Approaching Clients on LinkedIn as a Photographer

LinkedIn is an underutilized channel when it comes to approaching clients as a photographer. In this  guide, we tell you how to go about doing just that. 

With 303 million active monthly users, LinkedIn has proved to be one of the best platforms for professionals. Marketing your photography skills on LinkedIn could perhaps be the best thing you can do to connect with potential clientele on LinkedIn.

It goes without saying your LinkedIn profile can act as your photographer resume when it comes to attracting clients. 

But you need to do a lot more than just having a Linkedin profile and ‘being there’. The first step is optimizing the profile. 

Let’s begin with some of the essentials tips that will help you to embolden your profile and attract clients. 

Write a relevant Profile Headline

Profile headline is the first thing that people notice when they go through your LinkedIn.

So you should perhaps focus your attention on optimizing the headline to best describe your professional identity as a photographer. The idea is to communicate your skills and professionalism to a potential client using a single headline. 

Completing your LinkedIn profile is not enough to gain more clients but optimizing your headline can help you win  potential prospects and stir up your client numbers. 

For this purpose, your headline is the most important resource to customize on Linkedin. 

Instead of mentioning ‘photographer’, your headline should emphasize a specific quality that differentiates you from the competition and tell the clients that you are the perfect business prospect to invest in. 

Here are some examples to help you curate the best LinkedIn header for you:

 

  • Situation 1: You are a wedding photographer:

 

‘Photographer specializing in wedding photography and pre-wedding photoshoots’ 

  1. Situation 2: You are a fashion photographer with high-profile client exposure:

‘Fashion & Runway Photographer | Gucci | Valentino | Versace | Jimmy Choo | Prada

Optimize your Profile Picture & Cover Picture

As a photographer, you have the liberty to bend the rules a little to showcase your photography skills in your LinkedIn profile. But this does not mean that you should go about using photos of objects, people, or landscapes you photographed as your profile image. 

A profile image is called a profile image for a reason. Rule #1 is to use your own photo because the LinkedIn profile belongs to you – not to the people or objects you photographed.

The conventional mugshot rule might seem bland for an average photographer, but it is best to stick to tradition and use a traditional mugshot image of you as your LinkedIn profile photo.

The simpler, the better.

But that said, you can exercise your creativity and display your photography skills in the cover photo. Feel free to make the most of this space to give your visitors a quick glimpse into your photography skills!

Customize your Profile URL

You don’t want a random number to appear in your profile URL as this can hurt your LinkedIn searchability. 

Profile URLs are one of the most under-rated elements of a LinkedIn profile. Most professionals fail to make the most of this feature. But this is where you can distinguish yourself.

A personalized URL can help you enhance your profile tremendously.

To customize LinkedIn URL, you can simply follow the steps below:

  • Step 1: Click the  Me icon and select View profile.
  • Step 2: Click Edit public profile & URL on the right corner.
  • Step 3: Click on the Edit icon next to your public profile URL.
  • Step 4: Type the last part of your new custom URL in the text box.
  • Step 5: Click Save to save the changes you have made.

Not only does a customized URL improve your LinkedIn searchability but it also helps you define your professional identity according to the way you want the world to perceive you.

Moreover, by customizing the profile URL, clients can easily identify your key specialties and your location. If it fits their requirements, it can help you get a business proposal!

Write a compelling Profile Summary

A LinkedIn summary gives you the power to speak directly to a potential client. It helps you represent yourself using words that you think best describes your professionalism.

It is a blank canvas that you can make the most of.

However, the key to writing a great summary is to strike the perfect balance between showcasing your achievements but not bragging too much about your accomplishments.

Don’t toot your own horn. 

Talk about your accomplishments, but do so in a professional manner.

For example, in your summary, you can talk about  past projects and get into the details such as how you wrapped up a short movie (that garnered 1 million views on youtube) in just three days.  Talking about how your cinematic shots were tagged by Forbes on Instagram could also be a game-changing element that you can highlight in your summary.

Additionally, feel free to add relevant project links or your best sample shots in this space.  

LinkedIn allows you to add images and videos in your summary section to show your engraved talent to the whole world, so make the most of it!

Build your connections 

Unlike other platforms, it’s not about the numbers on LinkedIn but the total count of genuine connections you have at the end of the day. 

Don’t just add random people in your profile but connect with people you have worked with in the past or you are eager to work with in the future. 

You can search for ad agencies, businesses, and popular magazines and network  with their employees to know what the organization is all about. You can also contact the HR team of the organizations that you’d like to work with to find out if they have an opening. 

Additionally, you can also search for job titles and designations using the LinkedIn search bar and find people that you would like to connect with. 

