Photographers are everywhere. Shooting weddings, events, and campaigns every other weekend.
Mayor Otu is a creative coach who’s helped hundreds of photographers, content creators, and videographers build profitable businesses.
Yet somehow, many of them make money, but are still struggling with profitability.
I spoke with Mayor Otu to understand why:
Photographers seem busy all the time. Why are so many of them still not profitable?
Because being busy is not the same thing as being profitable.
Most photographers are just reacting all day. They’re replying DMs, editing nonstop, and chasing the next job — but none of that automatically translates to sustainable profits.
You can be fully booked and still broke.
Hmm, that’s true. So what’s the real issue if it’s not lack of work?
The problem is leverage.
A lot of photographers are doing business, but they’re not running a business. Everything depends on their energy. When they stop working, everything stops.
There are no systems. No structure. No strategy behind how money comes in or how clients experience the work.
Imagine holding a camera, but someone with a phone is handling more projects than you.
You mentioned marketing earlier. How does that affect profitability?
Most creatives don’t know marketing is doing most of the work, because the reason why clients ghost you as a photographer falls back to your marketing. If your marketing is crappy, sales become a challenge.
You go back and forth in your DMs, and then they disappear.
You need to understand that: Not everybody that wants what you do.
But everybody who has a phone should know you exist.
When marketing is weak, clients are confused about the results you can get them. And confused people don’t buy.
Fascinating…. You also said many photographers don’t understand marketing at all. How bad is it?
I can confidently say that about 50% of photographers don’t understand marketing in any real way. They rely on word of mouth, hope, or random posting.
That’s not a business strategy — that’s called dreaming.
Hope is not a business strategy.
Where does AI come into all of this?
People think AI is just about saving time. That’s a very small way to look at it.
AI is about leverage.
It helps you do the same work faster, deliver better experiences, and make more money — if you know how to integrate it into your workflow.
If you don’t, then yes, AI will replace you. Or rather, the person who learns how to use AI well, will.
Can you give a practical example of how AI affects profitability?
Let’s talk about delivery time.
Why should a client wait four to six weeks to see their wedding pictures when tools exist to deliver same-day highlights?
By the time you’re done editing and retouching — their excitement has died.
The crazy part is there are people already posting pictures from their phone online, while you with a high-end camera can’t deliver the photos in real-time.
Lower-quality images go viral while professional photos are still being edited.
That makes no sense. Especially with AI tools you can teach to retouch for you, speeding up your delivery time and enhancing your clients’ experience.
So faster delivery actually means more money?
Absolutely.
Imagine pitching this to a client:
“Your event photos will be edited and posted in real-time. No phone pictures.”
Who do you think brands will pay more?
YOU.
Speed is valuable. Experience is crucial. Timing is everything.
You gave an example of large events earlier. Why does that matter for photographers?
Think about Wimbledon.
They produced 1,000 pieces of content in 14 days, and gained over 1.2 million followers — because content was delivered in real-time.
Nobody wants pictures after the moment has passed.
Photographers who understand this stop competing on price and start competing on experience.
That makes a lot of sense. But….
If you had to sum it up, why are most photographers busy but not profitable?
It’s simple. So let me break it down:
- They sell time instead of experience
- They focus on non-stop grind rather than creating systems
- delay delivery instead of increasing value
- Fight AI instead of using it as leverage
Profit doesn’t come from being busy.
It comes from building a business that works even when you’re not exhausted.
What tools would you recommend photographers use to build systems?
Now, this is not an AI tool, but regarding what I said earlier about increasing value — I’d recommend OurPixo.
The reason is simple:
Look high value while delivering, stay organised, and protect your work so money doesn’t leak from your business.
Final takeaway
Most photographers don’t struggle because they’re bad at photography.
They struggle because:
- Their marketing is unclear
- Their delivery is slow
- Their workflow has no leverage
And until that changes, they’ll stay busy — but not profitable.