Online Photography as a Side Hustle
How about a video conferencing call, where you can point your phone camera to take photos and a professional photographer can navigate your hand from the other side of the world?
This article is a part of the series: ‘Online Side Hustle Ideas (on a silver platter)’. Here’s a list of all past and upcoming ideas.
The problem
My wife says I am terrible at taking photos of her. And rightfully so. To me, she is always perfect so I cannot understand the difference between a good photo and a bad photo of her.
However, she wants to have great photos.
And she is not the only one – there are many other people that do.
All boyfriends/husbands would gladly get help from someone to make their loved ones happy.
All moms would gladly pay for an amazing photo of their child.
The solution
How about a video conferencing call, where I can point my phone camera at my wife and the person on the other side can navigate my hand?
“A bit to the left, a bit up. Now zoom out.”
I would love that.
And that’s not all…
I am not a photographer, but you know what?
My wife is not a model.
So a professional photographer could help my wife get better at posing for photos.
“Be more natural. Smile mysteriously. Now raise your hand and look away from the camera.”
All of this could be achieved in a video call, with no need for the physical presence of the photographer.
Target customer
It is a well-known fact that women are much more into photoshoots than men.
Moreover, out of all the social media out there, Instagram by far is the most popular one for posting photos.
So there you have it – women on Instagram.
Or if you can determine their relationship status with certainty – partners of women on Instagram.
How to start this as a side hustle
Well, I hope you, dear reader, are the photographer. If not, please forward this to a photographer!
To start a business like this, first, you need to figure out the tech. That one we can help with – 3veta.com is the perfect place for you. You can create your own ‘online photography platform’. What you’ll get is your own online space with your own name on it, your own logo, and even a simple website to showcase some of your work and services.
Through your 3veta-based platform, you can create online video-based photoshoots and invite clients there. Prior to the photoshoot, they’ll be required to pay, and only then can the meeting start.
In terms of setup, make sure they use the back camera of the phone (instead of the front one) and “you’re in”. You’ll see the ‘model’ through the eyes of the camera.
You can take the photos yourself as screenshots if the video connection is good enough, or ask the person holding the phone to juggle between the camera app and the video call app. Or even better – they can take screenshots of the app (the quality will be the same as the camera app).
If you’re in a call with only the model, that would be a bit trickier. Make sure they have a tripod, a stand for their laptop, and so on, prior to the call. You can see a use case over here.
In terms of marketing, I am sure that, as a photographer, you know people and people know you. This is a part of your job – it is impossible to do that professionally, without getting invited to events or photoshoots.
If that’s not the case, though, or you are just getting started, Instagram is the place to be.
Reach out to women on Instagram and offer them the service. With everyone under lockdown, that may be the highlight of their month!
Another option is to target the boyfriends/husbands. I gifted my wife a photoshoot for Valentine’s Day where I was the photographer, and she loved it. My skill was disappointing, but she enjoyed the effort nonetheless. Sell your help as a ‘birthday present’ or as a ‘Christmas present’. You can create packages, promotions, and so on.
Finally, don’t forget about moms. Mothers love taking photos of their children and that could be a potential niche that you can dominate.
Extra thoughts
If you are contacting people on Instagram and you are a photographer, make sure you tweak your own Instagram profile to reflect that. Your latest photos should show that you can take great photos of models (as opposed to landscape photos, etc.).
Don’t even think about bikini photoshoots or Instagram profiles with abundant bikini photos. Women that have these photos don’t need you. They are already too “pro”. Making everyday women look great on camera is what you are going after.
Contact moms. These may well be the best target for you.
Be patient with boyfriends/husbands who are a part of the process. If they are not completely on board with this, they could be easily irritated.
If you can get two friends to take photos of each other, you’ll get two clients for the effort of one. Sounds like a good deal for you, right? Come up with some kind of incentive to make that happen, e.g. bring a friend and get a 25% discount for both photoshoots.
This could also be a good idea for team buildings. Try contacting HRs for companies, this could be a fun perk for team members of all sorts of companies.
Need help starting with this idea? Feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn or directly on my email: iliya@3veta.com.
Looking to start a side hustle but that’s not right for you? You can find a whole list of similar side hustle ideas here.
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