How to Find and Pitch Your First 10 Corporate Headshot Clients

One of the biggest misconceptions that beginner headshot photographers make is to assume that somehow the work will find them. You establish a website, post some headshots on Instagram, tell everyone you know you’re doing professional headshots now… and then you wait. Perhaps eventually someone bookings, perhaps someone refers a friend, perhaps you receive a little employment here and there. But if your aim is to develop a full-time headshot photography business, hanging around isn’t much of a business strategy. If I was starting today, my first goal would be incredibly simple: Find 10 firms I want to partner with and go after them on purpose.

I wouldn't begin with 1,000 companies, and I wouldn't try to contact every business within 200 miles. I’d say 10. Ten firms with employees, ten companies that seem to be growing, ten companies where people are part of the brand, and ten companies where professional photography might solve a real problem. Those initial 10 companies of yours ain’t merely possible headshot employment. They can be the start of your client base and they will also educate you how businesses in your area really acquire photography.

When people first start doing headshots, it’s tempting to market to people directly. That's not wrong. People require LinkedIn headshots, executives need portraits, realtors need updated images and professionals need photographs for websites and social media. But if the goal is full time income I would spend a lot of my time looking for companies that can send me several people for a lengthy period of time. One person may need one head shot. A corporation might want 50 headshots this year and another 20 next year. That is an entirely different type of customer.

First off, I would determine what types of companies made sense. I would look at law firms, accounting firms, financial advisors, medical groups, dental practices, real estate companies, insurance agencies, engineering firms, manufacturers, technology companies, construction companies, banks, credit unions, staffing agencies, universities and professional associations. I wouldn't necessarily go for all those categories at the same time. I would probably select two or three industries that are prevalent in my area and concentrate on those first. The more specific you can be, the easier it is to write a pitch that sounds relevant.

Then I would create a very simple prospect list. You don’t have to get started with some expensive client relationship management system. A spreadsheet will do just nicely. The company name, website, industry, projected number of employees, contact person, title, email, phone number, LinkedIn page, current headshot situation, probable opportunity, date of last contact, date of next follow-up would be kept. This tiny spreadsheet can become one of the most helpful things in your business since it turns what you are doing from random marketing into a process.

Google Maps is one of the easiest places to start. Look for law businesses, engineering firms, financial advisors, medical organizations, manufacturers, commercial real estate companies or any type of business you wish to target in your neighborhood. Start opening their websites and browse around. You’re attempting to figure out if the company is big enough, active enough and sophisticated enough that professional photography matters to them. A company with 75 people, various offices, a working careers page and a professional looking website is usually a better target than a one person shop that hasn’t updated their website in 10 years.

Once you’ve found a company that interests you, head directly to the team page. It may be termed Our Team, Leadership, Meet the Team, Attorneys, Providers, Agents, Management or Professionals. The name is irrelevant. It’s the photography that matters.” Take a look at the headshots and see whether they match. Are the backdrops the same? Are they cropped similarly? Some are professionally lit, others appear like cellphone pictures? Are some folks missing all the pictures? Is half the crew in a studio shot and one guy appears like he was taken next to a shrub in the parking lot? Those tiny irregularities can be signaling you there's an issue in the organization that you can fix.

Don't call them and say their photography sucks. That is not a nice way to start a relationship, especially if the person you are messaging was the one who created the existing photography. Instead, present the problem in a positive light. You could say you assist organizations generate a uniform image for employee headshots—and maintain it as new people join the organization. This updates the dialog immediately. You are not “I am a photographer and I need work.” You are “I can make this easier for your company.”

Another thing I would be looking for is growth. Growing companies are particularly tempting as each new hire produces yet another requirement for photographs. See the company’s career page. Visit LinkedIn. See current announcements from the company. Any openings? Are they opening another place? Are they building a sales team? They are buying another company ? Are they getting into a new market? These are buying signs. A growing corporation needs more than one headshot. It needs a continuous headshot system.

The first hurdle, once you have identified a company, is to find the suitable person. Often photographers think they need to get to the owner or CEO, but that’s not always the case. In many companies, the CEO is not involved with hiring photographers. You want the individual who has the headache. This could be the human resources manager, marketing director, marketing manager, recruiter, director of communications, office manager, executive assistant or business development manager. Think about the individual who gets the email: “We hired Jennifer. Can we get a photo of her published on the website?That is the person who might buy what you have to offer.

