an inquiry, they might not even know to who they sent it. They might’ve sent many different photographers and they get lost in all the options.

But most businesses are pretty bad at following up, and this is something that photographers must also be reminded of. You have to try to make it clear why you are worth paying for, and why you are the right photographer for your clients. You shouldn’t try to be the photographer for anyone and everyone. Try to be the photographer for your kind of people. And only you can know who that is. 

Learn why you should find your photography niche

Episode 21

How to avoid being ghosted?

Here are a few tips that will decrease your chances of getting ghosted by potential clients:

1. Be clear on who you want to work with. Figure out what they truly want from you. And then that is what you should focus on.
2. You need to tell your client when they should expect to hear back from you. Set up automated replies or have a proposal ready to send before you even get on the call.
3. Be transparent about your pricing. Be clear on what your clients will be getting from your rates. But be sure that your prices are calculated in such a way that you can still pay your bills, yourself, and your other expenses. 
4. Make sure you do follow-ups. If you don’t hear back from a client, it’s not because they don’t care enough to want to work with you. Most of the time it’s because your email ended up in spam or they’ve just forgotten about it.

Key takeaways

People want a photographer who wants to work with them. So just be nice and be patient and try not to feel like you’ve booked a client as soon as you get an inquiry. Remember that you haven’t actually made a booking until your contract has been signed and the first payment is in your bank account.

Good luck with getting booked and not ghosted!

Want more?

Ingvild Kolnes is the host of the Sustainable Photography Podcast, an educator for photographers, and is ready to help you with your photography business. 

The Sustainable Photography Program is about to start again. This program is designed to give you the knowledge and tools you need to create a thriving photography business that’s built to last.

Follow me on Instagram

Join the Facebook group

Learn more about the Sustainable Photography Program

Sustainable Photography

81. How to avoid being ghosted as a photographer?

Play Episode Pause Episode

Mute/Unmute Episode Rewind 10 Seconds 1x Fast Forward 30 seconds

00:00 / 00:11:24

Apple Podcasts Stitcher Google Podcasts Spotify

RSS Feed

Share

Link

Embed