Why Photographers Struggle to Stay Consistent With Marketing (And What To Do About It)
As someone who has worked exclusively with professional photographers for more than a decade, I’ve noticed something interesting. Something that you might perhaps resonate with….You don’t lack marketing knowledge necessarily, but you do sometimes struggle to market consistently.
You already know you should be blogging more consistently, updating your website, improving your SEO, staying in touch with past clients, building relationships and looking for opportunities to increase your visibility.
The main marketing challenge for photographers is rarely a lack of ideas, but it can be difficult to motivate yourself when working alone
The main marketing challenge for photographers is rarely a lack of ideas, but it can be difficult to motivate yourself when working alone, and this can show up in ways such as starting things, with the best of intentions, but never quite finishing them.
I’m talking about those half-written blog posts, sitting in drafts. The newsletter that never quite gets sent. The website update that remains on the to-do list month after month. The PR idea that felt promising but that never made it beyond a notebook.
Or, if you do market yourself well, perhaps you find that you do it in impulsive bursts, when inspiration hits, rather than in a consistent rhythm. The problem with that approach is that inspiration doesnt always strike. The right time doesnt always arise.
And then, you can go days, weeks and sometimes even months without doing anything to market your photography business. Then, it feels even harder to get going again, and so the cycle of delay and procrastination continues.
If either of these scenarios feels familiar, you’re certainly not alone.
The Real Challenge Isn’t a Lack of Marketing Ideas
Every week, there seems to be a new platform, a new marketing tactic, a new AI tool or a new prediction about how photographers need to adapt. While many of these developments are genuinely exciting, I think this is part of the problem, particularly at the moment when everything is changing so fast. They become a distraction.
I see photographers spending hours researching the latest trend or tool (currently, for example, I’m seeing people talking about Claude, everywhere!), while the blog post they intended to publish remains unfinished, and an update of a key page of their website is delayed because they’re trying to decide whether they should also be creating more video content.
The truth is, if you spend so much time consuming information, you’ll likely never quite get around to implementing what you learn.
And, if you allow yourself to get distracted by the latest ‘shiny object’, then you’ll not get around to consistently working on the basics of your photography marketing strategy.
(And, hey, no judgment here – we’ve all done it, and we’ll likely keep doing it, on occasion – we’re only human after all!)
Perfectionism Keeps More Photographers Stuck Than Lack of Knowledge
Another problem is perfectionism. You photographers are super creative people. I know that you care deeply about quality and want your work to be the best it can be. That’s a strength. But sometimes it can also become a barrier.
A blog post sits unpublished because it needs “one more edit”. A service page never goes live because the wording doesn’t quite feel right. A newsletter remains in draft because it could probably be improved a little more.
Days become weeks. Weeks become months. Months become years.
Done is often far more valuable than perfect.
- A published blog post can attract website visitors. An unpublished one cannot!
- An email that could have been sent could have led to an exciting opportunity by now.
- The website page that could have been improved could have been recommended by Google, helping new potential clients discover your work.
- The story that could have been pitched could have led to some money-can’t-buy publicity or an extensive editorial feature.
- The enquiry that could have been followed up could have led to you working with a dream client.
Visibility comes from publishing, sharing and putting your work into the world. Not endlessly refining it behind the scenes.
Related: Stop Waiting To Be Discovered: Why Proactive Marketing Matters More Than Ever
Aim For Progress Over Perfection
But, if you run your photography business this way – procrastinating on completing the marketing activities or marketing only sporadically – then you’re limiting your own potential.
There’s every chance that focusing properly on these marketing activities could have a significant and beneficial long-term impact on your photography business. They could help you to attract clients – if only you get around to doing them!
Putting This Into Practice
I’ve been reminding myself of the importance of progress over perfection myself recently. The pre-launch of The Visible Photographer™ – my new accountability membership – is a good example.
What I had noticed some time ago was that many photographers were struggling to stay accountable to their marketing.
I knew that photographers in my community cared about visibility. What I kept seeing, though, was that client work, life and competing priorities often got in the way of consistent action.
The idea for the new membership came to me just before I was about to have a week out of the office – May half-term was imminent, meaning my children were about to be off school, and myself having some time out of the office.
In other words, I didn’t have endless hours available to plan, create and launch something complicated. So I kept it simple.
Initially, I drafted the offer in a Google document and sent this to some of my community who I thought would be most interested. Then, the next day I converted that into a basic sales page on my website.
I repurposed the copy I had written for the Google doc and sales page into a series of email campaigns, which were drip-fed over a 10-day period. I think I posted about three Instagram posts and shared a few Instagram Stories – that was it!
Earlier today, the founding members attended their first session as part of the membership. The launch generated lots of interest, sparked conversations in my email inbox and DM’s, and photographers in a variety of niches decided to join the pilot.
Will the membership evolve before the full September launch? Most likely, as I will have time between now and then to refine the offer. But had I waited until every detail was perfect, until I was back in my office after half-term holidays, I’d still be sitting on the idea, and may not have ever gotten around to it.
