Feeling like just another photographer drowning in an oversaturated market? If you’re tired of competing on portfolio alone, getting ghosted after sending pricing, and watching talented photographers everywhere seem to book the clients you want, this episode is going to shift your entire perspective. The truth is, your portfolio isn’t what’s going to make you stand out – and when you master what I’m sharing today, you’ll realize that a saturated market doesn’t actually exist. Listen to the episode below, or keep reading for a summary of what’s covered.
spotify | apple podcast | stitcher
Why Your Portfolio Won’t Make You Stand Out
I can’t tell you how often I hear from photographers – probably every week – where they’re saying the market is so saturated, there are photographers everywhere. They’re asking how they’re supposed to increase their inquiries or bookings or book their highest packages and stand out from the crowd when everyone sounds the same, everyone has beautiful work. I’m sure you’ve seen those “top photographers” lists or “best of” lists, and they’re all very talented, right? There are so many talented photographers.
Yet your portfolio is not going to be the thing that helps you stand out. Yes, it’s important – you are a photographer, you have to have quality deliverables. But I truly see too many photographers competing on portfolio, on price, on experience level, on venues they’ve been to, on the gear they use, on the poses they create. Those things are never going to be what makes you stand out because there’s so much talent in this industry and nothing feels original anymore.
But when you master the things we’re going to talk about in today’s episode, I truly do not believe a saturated market exists. The photographers who are solely artists – there’s a reason the term “starving artists” exists. This is where you can go from being a starving artist, always competing in the quote-unquote saturated market, to really mastering the business side of running a photography business.
The Real Problem: Business Foundations vs. Artistic Talent
Through running a business for five-plus years now and mentoring hundreds and hundreds of photographers, I see their struggles day in and day out. It comes down to the business side of a photography business that’s going to help you stand out. You need to know what will actually make you stand out, how to get booked consistently at your higher packages, and how to increase inquiries from people you really want to work with.
It’s not just on a surface level where it’s like they have this specific venue and they wear this specific kind of dress, or they have this specific kind of style. It’s so much more than that. It’s down to the deepest desires, values, personalities, and so much more that really defines your dream client. The ideal client avatar concept has really killed the depth that’s supposed to be there when it comes to attracting your dream clients.
I know a lot of photographers have the challenge of feeling like they’re not attracting the right clients. They feel like they’re in a saturated market, they aren’t getting themselves out there to the people they really want to work with, and they’re having to take on anything and everything just for the income. They’re not really working with who inspires them or where they feel most inspired.
The Secret: Brand Positioning is Everything
When it comes to attracting the right clients, it isn’t talent, skill, or most times even portfolio. I know that most of you listening have a beautiful portfolio. So what is it then? Is it your price? No – it’s your brand positioning.
This is such an important foundation of your business. Typically photographers think that their branding is going to be their logo and their website design and their headshots, when in reality, it’s literally everything I’m about to call out.
What Brand Positioning Actually Includes
Your brand positioning is everything from your unique selling point to your personal brand. And no, this doesn’t mean you have to share your entire diary online. It’s more about choosing intentional elements from your life and thinking about how that relates to your dream client and sharing that as a personal brand. A lot of photographers think because they see luxury photographers having zero personal brand that they can do the same thing, when that’s absolutely hurting you.
Brand positioning also includes your brand voice, your processes, your portfolio (yes, it is important – you have to have a beautiful portfolio and high-quality deliverables that your dream client is looking for), your brand palette, your designs (that’s typically what photographers think of when they think of branding), your values, and your client experience.
Your client experience is so much more than just sending a beautiful guide after booking. It’s your photography approach, your why – and your why is so much deeper than “I love to capture beautiful, genuine moments so you can remember them for a lifetime.” It’s so much more than that.
The Power of Your Why
If you’ve never done that work on your why, it needs to be on the top of your priority list because that’s going to be one of the biggest things. I’ve heard this from my students over and over again who have joined Book It – they get to the why section and they don’t expect it’s going to be this transformational thing, when in fact, it ends up further deepening the work they do. It gives them so much more purpose and confidence in their brand.
That’s something with brand positioning that cannot be taken from you. People can have the same kind of design, the same kind of logo, the same kind of color palette, but your why is going to be so unique to you. Same thing with your unique selling point and your photography approach. While some things can be similar, your why is going to absolutely be the thing that nobody else can have.
Additional Elements of Strong Brand Positioning
Your marketing approach is another part of brand positioning – your website, your presence and omnipresence online, how you make people feel. That’s a huge one. Your messaging to your dream clients brings back the dream client conversation. Your brand needs to have a specific kind of feel to it that attracts a specific kind of clientele.
