This will not be a doom and gloom post, but I did want to start out as a reminder that none of us are promised tomorrow. I am reminded of that with my wife’s cousin who is several years younger than I am who is not expected to make it through 2017 due to a battle with cancer and nothing short of a miracle from God. However, we all still have to plan as if we are fortunate enough to go on living our lives and running our businesses.

As 2016 winds down, it’s that time of year when we all typically make resolutions which can be made at anytime throughout the year. However, I think with a new year on the horizon that it’s easier to ask ourselves what we can learn from the passing year and what will be different in the coming year?

I decided near the end of 2015 to write a blog post per day in 2016 which I did for about 6 months. But I began to realize that it was more of doing than being strategic. In other words, being able to say that I wrote a blog post everyday for a year vs. being strategic about the why and realizing the recommended length of a blog posts has changed over time. It is now recommended that posts be 2,000+ words. Although I can go on and on pretty well (just ask anyone who knows me), this blog post will likely break just over 1,000 words not 2,000+ words. I’m currently about 250 words into the post now to give you a feel of that. So should I not even bother to write a post unless it’s 2,000+ words?

Blogging is something that I plan to continue doing in 2017. It’s a critical part of our website, our business strategy and blogging also provides a nice outlet for me in the written word. I actually really enjoy writing especially when it’s on a topic that I’m passionate about like photography and video.

What will I do different in 2017?

I’ve learned from both mistakes and successes in 2016 that I plan to use both to my advantage in 2017.

For example, I ran Yelp ads for the first 6 months of 2016. I primarily did it because of two key reasons: 1) A key competitor was and still is running Yelp ads. However, although we cross over in some areas, this competitor targets a key consumer market that I do not. Maybe the ads are paying off in that area. 2) To shut Yelp reps up. Yes, I spent money to prove whether I felt Yelp ads worked or not to be able to tell any future irritating Yelp reps, “I paid for ads for 6 months. I was not happy. Have a nice day.” or something along those lines. Unless there is some very compelling reason, I have ZERO intentions of running Yelp ads in 2017 or for that matter, the next several years.

One of the key ah-ha moments that resonated throughout 2016 is all the potential business in under a 5 mile radius of our business location. It’s easy to get caught up in targeting the whole Triangle area when there is a lot of business in less than 10 minutes of our physical location off of Six Forks Road.

Another key take away from 2016 is doing more of the projects that I truly love in 2017. I’ve discovered the type of work that I truly love doing and want to do more of that in 2017.

One final mistake is camera mishaps. In both 2015 and 2016, I’ve had too many drops to the ground with cameras. It always has to do with something not being secure enough like the camera not locked into the tripod as good as it should be which recently caused $600 worth of damage which was discounted from $900 thanks to my Platinum membership with Canon Professional Services. I definitely need fewer mishaps like that in 2017.

A core goal for 2017 is…

Yes, I’ll admit it. I’m way behind on having an active YouTube Channel. Since we have all the elements built into our business like videography and video editing, it’s all a matter of setting priorities in 2017 and making it happen. Although I could write all the reasons (excuses) here, it would be a waste of my time and yours. Getting tutorial type videos and helpful client videos done within our company is a core goal for 2017 and it will happen barring anything unforeseen.

Here’s some advice to anyone who didn’t have the kind of year he or she wanted in 2016…

1) Prioritize – If it’s important, you’ll make it happen in 2017.

2) Find your why! Why do you really want to do what you think you want to do? Is it passion? Is it money? Why?

3) Stop letting gear stop you. If you cannot afford that lens you want, you’ll have to rent it and either take the hit on the project or pad the rental into your fee. Do the best you can with the gear you have. I have a friend in another market that has generated thousands of dollars off of headshots with cheap strobes that have more than paid for themselves. He also doesn’t edit to my wife’s level for headshots, but uses Portrait Pro to bang out a quick edit and keep his clients happy.

4) Stop whining and start marketing: Marketing is not easy and it’s not always free. You’ll have to figure out whether you want to beat the pavement and market your business or try to spend money to get the phone to ring. Marketing will cost you time at minimum and very likely money. The problem is that there is no magic bullet. So you may want to start with resources online about marketing like marketing blogs and free tips. Then, go out and do the low cost things.

5) Invest when you can. I’m not encouraging anyone reading this to go into debt and max out their credit cards. But I am encouraging anyone reading this to invest in training, gear, marketing and more as best possible when possible because without some kind of financial investment, it is very hard to grow a business.

If #1 to #5 above are not for you, it may be better to work for a company doing what you love than trying to build your own business. That’s up to you, but let 2017 be the year that you decide to get off the fence whether that is rocking your own business which will not be easy but is also possible or working with someone else.

FYI, this blog post is just over 1,100 words at this point. Congrats if you have read it to the end. Imagine how much longer it would be if there were another 900+ words to get it to the 2,000+ recommended.

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I’ve pulled out 11 ( bundled two of them ) of the 14 points from the blog post that I noted at the top of this blog post. I’m going to write my own words on this topic which I hope you find helpful.

1) Stop being a gear hound. 
You don’t have to buy the latest, greatest photography gear every time something new hits the market. It’s true that gear can make a difference, but it’s also true that gear can put you in a financial jam.

