The New Playbook: Marketing a Portrait & Commercial Photography Business Today with James Patrick

This course will be free to watch while streaming on YouTube Live on 7/28/2026 from 7:00–10:00 PM EST and will be available for purchase after the event.

Most marketing advice photographers receive can feel outdated, generic, or completely overwhelming because it is disconnected from how the industry actually operates.

In this fast-moving session, James Patrick rebuilds the photography marketing playbook for where things stand today: what’s dead, what’s underrated, and what has quietly become one of the most effective paths to consistent bookings. You’ll explore how portrait and commercial clients currently find and choose photographers, then move through the channels that matter, including social media, content marketing, outbound outreach, and public relations.

You’ll learn what is converting right now compared with the strategies photographers may still be using out of habit. By the end of the class, you’ll have a clear framework for prioritizing your marketing channels, along with takeaway templates you can use to build your own plan after the session.

This class includes a dedicated 30 minutes of Q&A directly with James Patrick.

What You'll Learn

• Identify what has changed in client acquisition for photography businesses and stop spending time on channels that no longer perform.
• Understand how the customer journey differs for portrait clients and commercial clients.
• Choose two or three marketing channels that fit your business type and capacity instead of trying to do everything.
• Recognize what is working in social media and content marketing compared with what has become noise.
• Run outbound outreach and public relations campaigns that get responses without needing a large contact list or a publicist.

Who It's For

• Portrait photographers who rely primarily on referrals and want to build a more predictable client pipeline.
• Commercial and editorial photographers who want to consistently land agency, brand, or publication work.
• Photographers who post regularly on social media but struggle to connect that activity to actual bookings.
• Anyone who has invested in a website, SEO, or paid advertising without a clear strategy behind it.
• Photographers transitioning from doing photography to running a photography business.

How to Join

• This class will be free to watch while it is streaming live on YouTube.
• The YouTube Live link will be sent to registered participants prior to the event.
• After the live event, the class will be available for purchase.

About the Instructor

James Patrick is a commercial photographer and media strategist based in Phoenix, Arizona. Over the course of his career, he has photographed more than 800 magazine covers across the health, fitness, and wellness industries.

His work has appeared in major publications including Muscle & Fitness, Men's Fitness, Sports Illustrated, Golf Magazine, and Women's Running. James specializes in creating bold editorial imagery and helping photographers develop both their creative voice and their professional brand.