IT'S NOT WHAT YOU THINK...

/
You have a choice to make.  You have to decide, which is more important: to APPEAR successful, or to actually BE successful.  Once you've decided, act accordingly. 

 

The temptation is great to focus on what others think.  The temptation is strong to "appear" successful.  We want people to think we have it all together.  We want our families, our friends, our peers, our industry and our clients to think we're doing well.  It's pretty natural - all temptation is.  It's our nature.

 

It's actually not bad to "appear" successful.  People are attracted to successful business, it gives us confidence that our experience will go according to our expectations.  The thing is, it seems that there are so many times when the temptation to "appear" successful causes us to skip over actually "being" successful.  

 

We take short cuts.  We focus on the approval of our peers.  We make up stories, and convince ourselves that they are true.  We worry about what people think, and do everything we can to make ourselves look like a huge success.  What if instead we did everything we could to actually BE a huge success.

 

Full disclosure: I DO THIS ALL THE TIME.  We all struggle with it, and anyone who says they don't is lying.  It's why my FILTER is so important!

 

Here's the deal.  It's such a huge waste of time.  If all the energy that was spent on "looking" successful, was spent on "being" successful, imagine what your life would actually be like. 

 

You can't pay for groceries with the appearance of success.

The appearance of success doesn't help you provide for your family.

Eventually, people figure you out.  Every time.

Appearing successful doesn't pay your mortgage. 

 

I care about what people think about me - I can't help it.  I write this blog, and every time I click publish- I wonder what people will think.  The truth is, my business struggles with the same things yours does.  I worry about whether we'll book enough weddings.  I stress over the client meeting I just had, hoping they book.  I get anxious about hard to please clients.  I struggle to manage our expenses so that we can make a good profit.  

 

The bottom line is this:  I work REALLY HARD to actually build a business that will support my family and our life.  I work REALLY HARD to take care of my clients. I'd rather be able to do both of those things, then waste time worrying about what people "think" might be true about my business.  

 

Here's a few other posts that cover this ground and might be interesting to you:

YOUR CLIENTS HAVE A PROBLEM

/

Every time your phone rings, it's because the person on the other end has a problem.  They have a problem - and their hope is that you have a solution.  If they went through the trouble to call you, it's because they believe that you can help solve their problem.  

As a wedding photographer, it's tempting to believe that our clients have a wedding photography problem.  We think 'these people are getting married, and they want some photos taken, that's why they called me.'  Not only that, but they clearly want the best possible photos that they can afford - so they called me, the best in town.  

In fact, more than a wedding PHOTOGRAPHY problem, our industry has tempted us to believe that our clients really have a "wedding PHOTOGRAPHER" problem.  We seduce ourselves into believing that it's about our style, our personality, even our ability to entertain and impress.  We have convinced ourselves that it's really not even about our photography - but about US.

I do think that there is certainly an important connection that we make with our clients.   And I believe that connection helps us to solve their problem.  The mistake we often make is that we're trying to solve a wedding photography, or wedding photographer problem.  It's understandable - since most of clients believe that is their problem as well.  

Unfortunately, it's not.  I think there's a different - deeper - problem that our clients really bring to us.  I believe strongly that the problem isn't that they need pretty pictures of their wedding, it's that they want to remember the way they feel at their wedding.  See, our clients call us because deep down inside, they want to know that they'll be able to experience their wedding every time they look through their album, or watch their slideshow.  

Clients don't hire photographers because they want to remember what their wedding dress looked like - they want to remember what it felt like when they first put it on and looked in the mirror.  They don't need detail shots so they can remember what the reception venue looked like - they want to remember what it felt like to walk in and be surrounded by the people they love most.  They don't care about first dance photos - they care about remembering the first time they embraced as husband and wife.

They come to us because they hope and trust that we'll be able to offer them a solution.  They bring us a huge challenge - to create for them, images that bring them back to the emotion of their wedding day.  

It's about them.  It's about their wedding.  It's about the story that started long before we ever got involved.  It's about the details, the people, the moments, the smells, the light, the color, and the excitement.  It's about everything they've dreamed about, coming to life before them.

When the phone rings, they have a problem.  They want to remember the experience - and the feeling - of their wedding.  Our job is to be the answer to THAT problem.  The photographers who truly succeed, and build businesses full of happy clients, are the photographers who dedicate their craft and their art to solving that problem.

The next time the phone rings - or you get an email inquiry - think about being the solution to the real problem.  What might you do different?  

WHY THEPHOTOSYSTEM IS BAD FOR OUR INDUSTRY

/

I first saw this a few weeks ago.  Then I got an email that it had "launched," and since then, the industry has literally exploded over "ThePhotoSystem," from David Jay.  There are photographers I know and respect on both sides of this issue.  There are established photographers that are raving about it, and some that are screaming "SNAKE OIL!"  The reality is, ThePhotoSystem isn't for those photographers - it's for new photographers.  It's for photographers trying to start out right.  And that's exactly why I think its so dangerous.


Let me say this - I'm not a DJ-hater.  DJ is one of the sharpest marketers in our industry.  This isn't a post about DJ.  It's a post about ThePhotoSystem (TPS).  Regardless of what I - or anyone - thinks of the individual steps, the idea that there are 10 easy steps to starting a photography business is a dangerous proposition.  Why?  Because 95% of small business fail.  

Small businesses don't fail because they don't have enough friends.  They don't fail because they don't smile enough.  They don't fail because they aren't "mother-Theresa" enough.  They fail because they aren't profitable.  And most photographers aren't profitable because they don't understand business.  In fact, The vast majority of photographers really treat their "business" as a hobby.  

The danger to our industry is that TPS creates a false expectation for new photographers.  Now, before you think that I'm some old-timer that is afraid of newbies coming in and taking over, let me remind you that you're reading a free site with a ton of FREE resources designed just for those who are starting, and want to start out right.

Here's why I think TPS is bad for photographers.

1. The biggest problem is that new photographers equate popularity with success.  

The cult-like, status driven state of our industry leads photographers to believe that they should be like the "popular kids," without any respect to the actual success of their business.   ThePhotoSystem is beautifully designed, and full of slick marketing - but low on content.  That's exactly the problem with 95% of the educational materials available to photographers.  So many new photographers flock to listen to the "popular" photographers, without any regard for whether or not they are truly "successful."  Many have successfully built a platform with photographers, but if you really want to learn how to run your business - learn about business.  

2. It disregards the product.  

If all you do is sell your personality, and fail to deliver a quality product (your photography), you're basically a prostitute.   The idea that the work you produce is less important than the friends you make is a tragedy.  The real challenge - and what separates the best from the rest, is that the best can take a GREAT product and wrap it in an even better client experience.  The very best have spent YEARS building their craft, and years getting better at photography.  All the marketing and friends in the world won't make up for terrible photography.  Sure, it might for a while - but eventually your friends will get sick of bad photos.

3. It perpetuates the lie that there is a "fast-track" to success.

Everyone wants to be super-successful, NOW.  The beautiful thing about our industry is that it's open to anyone.  Anyone can become a photographer.  Anyone can learn the craft and build a business if they're willing to work really, really hard.  TPS gives the false impression that you can boil a lot of hard work into 10 easy steps.  In reality, it takes years of hard work to build something that will add value to your clients - and your own life. 

There are plenty of examples of over-night success stories.  Except that there really aren't.  There aren't any over-night success stories, we just think there are.  Most of the people who built something successful were hard at work for years before anyone noticed - or before it really took off.   We're attracted to instant success because that's what we want.  The problem is that, most often, success isn't instant.  In fact, many times what we think is success, really isn't.