The person behind the camera is what matters. Will the gear really make you a better photographer?

Here are some questions to ask yourself before buying new gear?
1) Will the new piece of gear make me more money?
2) Is the new piece of gear a WANT or a NEED?
3) Can I truly take my work to the next level with a new piece of gear?
4) Am I doing my absolute best with the gear I currently own?
5) How often do I rent this piece of gear and is it better to own it?
6) Can I pay cash for a new piece of gear? How will that hinder my cash flow?
7) Realistically, being 100% honest, how long will it take to recoup a new gear purchase?

2) You’ve got a phone—why keep the number a mystery? 
I personally know a photographer that does amazing work that only has a form on his website and not his phone number. I think that is a mistake, but it’s not my business.

How do you feel when you go to a website that only has a form on it and no phone number? How much business do you close by phone vs. email?

Yes, we are in the internet world of online communication, but I had still rather talk on the phone than email. One of the top compliments that I get on a regular basis is either answering my phone or how quick I return calls.

Does that mean I’m not busy? No, I am swamped most of the time, but the phone is my MONEY MAKER not email.

3) Got a listening disorder?
Although I feel like closing is one of my strong points, I’m willing to admit that I need to get better about this. It would likely help me close even more projects.

We all have two ears and one mouth which means that we should listen twice as much as we talk. The goal is to listen more to the client than talk about you. Yes, you have to sell yourself, but make sure you listen to what the client needs.

4) “There isn’t time to blog more often.”
As an avid blogger, I know personally how blogging can be. The bottom line is that consistency is key and there is no need to have a blog if you cannot post on it regularly.

Blogging is free, except for your time, and it can help with being found online. There are numerous benefits to blogging that outweigh not blogging. However, you must be consistent about your blogging.

Although many people say write at least two posts per week, I say that it’s better to do 12 weeks in a row of once per week if that’s what you can consistently maintain. At the end of a year, that’s 52 blog posts if you can stay consistent with one per week.

5) Think quality, not quantity.
Like #3, this is another one that I need to work on, but I have started making progress recently on it.

It’s better to have 20 of your top images in a gallery than 200 mediocre. So revisit the work you are sharing and try to only share your top images because quality beats quantity.

6) “I’m a natural light specialist.”
This one gets me and I know from training other photographers that many new photographers do not know how to use strobe lighting indoors or out.

Yes, natural light is beautiful. Yes, you can use natural light. BUT don’t let “I’m a natural light specialist” be your reason for not learning how to use a speedlite (flash) and studio strobes. Most of the time, I believe the photographers saying this are saying it because they don’t know how to properly use artificial lighting.

FYI, it can make a HUGE difference in your business and drive your revenue up.

7)  “I can’t afford backup gear.”
I am 100% with what Skip says on this one. Stop calling yourself a professional photographer if you don’t have backup gear.

There are things that CANNOT be redone like a WEDDING. If you cannot afford to buy backup gear, then you must, not optional, rent backup gear if you are photographing things that can never be repeated.

Even if you are on an assignment that could be rescheduled due to gear failure, time is money and your client will likely not be very happy if you have to reschedule due to gear failure.

In my case, I travel all over the US and cannot be 1,000+ miles from home with no backup gear on a multi-day assignment.

Are you truly a professional or not? Professionals either own or rent back up gear. PERIOD!

8) “Yeah, I took all of those images.”
I’ve taught classes and have the lighting already setup. I photograph the model then let the student photograph the model. If the student cannot reproduce the lighting setup, the student should not put the work in his or her portfolio.

If you know lighting and/or can reproduce what you learned in a class that you shot images in, that’s great. Just be sure you are not showing portfolio work that you would be hard pressed to reproduce.

9) “Let it go, let it go!” and I heard it through the grapevine.
I combined two of the 14 points in this one.

It’s easy to get pulled in to online comments because there are so many that are outright DUMB. I will admit that I have and do read plenty of them, but I typically (95%+) stay out of the conversation. I’m too busy to get caught up in it all. It’s really just a waste of time.

As a professional, you should stay away from rumors. It’s not good business to get caught up in rumors. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. I doubt you’d want anyone running you down and spreading rumors, so don’t do it to others. It’s just not good business.

10) “That’s good enough.”
The day that you say that all your work is good enough is the day that you stop growing as a photographer.

Don’t be so overly critical of your work that you lose confidence. However, you should always strive to improve your photography and try new things.

Although clients may not be hiring you for the creative assignments that you want, you can and should do your own personal assignments to help you get to the next level and have new work in your portfolio.

The End!

Yes, I could write more and add even more avoidable things. However, I’ll stop for now. Please use the social icons below to SHARE THIS and/or comment on this post.

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Assuming that you want to grow your business in size and not get smaller, you are limited by being a solopreneur. In other words, there is only so much growth you can have by doing all the work yourself like shooting, editing, marketing and so many of the other things that being a solopreneur requires.

