There are so many resources out there on the internet for aspiring photographers. If you are passionate about starting a photography business, I am sure you have done a few Google searches to help you along your journey. I don’t know about your Google search results, but during my research all the pages I came across had some sort of way of charging me money before I could get the information I was looking for. Over the past three and a half years I have spent a lot of time researching business practices, learning lessons through trial and error, and wasting a lot of my hard-earned money on photography business tool kits and design templates that I thought would help me. Products like those do work for some people, but they didn't for me. At the beginning of this year, I had come full circle in my search and realized that the way I ran my business needed to be the way that worked best for me and my family. I design all of my own albums and templates and I build my pricing and packages in a way that works for my business. It has been a crazy ride, this photography thing, but I am sure I have many more lessons ahead of me as well.

I wanted to share the few resourceful websites I discovered during my journey that I found to be the most helpful as I got my business off the ground. The best part about these sites? They are completely FREE! Each of the blogs listed below have content rich archives that one can spend hours reading through. These professionals are open to sharing their methods and each offer a lot of information about how they run their businesses. I highly recommend giving their blogs a visit today!

Melissa Jill Photography - An awesome example of a blog that touches on personal issues, photography help, and business advice. Plus plenty of inspiration!
Jasmine Star Photography - Another great example of a personal blog with a touch of business advice. Check out her FAQ's posts.
Digital Photography School - A fantastic place for beginners with a lot of technical and how-to advice
The [b] school blog - Photographers interviews and product reviews
MCP Actions blog - Tutorials, How-To's, and a lot of guest posts written by professional photographers
Paperie Boutique - Branding, packaging, and business image suggestions and inspiration. Plus a TON of giveaways!
Brand Camp Blog - A humorous blog with a lot of business advice. Easy to read and very content-rich.

As you browse those blogs, you will definitely come across a couple of paid resources. I challenge you to not drop a dime into your photography business (outside of equipment purchases) until your business can pay for it. :) More on that another day...!