8 Essential Marketing Books For Photographers

I like this book because it teaches you how to balance “creating your art” with “the business side” of things. As a photography hobbiyist who wishes to make money from his hobby, I know how difficult it is to keep your creative side and business side separate. In this book, the author tells the story of his company Ecko Unltd and teaches you how to grow both creatively and commercially.

This is a great book for anyone in the Photography business, written by an expert who’s been there and done it herself. Lara White gives practical, actionable tips and not just for marketing and promotion, all aspects of running a photography business are covered. It’s a comprehensive guide, and you’ll find yourself coming back to it time and again.

One of the keys to marketing is ‘Make me care.’ And that should be a consideration for how photographers compose and edit their work. Contagious by Jonah Berger delves into the science behind what makes ideas spread and, ultimately, stick. It’s a fascinating insight into human psychology and it outlines specific strategies for more effectively sharing ideas and making a product or service popular (in this case, photography). People connect through stories, and photography is one of the most powerful mediums to share meaningful stories. As marketers and photographers, when we understand the people we seek to influence, we can more effectively spread the word and do more effective, meaningful work.

Piscopo’s Photographer’s Guide to Marketing and Self-Promotion is filled with the best current marketing and promotional practices which equip the photographers today of skills and know-how needed to effectively market themselves using e-mail, social media, and websites.

I think this book is a game-changer for photographers! Many photographers think that their photos are what makes customers buy their services, and wonder why they aren’t getting the bookings that they want. This book explains why words are so much more important in communicating the value of working with, and tells you how to craft your message to have the biggest impact with your audience. The book is full of amazing, actionable tips on how to clarify your marketing message to speak directly to your customers and how to optimise your website to turn browsers into bookings.

A lot of photographers that I mentor find the idea of selling a challenge because they love what they do and many would happily do it for free. Learning to love selling without it feeling uncomfortable can be a real challenge. This book is great for explaining the reasons behind many of the sales techniques that we’ve all experienced at some time in our lives, and explains how and why they work. This book teaches you how to get people to say YES to what you are offering, and gives lots of different examples of techniques that can be put in to practice throughout a photographers’ marketing strategy, from what they share on social media to how the approach pitching to clients.

This book does an excellent job of reminding readers that people do business with people and you’re much more likely to win new business when people like you. It’s motivational, tactical and practicing its advice will help your business grow.

This is one of the best marketing books out there. It teaches you how to stand out from the rest, hence the purple cow. The author believes that you need to be able to have an edge above the others to be recognized. As photographers, you must have your own style in order for you to be a “purple cow”.

This book turns marketing theories into practical steps for its readers to follow. From getting started in marketing to honing skills, the principles and advice in this book help readers grow in confidence and success. It’s easy to read and easy to apply.