This post brought to you by PPA – Professional Photographers of America. All opinions are 100% mine.
A sneak peek into why joining Professional Photographers of America could be the best thing you do to grow your business.
Over the last few months I’ve really had to come to terms with what I love most and try hard to stick to it.
In my quest to become a better photographer and learn where I fit in the marketing of it all, I found that I most love shooting weddings.
Knowing this, I am working toward re-branding my business to reflect that and working on educating myself in all the ways to better my business and my photography.
I watch lots of classes on creativelive.com and one of the wedding photographers that had some great advice, mentioned joining organizations and getting insurance, meeting and learning from other photographers…etc. all the little business-y details that hadn’t occurred to me until I started shooting more and gaining more liability as I go.
I was contacted by Professional Photographers of America and I really like what they have to offer photographers. I am not yet a member of PPA, but I have to tell you what they’ve got going on. I think it would be VERY useful and profitable to become a member!
Here’s just a few reasons $27 a month to become a member at PPA would be completely worth it as a photographer growing a business:
Networking. I have a small group of photog friends. Lucky for me, they are all great at sharing secrets and we can help each other, but more friends is better. Especially those who also shoot weddings and have for longer than I have. The community seems to be filled with lots of photographers and there is a very positive spirit there. Photography, is slower to join the blogging community in that squishy positive bubble of “helping each other out”, so the more we can do to help promote helping each other succeed, the better. The site has multiple ways to stay connected via lots of social media.
Photocare. As a member, PPA will cover up to $15,000 in camera equipment, which is pretty cheap insurance for what you get. That doesn’t seem like a lot of coverage, but after reading some reviews, photographers have been very happy with the insurance coverage and help they received from PPA.
PPA provides Trust Indemnification for when legal issues inevitably come up, a Copyright Resource Center, and they have lots of resources by photographers for photographers to help grow business and skill sets.
And, my favorite is the PPAedu. Lots of webinars and workshops and live events for photographers– even certification and degrees. The business, the marketing, the art… There is lots to learn and they have lots to give. I love this kind of thing. Like I said, I am ALWAYS watching classes and trying to find new tricks. Can’t wait to check these out! There are lots of the events you can join for free, and even more you will get access to if you pay the monthly fee {that includes all of the rest of the goodies.}
photo credit: Vasilena Balabanova of Jupiter, Florida
Unique to PPA:
• PPAedu
• PPA’s district and international print competitions (IPC)
• Competitions critiques and judging live streaming
• See the Difference campaign and marketing tools
• theLoop online community
• PhotoCare equipment insurance
• Indemnification Trust against data loss and malpractice allegations
• Faces of PPA PR and marketing campaign
• Imaging USA convention and trade show
• PPA’s Benchmark Survey
• Copyright protection lobbying on Capitol Hill
• Photography and business mentors
• Certification and degrees
Where PPA helps {savings, support, backup systems…}:
• Data loss
• Malpractice protection
• Equipment insurance
• Copyright tools and copyright protection
• Marketing tools
• Faces of PPA
• Perks and savings for members
• Business consultations
Check out the Summer Photolosophy Schedule to see all of the events, webinars and workshops happening all summer, AND PPA puts on an International Photographic Competition, which is one of the largest. There are a few days left to submit if you decide to, but even local and state competitions would be such a great way to get feedback and push yourself to be more creative and try something new. I just googled what’s available in San Diego and there are TONS and TONS of photo competitions. I’m going to have to practice a bit on small ones first before I enter the big one, but lots of the small competitions are for professional photographers as well as instagram and iphone shooters.
I am making so many lists of all of the things I want to do now to improve and get out there. If you want more info on joining PPA, go here and do it! There is a huge community of photographers there ready to help give advice and confidence to photographers at any level. Pretty great stuff!
ready to take it to the next level?
