12 Ingredients For A Magic Pill In Your Photography Business (I)
#7: They zoom in and out, and in and out, and in and out…
Summary: "12 Ingredients For A Magic Pill In Your Photography Business (I)"
Do you believe in a "magic pill" to save your business or fix your business problems? A generic fix doesn't exist, but you can make one for yourself. if you know the right ingredients!
Do you find yourself fighting with the prospect of failure every day in your photography business? Is your peace of mind suffering because you can’t seem to find that one great way to turn things around?
How many mentors and gurus are you learning from on a daily or weekly basis, as you search for the difficult answers to all your business problems?
Might you, in fact, be looking for the elusive “Magic Pill”?
This is the first of two posts on this subject, since I felt it was a little too much to swallow (unforgivable pun intended) all at once… Part 2 should be available tomorrow, so let’s dive right in…
The All-Powerful Magic Pill Is A Myth
I’m sure that you already know this to be true but, like the fountain of youth or the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, there is no all-powerful magic pill out there that can fix everyone’s problems. It’s a myth; it simply doesn’t exist.
At least not in a form that everyone can take…
What do I mean by that? Surely, a magic pill must be “magical” enough to fix everyone and everything; otherwise it wouldn’t be a magic pill, right?
In reality, there is no single, “one-size-cures-all”, magic pill. However, there is nothing whatsoever preventing us from making our own – one designed just for us, and our own specific set of problems and desired outcomes.
The Answer Is Within Your Own Mind
Something I found quite astounding when I first thought about this was the realization that we all have the necessary ingredients to create our magic pill, already within our own mind.
We don’t need to go off searching in other places to find the mysterious secrets of success, or buy into vague-sounding “money-making” systems. No, it’s all there, waiting for us to unlock the vault of our own mind and read the formula that’s perfect for us.
That’s not to say that we shouldn’t learn from mentors and business coaches – these people are absolutely essential in helping us to see our own inner truths, by virtue of their objective and unemotional detachment from what we’re trying to do. They are our guides on this journey toward our success, but they cannot simply hand it to us on a silver platter.
The Magic Ingredients
So what do we need in order to formulate our own version of the magic pill for success in our photography business (or any business for that matter)? I’ve compiled a list of 12 simple factors that, when combined together in the correct order and proportions for you, will propel your business further than you might have thought possible.
Here are the first five:
- Eliminate negativity (read more here)
- Remove your mental boundaries (read more here)
- Identify your core beliefs and values (read more here)
- Embrace your true value
- Identify your personal calling
#1 – Eliminate Negativity
Forget “opposites attract” and think instead in terms of “like attracts like”. Negative thinking, or having a negative attitude, is one of the biggest killers of success because it prevents us from believing in ourselves, and in what we can achieve. Negativity surrounds us, and it can be difficult to protect ourselves from it, but we must do so at all cost. TV (especially the news) is one of the major purveyors of negativity simply because it gives people more things to complain about by distracting them from their own problems (caused mainly by their own negative paradigms in the first place).
Your magic pill needs to have a special coating that repels negativity and attracts only the positive aspects of our lives.
#2 – Remove Your Mental Boundaries
Nothing will keep us more imprisoned than the invisible fence we construct within our own minds. If you catch yourself thinking thoughts like, “I couldn’t do that” or “no one will pay that much for my services” or “I’m just not good enough”, then what’s happened is you’ve blundered into a boundary that you’ve created for yourself.
What would happen if you went around, over or under that fence to explore what lies beyond? What would be the worst that could happen if you took out your mental wire cutters and broke out? How far could you go?
#3 – Identify Your Core Beliefs And Values
This is one of the critical components of your magic pill, and you’ll need to work hard at identifying those things that resonate most deeply with you and your beliefs. A business coach or mentor would be invaluable to you in this area. For example, I’ve invested a lot of time into learning that the five major values that run like a golden river through everything I do are: Authenticity, Integrity, Creativity, Perseverance and Knowledge. As it turns out, these qualities have a large influence over all the decisions I make, but they my not resonate for you.
Everyone is unique, and you might have a very different set to this. The important thing is to know what values and beliefs are driving your inner machinery most efficiently.
#4 – Embrace Your True Value
Do you have a hard time asking your clients for money? Are you constantly wrestling with your price list, and dealing with uncertainty about whether or not people will pay what you’re asking for? The problem here has nothing to do with your prices, but everything to do with how you value yourself and your talents.
If you are competent at photography and can consistently deliver a product you can be proud of, which your clients are thrilled with, then you should embrace that value and understand that the prices you charge are reflected by the value placed on your services and products in the mind of your buyers. Put simply, you are worth what you are worth.
#5 – Identify Your Personal Calling
Do you have a specific niche market, or are you offering your photography services to a wide range of clients because you need the business? Have you ever caught yourself saying something like, “I specialize in weddings, families, children, seniors, pets and nature”? By definition, it is not possible to specialize in everything, so why do we try? There must be one or two areas that you feel specifically drawn to, that you could really specialize in and become known for. Look at everything you do with a critical eye and find that one thing that speaks to your soul the most, and follow that as your personal calling.
To Be Continued…
This brings me to the end of part 1 – the remaining seven ingredients will be revealed in more detail tomorrow, in part 2. I hope you enjoyed reading so far, and remember that any and all comments are welcome, as always. Please remember to be nice and share this with your friends, and I’ll be back with part 2…
Connect With The Photography Coach On Google+
Connect with the author, Nigel Merrick, on Google+
View our official Google+ page at: Photography Business and Marketing Google+ Page
Nigel, I’m struggling with the transition to this world view. As an aspiring pro photographer, it’s very easy to think that if you just bought x or paid to consult y you’d discover the magic. But the more I actually do for myself, the more I’m realising that the magic isn’t in any single piece of info you can discover, paid or otherwise. It’s in repeated effort, bravery and focus. Graft, in other words. So thanks for this article, it’s timely and relevant as convention season sees thousands of people paying for answers to the wrong questions…
I’m having a hard time about the portfolio in miy site. As you said no one can specialize in aerything but sometimes you kinda have to solve clients requests though. The other points I totally agree! Nice one!