IT'S THE ECONOMY.... RIGHT?

"My bookings are down, it must be because less people are getting married."

"I'm hardly getting any leads, it must be because people are spending less money on their wedding." 

"My business is struggling right now, it must be because so many people are getting laid off."

There's no question that what's happening in the economy has an impact on our businesses.  There's no escaping the fact that there are forces that bear on our industry, and the result is that it has become much more difficult to be a professional wedding photographer.  

First, there's an influx on new photographers driving up supply.  The combination of increased unemployment, affordable access to "prosumer" equipment, and few barriers to entry, has resulted in dramatic increases in the numbers of quasi-professional/hobby-ists.  

Second, there's a very real erosion in the quality of demand.  Though people continue to get married, the overall result of the economic condition is that the demographics have shifted.  Couples are spending less overall on their wedding, and the result is - in many ways - a realignment of the market. 

These two things have had a very significant impact on almost every segment of our market.  Even clients who would normally be "price-insensitive," are much more so now - that there are different perceptions of spending large amounts of money on anything.  For the average consumer, the impact has been enormous.  Though consumer spending seems to be rising very slightly, spending on big ticket items (like weddings) remains mostly flat.

In 2008, when the financial industry began to collapse around itself, a company called Bear Stearns began to experience what can only be called a run on the bank.  Confidence in the bank was shaken, and clients began to withdraw their capital - so much so that the bank was unable to meet it's obligations.  A fire sale was arranged over the weekend and JP Morgan Chase bought the bank for about $1.7B.  

6 Months later, Chase bought WaMu, when it essentially went into insolvency.  Through the entire financial crisis, only one major bank posted profits every quarter: JP Morgan Chase.  Make no mistake, they experienced losses - just like everyone else - in the mortgage, and mortgage-backed securities.  

So what made the difference?  JP Morgan Chase was prepared.  They had a singular focus, on what they call their fortress balance sheet.  They managed risk conservatively, focused on strong loan-loss reserves, and maintained industry high levels of Tier 1 Capital.

So what does all of that mean to you?  A few years ago, our industry was experiencing a boom.  It was relatively easy to get started in this business and make a living.  People had money to spend, and they were spending it on their weddings.  For people who didn't have money, credit was extremely easy to get.  

The result was that most wedding photographers could easily experience the appearance of success.  You didn't have to dot all the "i's" and cross all your "t's" just to survive.  Many photographers actually survived - even thrived - on accident, in spite of themselves.  Best business practices were easy to ignore because we were riding high on the wave.

Then the wave crashed.  For the businesses that HAD done the hard work of building a strong base, things got rough.  For those that HAD NOT done the hard work, things are almost unbearable.  Business WILL fail - that's how market works.  The good news is, your's doesn't have to.

Here's my suggestions for what you can do to fortify the foundation of your business, to not only come out the other side - but be better and stronger.

1. Get a firm grip on your expenses.  If you haven't already - there has never been a better time to understand and manage what it really costs you to be in business.  Spend some time with an accountant that can help you analyze the health of your business.  Get on a plan that will help you prepare to weather the storms financially.  There WILL be a next time - so use this chance to do thing differently.  If you had saved 6-9 months of operating expenses, things would be very different for you today.

2. Invest in your client base.  Cultivate your current clients, and make it VERY easy for them to evangelize for you.  It's always cheaper to grow existing business than it is to find new business.  Additionally, your existing business CAN be a valuable stream of new business.  If there's ever been a time that it matters the way you treat people - this is it!

3. Evaluate Everything. Most of us have at least one - if not more - area of our business that could use some tightening up.  Whether it's workflow, sales process, CRM, whatever - this is an opportune time for you to evaluate what's working and what's not.  

When you consider that efficiency = money, it makes a lot of sense (no pun intended) to look at the things that could be working better and figure out how to make it happen.  It also might be worth it to have someone else take a look with you.  It's hard to be objective when we look at the things we created - even the messes we create.  Ask a close friend to walk through some of your most important processes and ask them for their honest feedback.

4. Understand that your Market has moved. There has been a shift in the market, and the clients you once were targeting aren't in the same place they were a year ago.  This means you need to follow your market (which may mean adjusting your price structure), or find a new market.  The one thing that will guarantee you failure, is to pretend like nothing has changed - and act accordingly.

5. Use your free time wisely. Are you not booking as many jobs?  Do you have less clients?  Ok, let's work with that.  It doesn't mean that it's the end.  It just means you have time that you get to decide what to do with.  Spend some of it on the things I talk about above.  Spend a LOT of it focusing on getting better at your craft.  Start a personal project.  Do pro bono work for a charity group.  You'll never regret spending time on your photography - it is, after all, the thing you do!

Finally, there's NO shame in having to get a part time - or even full time job.  Your first obligation is to yourself and your family.  The bank doesn't care about how hard it is for you to get clients - you still have to pay your mortgage.  Take some time to take stock of where you're at, and develop a plan that works for you.

As I said before, some business won't make it.  Some businesses will be Bear Stearns, or Lehman Brothers.  Wouldn't you rather do whatever you could to be a JP Morgan Chase instead?

FIVE REASONS YOU SHOULDN'T ATTEND THE ONE DAY INTENSIVE

There's a lot of talk about workshops lately.  There's a lot of people that are frustrated by the perceived direction our industry is taking.  There's a lot of strong feelings about different workshops, and whether they offer value to photographers and our industry.  

