How do you want to feel in 2019?
"To do what is just with all one's soul, and to tell the truth. What remains for you to do but enjoy life, linking each good thing to the next, without leaving the slightest interval between them?" - Marcus Aurelius
Danielle LaPorte's The Desire Map has been my most recommended book of 2018.
So many of us have some system in place for goals, but often those goals are technical: I want more clients, I want more money, I want to make more and better photos with more confidence.
Good goals, of course.
But a powerful shift I've experienced in 2018 has been redesigning my life goals around how I want to FEEL.
Three powerful questions to help you prepare for 2019:
- What were some experiences this year that made you feel a way you DON'T want to feel?
- What were some experiences this year that made you feel how you DO want to feel?
- What can you do differently in 2019 to feel LESS of what you don't and MORE of what you do want to feel?
This is some 30,000-foot work, as Covey would call it. And unless your body and being and balance and business are exactly how you want them, there's worthwhile work to be done to get at HOW you're going to make 2019 better than 2018.
Write out your thoughts on these questions, and/or e-mail me at james@banderaoutlaw.com and share them with me - I read every e-mail, and I really am here to help however I can.
James Michael Taylor
www.parttimephoto.com
P.S. ProTip: If you want to engage this exercise but can't right now, open your calendar app and block the time to do so, as soon as possible - tonight if you can. This may be the most powerful thing you do to reprogram how good your new year is going to be.
Are you a professional photographer or an information collector?
This one might hurt... If it does, I'm sorry, but it had to be said to me to get me unstuck, and I'm hoping it will help you do the same.
Let's take off our masks for a minute. Get real with me, raw, honest, vulnerable, no ego.
Are you really a professional photographer?
Or an information collector?
You know what I'm talking about...the fact that you're reading this blog right now might itself be a sign that you are more collector than photographer.
Pop quiz:
- Do you spend more time making photographs or reading about / watching videos about making photographs?
- Do you spend more time talking to potential clients or reading about what to say (sales & marketing) to potential clients?
- Do you spend more time talking to strangers about your business or talking to your friends about your business?
Eeeeeeeeeesh... I am 100% convicted by every one of these questions.
Which is why my dear friend Steve Arensberg recently had the "come to Jesus" talk with me... That talk broke my pattern of mental masturbation (should I do this or that? what's the perfect next step? what's the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?) and got me to DO THE WORK and hit PUBLISH on my art, my new book, Freemium Photography.
One of my beta readers, Laci Reynolds, said this was one of the most powerful lines in the whole book:
"Your photography can’t change anything for the better - not your life, not your family, not your friends, not your community, not your market, not the world - if you never do anything with it."
This is why I ask the hard question of you today, my friend:
Are you a professional photographer or an information collector?
If you're the latter today, it's totally okay: the very first step is admitting you have a problem.
The next is to do something about it.
A powerful challenge: stop reading, stop watching videos, stop buying books and workbooks and courses - including mine... And don't consume one more word of 'information' until you are ready to implement and take action.
Read one word, one sentence, one chapter at a time, and then take action on it.
Watch one video at a time, then take action on it.
Read one blog post, or e-mail, then take action on it.
Stop the mental masturbation of consuming information and feeling like you've made progress because of it.
Proof is in the production, right?
What action have you produced, what change have you produced, what client- or market- or even self-facing improvement have you produced as a result of what you've just read or watched?
Sometimes that production is private: "I am making the personal rule right now that I will not consume one more e-mail, blog post, book, or video unless I'm ready to stop and take action on what I learn."
Sometimes that production is public: "I am calling Stacy right now to ask if I can interview her for a testimonial, and then I'm putting that testimonial with her photo on my web site and social media pages."
But there must be fruit for all the time you're spending in the garden.
If there's not yet, or very little to show for your time, that's 100% okay - there is no time like right now to change.
It can be scary. And confusing. And frustrating.
But you can do this.
I've done it. I've drifted and had to come back and make that change from consumption to creation and connection over and over again. To err is human, right?
Grace. Forgiveness. But, then, change.
Don't know how? E-mail me and let me know.
James Michael Taylor
www.parttimephoto.com
P.S. Ready to 'start over' and take action? Pick up a copy of my new book Freemium Photography, and work your way through chapter by chapter, taking notes and action every step of the way.
How do I keep people from printing my low-res photography files?
Well...
You can't.
Yes yes, you can bring to bear a few dozen technical measures (watermarking, disabling right-clicks, image tiling, image masking...) and put the most threatening language on your web site, contract, and license...
But you can't stop people from doing pretty much anything they want to do.
And when they do violate your rules, you can seek every venue from public shaming to legal letters to lawsuits to punish them for their transgression.
But...
Dang...
Call me a free-lovin' hippie, but that's a lot of negative vibes, maaaan.
Let's shift the conversation from prevention and punishment to enabling and encouragement.
Here's what's worked for me:
1. Give people what they want.
2. Give it to them at a price they can afford.
3. Give them the knowledge and understanding they need to see the value.
Here are some examples of what this may look like as your photography business grows:
Startup: In the early days as a professional photographer, the shortest path to success is the one with massive acceleration. So shoot for free, give people digital files, encourage them to print big and hang on the wall so they get the maximum social and emotional value out of their art. Do in-person proofing and 'sales' even if you're trading out the files for practice, portfolio pieces, and social capital (testimonials, introductions, etc.). This keeps proofs offline, encourages the purchase or appreciation, and gives you the opportunity to educate the client on how best to enjoy the art you've made together.
