Zenologue

I came across something the other day that truly changed what I believed about how the business world works.

It also answered a lot of questions that had been buzzing about in my head about why some companies are successful and others are not so successful. Why is it that some businesses enjoy far more success with the same resources and time as their competitors? Why do some brands enjoy loyalty to the point of fanaticism?

Check out this video of Simon Sinek, the author of “Star With Why” to find out the [simple] answer:

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I’m pretty certain that we all do it – that is, we look around our city or town at all the other photographers that are out there and wonder at how we can survive. When we realize just how many photographers there are, our first thought can be to wonder how we can succeed amongst so many, especially when business might seem so sparse.

Surely there can’t be enough clients in our town to go around… Well, maybe there can.

Take a closer look at the other photographers around you, but perhaps just as importantly, take a closer look at yourself and your target market in particular.

Do you offer a specific type of photography? For example, are you a child or pet photographer? If so, then you can immediately scratch off the list all those who specialize in commercial photography or weddings. Now the list is getting a little smaller.

What about your prices? Are you charging the same as the local Walmart or Sears portrait studio? Hopefully, you are significantly more expensive than they are, so you aren’t really competing with them for the same segment of the market. To anyone who has been in the photography business for any length of time, it soon becomes apparent that the client who is willing to spend $10 for a Walmart portrait is not very likely to spend several hundred dollars on a custom portrait, although it can happen.

Your product range also determines which clients you will attract and also who will be competing with. An example of this is the photo DVD that some photographers offer with their packages. If you don’t offer a DVD then you aren’t truly competing with those who do (even though you might feel like it), because you are dealing with clients who work under a different paradigm and don’t see the DVD as valuable as the finished portraits. Another example might be portrait photographers who specialize in painterly canvas prints – by the nature of their product they are not competing directly with those who offer more contemporary prints.

I think you can see that as you find more ways to differentiate your business, you actually reduce the number of photographers you are directly competing with. By having fewer true competitors, we’re able to maintain the prices we want to charge for our work. After all, if every photographer offered the same services and the same products with the same quality, the only way we could compete would be as the cheapest, and who wants that?

Focus on your differences

So, take some time to analyze your business, your approach and philosophy. How many ways can you find that your own business differs from those around you? This isn’t necessarily about being the best photographer (what does that even mean, when you think about it?); it’s about being a specialist in your chosen field. You might find that you are one of only several photographers in your area that offer what you do.

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I was reading Seth Godin’s blog the other morning, as I often do, and was particularly struck by that day’s post entitled “Thanks for leading”.

He talked about how being a leader means to live and work outside of one’s comfort zone, that leadership means dealing with things that are not easy; otherwise, everyone would be doing the same thing. One statement in particular stuck with me, quoted below:

“When you identify the discomfort, you’ve found the place where a leader is needed.”

When I think of the meaning of the word “leader”, I not only think of managers, CEO’s etc. but also the sense in which a company or organization can be a leader in their chosen field. I’m sure you can think of many brands that are leaders, and the reason many of them are successful lies in the ways they are different from everyone else.

This idea translates very well to the world of photography.

Most of us photographers are what might be called one-man bands – few, if any, of us are large organizations. That means we both lead our own businesses and try to lead our field within our specific niche market & location.

Leading within our niche market would be very difficult if we simply offered the same services, products, photographic style, approach and prices as everyone else. We need to be different, which means striking out on our own into uncharted waters.

This is where the discomfort is felt, because we may be unsure how the market will react to us, and we expose ourselves to the criticisms of others, including our peers. But if we can identify a source of discomfort like this, then we just may find a new place where a leader is needed – a new market trend.

Perhaps there really is no true roadmap for success when it comes to the identity and purpose of your brand, any such roadmaps deal only with places already discovered and could lead you only to nowhere.

If we feel comfortable where we are and in what we’re doing, then we ought to start to worry and look for something not quite so comfortable.

As others have put it so well before me: Dare to be different.

Motivation branding, business, Motivation, professional photographer, seth godin, studio branding, success