How To Follow The Path To Failure

What’s the most common question people have when they decide to become professional photographers?

“How do I become a successful photographer?”

Yet that question is impossible for anyone other than the photographer to answer. And if I tried to answer it for them, I would quickly put them on the path to failure. Here’s why.

You see, everyone has their own vision of success.

One person may see a business that brings in enough income they can stay home with the kids. They photograph portraits a few times a week, and charge just enough to bring in enough income to pay the bills.

The next person may choose to become the most well known photographer in the world. They want to travel around the world, sell their images to the best publications, and give presentations in the highest places possible.

These two people would both be considered a success if they achieved the goals they have for themselves. Yet if I tried to define success for them in generic terms, I could never have  accomplished it.

So, if you want to follow the path to failure, buy a guide to success from a photographer and try to follow his advice down to the detail.

But if you want to create a path to success, use these strategies to move you forward

Read as many success guides as you can, and use them to define your own goals

The easiest way to find success is to follow in someone else’s footsteps. Let face it, its all been done before. Someone has made a lot of money as a portrait photographer, a wedding photographer, an app developer, and an album designer. If you can think it, you can find someone who has found success doing what you’re dreaming about.

Even though they have blazed the trail before you, you probably have key issues with the way they do things. You may be targeting a different set of clients, be in a different area, or have different desires. Because you are starting out now, and they may have years or even decades of experience, you’ll probably approach things a bit different. That’s okay. That’s what gives you your unique twist on things, and will help you blaze your own trail. [Read more…]

12 Life Lessons Perfect For A Celebration

I found a post a couple of days ago that I immediately resonated with. In the post, Leo celebrated his birthday by offering his 38 life lessons. And as I read through each one, I realized how much impact it had on me with my birthday being just a few days later.

I decided that reflecting back on the life you’ve lived can only help you move forward, and get one step closer to accomplishing the things you’ve hoped to achieve in our short time here on earth. Like Leo, I too feel like I’ve barely begun. There’s so much left to do!

So today is my birthday. Over the last couple of days, I’ve come up with a few things – 12 in fact – that I’ve tended to follow to get me where I am today. Hope you enjoy!

1. Be happy. I once heard someone say that if you are constantly striving to be happy, you’ll never achieve it. If there is always another goal, another “thing” needed to be truly happy, every time you get that “thing”, you’ll add something else to the list. This completely changed my mindset, and I pretty much enjoy every day now and what it has to offer.

2. Be authentic. Have you ever met a “fake” person? They are hard to miss. They are always changing and acting in different ways, trying to fit in with the crowd. If you can’t accept yourself, how can you expect others to accept you? So the only way to do it is to march to the tune of your own drummer, and ask people to join your parade if they feel it too. I figure with 6 billion people in the world, it should be fairly easy to get a few thousand to march along with you – and my theory has worked pretty well so far. [Read more…]

How To Give Your Photography Business A Spring Cleaning

I love this time of year. The trees are flowering. The grass is turning green. And with the gorgeous 70 degree days, nothing is better than heading out and cleaning out the gardens, getting ready for a new year of living outside every chance we get.

While much of my weekends and afternoons are spent outside in the gardens right now, I’m also spending an equal amount of time on the inside, looking at my business.

Have you heard the phrase, “two steps forward, one step back”? I like to spring clean by keeping that phrase in mind.

If you spend any time in the garden, you know some things grow, and some things don’t. Especially in cold climates like Colorado, some things make it well over the winter months, and some things die out. We plant all summer long, then spend the springtime looking over the garden, evaluating what came back, and what didn’t. Sometimes it means pulling out old to make room for the new.

The same applies to your business.

Every year, I come up with new ideas, design new promotions, plan new products and services, and release a lot of new things to my clients and prospects. Some things stick. Some don’t.

But while its okay to try new things, you also have to take a step back occasionally and make sure things are running efficiently. Are there things you can change that would make your business even better? Can you add things? Delete things?

Review Your Goals

By now you know I’m a huge planner, and goal setting is a necessity to stay on track. I talk about it again and again.

Is There Any Such Thing As An Impossible Goal?

5 Questions That Will Make You A Successful Photographer In 2011

Do You Want The Photography Life Or The Photography Lifestyle?

