Learn what works, then multiply by your uniqueness
One big topic that came up this week is how what we believe is important doesn’t often translate into what’s important to our market.
I’ll cut to the chase:
Learn ‘what works’ then multiply by your uniqueness.
The market is what it is, and something to keep in mind as you develop and promote your art and services, is that you are not your market. You’re deep in the weeds of the artistic journey, as a creative and as a businessperson. Almost everything you care about - or at least, what fills up your concern bucket - is not of concern to your potential clients.
Of course: you want to do your best work, give great service, bring something of value to the art and experience that clients can’t get elsewhere.
But here’s an exercise:
Write down 5 things about you and your services that you feel are completely unique and important. What are the five things you WISH your potential clients would use to compare you to your competition? (this is a golden exercise to suss out good marketing / social media / branding copy anyway)
Get into your potential clients’ heads… Write down 5 things THEY care about when they’re looking for a photographer in your market.
The basic checkboxes for the latter are most likely:
- Does this photographer serve my area?
- Does their portfolio look like what I want my photos to look like?
- If yes on both of these, can I afford them?
I’m willing to bet that most if not all of your personal “Top 5 Things About My Photography Business That Are Important” don’t actually align with what potential clients most care about. (Art / portfolio being the most likely common factor, since that’s the core product on offer and being sought out.)
Does that mean what’s important to you isn’t important at all?
Not at all! What’s important to you is a part of the alchemy that makes your art and business unique in your market.
But HOW you translate that uniqueness and value into what YOUR MARKET cares about is KEY.
Odds are, all of your marketing messages are from your perspective about what you feel is most important for potential clients to know. Without this practice of translating this into words, photos, and promotions that speak your clients’ language (what’s important to them), it’s VERY hard to get potential clients excited about working with YOU versus any other photographer.
This is why you will see over and over again photographers who are great marketers but arguably mediocre artists stay booked solid at rates you envy, while you stare at an empty calendar wondering what you’re doing wrong.
Being real, success as a small business - especially as a working artist - is like inventing the lightbulb: there are 999 ways to do it wrong for everyone single way to do it right.
But that’s a GOOD thing:
Every wall you hit is an opportunity to keep fighting where others turn and flee.
And the more times you hit a wall, then learn to overcome it, you’re getting into rarified air with more wisdom and less competition.
That perseverance, tempered by humility, self awareness, and love for your art and market, is a recipe for success.
Need help untangling the knot of that translation? Frustrated trying to do so alone? Drop me an e-mail and let’s visit. I read every e-mail, and will help however I can.
Photography, and inspiration in giving
We all go through dry spells - creativity, inspiration, motivation.
I hit that wall pretty hard in 2024, although in a backwards way from most folks. Instead of hitting a wall of distraction or distress taking me away from my creative work, I hit a wall as soft as a plush mattress: ease.
Day job work was going easy. Taking care of kids as they’ve gotten older, easier. Photography business running smooth, steady…pretty easy.
Run gently into ease often enough, and it can take your edge.
It definitely did for me. I allowed my creative coaching work to float, allowed my sales effort to slip, and just took it easy for a while. Not that there’s anything wrong with a healthy break, but as we all know - it can be easy for a break to turn into waking up one day asking, “Wait a minute… Did I forget I’m an artist?”
My art has developed far more into coaching than photography over the years, and in case you can’t tell from the value I try to give while asking what I hope is very little, my motivation is much more love for my fellow photographers and solopreneurs than padding my bank account.
Thus, two thoughts:
Has photography gotten too easy for you? Life? Either can cost you your edge, your hunger, your spark, your fire. Friction makes fire. If your art or business or life have gotten a little too smooth, maybe it’s time to add a firestarter like a bold goal, a worthy challenge, and some next steps to spark the blaze.
If not for you… If doing this creative business thing for yourself doesn’t seem to be enough to get you moving… Who could you help, if you would just try? Who is the high school senior or family who would be blessed by a generous, free photo shoot, and an encouraging word? Whose life could you make better with the resources your photography business could be generating, if you were trying? This question has turned my creative fire from ash to blaze this summer.
What's the biggest challenge holding you back today? Drop me an e-mail and let me know. I read every e-mail, and will help however I can.