7 End-of-Year Investments for Photographers

The Best Investments To Make For Your Photography Business

If you’re anything like me, the end of the year is when things start to slow down and there’s more time to reflect on how things are going. This is the perfect time to start planning how to invest back into your business and photography.

Photography can be an expensive business. Cameras, lighting, software subscriptions…it adds up! But despite the obvious equipment investments you could make, there are much smarter investments that will move the needle in your business more than simply upgrading your lens.

Here are seven of the best non-equipment investments you can make as a photographer.

Camera Straps & Bags

The first item on the list is key. Photography is surprisingly a very physically grueling profession. It requires long hours of standing, squatting, lugging equipment, and sitting at your desk editing. 

Over time, that can wear on you and may cause long-term health issues. 

One of the best investments you can make as a photographer (besides comfy shoes) are tools to help reduce the strain on your body. Cross-body camera straps, hand stabilizers, and camera bags are my favorite end-of-year gear investments.

Now that photography is more mainstream, there are tons of affordable camera straps you can get on Amazon. Plus, camera gear is tax deductible in most cases!

Here are 2 camera straps I’m loving right now:

1. Camera Strap Accessories for Two-Cameras – Dual Shoulder Leather Harness
2. Camera Hand Strap – Rapid Fire Secure Camera Grip, Padded Camera Wrist Strap by Altura Photo

Hire A Freelance Photo Editor

I remember loving photo editing in my first year as a professional photographer. It was more manageable back then when I was only doing 2-3 shoots per month. But as soon as that first busy season came around, I understood why my more tenured mentors were all outsourcing their editing.

As a photographer, your income potential is capped by your time and price tag. There’s only so high you can price your services in some areas. That means to make more money, you need to find ways to outsource or automate areas of your business that don’t require you.

There are tons of wonderful freelance photo editors online who can mimic your editing style. Do your research and ask around. When you find someone, simply include their editing fee to your session fee and/or products so you don’t lose out on revenue. (Read more on how to do that here.)

Photography Email Templates & Workflows

Speaking of automation and spending less time on tasks you don’t have to do…

Whether you’re just starting out as a photographer or a seasoned professional, you should not be creating your client workflow emails from scratch! (This is a hill I will die on!) Depending on your photography niche, your workflow could span months to years. That’s a lot of communication to come up with yourself.

Save yourself the trial and error of playing with your workflow and buy a niche-specific photography email template. They save you time and you get the benefit of adopting a proven workflow someone else spent years perfecting in their business.

If you’re ready to look into email templates and workflows, head over to my shop! I have several niche-specific templates and right now everything is up to 80% off! 

Photographer Business Coaching & Education

Let’s be humble for a moment as we remember all the times this year we wish there was a mentor over our shoulders telling us exactly what to do. If I’m honest with myself, there were so many!

Between business knowledge, marketing trends, and technical skills, photographers constantly need to keep learning. And with busy season wrapping up, this is the perfect time to find courses or programs on areas you could use help with.

As a photographer’s business coach and course creator, I’ve seen how students can transform their businesses with a little help. The trick is to decide whether you want hands-on help from a coach or a self-paced course. Both are great options. And like most things on this list, investing in your education can be a tax deduction, so it’s a win-win!

If coaching is what you’ve been on the fence about, this is the time to invest in you. I have 2 spots open for coaching in January and they fill up fast. Reach out to set up a free consultation call. I’d love to help you find opportunities for growth in your workflows, package designs, and marketing.

Invest in Upgrading Your Website

A great end-of-year investment for photographers is to upgrade your website. Let’s face it, most photographers don’t utilize their websites as well as we could. It’s more of a place to put our photos (once…) and a contact form.

But your website could be a powerful tool to attract your ideal clients. Lots of my clients see a significant increase in leads once they elevate their websites. Doing things like upgrading your website design, improving your copy, better image selection, and investing in SEO are all things you can do, or outsource, to get more leads next year.

You can check out more specific ways to upgrade your website on my post “4 Tips to Improve Your Photography Website”. 

Pre-Schedule Your Vacation Time

Photographers are some of the hardest-working people I’ve ever met. You stay up late editing, do your own marketing, and create the business you’ve always dreamt of. But taking two weeks off in a row for a real vacation? Ha!

So yes, your vacation time deserves to make this list! As you plan your 2023, take time to decide when and where you’ll be taking vacations. That makes it easier to plan your session availability and mini-sessions around that.

You deserve a vacation that isn’t tied to a work trip. So invest in your rest and thank me later!

Do An End-Of-Year Check-In

This is a weird investment, so stay with me. All the investments on this list are going to help you either move the needle to your business or protect your sanity. But they cost money, so it’s important to discern which ones are the right investments for you.

I can’t answer that for you. You have to check in with yourself and do a self-audit of what needs to improve for you to grow your business. So for the last investment on this list, I wanted to include a way for you to determine what investments to make. As a bonus, it’s free!

Check out my blog “5 Steps to Plan Your Year” to get a complete guide to performing a self-audit for your business from all angles. You don’t even need to invest your email address – it’s all right there in the blog.

You deserve to invest in your business, whether it’s new or you’re looking to navigate to the next chapter. I can’t wait to see what you choose to work on!

* Yes, the Amazon links to camera gear are affiliate links. That means there’s no cost or upcharge to you, but if you purchase them I get a small percentage from Amazon.