Who is your target outside of the obvious photo professionals? I’m assuming you’d rent to anyone, but maybe consider people who might aspire to be content creators, real estate photographers, or bloggers in your area.

I think part of the problem is your solution too. Gear is expensive, so you’re feeling the same pain potential customers are as well, so exploit that in terms of “try before you buy” or “need gear, but don’t know what you need?” type content. I’d also suggest a blog on your site educating customers.

You tell people in person, but build the educational side on your site as a reference point if they’re on a gig and run into trouble. Start with the basics like the exposure triangle and move on to things like lens selection and filters. Make them dead simple for pure beginners too. There’s plenty of masterclasses and pro level content out there, but sometimes an ELI5 goes a long way.

See if there are any content creators in your area and maybe strike a rental deal. Tired of using your phone, I have better equipment for long or short term rental and I’ll show you how to use it to produce better content.

Hope this helps!