Essential marketing strategies for your fine art photography

Photographers who want to create fine art photographs have a tremendously broad range of genres, styles and media (both film and digital) to choose from.

However, no matter what type of fine art photographs you’d like to create, you’ll want to have a marketing strategy in order to sell your images – particularly if you consider yourself a professional photographer.

Here are a few steps to help you begin your strategy in marketing your work…

1) Study the marketplace

For starters, you’ll need to understand that it’s not something that will happen overnight. Marketing your photography will take time. But the best way to begin is to start getting to know and visiting the venues that are selling fine art photography. Get out there and see what inspires you.

2) Keep yourself organized

As a fine art photographer, you can be very creative about your work. So be sure that you also have a clear, easy-to-use and, above all, organized system to keep track of how you want to actually market your work.

Keep a dated notebook, for instance, in which you write down all your notes and to-do lists. Also, add the venues you’ve visited and why you might want to have a show there. Or, if you want to keep everything digital, use a laptop or tablet to maintain a record of your discoveries and ideas. This will also help with other facets of getting your fine art photograph seen and sold.

3) Network

Try to use any and all opportunities to market yourself and your work. For instance, if you go to one of your venues, try to chat with someone on the staff who might know how a fine art photographer can get in an exhibition – or who can point you in the right direction.

Often, you’ll want to contact one of the venue’s curators. If you do happen to meet them, be clear and focused about your work. But you don’t have to just network at a gallery or museum. There are many other groups you should access.

One very helpful group of people to ask about marketing your work is your photography friends from art school, or photographer colleagues you might have worked with. Be sure to ask them if they know any new venues that might show your work, or what their marketing strategy for selling their fine art photography is.

4) Rehearse your elevator pitch

Before you visit any of these venues or meet with someone to talk about your work, be sure you have your elevator pitch down pat. What’s an elevator pitch, you ask? It’s a brief summary of who you are, what type of photography you do and why it matters.

And it’s generally no longer than 60 seconds – the duration of a theoretical elevator ride, if you're lucky enough to be stuck in one with someone important and you want to sell them on you and your idea.

Another word of advice: have it memorized. And even if you hate public speaking, practice it over and over with a close friend or family member you trust. Ask them how it sounds, and rework it until it’s perfect.

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Whatever your subject(s), make sure you're using one of the best mirrorless cameras – ideally, one of the best professional cameras.