Do you operate a one-person professional photography studio? Are you trying to create a successful business, but you’re the only one working in it? How many hats do you wear in the course of a single workday? Do the concepts of “weekend” or “time off” seem alien to you?
Welcome To Sole Proprietorship
There’s nothing at all wrong with running a one-person photography business, and many people do just that quite successfully, but I also believe that many of those who do (myself included) are forced to constantly deal with the frustrations that come with being the only worker in a busy company.
The main problem comes from the fact that we have to wear so many different hats in order to keep the business afloat…
Read more…
Photography Business Ideas
business coaching, photography business, photography coach
Nobody sells them all… not you, not me, not even Zig Ziglar, or anyone else for that matter. Yet, it still hurts when a sale we were pretty confident in does go south, and the prospect ends up booking a different photographer. This can be especially true for the wedding photographer who wants to learn how to book weddings.
Yesterday’s post (read it here) dealt with the difficulties of remaining positive when everything around us, and in our own minds, can serve to drive us closer to the negative side of life. One thing that’s certain to cause emotional upset is the potential humiliation that comes with a lost sale…
Sales & Marketing
client consultation, learning from mistakes, photography sales
Do you sometimes have a problem maintaining a positive outlook? Do the minutiae of day-to-day routines sap your creative energy? Do you find yourself feeling exhausted, drained and less than optimistic even when you aren’t busy or nothing much is happening? Are you often left with an inexplicable feeling of helplessness in your photography business?
You Are Not Alone!
If you answered “yes” to any of the above questions, then you might be experiencing what I’ve come to call “life in a vacuum”. This is that awful place we can find ourselves in where business & life seem to slow to an imperceptible crawl; we feel that nothing ever gets done, and the achievement of our goals seems far out of reach.
Life in a vacuum can result in feelings of depression, lack of energy, waning enthusiasm, or a sense of “what is this all for?” It’s not a pleasant place to be in.
Having found myself there many times in the past, sometimes for extended periods, I can speak from experience when I say that no one ever wants to be here, but it can be a very tough situation to break out of!
The good news is that you are not alone, and many of us feel exactly the same way from time to time. More importantly, there are ways to escape…
Photography Business Ideas
coping with negativity, motivation, positive attitude, success
For some reason, I’ve noticed a lot of recent talk in the professional photography arena on the subject of re-branding – literally throwing out an existing business and starting over. This is a pretty radical step for anyone to take, and I thought it might be worth examining further.
Business re-branding can be extremely difficult and potentially damaging if done incorrectly or in haste, so it’s worth taking some time to consider some of the implications before going ahead and making sweeping changes, some of which may turn out to be unnecessary or even unwise!
What Is Re-Branding?
In the context of this article, I use the term “re-branding” to mean the act of significantly changing or reinventing one’s personal brand or business identity. We’re all familiar with the idea of reinventing ourselves from time to time, so re-branding applies a similar principle to a business instead of just to an individual.
Motivation For Re-Branding
One of the first questions to pop into my head when I encountered this idea was, simply, “Why?” This is, after all, a major change that, at the very least, can involve most of the following attributes…
Read more…
Photography Business Ideas
branding, photography business, professional photography, re-branding
You don’t need me to tell you that almost anyone can become a “professional” photographer these days, especially when it seems like there’s one on almost every street corner. The ubiquity of the digital SLR, together with the incredible ease of entry into the business, has spawned a mass of photographers, all eager to turn their photos into cash.
If this sounds a little cynical, it’s not meant to; I do believe that we all have the right to follow our passions and dreams to achieve in life whatever we desire. If someone has a love of photography, and wants to turn that love into a career as a wedding photographer, then I’m right behind them all the way.
But, We Have A Responsibility
Just because we don’t have to spend years at college, or there are no exams to pass, doesn’t absolve us from the responsibility of maintaining the “professional” status of the job we’re aspiring too.
We all have a duty to uphold the standards of the industry, and to realize that being a professional photographer means a lot more than earning some money with a camera.
Photography Business Ideas
photography business, photography education, professional photographer
Recent Comments