Just last week, our photography and video group in Raleigh had a guest speaker: Elyse with SixFigureSalesCoaching.com recommended that each of us figure out our average hourly wage and decide on what tasks may be able to be delegated to someone else thus freeing up time to work on higher level tasks. For example, if someone makes $50,000 per year, that works out to be $24.03 an hour (based on 50K/52 Weeks/40 Hours). So if my time or your time is worth $24.03 an hour, why should me or you be doing a task that we can pay someone to do for $10, $12 or even $15 an hour especially if delegating a task will get the business to the next level by freeing up time for high level tasks that can create more revenue and profits.

What are the things that you do now that could be delegated? Editing, Social Media, Running Errands, etc. Try to make a list of all those things and ask yourself “What if I paid someone to do this task? What else could I do with my time to get to the next level?”

This post, like many of my blog post, was sparked by what Elyse said above but also a fellow photographer that I had coffee with this morning who is still doing pretty much everything from A to Z himself. He is doing well, but like any soloprener, especially in photography and video, he has a cap based on how many hours there are in a day and how much one person can do while maintaining a work life balance.

I have always loved good ol basic math (not Algebra). The type of math that is used in the everyday business like add, subtract, multiple, divide and percentages. For example, if a photographer offers a service that he or she is charging $225 for and 90 minutes of that is editing, what if that photographer paid a student at one of the local colleges (Living Arts College in Raleigh and The Art Institute of Durham) that has solid editing skills $12 an hour to edit for 90 minutes? That’s $18 which is a new expense that comes off the $225 which leaves the photographer a gross margin of $207. However, what if this same photographer added just one more $225 project per week (not per day) and that project could cover all the 90 minute editing for the week: $225 / $12 an hour = 18 hours and 45 minutes of editing which is about (12) 90 minute editing projects based on 90 minutes per project. The photographer could potentially break even while freeing up all those editing hours.

What could freeing up 18 to 20 hours per week do for your business especially if your total out of pocket was about $1,000 per month? How much more revenue could you generate by paying out $1,000 per month for tasks that are not at your pay grade? Do you see this as an expense or as a way to grow?

Now, what’s your next move?

If you have any questions, please email me at David [@] DWPPC [dot] com. Please feel free to connect with me on Social Media:

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I specifically said small because I’m not going to go over 600 square feet in this post for two key reasons: 1) Monthly Rent 2) Most photographers reading this will likely not jump into 1,000+ square feet right out of the gate unless the photographer has been steadily running a growing home based studio.

I know several photographers that stay very busy without having a studio in their home or outside their home. I know other photographers that have home based studios (Dining Room, Garage, etc.). I don’t actually personally have a close relationship with any photographers in the Raleigh market that have a studio in a business district with a commercial lease. Since Brenda and I run a studio in a business district outside of our home, I thought a blog post about about a studio outside the home might be beneficial to any photographer considering that as an option for their business.

Below are several key questions to ask yourself:

1) Do I want a studio or need a studio outside of my home? There is a difference. If you want a studio, then you have to think deeper about the question which I will not cover here. I’ll let you list out all the reasons that you want a studio.

If you need a studio, that means that you are losing business by not having a studio and/or that you desperately need to expand your business based on your current growth rate.

2) Do I have enough ongoing business to support the rent for a studio until the studio can support itself? One key reason some photographers debate about opening a studio outside their home is additional overhead and whether they can afford it. That’s a valid question. Based on talking with a friend of mine in the Atlanta area, I think he has enough revenue to support a studio outside his home and could grow his business even more without the studio initially supporting itself.

3) How much space to I need for a studio? This is a difficult question to answer which ties to location, cost, area of focus, etc. For example, if you do large families and bridal portraits, you will need to think through the layout and size different than a photographer that does headshots and product photographer (the size of piece of luggage and smaller). However, you can still get by with a small space for families and bridal portraits. For example, you will enough room for a 9 or 10 foot wide background with enough room for lighting which means you could likely get by with a 15 x 25 large room (roughly) on the small side.  That’s 375 square feet. The trick is actually finding a room that size. Our first studio was a room that was about 12 x 20 (240 square feet) with a common area that allowed people to sit outside the one room studio. That over 25 years ago.

You’ll likely want a room for your gear/office, so I’m thinking on the small side (pending the layout) that you might be looking at 600 square feet. Yes, you can get by with less if you find the right setup. If you only do headshots and small products, you could make all that work in 400 square feet or less pending the layout.

4) Do I want or need to store my gear at home or at my new studio? Think through how much gear you currently have and what the answer to that question would look like. One of the key advantages to having a studio is leaving gear setup and just cutting it on when needed. It would be a pain to have a studio outside your home and have to continually move gear back and forth. You’ll lose time by having to prepare for setting up and breaking down for a session. It’s a lot easier to schedule a shoot at your studio at 2 p.m., show up a few minutes early, flip on the lights and be ready to go and then just walk out when you are finished without breaking down a lot of gear.

5) How long will the lease be and how much will my monthly rent be? Most commercial leases are 3 years. Yes, 36 months. That’s a commitment far beyond a 12 month lease on a apartment. So you may want to ask that question early on in the conversation.

