Every morning I sit down at the computer with my hot tea and start reading. I go through my Twitter account and find out what people are saying. I read the ezines that have come through my email. And I read through my RSS feeds looking at the latest blog posts of around 50 or so of my favorite blogs. That sets me up for my day of
writing and consulting.
Today one of the ezines I read was all about finding the right path to go down. It told a story of a newbie who attended a conference, looking for advice on how to start his business and get it to the point where he could walk away from his corporate life, and make this his full time income.
The problem wasn’t in finding advice – there were 5 gurus there, all selling their own strategies and systems.
The problem didn’t lie in his efforts – he was on 17 different email lists, trying to capture tidbits of information from each of them.
The problem was in the overload. Every time he would start out following one piece of advice, another “tip” would come in and contradict the first piece of advice. So he would abandon the first path, and jump onto the second.
After a month or two of doing this, you can imagine how many paths he had created, and how far he had gotten in growing his business. The abandoned paths would look like an intricate spider web if you put them all together.
- He tried many things, but never found success because he didn’t work them long enough.
- He eventually tried the same things over and over again, but never took the time to complete one path.
- His business stood in the same position – barely off the ground – because of his lack of focus and lack of seeing anything to the end.
The problem isn’t finding a ton of information on whatever you are looking for. The problem is focusing in on which piece of information to choose to follow, and using that to completion.
As a photographer, you probably read a ton of information out there telling you to do this, or to do that.
Send out postcards.
No, don’t send postcards, they’re too expensive. Jump on Facebook.
No, don’t use Facebook. Facebook has rights to your pictures, and you’ll lose your status. Try a blog.
And on it goes. Its no wonder photographers are confused.
Instead of becoming overwhelmed and creating a short path to nowhere, I suggest you choose one path, focus, and follow it through. Will it work for you? The only way to find out is to see it through to the end, and follow the steps exactly as they are laid out for you.
Don’t get lost in the next great idea. Close off your email, and shut down the idea flow. Put things into a file for later use. Don’t let things push you off the path you are currently trying to create.
Choose your path, and stay on it till the end before starting in on a new path. You’ll be amazed at how quickly you’ll find success.
[Photography For Success, Freedom and Income is the perfect path for a start up photographer looking to move into the business full time. If you’re ready to make photography your path, get started in our 6-month coaching program.]
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