New course · Founding price until 19 October
The Business of Portrait Photography
A practical local-market launch system for portrait photographers who can already create strong work — but need a reliable way to turn it into paid bookings.
I did it as an Englishman in the Czech Republic, with no local network, no Czech, and no plan B. Inside, you will learn how to find a genuine gap in your market, choose an intelligent entry price, borrow trusted local audiences and turn each successful session into the next source of demand.
Founding price until Monday 19 October, 23:59 Prague time. Then it goes up to $349. Lifetime access.
The advice you’ve already heard
You know the slogans. Nobody shows you what to actually do.
That last one grinds my gears every time. None of these are wrong, but none of them tell you what to do on Monday morning when your calendar is empty and nobody in town knows your name.
Your photography may not be the problem. The missing piece is a deliberate way to enter a local market. This course connects market research, pricing, partnerships, client experience and referrals into one practical booking system you can build in your own town.
Where this comes from
Starting from zero in a country where I couldn’t speak the language
In March 2013 I left my IT job in London to build a portrait business in the Czech Republic. I didn’t know anyone. I couldn’t hold a conversation in Czech. There was no existing client list to bring with me and no backup plan if it didn’t work.
I didn’t get there by going viral or by posting every day. Before I photographed a single paying client, I studied the local market. Then I built a brand people would remember, priced myself to get through the door, and built the partnerships and word of mouth that filled my calendar.
I’ve kept the real numbers in. You’ll see what I’d do again, what I got lucky with, and exactly what I’d do in my first 90 days if I started again today.
People sometimes tell me it must have been easier over here. I couldn’t read a contract, phone a venue or make small talk with a client in their own language. What worked was the process, and none of it depends on the country. Each module shows you how to apply it to your own town, whether that’s in Texas, Manchester or Melbourne.
The proof
This is what my first year looked like
These are my real client galleries from the first year of the business. Every thumbnail is a paid session for a family who booked me.
By the end of that first Christmas season I had photographed 107 sessions. The months up to April the following year took it to 155 paid sessions in my first twelve months of trading.
By month four I was already renting studio space. I needed it to keep up with the bookings, to get ready for the colder months, and for the clients who wanted a studio portrait session.
All of it came from real conversations with real people. I had no social media reach, nobody was finding me on Google, and I didn’t have a trick. This course shows you how it was done, step by step.
The curriculum
Eight modules, in the order it actually happened
Each module is one stage of my first year. You can take it at your own pace and apply each stage to your own market before moving on.
MODULE 1The Reconnaissance PhaseHow I mapped the market before I photographed a single paying client.+
5 lessons in this module
MODULE 2Visual Identity & Brand PsychologyWhy the brand came before the portfolio, and how colour psychology shaped everything clients saw.+
3 lessons in this module
MODULE 3Market Entry Pricing StrategyWhy I started below market, the risk that came with it, and how I knew when to charge more.+
4 lessons in this module
MODULE 4The Vendor & Collaboration NetworkThe partners who sent me clients faster than any ad ever did.+
3 lessons in this module
MODULE 5Analog NetworkingHow being the foreigner in the room turned into an advantage.+
4 lessons in this module
MODULE 6The Social Media BreakThe one post that took off, and the pattern behind it that you can repeat on purpose.+
4 lessons in this module
MODULE 7Local Sponsorship & Referral LoopsVouchers, tagging and the referral chain that kept bookings coming in.+
3 lessons in this module
MODULE 8Systemizing Year One Into Repeatable GrowthThe full timeline, what was luck and what was system, and your first 90 days if you started today.+
4 lessons in this module
Is it for you?
Built for photographers whose skills are ahead of their bookings
You can already take a good portrait. What’s missing is a way to get the right people to book you. If you’re starting out, starting again in a new town, or stuck at a handful of sessions a month, this course is for you.
This course is for you if
- You’re starting a portrait business, or restarting one somewhere new
- You have no network to lean on and need to build one from nothing
- You want real numbers and decisions you can copy and adapt
- You’re in the US, the UK or anywhere else, in a city or a small town
- You’d rather follow a sequence than piece together tips from ten places
It’s probably not for you if
- You’re looking for a posting schedule or a follower growth plan
- You want lighting, posing or editing training (that’s what the membership is for)
- You’re hoping for a shortcut that doesn’t involve putting in the work
What those sessions turned into
Portraits that ended up on clients’ walls
Every one of those bookings was a real family trusting a photographer they’d never heard of. These are a few of the prints my clients have hung at home.
Enrol
Get the whole blueprint
A one-time payment gives you lifetime access to every module, and to every update I add later.
- All 8 modules and 30 video lessons
- The real numbers, decisions and timeline from my first year
- Your first 90 days, laid out step by step
- Beyond Year One bonus lesson
- Every future update to the course at no extra cost
The founding price ends on Monday 19 October at 23:59 Prague time. After that it goes up to $349.
Questions
Before you enrol
How is this different from the membership?
The membership teaches the creative side of my work, like light, colour, composition and editing. This course is only about the business side: how I found clients, priced my work and built a calendar that stayed full. You don’t need the membership to take it.
I don’t live in the Czech Republic. Will it work where I am?
Yes. More than half of the photographers who learn with me are in the US, and most of the rest are in the UK, Canada and Australia. What you’re learning is the process I used to read a market I knew nothing about: studying the local photographers and their prices, building a brand people remember, pricing to get through the door, and finding the partners and referrals that fill a calendar. None of that is specific to the Czech Republic. It works in a big US city or a small town, at home or somewhere new, and every module shows you how to apply it to your own market.
Do I need a big social media following?
No. I didn’t have one. Social media plays a part in Module 6, but most of my bookings came from research, partnerships, word of mouth and referrals.
How is the course delivered?
Inside your account on this site, as 8 modules and 30 video lessons. It’s self-paced, so you can work through it as quickly or slowly as you like, and you keep access for life.
If I could do it from zero in a new country, you can do it where you are.
Get the strategy, decisions, numbers and systems behind 155 paid sessions in my first full-time year.
Founding price ends Monday 19 October, 23:59 Prague time.