As for calculating the monthly rent based on the cost per square foot, here’s how that is done. $14 per square foot on 500 square feet is $14 x 500 = $7,000 divided by 12 months = $583 per month base rent. So for quick math, if you see a space advertised at $12 per square foot then the square footage is also the monthly base rent number. For example, $12 x 400 square foot = $4,800 divided by 12 months = $400 per month base rent. Some places will likely say a base monthly rent without mentioning a per square foot cost. It’s not uncommon in the Raleigh market to find spaces that are $24+ per square foot which means that 500 square feet would be $1,000+ per month. You’ll likely want to search long an hard for a space that is on the lower end initially.

6) What other costs do I need to consider? You’ll have to think about phone (probably your cell), internet (you’ll likely need this – but could do post from home), security (worth thinking about), utilities (may be included-if not dig for cost), renters insurance (should have it), etc. You will likely add $200 to $400+ on the low end beyond the monthly base rent. So if you find a space for $500 per month. It will likely run you $700+ per month in the end. However, there is the possibility that you may add ZERO extra (at least initially).

7) What type of space do I need? For example, do you need a store front space in a strip mall? I’d say avoid this if at all possible. Find an easy access space that is not too far off the beaten path that you are not paying extra for store front. You’ll also want to avoid pricey office suites with access to a conference room and other amenities because you’ll likely find that one office the size of a small bedroom is $1,000+ per month. A small office will not work as a studio. I’d suggest that you look for older, but nice, office complexes like office condos/town-homes, older nice office buildings (not the shiny, mega, new ones), etc. But definitely keep location in mind. For example, our studio is literally one turn off of a very popular North Raleigh road (Six Forks Road). Our Cary location is off a main Cary road (Maynard Road). I say that because you don’t want to be so far off the beaten path that people have to make 27 right turns of the main road to get to you.

8) How much business do I need to pay my small studio overhead? Calculate your total cost of having a small studio and figure out how much business it takes to break even (assuming you have plenty of other location work going on). With $700 per month in rent and expenses and charging $100 to 125 for a headshot (common price for some photographers that I know), the gross break even point is about 6 or 7 in studio headshots. Yes, you want to do better than break even, but if you have other ongoing regular business that was steady before you opened the studio, I think you should initially look at how the studio will pay for itself on a break even level. If the studio can break even the first week of every month, then that leaves the rest of the month to make a profit from in studio work.

The disadvantages of having a home based studio:
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against having a home based studio. Although I am not an accountant, there are likely some nice tax advantages to having a home based studio. However, I think there are several disadvantages when compared to a small studio outside of the home.

Before I dive in, let’s get the elephant out of the room. Yes, there are also advantages to having a home based studio vs. one outside the home. I get that. There is also a disadvantage of the extra rent of having a studio outside the home. However, for me, I much prefer to have a studio outside of my home in a commercial business district.

Here are 5 disadvantages that quickly come to mind:

1) The perception of going to a residential home vs. a commercial business.
2) Male or Female Photographers working solo with the opposite sex inside a home environment.
3) Layout of the home studio with restroom, changing area, etc.
4) Someone you may have never met coming inside your home.
5) Your Children, Your Pets and other distractions at your home.

Again, there is nothing wrong with having a home based studio, but there are several advantages to having a studio outside the home. However, it can be scary taking the risk of additional overhead even if the total overhead is less than $1,000 per month. The key to starting a studio outside of a home environment is to start small and to keep cost down. You can always grow into something larger.

Here are 4 advantages to having a studio outside of a home environment:

1) Being located around other businesses
2) The ability to minimize the distractions that may not be as controllable in a home environment
3) Clearly separate business expenses because it’s outside the home and 100% dedicated business space
4) Getting more done – Yes, it’s nice to separate home life (Laundry, TV, etc.) from a dedicated work environment

In our case, we definitely do more business by having a studio in a business district with easy access of off a major business road. It’s also in between the two (440 and 540) outer loops around Raleigh. However, we have managed to keep overhead reasonable. We could very easily be in the same area at a different location with 2X or even 3X+ the monthly rent for the same amount of space. The nice thing is that we are near the high rent district without paying the high rent.

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My wife and I make our full-time living off of our photography and video business. Yes, I truly mean 100%. I am thankful for that and it has and still does take a lot of hard work. I said that to establish some credibility with you and to impress upon you that what I am saying below has worked for us. However, there is no guarantee that it will work for you, but I do believe that it’s worth a try.

If this is your first time reading one of my posts, you may have not seen that I often talk about sustainability. For example, you may be using a Facebook page currently as your photography website and main source of business; however, is that single resource providing a full time sustainable living for you? Five years from today, will you be in business and making a full time living solely off your Facebook pages. Please keep in mind that the title of this post has full time in it not part time. A Facebook page may work fine for an ongoing part time income as a photographer, but I’m not sure that it will provide a sustainable, long term, full time income.

Casting A Wide Net Or Even Two
I used two fishermen casting two different nets in two different directions for two core reasons. 1) Casting a net means that the fishermen will cover more area than a singe line on a pole. Translation: Don’t rely on one resource as your only revenue stream. 2) Casting two nets in two different directions provides more opportunity to catch even more fish. Translation: Even if you try a broader reach than one resource, you may want to try things that give you even more coverage.

