When I am not busy working on PhotoShelter things, I am usually busy practicing my other hobby: hitting the tequila bottles.
My wife and I run a tequila blog, and we've been temporarily living in Mexico for the past 4 months so we can get closer to the industry - to learn as much as we can, strengthen our ties, and develop unique content for our blog.
In July, were invited to attend the Mayahuel Awards, which is like the Academy Awards for the tequila industry, run by the Mexican Academy of Tequila Tasters. Some very influential people in the tequila world were present, and one very smart photographer was using it as a fantastic marketing opportunity.
Ben Olivares is a Guadalajara-based a freelance photographer who has made the tequila industry his specialty. He shoots images of agave plants (which are used to make tequila), agave fields, and the tequila production process.

Ben Olivares has made the tequila agave landscape his specialty. This image of spider in an agave field shows the very iconic Tequila volcano in the background.
His images were printed large and were hanging on the walls, and each attendee received several free photo postcards and a wall calendar filled with his pictures. All of these items contained his branding and website address, and people were snapping them up like crazy.
It was immediately obvious to me that he successfully dominated the tequila photo niche - and it didn't take very long.
How did he do it? His process for successfully conquering his chosen niche is not some special secret that only he knows. I met with Ben in his home last week, and we talked all about this. He followed a recipe that all "Master Marketers" do.
Ben happens to live right smack in the middle of the tequila region of the world. He grew up with agave plants and tequila surrounding him - yet it wasn't until later that he realized it was a viable photography niche.
"I was so close to it, I didn't even see it," he said.
Photographic niches are everywhere, although sometimes they can be difficult to spot. But once you find one, how do you go about successfully marketing yourself into that niche?
Based on my conversation with Ben (see the video below), and other marketing-savvy photographers like him, I put together a list that contains 6 steps that anyone can follow.