However, while advancing your career might seem like the best use of LinkedIn, that’s not all there is to it. Not all your LinkedIn activity has to necessarily lead to a potential job offer. 

LinkedIn is not just about career advancements. It’s about community building and resource sharing. It’s about networking with people you otherwise wouldn’t have in real life.

This brings us to the next point. 

Networking is important

Like we stated in the previous point, networking is important. 

As a photographer, there are a lot of networking opportunities that you can leverage on LinkedIn. 

For example, you can join groups that excite you. 

You can make good use of photography groups as this is where you’ll find fellow photographers that you can connect with and learn from.

Actively participating in group discussions and contributing quality resources can further help you create a decent online presence. Moreover, by constantly engaging with a community of photographers, you’ll get the opportunity to advance your skills and exchange ideas, which will help you become a better photographer in the long run.

To search for photography groups on LinkedIn, follow the steps mentioned below:

  • Type photography on the search bar
  • When the search results appear, you can simply choose a group.
  • After you click on the group, the search results will show you photography groups on Linkedin.

Here’s what the search result for the above steps look like when followed on LinkedIn:

APPROACHING CLIENTS ON LINKEDIN AS A PHOTOGRAPHER LinkedIn is an underutilized channel when it comes to approaching clients as a photographer. In this guide, we tell you how to go about doing just that. With 303 million active monthly users, LinkedIn has proved to be one of the best platforms for professionals. Marketing your photography skills on LinkedIn could perhaps be the best thing you can do to connect with potential clientele on LinkedIn. It goes without saying your LinkedIn profile can act as your photographer resume when it comes to attracting clients. But you need to do a lot more than just having a Linkedin profile and ‘being there’. The first step is optimizing the profile. Let’s begin with some of the essentials tips that will help you to embolden your profile and attract clients. Write a relevant Profile Headline Profile headline is the first thing that people notice when they go through your LinkedIn. So you should perhaps focus your attention on optimizing the headline to best describe your professional identity as a photographer. The idea is to communicate your skills and professionalism to a potential client using a single headline. Completing your LinkedIn profile is not enough to gain more clients but optimizing your headline can help you win potential prospects and stir up your client numbers. For this purpose, your headline is the most important resource to customize on Linkedin. Instead of mentioning ‘photographer’, your headline should emphasize a specific quality that differentiates you from the competition and tell the clients that you are the perfect business prospect to invest in. Here are some examples to help you curate the best LinkedIn header for you: Situation 1: You are a wedding photographer: ‘Photographer specializing in wedding photography and pre-wedding photoshoots’ Situation 2: You are a fashion photographer with high-profile client exposure: ‘Fashion & Runway Photographer | Gucci | Valentino | Versace | Jimmy Choo | Prada ’ Optimize your Profile Picture & Cover Picture As a photographer, you have the liberty to bend the rules a little to showcase your photography skills in your LinkedIn profile. But this does not mean that you should go about using photos of objects, people, or landscapes you photographed as your profile image. A profile image is called a profile image for a reason. Rule #1 is to use your own photo because the LinkedIn profile belongs to you – not to the people or objects you photographed. The conventional mugshot rule might seem bland for an average photographer, but it is best to stick to tradition and use a traditional mugshot image of you as your LinkedIn profile photo. The simpler, the better. But that said, you can exercise your creativity and display your photography skills in the cover photo. Feel free to make the most of this space to give your visitors a quick glimpse into your photography skills! Customize your Profile URL You don’t want a random number to appear in your profile URL as this can hurt your LinkedIn searchability. Profile URLs are one of the most under-rated elements of a LinkedIn profile. Most professionals fail to make the most of this feature. But this is where you can distinguish yourself. A personalized URL can help you enhance your profile tremendously. To customize LinkedIn URL, you can simply follow the steps below: Step 1: Click the Me icon and select View profile. Step 2: Click Edit public profile & URL on the right corner. Step 3: Click on the Edit icon next to your public profile URL. Your profile URL traditionally looks something like this: www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-houston-913a3a19a After you customize it based on your professional needs, it will look something like this: www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-houston-fashion-and-wedding-photographer-new-york Step 4: Type the last part of your new custom URL in the text box. Step 5: Click Save to save the changes you have made. Not only does a customized URL improve your LinkedIn searchability but it also helps you define your professional identity according to the way you want the world to perceive you. Moreover, by customizing the profile URL, clients can easily identify your key specialties and your location. If it fits their requirements, it can help you get a business proposal! Write a compelling Profile Summary A LinkedIn summary gives you the power to speak directly to a potential client. It helps you represent yourself using words that you think best describes your professionalism. It is a blank canvas that you can make the most of. However, the key to writing a great summary is to strike the perfect balance between showcasing your achievements but not bragging too much about your accomplishments. Don’t toot your own horn. Talk about your accomplishments, but do so in a professional manner. For example, in your summary, you can talk about past projects and get into the details such as how you wrapped up a short movie (that garnered 1 million views on youtube) in just three days. Talking about how your cinematic shots were tagged by Forbes on Instagram could also be a game-changing element that you can highlight in your summary. Additionally, feel free to add relevant project links or your best sample shots in this space. LinkedIn allows you to add images and videos in your summary section to show your engraved talent to the whole world, so make the most of it! Build your connections Unlike other platforms, it’s not about the numbers on LinkedIn but the total count of genuine connections you have at the end of the day. Don’t just add random people in your profile but connect with people you have worked with in the past or you are eager to work with in the future. You can search for ad agencies, businesses, and popular magazines and network with their employees to know what the organization is all about. You can also contact the HR team of the organizations that you’d like to work with to find out if they have an opening. Additionally, you can also search for job titles and designations using the LinkedIn search bar and find people that you would like to connect with. However, while advancing your career might seem like the best use of LinkedIn, that’s not all there is to it. Not all your LinkedIn activity has to necessarily lead to a potential job offer. LinkedIn is not just about career advancements. It’s about community building and resource sharing. It’s about networking with people you otherwise wouldn’t have in real life. This brings us to the next point. Networking is important Like we stated in the previous point, networking is important. As a photographer, there are a lot of networking opportunities that you can leverage on LinkedIn. For example, you can join groups that excite you. You can make good use of photography groups as this is where you’ll find fellow photographers that you can connect with and learn from. Actively participating in group discussions and contributing quality resources can further help you create a decent online presence. Moreover, by constantly engaging with a community of photographers, you’ll get the opportunity to advance your skills and exchange ideas, which will help you become a better photographer in the long run. To search for photography groups on LinkedIn, follow the steps mentioned below: Type photography on the search bar When the search results appear, you can simply choose a group. After you click on the group, the search results will show you photography groups on Linkedin. Here’s what the search result for the above steps look like when followed on LinkedIn: Recommendations and Endorsements Endorsements & recommendations work as a testimonial for your professional excellence. They serve as professional validations for your skills on LinkedIn. Moreover, getting endorsed for your skills and receiving shiny recommendations from people you have directly worked for also has the added advantage of helping you build credibility. While other social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest can help you share your work with the world, it can never act as a testament to your professional caliber. LinkedIn gives you the chance to showcase that you’re more than just a set of skills. It helps you show that your professionalism has been tried & tested and appreciated by your colleagues and superiors. Recommendations help you promote your potential caliber without you having to be vocal or too self-promotional about it On the other hand, skill endorsements help you validate the skills you have outlined in your profile. They give a heads up to potential clients about the skills you possess and your expert know-how in the field of filming and photography. The idea is to tap this valuable resource. So here’s a word of advice: Ask satisfied clients and ex-employers for recommendations. Doing this has the power to help you land more clients than you ever thought possible! Conclusion To sum up: Your profile headline should communicate your professional identity Your profile picture should be a mugshot of you Your profile URL should be customized for searchability Your profile summary should be a compelling account of your photography achievements Your focus should be on expanding your LinkedIn connections You should get relevant recommendations & endorsements