Here’s The Challenge
Maintaining more than one resource and actually having other resources generate revenue is time consuming at minimum and can even cost money to maintain. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think there is anything wrong with having a Facebook page. I have one as well. I’m simply using it as an example to make a point. It could be any single resource as an example and not just Facebook. My point is that you likely need multiple resources to generate a full time sustainable living as a photographer.

You are better off starting out slow with different revenue generating resources that you can actually maintain. For example, don’t have a Twitter account just to have a Twitter account. If you cannot maintain it and especially if it’s not generating revenue for you, you’ll want to think about your Twitter strategy beyond simply Tweeting.

First Things First
First and foremost, if you don’t have your pricing model set to be profitable, you are wasting your time trying to sustain a full time income from photography. I wrote a blog post last week “$75 A Pop – It’s Probably Not The Best Photography Business Model To Use” which is definitely not an optimal price point for sustainable full time revenue as a photographer.

You have to factor in overhead, taxes, actual income needed to make a living, future gear purchases, marketing and more. You may think that because you work from home that you don’t have overhead, but you do. You should have insurance for your business. You have to maintain your car if that’s how you get to your shoots. You likely have home internet. At the end of the day, you likely have more overhead than you think you do.

Here’s an easy short tip to help you get your pricing profitable. Find out what numerous other photographers are charging by visiting their website, asking others you know and ask those contacting you about other quotes they have received. FYI, $75 is not the standard for family photography in the Raleigh market. Fair, reasonable and competitive, full time photography pricing is $150 on the low end, $350 on the upper mid-range and easily $500+ on the higher end. I know that and I’m not even a family photographer. There some in the Raleigh market that are $2,000+ and you can bet those clients would likely never consider a $75 family photographer.

Even when you know the pricing of others, does that mean that if you charge $150 for family sessions that you will be profitable? NO! So that’s why you have to look at all your expenses, what you need to make to make a living and whether the pricing model you have chosen will work for you.

How To Start Generating A Sustainable Full Time Photography Income 
Now that you have your pricing model set to make a profit on each client, you need to figure out how to get enough clients to have a sustainable full time income. FYI, it’s not easy, but it’s not impossible.

“The things you want are always possible; it is just that the way to get them is not always apparent. The only real obstacle in your path to a fulfilling life is you, and that can be a considerable obstacle because you carry the baggage of insecurities and past experience.” – Les Brown

Although I’m not going into great detail in this post, I will mention several things below that you can look into further on your own with a little help from both Google and YouTube. I mention YouTube because there are so many FREE videos that can help provide insight on many resources and even teach you more about  marketing and sales.

Social Media:
Not just Facebook. How’s your LinkedIn profile? Are you active on LinkedIn posting and articles? What about Instagram, Twitter, SnapChat, Pinterest and other social platforms? Keep in mind that revenue from social media can often be hard to pinpoint. You should use social media, but use it wisely.

Google: Organic and Adwords
Organic refers to the natural ranking results (SEO).  If you search SEO on Amazon, you’ll find lots of affordable books. If you are going to get a book on SEO, I have two quick tips. 1) Get a very recent edition (no older than 12 months ago) because SEO continues to change. However, a lot of the core elements like page titles have been fairly consistent for years. 2) Read the reviews to help you decide.

Adwords is Google’s paid advertisement system. Google recently eliminated side bar ads which I personally like that they are gone. You can watch YouTube videos on Adwords and even find books on Amazon. However, I believe that there is huge value in hiring a Google Partner that is certified in Adwords management. Yes, you have to pay that individual to manage your ads, but just like you are a professional photographer for a reason, there are times when hiring other professionals makes a difference.

Yelp Ads
I’m not a huge fan of Yelp ads and have two more months on my campaign before it ends. However, I am a commercial photographer and advertising with Yelp may be better for consumer photographers. Although Yelp will push for 12 months of advertising, you can do 3 months or 6 months and you should ask for their minimum rate because they will push you beyond the minimum rate on 3 months and 6 months. You have the ability to raise it after you get started if you are seeing results.

Website & Blogging
I’m not a fan of a FREE Facebook page that could disappear because of something Facebook decides being used as a photographers primary website which a lot of new and part time photographers seem to do. You should have a regular website on your own hosting plan NOT on a FREE site. In the Raleigh market, I like the work that Think Designs offers.

Having a blog added to your site is fairly easy to do especially with so many websites being driven by WordPress these days. A blog is important because it allows you to produce original content and Google still loves original content.

Thumbtack, Wedding Wire & Other Lead Sources
Although I’m not a wedding photographer, there are plenty of renounces for wedding photographers online like Wedding Wire.  If you are a wedding photographer, it will likely not take much searching to find numerous resources to tap into.

Thumbtack is also a leads source for photographers. Thumbtack is a numbers game, so you’ll have to accept going into it that you will not close 100% of the projects you quote on. You may even close under 50% of the projects that you quote on. You’ll have to do the math to figure out if what you are spending is profitable and what you are generating in revenue in return. FYI, there are a lot of LOW end leads that come through, but not all leads are like that.

