Are You Lying: Is It A Hobby Or Is It A Photography Business?

At what stage are you in with your business? Are you a start up or have you been at it for years?

Would you classify yourself as a hobby or as a business?

While many photographers like to think of themselves as business owners, in fact they are nothing more than hobbyists. What’s the difference between a hobby and a business?

In reality only one thing separates the two: money.Are You Lying Is It A Hobby Or Is It A Photography Business

Hobbyists don’t care about how much they make. Businesses track for profits.

Hobbies are something we do on the side after work.

Businesses are something we do to bring in full time income and we work hard to bring in as much profit as possible.

So if you have been working on the side for years now, calling yourself a business owner, in reality you may be missing the one thing that could change your entire approach.

It’s a trap we get into when we can’t take our business to the next level.

You do enough to feel good about what you’re doing, but you’re not getting results.

You’re not doing the right things to do truly big things.

And because its always holding you back, you’re not able to take things to the next level.

Passion does not equal success.

You can be passionate about a lot of things. But loving something doesn’t mean you’re good at it. And it doesn’t mean you’ll become great at it. Especially great enough that you can turn it into something that gives you a significant lifestyle increase.

Ultimately, it’s because hobbyists concentrate on what they like to do – they like to take pictures, they like to buy new camera gear. And they avoid the not-so-fun things that could move them forward – marketing, sales and running the business.

If you only do things that are fun at the expense of doing things that make money, you need to rewire the way you do things.

It’s like throwing darts against the wall and seeing what sticks. You have no plan, no idea of what to do next. You let fate guide your way.

So what are you doing wrong? There are two main areas where hobbyists tend to stay.

One – The Market

If you don’t have a clear market or you are so attached to the market you are going after, even though they can’t give you the success you should have, you are being held back. Maybe you’ve always enjoyed your current group of clients, even though they no longer are willing to pay what you’re worth. You stay anyway hoping someday they will change.

Two – The System

You don’t have systems in place to track and create money.

What makes business work are the systems within the business itself. It’s the plan you have in place, the steps you take to achieve results, and the ideas that help you move from one level to the next.

The stronger the system, the more success.

But maybe you’ve tried to build a more successful business. You’ve bought a few training programs, or invested in a few coaches. You put a few things into place, but nothing every worked.

It isn’t because the system didn’t work. Its because you never followed through with one program and saw it all the way through to fruition.

It’s a complete waste of time, money and energy to keep investing in different programs, hoping to find something that will work. It isn’t the coach, it isn’t the program, it’s the fact that you aren’t putting the items into place.

If you buy programs, they should be complementary and work together to help you create the overall business model that will help you succeed. For example, one to help you manage your sales process more efficiently, and one to help you market stronger. Together they improve your business tenfold.

Can you move from a hobbyist to a successful business? Of course. All it takes is a different course of action.

Are you ready?

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clientexperience@todaysgrowthconsultant.com' About Virtual Photography

We're the co-founders of VirtualPhotographyStudio.com and have been writing on this blog since 2004. We started Virtual as a way to help photographers stretch beyond a part time income, and develop strategies to become a Five Figure Photographer or a Six Figure Photographer. Ultimately its all about lifestyle, and if your goal is to live as a photographer 24/7, we think you should have the knowledge and the tools to do so. Welcome!