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The response was overwhelming.
I got three main types of reactions to it.
First, people were emailing thanking me for the insight, saying that it made them see that they can’t keep competing for the low-end of the market and that they are finally ready to take the steps towards profitable pricing. Totally makes all the tips I share worthwhile.
Second, people were thanking me for all the daily nuggets that I share for free that never end up here on the blog. (If you’re not on it, you’re missing out big time. Sign up for them using the form at the end of this post).
Third, lots of people shared how they were thinking about throwing in the towel and closing down their business, because no matter how hard they tried, they just couldn’t get the clients they needed or make the money they were hoping to make even after several years sometimes.
If this is you, you’re not alone.
I just want to sit down with these people, give them a hug, and then do a brutally honest business consultation. We’d dig into each aspect of their business and help them create a plan to turn their businesses around.
Unfortunately, my schedule just won’t allow it right now. There’s just not enough time at the moment.
So instead, I’m writing this post to share at least the first few things you need to be thinking through if you’re considering closing your doors. It’s not everything, it’s not even close to touching all the aspects that it could, but they are some of the most common mistakes I see photographers making that could turn things around.
So let’s dive right in.
Are you expecting too much too quickly?
Building a successful photography business takes time.
Lots of it.
This isn’t something that comes together in a matter of weeks or even months.
It took us about 3 years to grow profitable for both my husband and I to be able to do photography full-time and leave our jobs behind, and that was really fast compared to many people I’ve talked to.
Have you really given your business the time it needs to reach your goals?
Are you actively marketing your business in the right ways?
Many photographers believe that if they can get just one ideal client who lets them take amazing photos to put on their blog that they’ll magically start attracting lots more paying clients who will want the same.
No single session alone is going to get you lots of clients.
You can use these ideal shoots to help attract more ideal clients, but not without lots of marketing in the right places and at the right times.
And it’s rarely going to turn your business around.
You need an active marketing plan that you are working on all the time, and you need to be testing and tracking it to make sure it’s effective.
In fact, you should likely be doing more marketing than shooting until your client base grows large enough to sustain you.
But not all marketing is the same. If your only marketing strategy is tagging clients in photos you post to a Facebook page, you’re not going to get the clients you need.
How have your marketing efforts been working? What could you be doing better? How could you better reach your ideal client?
Are you treating your business like a business or a hobby?
If you aren’t treating your photography like a real business and haven’t invested in the essentials such as getting legal, getting insurance, knowing your numbers, using contracts, and ditching the free blog for a professional photography website, why should anyone else take your business seriously?
If you’re treating it like a hobby and not a business, other people will look at it like a hobby, too.
Too many people think they can “try it out” before “buying into being a real business” and that’s not going to get you anywhere. If you don’t take your biz seriously, no one else will either.
Starting a Facebook page does not make you a business. You’ve got to get your ducks in a row and start treating your business like a veritable business and get the essentials in place.
Are you running a real business or are you treating it like a hobby? What do you need to do to take it more seriously?
Do your business a big favor…
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