Direct Mail
You’ve probably heard that direct mail is around a 1% to 3% return which is 1 to 3 inquiries (not closed sales) in 100 pieces mailed out. However, I have personally found it to be closer to 1%. I simply mention direct mail as a possible option, but you have to be strategic about it. You definitely don’t want to do a direct mail campaign if you are offering low end $75 family sessions because the ROI will likely put you at a LOSS not a profit.

Referral & Repeat Business
Getting referral and repeat business is awesome because most of it will end up being revenue. Not all referrals will lead to a closed sale, but it’s nice to know that past clients send referral business. Repeat business is typically easier to close because there is a relationship directly with the client. Both of these resources take time because you have to have enough business initially to generate referrals because not every  client will readily refer you even with a referral system in place. Repeat business works similar because clients may only have an annual need, but if you have 10, 15, 20+ clients asking for your services every year that can add up nicely over time.

Business Networking
Getting out and meeting other business professionals can lead to business over time. You will likely not be hired or referred on your first encounter with someone at a networking event. However, business networking should be a part of your business growth strategy: Chamber Events, Meetup Groups, BNI and much more.

More Than One Revenue Resource
Even if you are killing it right now with one resource, what if that resource dries up. Things do tend to change and you’ll want more than one resource driving your sustainable revenue. Don’t rely on just one revenue resource.

BONUS – What About Working For Someone?
Everyone is not cut out for self-employment. It is possible to make a full time living as a photographer working for someone else which is not a bad thing. If you work for another photographer, that photographer may still allow you to work part time under your own brand and potentially even refer projects to you that are not a fit for his or her business.

There are advantages and disadvantages of working for someone else, but that’s also the case with self employment. If you find someone that is easy to work for, that makes the job fun and not seem like a job, you could very well find your way into a career in photography through working for another photographer.

If You Work For Someone, Please Have A Vested Interest
A vested interest is defined as a personal stake or involvement. So as an employee, you should provide great service, do a great job, help build the brand and share in helping with the growth of the person you are working for because your vested interest will likely play a key role in the long term sustainability of the business thus helping secure your future as well and becoming a true WIN-WIN for both parties.

If you have enjoyed this post, please use the social icons below to SHARE IT. If you have any comments, you can email me at David [@] DWPPC [Dot] com.

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If the photographer who posted it reads this post and is offended by it, please accept my apologies in advance, but I still stand behind what I am writing below:

It’s true that there are many families that cannot afford more than $75 for photography. But I think a photographer is better off helping truly in need families by providing their services for free to build their portfolio and giving back to those truly in need rather than offer a $75 package for 30 minutes with 10 edited images and further dilute the photography industry with pricing far below market value of veteran photographers.

Here’s my rant about this:

1) $75 for 30 minutes – This photographer is NOT averaging $150 an hour or truly making $75 in 30 minutes.

2) There is driving time, shooting time, consultation time (what, where, when, how, why, etc. questions) and editing time. FYI, our editing time for people photography on a similar shoot in the commercial world that we shoot in is about 20 minutes per image ON THE LOW END. That means to our minimum level of quality that 10 edited images would be an additional 3+ hours of work.

3) It’s not a sustainable business model because by the time insurance, future gear needs, gas, taxes, etc. are all taken out of the gross amount, there is little left to actually try to make a living on.

That last sentence encourages me to do some math:

$75 for 30 minutes is not a true $75 profit!

1) Email, Phone Call or Social Media to discuss what’s needed. On the low end 15 minutes, here’s what’s needed, here’s where we are shooting.
2) Driving to and from the location – If lucky 30 minutes round trip, but there is still pack up time for gear, etc., so I’ll call this one an hour average.
3) 30 minutes of shooting
4) 10 edited images – I know two photographers personally that only spends about 10 minutes per image. Therefore at 10 minutes per image, that’s another 100 minutes of time plus there is time to upload the images to the customer, burn to a CD, etc. I’ll call this one 2 hours.
5) Just to make a round number of 4 hours total for 1 through 5, I’m adding 15 minutes for admin work or margin of error.

If $75 is 4 hours of total work, that’s $18.75 per hour which is a decent rate, but does the photographer want to be full time or part time because it would be hard to maintain a full time income for years on end at $75 per 30 minute session. Also, $18.75 an hour is gross income, so once taxes are paid and bills are paid to support regular expenses, I’d like to know where the extra money is to expand the business?

Based on an average of 4 hours per session, that’s 10 sessions a week to gross $750 per week which after taxes can still pay some bills. However, is this a sustainable week-in-week-out … year-in-year-out business model? I think the answer is no.

If the photographer realizes this, the photographer should just start at a higher rate, make more money per session and do what is sustainable long term. There is NOTHING wrong with making a profit and having a sustainable business. It’s not gouging people. It’s called making a living. FYI, even at $75, there is ALWAYS going to be someone cheaper.

If you are a photographer, don’t try to be the discount store, low price leader. You should create a sustainable business model from day one.

