Treating your photography business like a CEO
Okay, photographers. This post is for you. whether you’ve been in the industry for several years, or you’re brand new to the field, I truly hope you’re able to take away some value from this post.
First and foremost, let’s acknowledge what we are.
Photographers are artists. We’re emotional and personal about our work. So, we tend to take things personally about our work. We often have a Hard time accepting criticism because it’s a direct reflection of our art. We can’t help it, but we can manage it.
If i can offer one major piece of advice, it’s that you start thinking about your photography business like an actual business owner. Like a CEO. It’s Time to exercise our minds and start habits that take control of the trajectory of where we want to be in the next one year, five years. Think like a CEO. Because that’s what you ARE. Are you with me? Okay, good. Let’s dive in.
1. Create a Business plan.
I know, This sucks. if you’re not sure where to start, head to Dummies.com or go to lawdepot.com and start building your free business plan there. Be sure to DO THE EXERCISE. Some questions it asks:
Describe the goals and objectives of the company
Describe your planned timeline
Structure and the owner
Management structure
Product/service details
Proprietary rights
Target customer
Pricing, marketing strategy, and so on
SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats)
2. Pricing.
Get comfortable with digging deep into your numbers. I’m in a lot of photography forums, and as an observer there, a lot of anguish and anger and resentment and complaining and entitlement and broken relationships I see discussed in these groups is centered around one main thing— money. Income. The lack of or entitlement to. So it’s time to take control of our money and stop letting our money take control of us. Tips?
Check out last year’s tax return. What did you make? What did you spend? Do you have a goal for your 2020 income and expenses?
Is your business debt free?
What do you have in savings? COVID-19 may never happen again in our lifetime, but having savings to cover 2-3 months of expenses is never a bad thing.
Whats your debt to income ratio?
Monthly expenses?
Minimum amount required to run your business successfully?
How many hours do you want work?
What are your goals outside of your business?
Do you need to raise your prices? Change your structure?
Lastly, remember that It doesn’t matter what your “competition” is charging. This is about YOU.
3. Build your Brand.
CEOs don’t have to be marketing geniuses, traditionally. They have a marketing or advertising department. However, you’re a small business owner. So you have to be all of the things, right? Until you have generated enough income/reach to be able to delegate out certain services. Now is the BEST possible time to build your brand. Ask yourself the following questions:
If IG and FB were gone tomorrow, what would you have to show for your business/your brand?
What’s your website look like? How old is it?
How old is the portfolio on your site?
Do you share things other than photography on your site? Is it a holistic brand?
In a world where people connect more to the personal as a whole as opposed to the one thing they do for a living, building a brand may build your photography business. This does NOT mean you have to be an Instagram influencer, that’s not what this is about. However, check out Paige Armenta on IG. I want you to see how with everything she creates, she shows a BTS video. People THRIVE off of this. Everyone wants that BTS look. It’s powerful—why else do you think Road Rules and Real World built the empire that is reality TV?? People want to see the unscripted, the journey, the “how to.”
Even you as a photographer, you attend workshops for this! How awesome would it be to give your followers/your community/your network an inside peek into your business, and your procesS? To get started, speak to a branding coach. Have them rework your brain so you start thinking about these things. It may completely flip your head upside down when it comes to your potential in this business.
4.Check your mindset.
THIS IS WHAT WILL TRULY SET YOU APART FROM THE REST and MAKE YOU “THINK LIKE A CEO.” THERE’S SO MUCH GOOD ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHY COMMUNITY, BUT like any other industry, we have our problems, too. As I said before, we are emotionally connected to our art and therefore emotionally connected to our businesses. My best mindset tip is to switch your mindset to take the emotional response out of the equation. The reason this is so important is because our businesses aren’t just built on social media, they can be ruined by our actions and reactions on social media too.
I’VE TAKEN A STEP BACK FROM this industry FOR VARIOUS REASONS, BUT ONE main issue WAS my frustration WITH THE CULTURE. So much emotional response to the in’s and out’s of business ownership plastered all over facebook statuses, in private facebook groups, screenshot from private facebook groups and plastered elsewhere, and emotional bursts about entitlement in the industry. We have to collectively agree that too much of this is creating huge divides—we’re doing this to ourselves!
When I shifted my mindset to business-focused as opposed to emotionally driven, it started thriving. Ya’ll. BEING SELF EMPLOYED IS LONELY. WE NEED EACH OTHER. ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO DO THE SAME THING WE DO because tHEY’RE TRULY THE ONLY ONES WHO UNDERSTAND US, RIGHT? MY HUSBAND DOESN’T GET IT. But, if we stand up and say “enough already. We’re in this thing together.” And take our businesses to the next level, we’ll see a shift in our culture.
The power of positive mindset is everything. WE HAVE TO BE ABLE TO USE DISCERNMENT WITH WHAT WE SHARE ON SOCIAL MEDIA. EVEN WHEN WE’RE FRUSTRATED. OR WE’VE BEEN GHOSTED BY A CLIENT. EVEN ON THE HARD DAYS. THIS IS SO, SO IMPORTANT. COLLECTIVELY, LET’S TAKE A HARD RIGHT AND LEAVE ALL THAT BEHIND. LET’S FOCUS ON HOW WE CAN BE THE CHANGE and the light in this incredible industry.
Okay, here are SOME GOOD BUSINESS AND SELF DEVELOPMENT TIPS TO CONSIDER::
Podcasts for self-development
Books (currently reading Atomic Habits by James Clear, and it’s SO GOOD)
Share a cause you’re passionate about.
Create community ZOOMS
Stop the paranoia
Be transparent and genuine
Remove yourself from toxic groups and circles
Give freely of your talent, love what you do
If you’re burnt out, pretend you’re the only human on the planet for a second, and work on that reflection of what YOU are doing that could be improved…not what the industry has done to you.
No one is a victim. We can thrive. We should be thriving.
We can love this industry again.
If you’re inspired, say it.
Like, comment, share.
Be kinder than you feel.
Thank you for reading my thoughts. This industry is so special and It means a lot to me. I’m rooting for us all to win.
