I don’t like being stuck with a lot of down time, but the advantage this time around was the opportunity to allow the creative juices flow without the normal day-to-day hindrances. The no.2 was working feverishly with all kind of notes and layout sketches recorded in the book I use for creative ideas and business.
I will cut to the chase. People today are focused on making boat loads of money with the make it fast get rich schemes that don’t work. I constantly get junk email about claim this 5.2 million dollars, I want someone to partner with to invest this $$. Join the XXXX network where you can make millions of $$. The successful business people I know or have known over the years didn’t make their money overnight so to speak. If something happened where they had a substantial increase in their income, it was a windfall.[singlepic id=650 w=420 h=340 mode=watermark float=right]
I have learned over the years that establishing yourself in business not matter the type takes patience and dedication. The beginnings will try the patience of a saint. This all seems common sense but in this day and age starting a business in this economy takes a more concerted effort to be successful and survive.
I learned over the many years of my life you have to have something written down on what you are going to do in life, a plan, or series of goals. You want your own business so you take those visions and fold them into a business plan, which is the outline and foundation of how you will do what you do and how you will market what you do.
Having a plan, as a photographer, is important since we typically see a myriad of things that have no semblance of coherence until the very end. In a photo shoot, it is okay. Some days things don’t come together like it should because of the lack of a plan. When it comes to marketing, uh, you will fall flat on your face. So, the business plan brings some direction of the who, where, and what. It doesn’t bring the exact details of a marketing plan, like if you will have ads in a magazine or on a billboard.
I think of the next item that I have discussed before, is to know who you are and to understand your artistic voice. If you don’t have this nailed down, it is something critical that you work on. It is a project that is never finished though we constantly grow and mature. I know many people who try to go out and market themselves but they are all over the place when it comes to the work they do. I know I was like that last year, landscape, almost documentary images of remote locations and portraits. There wasn’t any focus because I didn’t know what I wanted to say with my work. I have come to know that I like a particular style of shooting and I realize the types of subjects I like to shoot. I sucks that it took me a year to find it!
If I consider all that precedes this, I know it takes time to develop and have success. I am not saying it takes countless years of struggle. I think anyone can become established, and be successful in a short amount of time. I think, it can be done in a year or so, if they focus on the important long term things instead of the short term. If you survive more than three years, you should be ecstatic because you will have sustained your initial vision and now need to rewrite/update your business plan so it will reflect and project the years to come.
When you look at life today you see the younger generation that is out there, they are kids of the gotta have it now generation. You see it by the focus on Itunes, Ipod, Iphones, and now the Ipad. I use the Apple products as an example because they have found extreme success in marketing to the now generation. You can pick any cellular provide and see they have a focus on converting the parents towards the gotta have it now generation, for that matter there are millions that have been converted, the evidence lies in the failure of the mortgage industry and the collateral economic failure we have experienced.
So make a plan, know who you are and stick to it. You will find success.
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