Although the consumer world is not my target market, I still have people in the business world from time to time that think my pricing is high. For example, someone the other day was shopping for a $50 LinkedIn headshot. I don’t do $50 headshots and the lowest priced photographer for headshots that I know of and would actually recommend is $100. I mentioned that to the person on the phone and wished them the best. I’m not lowering my pricing to $50 to cater to someone that has a $50 budget. I have learned through experience that the vast majority of people that call me have no problem with my pricing and I know that my pricing is competitive for my target market. Therefore, I cannot afford to spend much time on the $50 LinkedIn headshot inquiry. However, I can still be polite, thank them for their time and wish them the best.

My philosophy is to set pricing that is competitive with the market place, that is profitable enough to keep me in business and not try to be the right fit for everyone because even $75 for 10 edited images will still not work for everyone. FYI, some will think it’s too expensive and YES, some will think it’s too cheap.

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I’m going to use a real world example that many of you can relate to whether it is with this source or something similar. I decided to try YELP advertising. I committed to 6 months and accepted that in the very worst case that I would take a loss of 6 months x my monthly advertising rate. That was a risk that I was willing to take to see if YELP advertising paid off.

I’m not 100% convinced that I will make a profit on my YELP advertising investment which means that although the advertising may have lead to some new business that once the math is all done, I may break even or even take a loss. However, I still have about 10 weeks left and that could take a turn either way. Keep in mind that my target market is commercial and corporate not consumers. Therefore, a photographer targeting the consumer market may have very different results with YELP. My success or failure with YELP advertising cannot be a measure of how another photographer’s results might be. There are numerous things to be factored in. At the end of the day, it’s a risk that I was willing to take. After 6 consecutive months, I may move on or keep going month to month at the minimal monthly rate.

Here’s another risk example from my own business: When Brenda and I moved from a very small, really affordable location in Wake Forest to our Six Forks Studio, it was a risk. We didn’t truly know how much business the studio would generate because we do a lot of business on location. The overhead is far more than Wake Forest. However, I’m happy to say that it was a risk that was well worth it. Having a studio in a business district off of Six Forks Road has been a huge benefit for our business.

No matter what your current situation is, I firmly believe that you have to take some risks in business. But that doesn’t mean that you throw money to the wind because risks should be calculated which will help minimize the losses because with risk there will be some losses. However, without some risk, there may be little reward (profit). That doesn’t mean that the more risk you take, the more profit you will make. But if you take calculated risks and manage your losses, it can lead to far more profit than taking no risk at all.

The post Loss, Risk, Profit – It’s All Part Of Running A Photography Business first appeared on .

Before I dive in, someone reading this may think their photography business is growing because they are staying busy. Don’t confuse staying busy with making a profit and being sustainable for years to come. If you want to be a full-time photographer or already are full time, you have to treat your business like a business. With that out of the way, let’s dive into some growth ideas.

Portfolio – As a photographer, it’s about your work which by the way will not appeal to everyone. However, you should work on getting a portfolio together that you feel good about. Keep in mind that it doesn’t have to be 200 images. I think 20 good images in a portfolio would be far better than 200 mediocre. Once you have your initial portfolio in place, you should continue to improve on your work and ask for feedback from those who have seen your work. Again, no matter how good your work is, it will not appeal to 100% of the people who see it. As long as your portfolio is helping you get consistent business, don’t worry about trying to please everyone because it will never happen.

Marketing – It takes some form of marketing to grow any business. Even if you are simply sharing with family and friends that you can now help them with their photography needs, that is marketing. However, marketing can be far more in depth than that. For a photographer, it’s important to get your portfolio in front of your ideal clients. There are multiple free ways to market your photography business like social media, free networking events, contacting people you know, etc. and there are numerous ways to pay for marketing. When it comes to paying for marketing, it’s a good idea to find a resource like a book on the low cost end or hiring a marketing consultant for a few hundred dollars to provide direction rather than just winging it. It takes marketing to get inquires.

Inquiries – Just because people start contacting you about your services, doesn’t mean that you will close everyone you speak with. It’s important to get an idea of how many inquiries it takes to close a sale because you’ll likely have to keep the number of inquiries up to continue closing new business. Getting regular inquiries is why marketing your business is so important. Inquiries are nice, but it takes more than someone asking about your service: You’ll need the ability to close the inquiry.

Closing – This is where many people in all types of businesses fail. Once the inquiry comes through because of your marketing efforts, it takes some selling skills to get to the close. There are lots of videos on YouTube about selling and closing plus you can find a lot of helpful books and audios on Amazon. You may not like selling, but if you don’t have the ability to sell your services and close the sale, your portfolio, your marketing and all those inquiries will quickly lose value. Check out 12 Commandments for Closing A Sale. However, no matter how good your work is and how good your selling and closing skills are, you will NOT close every inquiry which is why questions are so important.

BONUS: Questions – Whether someone does business with you or not, you still need to ask questions. Questions and the answers provided are critical to your long term success. The questions below are not in any particular order and you should think of far more questions to ask than just the few below:

Why did you decide to or not to hire me?
What did you like about or not like about my portfolio?
How did you find me?
Are you ready to move forward? If no, why not?
What can I do to earn your business?

