My Business Model

I’ve been a photographer for just over 2 years, and in the last 15 months I earned over $200,000 with photography by using an automatic client acquisition model that anybody can replicate.

• You don’t need to be an expert photographer

• You don’t need to have a ton of experience

• You don’t need the latest $5000+ camera

• It is a very simple business model, and I saw results within weeks of implementing it.

Your skillset, camera gear and experience are not the most important part of getting clients. Client acquisition is about positioning yourself correctly in the market in order to get a constant stream of inquiries from potential clients.

The quality of your work is obviously very important for attracting clients, but without a proper client acquisition system, you will never get to six figures.

Most photographers try to find clients. This is the wrong approach. I reversed this approach with my business model, and now the clients are trying to find me.

1. Your Business Model

The business model is in 3 parts.

1. Pick a photography niche - we’ll get into this later.

2. Run a google ad campaign. I will go over this first because it is the most critical takeaway from this lesson.

3. Design a website that is optimized for conversions. I explain this in more thorough detail below.

2. The Most Important Part: Your Google Ad.

• My google ad earned me over $200,000 in the last 15 months

• All of my revenue came from the ad. Nowhere else.

• I didn’t waste time calling random businesses, emailing people, looking desperate, and burning out from constant rejection.

The reason is simple and this is the most critical part of what I am going to teach you so if you are going to listen to one thing, this is it:

You can configure your google ad to only show up when people are already searching on google for a photographer in your niche.

This means that everyone who clicks your ad and lands on your website is already LOOKING for your services.

• My campaign gets me 20–40 messages per month from people already wanting photography (in my niche).

• With an average $2,000+ per project, closing 5–10 jobs a month yields $10k+ revenue every month.

• That’s why I’ve gone gone 12 months straight making over $10,000 every single month without fail.

• Other marketing strategies (meta, instagram, facebook, cold emailing, etc) target people who aren’t interested. Google is the only consistent way to get in front of high-intent searchers for your specific service.

• The configuration of your client acquisition system is as follows: you only advertise to people who are already looking for your specific niche photography services.

• You don’t advertise to the wrong people.

• This business model is not casting a wide net. This is not a shotgun, this is a sniper rifle. If you think you need to market/sell to everyone and everyone, that’s why you can’t find clients and I make six figures.

• There’s a really good chance you’re a better photographer than me, but I figured out the business model that actually sells the service.

3. Why you need a niche

You don’t get to appeal to everyone. This is the biggest mistake you can make as a photographer, and it applies in most businesses too.

The McDonalds Question: Why doesn’t McDonalds serve pasta?

• It’s the same reason your plumber doesn’t offer you a manicure as an upsell. Successful businesses target a need in the market and focus on filling that gap.

• Doing one thing really well lets you showcase that specific skill to people who need it.

If you wanted to sell me a TV, do you think it would be effective to show me a couch as well? Would you offer me a TV and a couch, and talk about the perks of both? Do you think this would be an effective sales strategy? Of course not - if I’m in the market for a TV, showing me anything but a TV is the quickest way to instantly lose my attention.

• Your ad + website should match one specific service (e.g., “food photography” only).

• A niche ad is a sniper rifle, not a shotgun: fewer people see it, but they’re much more likely to hire you.

• Trying to appeal to “everyone who needs a photographer” weakens your brand and results.

• Pick one niche to start; don’t split focus until you’re already making solid, consistent income.

4. What makes a good niche

Your niche must be marketable and ideally something you can sell to businesses.

• I only works for businesses; they see photography as a tool to make more money and are less price-sensitive.

• In an ideal world, our photography should offer something extremely valuable to a business.

• The utility of your photography defines its value:

  • NOT your time investment

  • NOT how hard you work

  • NOT how cool it is

  • NOT how impressive it is

  • NOT how artistic it is

The value of your work is defined by how much it helps a business. If your photography increases their sales by $10,000, then your photography is worth $10,000.

That is why I have done many photoshoots that paid $1000 - $2000+ for 2-5 hours of my time.

• My two niches: product photography and food photography

• Food photography brought me a high volume of restaurant clients. Product photography brought higher pay per job. I was making over $10,000 per month within 4 months of starting as a food photographer.

• Normal restaurants will pay $500-$1500 for 2-4 hour shoots - sometimes more. I have done many photoshoots for restaurants for over $2000.

• Other potentially good niches:

  • Event photography

  • E-commerce photography

  • Clothing photography

  • More niches of product photography (think jewelry photography)

  • Architecture/real estate photograph

  • Hotel photography

  • Automotive photography

  • Wedding photography

  • Sport photography

There are many niches in photography that can be highly profitable. There are many that are not. If you want to do artistic photography or street photography, you may be an incredible artist, but nobody’s buying your services.

Your niche needs to be marketable and provide utility and real value in the market.

• Niches that make no money, or make you insane (choose these if you want a hard life and to make no money):

  • Street photography

  • Wildlife

  • Artistic

  • Newborns

  • Families

  • Headshots

5. An Important Principle: No One Cares.

Think back to the last time someone tried to sell you something you had no interest in. It felt awkward, maybe even intrusive. They could have offered a 90% discount and it still wouldn’t have mattered—because you weren’t looking for what they were selling.

Now contrast that with the last time you genuinely wanted something specific. When desire is present, the price becomes secondary. If you want a chocolate cake, you’re not going to settle for something entirely different.

Your focus is on fulfilling the desire, not finding the cheapest alternative.

The same principle applies to the creative side of photography. Artistic expression only has commercial value when it solves a real problem or fulfills a real need for someone.

If it’s “art for art’s sake,” I hate to say it—and I truly wish it weren’t the case—but in 99% of situations, no one cares. Creativity must be applied to something that others value, or it remains invisible in the marketplace.

