Does it make sense to try to become the best commercial photographer in Knoxville Tennessee?
I’ve been living in my little log cabin in Knoxville, Tennessee for about a year now. I had no idea what to expect when I moved here. I made sure I had work in any (EVERY) place I could just in case there was nothing for me. I also amped up my passive revenue streams in case my best laid plans collapsed completely. Could I commute to bigger cities? Would clients still call on me if I no longer live close by? Would the small airport and few direct flights be an issue? Here are the top five pieces of advice I had for someone moving to a smaller market.
Learn to love being part of a team. I had been on my own for 10 years scrambling for every client and profit margin. In Knoxville, the production culture seems more community oriented, and honestly, since I don’t have many clients of my own yet, piggy backing on the productions of others has been an amazing networking tool. Specifically I have found a lot of work being a companion shooter for really interesting video projects. I take the lifestyle stills- they film a commercial. You have to make sure you drop the ego at the door, but being willing to NOT be the boss at first could be the best way to meet new people and gain new opportunity.
Build your brand. In St Louis, people knew who I was (generally), at least my client-base did. I rarely bid for work or networked. My website sucked, and I had no online content to grow the brand digitally. I fixed this quick after moving. It was weird for me to be ignored by art directors when I requested meetings and to not get a ton of immediate satisfaction out of my online pursuits (y’all, PLEASE go follow my youtube… yeesh). I also had to rethink what my clients wanted HERE, not what used to work for me. My portfolio completely transformed. For more info about portfolio building see this.
Be patient. This is obviously an annoying piece of advice, but I mean it. I have this clear vision of what it looks like to build clients. Think of it as a rhythm. You get clients A, B, and C in year one. Yay! But they don’t need you again for 1 x a year for client A, every other year for client B, and you won’t see client C again for 4 years. In your second year of business, you only see client A again and scramble to add more people to your calendar. What you often forget is that in year 4 you’ll have ALL THREE of those clients again in addition to the dozen more clients you’ll have built in the mean time. Year four sounds awesome. Focus on the proverbial year four.
Do great work. Obviously, but people forget that you only have this one season of life to introduce yourself to the market. Hustle hard, say yes, and be present. EVEN when the work is less sexy than what you’re used to.
Keep some outside work or other revenue streams. I would be lying if I said that I could support myself completely on work I have found in Knoxville. I am continuing to commute to my studio I kept in STL, and I travel a fair amount for my bigger corporate clients. Yes, it’s been a little harder with a small airport, but not as hard as I expected it to be. I also have made my online presence more robust to hopefully add additional revenue streams and channels for later.
Hope this helps someone. And hopefully I’ll have more to add as my Commercial and Fashion Photography business grows here in Knoxville. Next Question: Should I get a studio here? We’ll see.