The Importance of Niching (But Not How You Think)
You also need to have a niche. I’m not the kind of mentor who’s going to tell you that you have to niche down and only do one thing in order to be successful in your photography business. I think there are so many educators out there who say that, and I’ve really been able to attract photographers who value shooting more than just weddings and they do it really well.
But it does come down to the brand positioning in your main niche and still doing other things that light you up and feel creative and exciting to you. You also don’t want to look like the budget, do-it-all kind of photographer, because you can’t be a do-it-all photographer and expect to get booked for your highest packages. You have to be an exceptional photographer in order to get booked for your highest packages. Yet you also don’t have to just choose one niche. It’s all about your brand positioning.
Finding Your White Space in the Industry
The last thing I’ll mention with brand positioning is your white space in the industry. Your white space combined with your messaging, your marketing approach, your photography approach, your values, your why – all of these things are going to be what makes you stand out because everyone starts to sound the same.
One example I can give you is when elopements were really big back in 2020. Everyone was on the Adventure Instead education program and literally everyone sounded the same. Websites all looked the same, they all had the same “throw tradition to the wind, your day is your day, do what you want to do” messaging. Everyone sounded the same and you could spot it from five miles away if someone had been through that program because their websites literally all looked the same.
I had to learn my own white space through my own experience and seeing this play out in the industry. I realized I actually didn’t want to attract clients who wanted to go on the most epic hike of their lives and were doing this to throw tradition to the wind. That wasn’t my approach. I could have grasped onto that because it was popular, but then I would just blend in, whereas what we’re here to do is stand out.
My white space during that time was about knowing that this wasn’t about throwing tradition to the wind for my clients. I knew they weren’t trying to go on the most epic hike of their life. They just wanted a very intentional wedding day that involved the two of them, or maybe their closest people, and they wanted to include some tradition where it made sense for them. This wasn’t about going on an epic hike and having hiking boots on – they still wanted to feel beautiful.
When Everything Comes Together
When all of these elements come together, this is when you go from shouting out into the void, hoping that someone will notice you, to really attracting clients who are like, “Wow, she gets it. She gets us. She’s the one for us” – before they even have to inquire or book a discovery call with you. That makes the selling so much easier and you’ve already stood out in a saturated market because of how all these elements have come together.
The photographers who master this brand positioning aren’t just booking more clients or getting more inquiries. They’re booking the right clients – the ones who value their work, the ones who don’t ghost after seeing pricing, the ones who book their highest packages without hesitation.
When you pair this brand positioning pillar with the other four pillars that I teach, this is when you get to the point of your business foundations being mastered and your business running more on autopilot in all the good ways. You’ll have inquiries and bookings flowing, you’ll be operating your business as a CEO, knowing that your clients are well cared for, having the organization and client experience that’s so much more than just a guide you send.
The Truth About Market Saturation
If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed by competition or you feel like you’re just another photographer in the sea of amazing photographers, the market is not saturated. When you know how to position yourself strategically and you’ve mastered your business foundations, your dream clients are out there for you. You just have to know how to be that photographer for them and how to speak to them.
Key Takeaways
- Your portfolio alone won’t make you stand out in today’s photography market
- Brand positioning encompasses much more than just your logo and website design
- Your unique “why” is something that can never be taken from you or replicated
- Finding your white space in the industry helps you avoid sounding like everyone else
- When all brand positioning elements work together, selling becomes easier and more natural
- A saturated market doesn’t exist when you master your business foundations
What’s Covered in This Episode
- Why competing on portfolio, price, and experience keeps you in the comparison cycle
- The difference between being an artist and running a photography business
- What brand positioning actually includes (and it’s not just your logo and colors)
- How to develop your unique selling point and personal brand
- The importance of finding your white space in the industry
- Real examples of how brand positioning attracts dream clients
- Why mastering business foundations eliminates market saturation
Resources Mentioned
- Booked + Valued Workshop (August 12th)
- Episode 42: Thought Leadership Content and How It’s More Important Than the Algorithm
- Book It Mentorship Program
Thank you so much for tuning into this episode of All Angles Photography Podcast. If you found value in what we discussed today, I’d love to hear from you on Instagram. Let me know your biggest takeaway and any questions you have about brand positioning. Remember, your dream clients are out there waiting for you – you just need to know how to position yourself as the photographer they’ve been looking for.
FOLLOW CLAIRE:
OFFERINGS:
FREE OFFERINGS:
The Secret to Scaling Your Photography Business Freebie