Here, LinkedIn is particularly helpful. I’d use LinkedIn as a research tool before I’d use it as a location to upload pictures. Search for the organization, then look at the staff and positions such as Marketing Director, Human Resources Manager, Talent Acquisition, Communications Director, Office Manager or Executive Assistant. You might be able to find out who does the photos in a matter of minutes. Then see what they are posting. Maybe they’re continually announcing new hires. Perhaps they are advertising conferences and trade shows. Maybe, they just redesigned their website. That information gives you a glimpse into what’s occurring inside the organization before you even contact them.

I wouldn't pitch too fast, either. This is where a tad of patience makes a big difference. Getting an email address and firing off something like “Hi, I am a photographer and I do professional headshots for $95” is easy. That might work sometimes, but it isn’t much of a pitch. Then I would spend another five or ten minutes becoming acquainted with the company. Maybe the staff pictures are inconsistent. Maybe they’re opening a new office Maybe they are hiring aggressively. Maybe they have a couple locations. Maybe they go to a couple trade exhibitions a year. The easier to make your message sound relevant, the more you know.

The pitch should be primarily about them, not you. Photographers excel at talking about themselves. We talk about how many years we shoot, what camera we use, how much we enjoy photography and how skilled we are with our lighting. Some of that may be what the corporation finally cares about, but it is not usually what grabs their attention immediately. They are attempting to figure out which problem you can fix. A much more compelling presentation may be, “I help companies maintain consistent employee headshots as their teams grow. I see your organization has a rather big team and looks like it’s growing. I can develop a simple system where new hires match the existing team, without your marketing staff having to reinvent the process each time.”

That's a pitch for an ad. This is about consistency and efficiency and ease. “You’re not just another creative vendor. You’re getting yourself into their process. That’s significant since repeat clients typically come from fixing continuing difficulties.

I’d also keep the first email short. No one wants to open their mailbox to a 1,000-word autobiography from a photographer they’ve never met. The initial email just needs to cover who you help, what problem you address, why you thought of their organization, and what the next step might be. Like, I work with firms who need consistent employee headshots as their teams get bigger. I see you have a big team and it looks like you are recruiting. I can develop a headshot style and keep it going so new recruits can get photographed later and still look like the other personnel. If that’s your thing, I’d be happy to send a simple example of how I structure corporate headshot days.” Then stop. Let them answer.

I do believe the $95 headshot model can be a good selling feature but would utilize it judiciously. I wouldn't necessarily put the price in the opening sentence. " Once you have some interest, you can explain that your company headshot fee is roughly $95 per person to start and that the price is structured to work well for volume and recurring new hires. That gives the number its meaning. You aren't attempting to be the cheapest photographer in town. You’re developing a repeatable method that a business can plan a budget for.

Make sure your portfolio supports what you are selling before you start contacting companies. If you are pitching legal firms, offer photos that appear appropriate for lawyers and executives. If you’re reaching out to manufacturers, demonstrate business people in a business environment. If your portfolio is all dramatic fashion shots with colored lights, a finance organization may not instantly see how your work meets their demands. You don’t need hundreds of headshots for your portfolio, but you do need enough good samples that a customer can visualize what you would do for them.

If you are new and you don't have enough examples, create some. Snap a photo of friends, company owners you know, coworkers, or yourself. Run few test sessions. Deliberately create a small body of strong, consistent headshots, rather than waiting years for the right work to magically arise. Sometimes five or ten good examples are enough to start a conversation.

I also think it is simpler to market a company headshot day than simply say you offer photographic services. “Photography services” is too imprecise. People can imagine a company headshot day. You head to their office, put up a little studio in a conference room, shoot the personnel all day, and pack up and leave. It has a start, a middle, and an end. Businesses know that.

The initial goal doesn’t have to be to land the whole company. Sometimes the best way is to reduce the danger. If you have 100 employees but are hesitant, suggest starting with the executive team or one department. Perhaps you take photographs of 10 people. If the process works well and they enjoy the results, it's a lot easier to spread to the rest of the firm. Your first pitch merely has to create the following step.

That next step could be a 10-minute phone call, a one-page pricing document, a quote for 20 employees, or a small pilot headshot day. There is no need to shut down anything fast. You are just progressing the relationship.

