How I Won My First Photography Client Within 30 Days of Startup
It's a story about a dude who refuses to retire; bye-bye consultant, hello artist
At an age when many of us would retire, I’ve decided that retirement isn’t for me. I prefer to wake up every day and feel fired up about my purpose as an artist: to do what I love: write, capture powerful images, and tell stories, all while sharing my love of life and the light within and around us.
The God of my understanding made it clear in 2024 that it was time to think about reinventing myself. By the middle of December, after a couple of feeble small business pivots, I decided to close my consulting business.
My driving force is my Higher Power. That power fuels my curiosity and love of art. It’s the One power that helped me build prior small lifestyle businesses.
It’s the great Creator leading me to practice art as a trade. I intend to serve that One and use His gifts to finish the last few decades in the School of Life as an A+ honors student.
My story is about the power of reinventing ourselves. Given sufficient willingness to learn, grow, and serve others, we can reinvent our careers, relationships, health, and overall joy. The only thing that can hold us back is our head trash and listening to all the naysayers who fear change themselves and project that onto others.
It’s the beginning of my story about starting my headshot and portrait photography business from scratch in early January and fully committing to go for it.
Starting a photography business from scratch was equal parts exciting and intimidating. One of the first things I thought to myself was, “Wow. I feel a lot of resistance and fear blocking me. It’s hard to overcome that, but having done it before, it’s easier. No wonder most people don’t start a small business. It’s too hard for most of us.”
In other words, I have much of the same head trash and fear holding me back as anyone else. Every small business I’ve started came with the same promise to my wife, Janice, who is not an entrepreneur. She’s normal and thinks I’m “spending money.”
But it’s my job to help her feel at ease by saying, “I promise to preserve capital, not go nuts with new gear and dumb expenses, and start cash flowing within ninety days of launching my business.”
I booked my first headshot client within 30 days of launching Clifford Jones Photography.
How? A mix of strategy, execution, and trusting the process I’ve been using, teaching, coaching, and refining as a small business growth consultant for over twenty years.
Here’s a summary of my activities over the last thirty days since making an emotional commitment to start the new business.
Let’s start with the foundation of my photography business: me. After coaching other business owners to learn the fundamentals of sales, marketing, and tech for over twenty years, waking up every day and marketing me is incredibly refreshing.
I needed a polished brand and a website showcasing my work. Instead of getting lost in endless logo tweaks or overanalyzing colors, I focused on simplicity and clarity.
I named my business Clifford Jones Photography, with a secondary brand—ProImage Portraits—working behind the scenes. The tagline is "Helping you reveal yourself in the best light." Every piece of branding flows from that promise.
Simple. Clean. Let’s do this.
Then came the website. Before choosing Squarespace, I owned www.CliffordJones.com and tested three turnkey websites and back office platforms. Researching, writing, designing, and building the website took me a week.
I structured my core offer to my ideal client around my Signature Experience Headshot Coaching Sessions. My goal is far beyond taking pictures. It’s to help professionals feel comfortable enough to reveal their best light: true self.
My ideal client is a business professional, brand manager, or CEO who hires me for a half or full day to shoot the entire company, ensuring the images are consistent and held to their brand standards. And my clients are all local to start. I have a studio to rent, and I go to the client to shoot on-site.
With a strong website, clear service descriptions, and a simple booking process, I had a solid online presence within weeks. I also designed my business card and a flyer for print and digital distribution and updated my LinkedIn profile, Facebook, and Instagram accounts.
I love gear, and pros need pro gear, period. Let’s get more gear, but don’t go nuts.
Professional photography gear is expensive, but it’s an investment. I was ready to invest in new gear to build on my baseline from about five years ago when I started shooting and selling landscape, pet, and Pickleball photography on the side.
I started with what I had — my Sony A7 IV as the primary camera and the Sony A7 III as a backup. My Godox TT685 flash and Godox SL60W LED light were a good start, but I quickly realized I needed higher-powered strobes for more control.
The total investment in new photography in the first month has been about $9,000. That includes a new camera, lens, lighting, stands, and backdrops and fine-tuning my portable studio for crushing shoots on-site at client companies.