While its good to set up goals on a regular basis, it’s also a good idea to review and change them along the way.

I’ve read books that show you how to set up 100 year goals. And I’ve also read books that state setting goals for anything beyond a couple of years is a hindrance, because things simply change too fast. My views fall somewhere in the middle.

I agree that to set up long term goals of several years can be difficult in today’s marketplace. Technology changes and becomes obsolete every few months. Yet you have to understand your long term plans in order to set things in place today. [Read more…]

How To Create a To Do List You Actually Stick With and Do

This post is Day 7 of 30 Ways In 30 Days To Redesign Your Life With Photography. This series seeks to provide you with practical steps to get you from wherever you are today, to exactly where you want to be – this year! If your goal has always been to take your photography to a whole new level, hang on and start enjoying a new lifestyle you’ve always dreamed of.

“My issue is with setting “to do” lists. I can set great goals and even know exactly what I need to do to get there – no problem. But when it comes to actually carrying out the steps I know I should take – I fail. I find items just staying on the list day after day.  I’d be interested in hearing how you go about making your to do lists and how you make sure you complete everything.”
Travis

As I was gearing up for today’s post, I went over to Google to see how many results would rank under “to do lists”. Close to 600 million entries appeared for this search phrase. And the suggested related searches ranged from “printable to do lists”, “to do lists iphone”, “to do lists templates” and “to do list software”. Obviously there are many issues related to just a standard to do list, and it really comes as no surprise.

As a society, we’ve achieved overload. We try and accomplish more in one day than people were doing in a month a few decades ago. It is estimated that a week’s worth of the New York Times contains more information than a person was likely to come across in a lifetime in the 18th century. We are at information overload, and we simply don’t know how to control it all.

Add into the equation the need and desire to get more done. Our families have demands, friends have demands, jobs have demands, and then we add in the desire to start up a new venture. Something has to give, and it can only be sleep for so long before our health pays the price.

I once attended a seminar in which the presenter said something that really stuck with me.

Everyone has 24 hours a day. Some people learn how to use those 24 hours more effectively than others. You and Bill Gates both have the same timeframe; Bill has figured out how to get more done within that time frame, and therefore is more productive throughout the day.

When I heard that, I went on a quest to find out how I could get more done every day, and enjoy every minute of the day as well. I’ve taken a ton of organization management classes over the years, and have read a lot of books on the subject. While I don’t consider myself an expert on the subject, I do know how to get things done. And what I’ve discovered is: [Read more…]

7 Things I Wish I Knew When I Was 22

It’s been a year or two since I was 22. (Okay, maybe three or four.) But as I graduated college and started down the path of life, I remember thinking the world was all mine. I was going to get a great job, quickly earn my millions, travel anywhere, any time, and in general live the life everyone wants to live.

Well things obviously changed from my original 22 year old goals. A Lot! And that’s okay, because right now I wouldn’t change a thing. Yet if I had five minutes to go back and tell my 22 year old self a thing or two, this is probably the advice I would give.

1. Don’t worry about picking a “perfect” career right now. Instead, pick something you can learn from. If you want to travel more, get a job on a cruise ship for a year. Your life isn’t cast in stone at 22. Have fun and play around with the jobs you take. It will only help you later in life.

2. Stop with the credit cards, and build up your savings. Invest, invest, invest. Okay, I’ll admit when Andrew and I first got married, we bought a townhome for $30,000. Man I wish I still had that townhome and was collecting rent. And stocks? Why didn’t we invest in Microsoft or Apple? Its fun to look back and dream, but I would definitely tell myself to jump in a lot earlier.

3. Do what is right for you. It’s hard moving away and getting out of your comfort zone. But the time you spend with friends and family will change along the way anyway. Instead of focusing on what you have, focus on what you could have once in a while too.

At one point in our photography career, Andrew and I had the chance to move to Phoenix to start up another photography business. Because our daughter was young and set in a great school environment, we chose not to do it – and are kicking ourselves now. It would have been a great opportunity. Yes, things worked out well staying and doing what we are doing now. But we always wonder “what if” we would have jumped at something entirely new.
[Read more…]