Elevator pitch examples for photographers
An elevator pitch fails when it describes the business instead of giving the listener a reason to ask a second question. These end somewhere the other person can pick up.
Ten of them follow, written for photographers rather than filled in from a template. Your customer is someone who only gets one shot at this day, and what they are weighing up before they get in touch is a photographer whose portfolio is ten perfect shots from ten different weddings.
The one-liner
I am a photographer in [your town] — I shoot weddings and family and newborn sessions for someone who only gets one shot at this day.
Use this when you have one sentence and no idea who you are talking to.
Problem first
The thing people worry about with photographers is a photographer whose portfolio is ten perfect shots from ten different weddings. That is the part I deal with. I am a photographer, and I show you a whole gallery start to finish before you book.
Use this where the problem is instantly recognisable and the service is not.
Names who it is for
I work for someone who only gets one shot at this day. Mostly weddings and family and newborn sessions. If that is not you, you probably know someone.
Use this at an event where most people are not your customer, to find the ones who are.
Credential first
I am fully insured. Fully insured, with backup equipment on every shoot and complete galleries you can look through rather than ten highlights. I mostly do weddings and family and newborn sessions.
Use this in a room where qualification is the thing that buys attention.
The contrast
Most photographers [what the default does]. I am the one that shows whole galleries, because anyone can get ten good frames. That is more or less the whole difference.
Use this when your market has a clear default and you are not it.
With a number in it
I am a photographer — [number] years, [number] shoots, and I show you whole galleries, not ten highlights.
Use this when you have a real number. Do not invent one.
The origin
I started because a photographer whose portfolio is ten perfect shots from ten different weddings was normal in this trade and it did not need to be. So that is the business: a photographer where I show you a whole gallery start to finish before you book.
Use this when the reason you started is short and true.
Ten seconds
Photographer. Weddings, mostly. [your town].
Use this when someone asks what you do and is already half-turned away.
Ends with the ask
I am a photographer doing weddings and family and newborn sessions. If you ever hear someone say [the thing your customers say], that is me.
Use this when the point of the conversation is a referral, not a sale.
The warm version
[their question] — I am a photographer. The part people usually ask about is showing whole galleries, because anyone can get ten good frames.
Use this where the pitch would land badly and a conversation would not.
Writing for photographers: what actually matters
What should a photographer’s website say that a generic one does not?
Three things, in this order. That you are fully insured. That you understand the thing people are actually worried about, which for photographers is a photographer whose portfolio is ten perfect shots from ten different weddings. And what happens next: I show you a whole gallery start to finish rather than ten highlights, before you book anything. Everything else on the page is decoration by comparison.
What does someone who only gets one shot at this day check first?
The credential, then the proof. For photographers it sounds like this. I show you whole galleries, not ten highlights. I give you a written contract and a delivery date. I bring backup equipment to every shoot. Put at least one of those above the fold rather than on a separate page nobody opens.
What is the most common mistake on a photographer’s website?
Writing about the business instead of the customer. "We have been established since 1998" answers a question nobody asked. "I show you a whole gallery start to finish rather than ten highlights, before you book anything" answers the one they are actually holding. If you only fix one thing, fix that.
How long should the copy be?
Shorter than you think, except where trust is being built. An About page of 120 well-chosen words beats 500 vague ones. The exception is anything explaining a photographer whose portfolio is ten perfect shots from ten different weddings — there, specifics earn their length.
Everything else for photographers
Elevator pitch for other trades
- Plumber
- Electrician
- HVAC Technician
- Roofer
- Carpenter
- Painter
- Landscaper
- Handyman
- Therapist
- Chiropractor
- Massage Therapist
- Personal Trainer