What can I do to help make my photography business bigger?

Well, I'll start with the bad news; in order to be successful, you have to accept the fact that you actually touch your gear about 10% of the time and the other 90% has to be spent marketing yourself. The percentages can vary a little, but the reality is you are a marketer of your photo biz. So, do you have a website?(facebook is not a website) Are you on Instagram?

Are you a portrait photographer? Who uses portraits? Who will your clients be? How do you reach them? Develop a plan to tell x number of people a week your are a photographer.

Possibly offer your services to a non-profit to gain some exposure. Put together a postcard with your images to handout or mail.

Since I know nothing about you, my ideas have to be very general. But, this gives you some idea of what you have to do.

I found photojournalism to be a wonderful jumping off point for my portrait business. In return for doing editorial work, I bartered for advertising space and grew my clientele. Client referrals also helped build my business. If the referral led to a booked portrait, I would offer a couple complimentary portraits as a way of saying thank-you.

Is there a cause you feel strongly about? Perhaps, it's fighting cancer or ending hunger. Donate a photography session and a package. This is a wonderful way to support a good cause and build your business. Some photographers will offer a day of fundraising with studio or on location sessions. You can donate a portion of the proceeds to the organization of your choice, in return, they may be willing to help publicize the fundraiser and your work.

You could write about your outreach on a blog and add the names of your clients (with their consent, of course!), so they can feel good about hiring you for your talent and community support.

You're on the right track by photographing your friends. Build on that by developing an online portfolio and getting your work out there as much as possible.

Good Luck!

I would definitely learn as much as you can about content marketing, social media marketing and email marketing. Follow Gary Vaynerchuk for advice. Build a professional portfolio and amp up the referral incentives.

Lots of good advice here on using social media to market your skills. There are really two things to consider: 1) how are you better/different/unique than the thousand other photographers?, and 2) how will potential customers find you?

Reflect on what makes your skills or results unique. When anyone with a phone can take a pretty good picture, why should someone do business with you? If you spend some time on photography sites, you'll see many photographers have a unique look--their photos seem to have a signature based on how they use color or certain photoshop techniques.

A friend in Dallas does boudoir photography and her emphasis is on making the shoot a delightful experience--often despite the nervousness of many of her subjects.

Another friend does weddings. He's very organized and ensures that he gets all the required shots using a checklist: brides family, grooms family, both, just the parents, just the kids, and so on. (Actually this may be a common approach nowadays). But what makes him unique is he also offers classes in how to be a wedding photographer. He hires a model, puts her in a simple wedding dress, and sets up locations to show students how to get the best shots given tricky lighting. He says at least half of his students recommend him for their friends' weddings.

There are loads of photographer sites but you should definitely have a portfolio on your own web URL. But before you start promotions, be really clear on what you are promoting. It's no longer enough to say "I have a camera."

photography is more about pr, sales and marketing than working. get in touch through whatever means with people who you would love to do work for. Perhaps get a proper job as a photographer or doing sales to better understand this. Do work for free if it helps get you a portfolio and a foot in the door