With that in mind, I want to help share some expectations - to be sure you understand all the reasons you should NOT consider attending a ONE DAY INTENSIVE.

1. You want to become a better photographer.  You won't.  I'm not going to talk about understanding your camera, or composition, or lighting, or post processing.  This isn't a workshop to help you be a better photographer, so if that's what you're looking for - don't bother coming.  

In fact, no workshop will make you a better photographer.  You might learn some good techniques, but in reality - the ONLY way to become a better photographer is to shoot more.  Who cares about your first wedding - I got excited when I had to replace a shutter after 118,000 exposures.   

2. You want to be rich.  Sorry, can't help you there either.  There's no secret to becoming rich.  There's no fast-track or easy road.  Some people get lucky... good for them, but I can't teach you that.  No one can teach you.  By the way, if you're thinking about starting your own small business to get rich, forget it.  95% of them fail.  

3. You want to be like _______ (insert photographer here).  Attending a workshop won't make you anymore like someone else - then visiting the pet store will make you more like a golden retriever.  You won't leave the ODI more like me (and that's good for both of us... trust me).  If you pay money to go to a workshop, hoping that some magic dust will rub off on you, you're fooling yourself and wasting your money.  It doesn't work that way.  

4. You want someone to tell you the short cuts.  Guess what.  The most successful people in ANY field - ANY industry - are the people who work the hardest, for the long haul.  A workshop presenter can help give you tools, but then you have to do the hard work.  There's no secret recipe, and anyone that tells you that there is - well, I think you know what to think about them.

5. You are PASSIONATE about photography.  That's great. I love photography too.  I also really love ice cream, but that doesn't mean I open an ice cream stand.  If you're passionate about photography - by all means, keep taking pictures.  It's a wonderful hobby :)  

BONUS 6. You want to hang out with a SUPER successful rich, super-star photographer.  Sorry, not me.  I run a pretty small business focused on taking care of a small number of clients.  My wife and I drive a 5 year old car, own a nice home, and spend a lot of money on diapers.  Most days, I come home from my studio, and the first thing I do is change a stinky diaper, clean up crayon from the walls, and do the dishes.  I'm just normal.  My life is probably a lot like yours. 

We're not rich.  But I work very hard at treating my business like a business, and it exists to support my family.  Our business does really well, and we have wonderful clients.  I get to shoot some really wonderful weddings, and I love that I get paid well to do what I do.  But, let's be realistic - I run a studio in a town of 7,500 people.  If you think that this workshop is going to be about how much money I spend on cars, or sunglasses, or new camera gear - you'll be disappointed.

By the way, you can get a LOT of the information I talk about by reading this FREE blog.  So why would anyone come?  I can only think of one reason:

You want to build a business around this photography thing you do that supports the life you want to live.  

You want to learn about best practices that you can use as you work HARD to do it right.  You want to take care of your family by building something real.  You might struggle with understanding how to control your expenses, set up your business, rationalize your pricing, managing your client experience, or sales.  You're willing to invest your time by spending a day digging deep.  This is no fluff.  It's not a feel good workshop.  It's not "fun."  

WHAT DID YOU SAY?

On my flight out to WPPI earlier this month, I sat in front of a photographer I have never met.  In fact, I don't remember what his name is.  That's probably good.  He was talking to the woman sitting next to him, about how he was a photographer.  They clearly didn't know each other, and he was talking about his business and his photography.  

It's hard not to eavesdrop when you hear someone talking on an airplane - especially when they do the same thing as you.  As I listened though, I really wanted to be able to stop.  I really wanted to make their whole conversation stop.  As I listened, I heard this guy talk about himself - and his business - in a way that made me cringe.  I listened as he bad-mouthed past clients that he hated working with.  I listened as he talked about the awards he'd won as a photographer.  I listened as he talked about his perspective on other photographers. 

In his mind, I'm sure he was saying all the right things, but he CLEARLY had no idea how he was coming across to the girl next to him (or the rest of us who could hear him).  

Sometimes I say things I shouldn't.  Sometimes I say things, and even though they are true, I really should have thought a little harder before I opened my mouth.  Sometimes I think about something for the business, and my tendency is to just do it!  Sometimes I get irked by things, and I want to say exactly what I think at that very moment.  But I don't.

Just about everything I post on this blog, or on my photography blogs, gets read first by my wife Beth.  Whenever I have an idea of something I'd like to do for the business, I run it by her.  Anytime I want to make a large purchase, or start a new marketing campaign, or order new sample canvases for the studio - you guessed, we talk about it.

Now, she's my wife, so the success or failure of the business has a direct impact on her life - so it's certainly reasonable that she might want to know what's going on.  Here's the thing though.  I don't have her read this blog because I want her to approve it.  I don't run things by her because I need her to say yes before I can make decisions.  I do it because she's my filter.  She helps me filter things that I say or do.  She brings another perspective and that's helpful to me. 

As artists and entrepreneurs, we often get so wrapped up in our world - and our ideas - that it can be difficult to balance them against reality.  When you live and breathe something, it's easy to believe that it's the only thing - and even easier to believe that everyone must see things the same way as you.  Having a filter is really important, whether it's your wife, a business partner, a mentor, a coach - someone that knows you, and that you trust.

Do you have a filter?  Do you have someone that helps make you better by giving you another perspective?  Someone that can help you understand how you sound, how you appear, how you are perceived?  I HIGHLY recommend finding a coach or a mentor that you can bounce your ideas off of.  I highly recommend having someone in your life that cares enough about you to speak truth lovingly to you when you need it most.