Follow-up is where many photographers fail. They send one email and get no response, and the company isn't interested. Silence doesn’t always imply no. People are busy. You may have received this e-mail while you were in a meeting. They might have given it to somebody else. They may enjoy the idea but not require it for the following quarter. Maybe they just forgot to reply. A polite follow-up can be the difference between a maybe and a yes. In a few days, send them a brief message asking whether they are the right person to talk to about employee photos, or if not, whether they can direct you to the appropriate person. Then find it in your spreadsheet.

This is another reason I like to keep a prospect list. Maybe one company says to call back in October. Another claims they’re working on a website revamp for next spring. Another said they had a company meeting in January. They’re not dead leads. They are the future opportunities. If you depend on memory, you will lose them. If you follow them, they are part of your pipeline.

I would also remember that not all has to go through email and LinkedIn. Walking in can still work depending on the type of organization. Don't walk in and ask to see the CEO. Walk in with a professional demeanor, a business card or basic one-page leave behind, and claim you are a local commercial photographer who works with firms on staff headshots. See if you can leave the information with the person who does the marketing or human resources. Then go. Make it simple.

And networking can accelerate this process even faster. Chambers of commerce, business mixers, professional groups, trade exhibitions and conferences are full of people who work for firms you desire as clients. Don't think you have to sell everyone stuff that nite. Meet folks. Just. Ask ’em what they do. Ask them about their business. They will eventually ask what you do. Instead of saying, "I am a photographer," say, "I help companies keep their employee and executive headshots consistent as they grow." That's a lot more memorable statement because it highlights a specific service. 

Once you get that first firm, your research doesn’t stop. Ask questions. Ask what they usually do when someone new is recruited. Ask how often they recruit. Ask whether they have more than one location. Ask them if they go to trade shows. Ask if they have yearly meetings. You're seeking for the next puzzle to crack.

Your first client will assist you land your second. Do good work, build some trust, then ask if they know other firms that could require the same service. Marketers know marketers. HR managers know HR managers. Business owners know business owners. People change jobs as well. The person you fire today could be the marketing director of another company next year. Treat every relationship like it could last.

Consider your first 10 enterprises as an experiment, too. Don't count on all 10 hiring you. Maybe 10 prospects result in three talks, two estimates and one client. That is still a success since you have learned something. Perhaps you see engineering firms as more responsive than law firms. Perhaps HR responds more than marketing. Maybe your $95 company-day pitch gets noticed, whereas your plain old headshot message doesn’t. That information helps you generate the next 10 list.

"I'd keep doing it that way. A moment. Ten companies. Do your homework on them. Talk to the correct person. Follow-up. Learn from the answers. Increase the pitch. Then make another list.

I also wouldn’t waste time attempting to look like a large photographic company if you’re not. Smallness can be an advantage, in fact. Often companies like to work directly with the person conducting the task. When they call you can tell them they are talking to the photographer directly. You can tell them you have their lighting and headshot specs on file. You can tell them you take the photographs yourself. That sounds trustworthy, especially for local and regional enterprises.

Remember, above all, that the first job is not your main goal. This is the second. The initial job is that you can picture their personnel. The second is evidence that you are a seller of theirs. That initial day of headshots can result in new hires, quarterly headshot sessions, executive portraits, conferences, trade exhibitions, environmental pictures, website photography, events, video or product photography. Once you get inside an organization, start listening for chances.

If I was starting a headshot business from scratch, I would spend a lot less time hoping people would find me, and a whole lot more time investigating real firms. I would know who they are, what they do, if they are hiring, who does their marketing or HR, what their current photography looks like, where I might fit. Then I would go to them with a short message that demonstrates I have genuinely listened.

You don’t have to have thousands of followers to begin. You don’t need a big advertising budget. You don’t have to wait for your website to generate leads by magic. A list of firms, a decent offer, a cause to contact them, and the courage to follow up.

Begin with 10.

Look them up on Google.

Toss 'em.

Follow them.

Follow-up.

One land!

Look after them.

Make that initial job into continuing business.

Then create a second list of 10.

Somewhere along the line something changes. You stop thinking like a photographer waiting for headshot work and you start thinking like a business owner cultivating corporate accounts.

And that’s when the full time headshot business truly begins.