Recession or Reboot?
#1: They work well in the dark…
Summary: "Recession or Reboot?"
As professional photographers do we treat the current economic downturn as a recession or reboot? In other words, are we going to be negative or positive in our thinking about it? Many photographers are finding it hard to survive, but better times are coming...
Every time I turn on the TV or visit the news pages on the Internet, it seems that the word “recession” pops up constantly. If we were to believe everything we read in the news, we might be forgiven for thinking that the end of the world is imminent.
Sadly, I hear the same from some other photographers – “It’s the end of the industry“, “No one can make a living from it“, or “The professional photographer is doomed to extinction“.
Personally, I prefer to ignore most of this talk of doom and gloom. Yes, the economy has taken a dramatic downturn in recent times and there have been some major upsets in the financial world that have spilled over to affect us all, but do I really believe that the professional photographer’s days are numbered?
No, I don’t.
There is that old saying: “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” Well, the going is certainly tough now, and the days of easy pickings are over. Now, more than ever, the best marketer and seller will be the one who wins and stays in business. The best photography in the world isn’t going to do any good at all if no one knows how to find the photographer.
I am no economist or expert in this field by any means, but one way for me to combat the negative ideas being passed around is to think of this “recession” more as a reboot of the economy – as if someone just came along and pressed the reset switch. Let’s face it, with all the corruption and greed that’s infested the market, a reset is probably long overdue. At the moment, we’re in the powering-down stage, but there will come a time when the economy goes into restart mode – that’s when things should get really interesting as everyone struggles to gain a foothold as things get back up to speed. When the economy does make a turn for the better, as it surely will, the businesses that will succeed are those who are best positioned for success right now. That’s to say, those photographers who stayed the course through the hard times and made the effort to establish a strong identity and keep their names in the field of view of their potential clients.
Many businesses (not just professional photographers) are making several awful mistakes in this time when panic can set in and send everyone scurrying around like headless chickens. Such errors include:
- Cutting back on marketing efforts or, worse still, eliminating them entirely in the hope that word of mouth advertising will be sufficient.
- Making drastic price cuts, often without proper consideration of production costs, in an effort to engage and entice the price shoppers. Raising prices again when things improve is going to be difficult.
- Cutting corners in production or using lower quality products to cut production costs. This might help the bottom line in the short term, but doesn’t help to maintain a position of high quality in the marketplace, and can harm client confidence.
Yes, this is a difficult and challenging time for everyone. Sure, business has slowed down and become harder to find, but I always think a positive outlook is better than a negative one. I see this time as an opportunity to learn, to become more intelligent in the arena of marketing our photography services, to hone and sharpen our selling skills and, above all, to develop better client relationships. Necessity is the mother of invention and this reboot of the economy will no doubt generate a lot of new and exciting ideas that will spring forth once business gets back to normal.
I don’t think it’s any coincidence that the professional photography literature at the moment is filled more with articles on business – marketing, selling, branding, business management etc. – than on technical things such as camera gear. The type of camera we’re using really has little relevance to our success as professional photographers at any time, but this is especially so during an economic “reboot” like this one.
Some of the ways we should be trying to make the best use of this slow time include:
- Write a real business plan if you don’t have one
- Develop a sound and cost-effective marketing strategy
- Examine your photography business objectively and trim it down if necessary
- Keep track of your ROI (return on investment) for your marketing efforts
- Attend seminars or take a class or two
- Find ways to make you and your photography unique
- Practice your sales skills
- Look for low-cost marketing opportunities, especially in your local community
- Cultivate alliances with other photographers for referrals
Think of this as a marathon run – right now the race is perhaps months ahead of us, but we still need to train and condition ourselves to win when the time comes. It’s no good scrambling to get into gear on race day! Worse still, no one is going to tell us when the start of the race is, so we have to be ready now, not tomorrow.
I think Pink Floyd put it very well in their song, “Time” – “One day, you find, ten years have got behind you. No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun…“
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