Recommendations and Endorsements

Endorsements & recommendations work as a testimonial for your professional excellence. They serve as professional validations for your skills on LinkedIn.

Moreover, getting endorsed for your skills and receiving shiny recommendations from people you have directly worked for also has the added advantage of helping you build credibility.

While other social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest can help you share your work with the world, it can never act as a testament to your professional caliber. 

LinkedIn gives you the chance to showcase that you’re more than just a set of skills. It helps you show that your professionalism has been tried & tested and appreciated by your colleagues and superiors. 

Recommendations help you promote your potential caliber without you having to be vocal or too self-promotional about it

On the other hand, skill endorsements help you validate the skills you have outlined in your profile. They give a heads up to potential clients about the skills you possess and your expert know-how in the field of filming and photography. 

The idea is to tap this valuable resource.

So here’s a word of advice:

Ask satisfied clients and ex-employers for recommendations. Doing this has the power to help you land more clients than you ever thought possible!

Conclusion

To sum up:

  • Your profile headline should communicate your professional identity
  • Your profile picture should be a mugshot of you
  • Your profile URL should be customized for searchability 
  • Your profile summary should be a compelling account of your photography achievements
  • Your focus should be on expanding your LinkedIn connections
  • You should get relevant recommendations & endorsements 

About the author

Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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