Photography Niches: Not All Are Marketable in Every Location
Photography is a broad field with many different niches, from wedding photography to commercial photography to landscape photography. When choosing a niche for your photography business, it is important to consider a number of factors, including the marketability of the niche and your location. Not every niche is marketable, and even if a niche is marketable in general, it may not be marketable in your specific location.
I know the passion talk. Follow your passion and you’ll never have to work a day in your life. Well, that’s a lie. It’s because of the work we do in regard to our passion that makes it difficult to even have a feeling for it. What do I mean? When we start out as photographers, we love the process, it’s a hobby, it’s fun, it fulfils us, but then something changes the moment we start to depend on it to survive, or I should say something changes the moment what we love starts to make us money.
This is when we sometimes realize that some niches are in fact marketable but not in your country or region. Yes, I say this a lot, thank God for the internet and for that reason if your niche is not marketable in your country you can still sell abroad. This is true, but also there is the other side where you look at demand. If demand is less, then it means you’re not going to make much from it.
Most photographers tend to shoot weddings because it’s marketable, and demand is high. Some good wedding photographers are booked all year by January. This is what happens. Photographers who don’t like shooting weddings are shooting weddings in order to finance the other niche which is not marketable.
There are simply some niches that will do you little good. In Ghana currently, we love football, but it’s not really a thing to see lots of sports photography. There’s less investment there probably because the government has not invested in football. Sports in this country is tiring. Teams are suffering and why would they pay a photographer? Do you get the point?
When starting out we don’t necessarily think about the monetary sides of photography until too late. We focus on our love for the craft and it’s good. Sometimes we’ll have to change our niche, start all over and think about a way to make money from our newly started niche.
So, if you want to start something new, here are some factors to consider when choosing a marketable photography niche:
The first thing is to always check the demand. A friend told me one time that when you want to get into the buy-and-sell business, you first have to know if there’s a demand for the product you want to ship. If there’s no demand or if demand is less, it means the shipped products will remain on your shelf for a very long time, and nobody wants that. So, the first thing you want to check is demand. Is there a demand for the niche you’re going to do? You can find if there is a demand or not by looking at the kinds of photography people target, and if there is no demand, you don’t pursue it.
Now, this does not mean you don’t create something other than what brings in the money. It means you’re focusing on what will put food on the table.
The next thing is competition: How much competition is there in the niche? If there is a lot of competition, it may be difficult to break in and make a profit. It being difficult does not mean it’s impossible. It’s saturated because other photographers see that it’s working, and if it’s working why not work hard and break through? If there’s no competition at all, it’s likely that it has no market or demand is low.
Next to competition is profitability: Is it possible to make a profit in the niche? Some niches are more profitable than others. It’s just a fact. If demand is low, it means less profit. High demand can impact profit in a positive way. When there is high demand for a product or service, businesses can charge higher prices and sell more, which can lead to higher profits.
Here is a great example of how high demand can impact profit:
A company produces a new type of smartphone that is in high demand. The company is able to charge a premium price for the smartphone because of the high demand. The company sells more units of the smartphone than it expected due to the high demand. As a result, the company’s profits increase.
Now, look at it like this as a photographer.
You enter a new niche that is in high demand. You the photographer as a company can charge a premium price not to serve all but to serve the people who can pay, meaning you get to work less and earn more, why? All because demand is high. You sell your services to these premium clients and you gain an insane amount of profit.
It works and photographers are doing this. They are working for clients like Amazon, Google, Apple and Nike. You don’t have to shoot 200 times a year to be a rich photographer. You only have to be strategic about how you earn so you can work less and earn more.
This is the core of essentialism: doing the most essential and leaving the good enough.
The last one on my list will be your location. This is crucial to any business. My mother sells food. When she started out, she opened her joint just in front of the house. She did not make any profit. She ran at a loss. A week later, she found a busy spot and that worked. Let me say this too. She changed the food she sold. She sold beans and plantain at first and switched to selling waakye.
Your location also affects the marketability of your photography niche. For example, if you live in a small town, you may have difficulty finding clients for certain niches, such as fashion photography or commercial photography.
You might have to relocate. Most people relocate to seek greener pastures and photographers are no different. I’ve seen more photographers from Nigeria and Ghana migrate to Europe and they are seeing the difference, and enjoying opportunities which if they were still in Africa would pass them by.
If your location is not helping you make money, you switch if you can afford to move. If it’s your niche that is not making you money, you switch. Drop that ego and switch to a niche that makes you something to eat.
Choosing a marketable niche is essential for any business, but it is especially important for niche photography businesses. By considering factors such as demand, competition, profitability, your interests and expertise, and your location, you can choose a niche that is well-suited to you and that gives you the best chance of success.
Thank you for checking out this article. If this brought you value, do well to check my book for beginner photographers and subscribe to my podcast.