6. A thought experiment

Instead of spending your time chasing clients, cold emailing hundreds of businesses, getting ignored, and feeling miserable in the process, let’s reverse the approach. Rather than searching for clients, work backward from the ideal client.

Who is the ideal client? A large business.

Now ask the only questions that actually matter:

Do they need a photographer right now?

• If no, nothing you say will matter. They’re not interested, and they certainly won’t remember a cold outreach email months later.

If yes, what will they do next?

In the overwhelming majority of cases—assuming they don’t already have a photographer they regularly use—they go straight to Google.

They’re not scrolling Instagram like teenagers searching for the most “aesthetic” page.

They’re at work, acting like professionals, opening Google, and typing in “product photographer near me.”

From there, they browse the top results.

And if you follow this business model, you will be one of those top results.

It’s really that easy.

7. Why Don’t You Skip the Line?

I have an unfortunate truth to share: Google is pay-to-play.

There are only two ways to appear at the top of Google’s search results:

1. Google Ads

2. SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

Ranking in the top 1% of SEO results in your city is exceptionally challenging. It’s expensive, it requires constant work, and it typically takes a year or more to see meaningful results. And even if you manage to get there, here’s the reality: for $3 to $5 per click, my website will still show above yours when the assistant marketing manager at a billion-dollar company searches for a photographer.

And here’s the best part: the Google ad campaign operates on a COST PER CLICK.

This means I pay nothing to be above you in search results. I appear at the top of google for FREE. I only pay if they click my website.

This isn’t an anti-SEO message. SEO is great. It absolutely works.
But my goal isn’t to teach you SEO—I teach what I can prove.

And what I can prove is this: I earned over $200,000 in 15 months using a Google Ads campaign.

If you believe you have a better solution than simply paying for high-intent leads, that’s your choice. You don’t have to follow my path. But what I teach is the strategy that produced real, measurable results.

8. Why Don’t You Use Instagram?

I know what you’re thinking:

Jeff, you’re wrong! Why would I pay $5 for a click when I can use instagram and get 3000 views for 10 CENTS!? Why would I advertise to LESS people? That’s stupid!

I have been an entrepreneur for over 10 years and I’ve owned and managed 5 different businesses. I have advertised on meta and Instagram. This is very popular and very effective for SOME products and services.

• This is the WORST thing you can do if you’re selling a very specific, niche, high ticket service.

If you disagree, save this page. Go try it out and I’ll see you back here in a few weeks once you’ve burned hundreds of dollars.

9. What is a conversion-focused website?

Most businesses use their websites to sell products. Their design, layout, and messaging are all built around driving a purchase.
But you’re not selling an impulse-buy product—you’re selling a high-ticket service. That changes everything.

For a high-ticket photography service:

• Clients do not buy directly from your website.

• You should not list packages or prices.

• You should not over-explain your process or overwhelm visitors with details.

• You should never position yourself as a “discount” or “affordable” option.

Your website’s job is not to generate sales.
Its only goal is to generate leads.

Every design choice—copy, layout, structure, images, buttons—must be 100% focused on getting as many visitors as possible to contact you.

No one will hire you without a conversation first.

You must speak with each client about their needs, their project, and their goals before you can quote or sell anything.

A conversion-focused website is built for that purpose—and only that purpose.

When I say your website must be built for conversions, I mean something very specific:
A conversion is when a visitor clicks your ad, lands on your website, and then messages you.

That message is the moment you have a real lead—an interested potential client whose contact information you can follow up with.

I personally receive 20–40 messages per month, and with an average contract value of over $2,000, the math speaks for itself.

Here’s the part most photographers have no idea about:
You can configure your Google Ads campaign so it knows which visitors submit your contact form and which don’t. This data feeds back into the algorithm, helping Google identify the exact type of person who is most likely to reach out.

This is one of the core reasons Google earns billions. Their system actually works.

So your website must be designed exclusively to get people to message you. It should accomplish three things:

1. Showcase your work and abilities clearly.

2. Communicate exactly what you offer (your niche) without overwhelming visitors with unnecessary details.

3. Make it effortless for someone to contact you.

And there are a few strict rules you must follow:

• No pricing information

• No phone number

• No email address

• Only a contact form

This single contact method allows you to track conversions properly and send that data back to Google, dramatically improving your campaign’s performance over time.

A conversion-focused website has one job: Turn clicks into conversations.

10. Recap & Results

• Business model in three parts:

  1. Choose one profitable niche (ideally business-focused).

  2. Run a Google Ads campaign targeting that niche’s search terms.

  3. Use a conversion-focused website with a single contact form and track conversions.

That’s the business model and i want to make it clear that I’m not hiding any secret part of it, that’s literally it and it is that simple.

You can go and implement this yourself and I believe within a few months you will see your photography career massively improve.

Optional Next Step: The Next Course (Paid) - For Those Who Want More.

The first 4 lessons are also totally free and you can access them immediately (see below)

• I give you every google ads setting that I PERSONALLY use.

• I set up your google ad with you step by step to replicate mine.

• I share my screen and we build the ad campaign from scratch together. 

• I make sure you get $600 in free ad credits on Google.

• I’ll also build my website from scratch, step by step with you while sharing my screen to replicate my website design and flow. This doesn’t require coding or programming as it is done with the Wix Platform.

• I ensure your website is set up for conversion tracking (feeding conversion data back to google to improve your ad’s performance).

• I’ll give you a comprehensive list of mistakes I made with google, web design and clients during my first year, and I’ll help you avoid making the same mistakes

• The course contains over 10 hours of video content with corresponding notes so you can set yourself up with my business model perfectly replicating every critical setting.