Successful photographers are about so much more than the photos they make. But without great photos they have no reason to exist.
Most photographers I meet are quite passionate and want to do the right thing. They are very concerned doing the right thing as well. But what is lacking is business acumen and the tools to run their business effectively.
It is quite common that photographers are quite busy and think they are doing exceptionally well, but in reality they are missing revenue opportunities, barely breaking even and even losing money.
To meet the demands of their clients some are delivering just OK photos to turn them around so they can get on to the next project. In order to deliver in a timely fashion some of the photos color is slightly off or the exposure is just a little off and even some of the photos they deliver are not sharp.
Myopic
Lack of discernment or long-range perspective in thinking or planning is the definition of myopic. You can get so busy that you are unable to see your own faults.
Imagine walking into a photo studio and there are no photos on the wall. The photographer comes out to talk with you and you ask about their photography. The photographer ends up talking a great deal about their business vision and you are just wanting to see some photos.
The reality is this is how so many photographers really run their business, but instead of lacking photos they lack business acumen.
Are you providing services that are right for and meet the needs of your customers?
I think this question will catch most photographers off guard because most of them cannot answer it.
In the days of film, you didn't even know you had captured anything with your camera until you developed the film.
Today there is no waiting to see if you have an image. People are using their smartphones with a camera built in to take the majority of their photos. They not only can see right away they have an image they can publish it to the world immediately.
One of the major reasons professional photographers were needed is now gone. Most people can take their own photo and get something without having to know anything at all about photography.
Creating Desire
Steve Jobs was the master at creating a product that people never had before and didn't know that we would want. By the end of his launching of a new product like the Apple iPad he had not just made us want one but convinced us that we needed one.
While in seminary I took a course called Systematic Theology. Systematic theology draws on the foundational sacred texts of Christianity, while simultaneously investigating the development of Christian doctrine over the course of history, particularly through philosophy, science and ethics.
One of the most profound thoughts I had to get my head around is who is God and what is my relationship to God.
The more a photographer desires a relationship with a client they will begin to understand like Steve Jobs that they must think like their client. Steve Jobs helped solve my problems in my life by helping me to connect with others using technology to increase the ability to do so.
Maintenance Program
Why do Toyota cars have such a good record for lasting a long time for their clients? One thing that changed for me was in 1993 I bought a Toyota Tercel. One thing that was different is that the dealership invited me to a party in their service department.
They had pizza for us, but most importantly they wanted us to get the most out of our vehicles. So they took time to educate us about the maintenance program. Every 5,000 miles you need to bring your car in for routine service. They then added this comment that if you follow the maintenance schedule your car will most likely last for 200,000 miles without a problem.
The reasons Toyota cars were lasting so long was they did a better job of educating their customers about the importance of preventive maintenance.
As photographers what is involved in a preventive maintenance program for you?
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| Nikon D4, Sigma 120-300mm ƒ/2.8, Sigma 1.4 converter, ISO 12800, 1/400, ƒ/4 |
It is quite common that photographers are quite busy and think they are doing exceptionally well, but in reality they are missing revenue opportunities, barely breaking even and even losing money.
To meet the demands of their clients some are delivering just OK photos to turn them around so they can get on to the next project. In order to deliver in a timely fashion some of the photos color is slightly off or the exposure is just a little off and even some of the photos they deliver are not sharp.
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| Nikon D4, 14-24mm ƒ/2.8, ISO 100, 1/250, ƒ/11 |
Lack of discernment or long-range perspective in thinking or planning is the definition of myopic. You can get so busy that you are unable to see your own faults.
Imagine walking into a photo studio and there are no photos on the wall. The photographer comes out to talk with you and you ask about their photography. The photographer ends up talking a great deal about their business vision and you are just wanting to see some photos.
The reality is this is how so many photographers really run their business, but instead of lacking photos they lack business acumen.
Are you providing services that are right for and meet the needs of your customers?
I think this question will catch most photographers off guard because most of them cannot answer it.
In the days of film, you didn't even know you had captured anything with your camera until you developed the film.
A latent image is an invisible image produced by the exposure to light of a photosensitive material such as photographic film. When photographic film is developed, the area that was exposed darkens and forms a visible image. In the early days of photography, the nature of the invisible change in the silver halide crystals of the film's emulsion coating was unknown, so the image was said to be "latent" until the film was treated with photographic developer.One of the major reasons professional photographers were hired is that many people would take pictures with their cameras and when they got the results they were disappointed for various reasons from nothing came out or it was poor exposure, out of focus or something else.
--Wikipedia
Today there is no waiting to see if you have an image. People are using their smartphones with a camera built in to take the majority of their photos. They not only can see right away they have an image they can publish it to the world immediately.
One of the major reasons professional photographers were needed is now gone. Most people can take their own photo and get something without having to know anything at all about photography.
Creating Desire
Steve Jobs was the master at creating a product that people never had before and didn't know that we would want. By the end of his launching of a new product like the Apple iPad he had not just made us want one but convinced us that we needed one.
While in seminary I took a course called Systematic Theology. Systematic theology draws on the foundational sacred texts of Christianity, while simultaneously investigating the development of Christian doctrine over the course of history, particularly through philosophy, science and ethics.
One of the most profound thoughts I had to get my head around is who is God and what is my relationship to God.
“The irony is that while God doesn't need us but still wants us, we desperately need God but don't really want Him most of the time. He treasures us and anticipates our departure from this earth to be with Him-and we wonder, indifferently, how much we have to do for Him to get by.”The concept of God not needing us but wanting us can make my head spin, but this concept helped me to understand the basic power of intimacy. Great relationships are built on a mutual desire for relationship.
― Francis Chan, Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God
The more a photographer desires a relationship with a client they will begin to understand like Steve Jobs that they must think like their client. Steve Jobs helped solve my problems in my life by helping me to connect with others using technology to increase the ability to do so.
Maintenance Program
Why do Toyota cars have such a good record for lasting a long time for their clients? One thing that changed for me was in 1993 I bought a Toyota Tercel. One thing that was different is that the dealership invited me to a party in their service department.
They had pizza for us, but most importantly they wanted us to get the most out of our vehicles. So they took time to educate us about the maintenance program. Every 5,000 miles you need to bring your car in for routine service. They then added this comment that if you follow the maintenance schedule your car will most likely last for 200,000 miles without a problem.
The reasons Toyota cars were lasting so long was they did a better job of educating their customers about the importance of preventive maintenance.
As photographers what is involved in a preventive maintenance program for you?
- Digital Workflow: you need a good system that helps you consistently make and deliver quality images to your clients
- Marketing to new and present clients: you need to consistently have something in place that helps you to connect with new clients and a plan that also helps you stay connected to your present clients
- Accounting: you need to have a system in place to create estimates, invoices, paying your bills and way to track all this so you can be sure you don't have outstanding invoices, bills or taxes.
- Relationships not transactions: you need to have a focused plan to make all of your clients be about a relationship of hopefully designed to make them your friends. Without this being intentional these clients are just transactions and will soon be replaced by other photographers who are desiring a relationship with them.
Do you have a plan in place for you to follow? If not stop what you are doing and create one and then work the plan and you will see success in your future.
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