The same principle applies to marketing. Most of the time, progress comes from putting things out into the world rather than endlessly refining them. Progress creates momentum, and momentum is often what keeps us moving forward.
Why Marketing Momentum Matters More Than Motivation
Marketing is one of those activities that’s easy to postpone until next week. But, next week quickly becomes next month, and then, before you know it, another busy season has passed and all those good intentions are still sitting on the to-do list.
What I see working best is rarely a huge marketing push or a sudden burst of activity.
It’s the photographers who keep chipping away at things over time; publishing the blog posts regularly, sending the newsletter, updating the website page, pitching the idea. Taking one small step and then another.
These actions might not feel particularly significant on the day you do them, but together they help build visibility, trust and momentum:
- A blog post written today may attract visitors for years.
- An email newsletter can strengthen relationships and generate referrals.
- A press feature can increase credibility long after it has been published.
The photographers who tend to see the strongest long-term visibility gains and results, in terms of client attraction and sales, are rarely the ones doing the most marketing. They’re usually the ones doing the strategic, important tasks most consistently.
What Consistent Marketing Actually Looks Like
Consistency doesn’t have to mean spending hours every week on marketing. In fact, a handful of activities, repeated regularly, can really make a positive difference.
For example:
• Publishing one blog post each month
• Sending a regular newsletter
• Improving one website page at a time
• Pitching one story or opportunity
• Building one new relationship
None of these activities are particularly complicated or time-consuming but, over the course of a year or more, they create meaningful momentum.
Marketing is one of those activities that’s feels easy to postpone until next week…but if you keep postponing, will it ever get done?!
A Few Reasons Photographers Struggle To Follow Through On Their Marketing
1. You’re focusing on what feels urgent, not what’s important
Client work, editing and the sending of invoices have an inherant deadline. Marketing, on the other hand, can usually wait until tomorrow. The problem is that visibility is built through activities that rarely feel urgent in the moment.
Try this: Block out dedicated marketing time in your diary and treat it with the same respect as a client booking.
2. You’re working on the marketing tasks you enjoy most
Most photographers have certain marketing activities they naturally gravitate towards. For some, it’s Instagram. For others, it’s researching ideas, redesigning their website or experimenting with new tools. Meanwhile, the blog post remains unfinished. The newsletter doesn’t get sent. The SEO improvements stay on the to-do list.
Try this: At the start of each week, identify the one activity most likely to move your business forward and tackle that first.
3. You’re waiting until you have more time
Many photographers tell themselves they’ll focus on marketing once things quieten down. The reality is that most businesses move through busy and quiet periods all year round. Waiting for the perfect time often means waiting indefinitely.
Try this: Aim for consistency rather than intensity. A small amount of marketing completed regularly is usually more effective than occasional bursts of activity.
4. You’re trying to make everything perfect
Perfectionism can quietly become a form of procrastination when it stops work from ever being published.
Try this: Ask yourself whether the piece genuinely needs improving or whether you’re simply delaying sharing it.
5. Nobody knows whether you’ve done it or not
One of the hidden challenges of self-employment is that there is very little accountability.
If you don’t publish the blog, send the newsletter or update the website this week, there are rarely any immediate consequences. It’s easy for good intentions to drift from one week into the next.
Try this: Find some form of accountability, whether that’s a coach, a peer, a mastermind group or a dedicated marketing community. Having someone ask how you’re getting on can be surprisingly powerful. (Psst! Read on for details of how I can help with this!)
Why Accountability Helps
Most photographers already know what they should be doing. Accountability helps bridge the gap between intention and action.
It creates a reason to follow through, focus on what matters and keep moving forward when life inevitably gets busy or when you lose your focus, and start second-guessing your strategy and next steps.
Frustrated with a Lack of Momentum in your Photography Marketing?
If you’ve been feeling frustrated with your marketing, perhaps the answer is simply creating more focus, more consistency and more follow-through.
Visibility improves, and business growth is more likely, if you decide to keep showing up, even when life gets busy.
So, don’t leave those blog posts languishing in the drafts folder, or that idea in your head but nowhere else! Follow through and make those things become something tangible and real, that your ideal clients can read about, discover and buy. You’ll be glad you did, I’m certain!
Want Support Staying Consistent?
My new accountability membership – The Visible Photographer™ – was created to help photographers build more sustainable visibility habits through accountability, focus and community support.
I’ve just officially closed the doors to the pre-launch pilot that is running in June and July 2026. If you’d like to be the first to hear when doors open again, you can join the waitlist here. The next intake is planned for a September start.
Zoe
Psst! As I write this, we have just started the first cohort…literally, today. So, there is still a brief opportunity to join the June/July founding pilot if you’d like to build some momentum before the summer and head into September with your marketing already moving forward.
If that’s you, get in touch ASAP, as places are very limited, and this opportunity won’t be available for much longer.
