So you want to be a full time photographer – what have you done in the past week?
Human nature has us doing the things we love, and avoiding the things we don’t.
If we hate sales, we’ll let the customer control the entire buying process.
If we hate networking, we’ll wait around for the phone to ring.
The trouble is, as a business owner, you can’t wait for things to happen, or you won’t be in business for very long. You have to control the situation, and make sure everything comes to you.
So my question to you is, “what have you done in the past week?”
To find out, take out a notebook and record everything you do this coming week. Don’t leave anything out. Even if it seems trivial, write it down. You may find things like:
- answering email – 30 minutes
- shopping for camera equipment – 60 minutes
- surfing websites – 60 minutes
- photoshopping sample photographs – 50 minutes
- talking on phone – 45 minutes
- buying office supplies – 50 minutes
- and so on
Now that you have your list, what does it say about your business? Are you doing things to grow your business, or just plain busy work?
While you do have to spend time on the above mentioned items, if your entire week looks like that, you’re not accomplishing goals that will grow your business. You should have things like:
- networking function – 90 minutes
- mailing postcards – 45 minutes
- cold calling – 30 minutes
- trade show booth – 1 day
Most of your time should be devoted to revenue earning tasks – or your business will no longer exist in a mere few months.
Now that you’ve seen what you’ve been doing with your week, try and write goals for the following week. Change your tasks to revenue tasks – and stick with it. Your business will thank you.
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