Janice loved my outdoor studio test run yesterday. Not.
I’ve been in hyper-accelerated learning mode since the launch in early January. Even though I never liked school, I’m a voracious learner. I love self-studying and learning at my own pace.
That means I constantly study the headshot and portrait masters ahead of me, practice my butt off, and craft my signature workflows and process for each client. After watching countless YouTube videos, buying and reading books and articles, and calling all the local photographers who have studios for rent, I hired a coach to walk him through my studio setup and coaching process.
Life is a game of confidence. It is the same with building a small business powered by our purpose to be curious, playful, connected to others, and authentic such that we don’t live with regret at the end of our lives. Screw that.
Once I received his approval, my confidence in promoting myself increased. I am now off to the races. I wasn’t just selling headshots. I was selling confidence, approachability, credibility, presence, and trust. Most people do NOT feel comfortable in front of a camera.
My job is to reveal each client in their best and most authentic light. That’s what I do.
I started building my headshot and portrait portfolio by asking, “May I please take your picture because I’m building my photography portfolio?”
Talk about fear. I felt incredible social anxiety at first, and I worked my way through it by practicing on real people. That mindset explains why I decided to skydive after I developed a loathing for airplanes.
It’s also essential to create a compelling offer. My Signature Series Headshot Coaching Sessions go beyond snapping pictures. Clients get a guided experience in which I help them relax, find their best angles, and walk away with images they can be proud of.
I practiced the process with friends and other photographers, studied posing techniques, and refined my ability to direct clients naturally. I will never stop learning and practicing.
Once my branding, website, and workflow were in place, I needed to become visible. The new marketing has generated traffic and contacted my warm and extended network.
Thousands of people subscribe to and follow my writing, so I will build on that by writing and telling the story of my next transformation: a shift, pivot, or reinvention.
So that’s where I started. And I’ll keep trudging the road wearing a smile by doing these activities until the day I return to the other side.
Networking: I contacted professionals in my circle, letting them know about my services. I did this via LinkedIn, phone, and email. There were lots of “Nos.”
Social Proof: I posted behind-the-scenes shots and sample headshots to build credibility. I got testimonials from people who know me and my work.
Leads: I purchased a $250 starting lead bundle and prioritized the prospects I wanted to shoot. This lead source provided me with a few qualified prospects.
Walking and talking. I walked a local art show and met as many artists as possible. One wants me to shoot their following portfolio, so she’s now on my prospect list.
Training and learning. All of that follows selling my process to my ideal client.
Yesterday, I won my first headshot client. One of the leads I bought turned out to be a budding actor who needs a new headshot or three. She agreed to hire me.
We’re currently working through my process for finding the ideal location and goals for the shoot.
What made this happen in 30 days besides my faith and a loving God? (And the blessing from Janice, my wife!)
My commitment to my best friend and wife for life. The deal is always that I need to be responsible with our money and do my best to find clients and get cash flowing within 90 days.
Clarity in branding and messaging — No guesswork, just a clear offer.
A professional website — It positioned me as a serious photographer, not a hobbyist.
Investing in the right tools — The new camera gear and software applications made all the difference.
Creating a premium experience — The Signature Series Headshot Coaching Session was more than just pictures; it is a more compelling promotional offer.
Telling people about it—visibility is everything. The more I stay in traffic and connect with people, the faster the cash flows.
Now, with my first client in the books, I know this is just the beginning.
Next stop? Scaling up and keeping it simple. I’m a business of one. And I finally became the artist I wanted to be when I grew up.
More clients, refinement, and people are stepping before my camera, revealing themselves in the best light.
Helping people reveal themselves in the best light is better than retirement.
I’m a portrait and headshot photographer based in Scottsdale, Arizona. I also write about life, the art of human transformation, consciousness, spiritual evolution, and mental health. Learn more about my work at www.CliffordJones.com.
This is so inspiring, Clifford! Congrats on getting everything set up and scoring your first client in only a month! Wow. Makes me wonder what I'm doing with my life haha. I hate to point this out, but before you distribute fliers, check the typo at the bottom. And good luck! Can't wait to follow along on the rest of your journey