Your goal with questions is to learn as much as you can and decide whether you need to change something about your business or not. For example, you charge $50 for a headshot and everyone that calls you says “that’s expensive.” Do you lower your headshot rate or target a different audience. I hope you know the answer. FYI, if you are charging $50 for a headshot in the Raleigh NC market, raise your price because you are far below the Raleigh area market value. $50 might be the price for an economically depressed rural area in Eastern North Carolina, but even then, it would be hard to make a living at $50 a headshot.

The post Building Your Photography Business – It’s Not Easy – But This Should Help first appeared on .

Just because some photographers may seem like money magnets because they stay busy doesn’t mean that you cannot achieve financial success in photography as well. If you are in photography solely because of the money, you may need to rethink your strategy. However, if you are in photography because you have a passion for it and would like to make a comfortable living doing photography full time, that is completely possible with a commitment to ongoing hard work.

I was on the phone recently with a photographer that I have seen grow his business drastically over the last 3 years. When I first connected with him via LinkedIn, he had only been doing photography for a few months. On the call, he said that I hope this doesn’t seem like I’m bragging, but I’ve generated $6,000 in business over the last two days. FYI, he has no studio, no 1099 contractors and no employee’s which I must admit even makes me stop for a minute to think about my overhead vs. his. However, I was not jealous of his financial success but happy for him. It motivates me to push myself. I know that he has worked hard to build his photography business. He hasn’t achieved it by sitting around waiting for it to happen.

Another photographer that I know is just hitting his 1 year anniversary and staying very busy, but he is willing to drive all over the United States to do it. Yes, DRIVE! He is just about to or just did finish up a 12 day driving, multi-state, lots of shooting on the road venture. This photographer is willing to do things that I’m not willing to do. Yes, I do travel on a regular basis, but I’m not willing to drive thousands of miles on a 12 day stretch and sleep in the back of my truck. On the other hand, it doesn’t make sense for me to sit back and be jealous of his success if I’m not willing to do what he does. However, his determination to do whatever it takes to stay busy does motivates me to do the things that I am willing to do like consistently write content (as one example).

Joel Grimes is a nationally recognized photographer. Although I don’t know him personally, I have hear him say on a video that he did hundreds of cold calls in the early stages of his career and that he would not have the level of success that he does today without all those initial cold calls. Are you willing to cold call hours a day to build your photography business? I’m not. I hate getting cold calls and I hate doing them. But if I get jealous of Joel’s success knowing that beyond his massive amounts of hard work and his creativity that he made hundreds of cold calls to build his business that I’m not willing to make, then I’m not being productive with the things that I am willing to do to grow my business.

Moral of the story: Work hard, be willing to do what others have done to get where they are at and stop being jealous of the success of other photographers. Get Motivated! Make It Happen!

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Building a photography business is like putting a puzzle together. There are lots of pieces, but putting them together takes time. A mentor can save you time and money, but having or hiring a mentor doesn’t mean that building a photography business will be easy. It will simply be easier than taking the hard way.

Insider Secrets

What if you could find a mentor that would be willing to give you the true inner workings of his business as long as you would sign a non-compete? How valuable would that be? I’d say that it would be hard to put a price on if you had access to the true nuts and bolts are every moving piece of how a photographer went from zero to a full time income.

FYI, I’m not talking about what sounds like the full scoop because I think there are many photographers that share top level things that they are fine with the general photography population knowing, but I am not convinced that anyone gets deep down into there true inner workings. There may not even be anyone willing to do that: I simply thought I’d toss it out in case you want to approach a potential mentor with the idea.

Here’s some free mentoring advice:

Getting key direction that will be helpful to your photography business growth, even if it’s not the deep down nuts and bolts, will still make a difference. So I’ll share a few basic ideas to help you along the way to becoming a full time professional photographer.

1) Work Hard – Whether you have actual paying clients that keep you busy or not, you should work a minimum of 40 hours per week to grow your business provided that you are not already doing a full time job. Then, you may only be able to put 20 hours per week into your photography business. However, whether you have the clients or not, you should put in the effort in growing your business. Personally, I work far more than 40 hours per week.

2) Spend Money But Wisely – Unless you get lucky, I think you will have to spend some money on growing your business. It’s up to you and your budget (whatever that is) to decide what you can spend. I’m also not suggesting that you max out your credit card(s). In the beginning, try to do the best you can with your expenses without going into debt.

3) Do All The Free Stuff You Can Do – Social Media, Blogging, Local Business Networking and anything else that you can consistently do for free which also falls under #1 of working hard even if you don’t have the clients. Time might be money, but in the early stages, you will likely have more time than money as you build your business.

4) Never Stop Learning – Whether it’s online or offline, reading a book, watching a video, doing practice shoots to test new ideas, working with a mentor, etc., you should never stop learning no matter how good you think you are or how busy you get.

5) Find A Mentor – Someone that you know, like and trust that you can have coffee with a couple of times a month or get together with at least once per month for coffee or lunch would likely be very helpful. Most of us likely think of a mentor as someone that will take us under their wings so to speak for free, but a mentor is a trusted adviser which also means that a mentor could be someone that you pay for advice like a CPA, Attorney or actually someone in the photography industry that can help you get to the next level. However, if you want to do it the hard way by reinventing the wheel, that’s completely up to you.

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