Intermediate: If you're digital-centric like me, learn to make a wide variety of great images fast, and sell digital packages full of photos your clients "can't live without." If you want to shift to print, start the process of evolving your art, the language around your work, your target market, and your sales sessions to focus on the experience and value of big prints.
Advanced: Level up your art until the demand is high among the more discerning clientele in your market. Sell digital files at wall art prices. Or sell wall art at wall art prices. Make fewer, better photos.
Keep in mind, clients aren't buying your photographs; they're buying the feelings your photographs enable for them, and the experience that's crafted to elicit and explore those feelings. The more you focus on the feelings of your work rather than the facts of it (size, discounts, paper, ink, session length, megapixels...), the faster you'll connect with your market and see the success you're hungry for.
Not sure how to do this? E-mail me and let me know.
James Michael Taylor
www.parttimephoto.com
Who are you doing this for?
It's okay to do this for yourself - to pursue a career in professional photography for the sake of your own creative expression, social expansion, and financial betterment.
But who else are you doing this for?
I make art for myself... I think I'd go crazy if I didn't spend most of my waking hours creating.
But I also make art for my kids... So they see the example of embracing your inner truth, fighting the resistance, and putting your heart and soul out there against all outside (and inside) pressure.
And I make art for my clients... I've been blessed with the talent and interest to make photos people are grateful to have, and to write words people are encouraged to read.
And I make art for my community... The financial boons of staying the course through the free season and into paid work gives me more to give back to the good causes in my city and world.
And I make art for my God... Grant Cardone, longtime sales trainer, talks about how it is one's ethical duty to take what you have to offer the world and get it into the hands of as many people as possible who would be blessed by it. To shy away from this calling because of internal fear or external adversity is an insult to the creator who endowed you with the seeds of talent, opportunity, and inspiration. For the less spiritually inclined, Gary Vaynerchuk preaches that being alive at all is winning the ultimate lottery, and if you waste it, "You suck."
This to say, your dream of success as a professional photographer is anything but selfish.
Yeah, the vision in your head might be of big checks from clients and recognition from your peers, of expensive camera gear and the best studio equipment and a personal assistant...but the impact of your success is a waterfall of blessings that pour out on you, your family, your clients, your community, and our shared world.
Take a minute to feel good about this. What you're doing is pretty awesome. :)
Having a hard time feeling awesome in your journey? E-mail me and let me know.
James Michael Taylor
www.parttimephoto.com.
"I am my own worst enemy..."
So many of us photographers say it:
"I am my own worst enemy."
Let's flip the script:
"I am my own greatest hero."
What would that look like for you? To be your own greatest hero in this photography journey.
E-mail me and let me know.
James Michael Taylor
www.parttimephoto.com
P.S. Book 2 in my Freemium Photography series, The Photographer's Journey, will address this powerful internal shift. If you haven't picked up your copy, you can grab Freemium Photography for only $5.
The Rolling To-Do List
I'm a single dad of three kids, work a full-time job, and love spending time with the people I love.
One of my biggest frustrations in life is a lack of time.
So many people to talk with, so many projects to undertake, so many ideas to make real, so much art to make, so many artists to help, so many books to read, so many blog posts to write, so many e-mails to send, so many games to play, so many movies and YouTube videos and music videos and CreativeLive courses to watch...
The math equation to determine your level of frustration is:
Ambition X Busyness
And don't forget to carry the "I have barely enough energy to scroll through Instagram..."
I've written before about essentialism - the art of doing the most important work first. And I've written a series on time management and prioritization and motivation.
I'm re-reading the book Scrum by Jeff Sutherland, and here's just one trick from that powerful organizational system:
The Rolling To-do List
(or Backlog, in Scrumspeak)
Emma has two boys, both under the age of 3 - both are napping less and less as they get older, which is leaving Emma hurting for time to work on her photography business.
She e-mailed me recently asking the ultimate time management question: how do I get more done in less time?
Particularly when that time isn't consistent...15 minutes here, 2 hours there...
I'm a big fan of time blocking: scheduling chunks of time, usually 90 minutes, to deep dive into the Next Steps work of your art and business. But that won't work if you have woeful little control over your free time. (I'm trying to get this e-mail out in the next 16 minutes before I need to wake up my youngest from her nap and fetch the eldest from her color guard practice.)
I'm compelled to turn this post into a 10-page course on Scrum Lite For Photographers, but let me focus on the rolling to-do list.
- Step 1: Create your backlog. List every to-do list item you could possibly dream of here. Nothing is too big or too small.
- Step 2: Roughly prioritize this list by putting the most important stuff at the top. (no perfection here, you can change it later)
- Step 3: Break down your top 3-5 to-do list items into baby steps: the smallest bite-sized, doable version of Next Steps to complete and achieve arguable success with that project or action item.
- Step 4: Anytime you have time, from 5 minutes to 90 or beyond, just bring up your list and start working on Item #1. Don't think about it, don't ponder the perfection of it, just Do The Work. If Item #1 is a beast that you can make no tangible progress on in 5 minutes, and you only have 5 minutes, grab the highest-level item that you CAN make progress on in the time you have.
- [Advanced: Next to each item, assign a Fibonacci number equal to the item's perceived requirement of effort: 1 for fast and easy (a 1-5 minute task), 2 for harder, 3, 5, 8, 13 for the ugliest frogs to swallow. Or, if you prefer, rate by dog: Chihuaha, Shih Tzu, French Bulldog....to Great Dane.]
Test this for 30 days. See if you're not making more progress with what little time you have on the most important actions that will move you forward in your art and business.
Then, change anything and everything about this system you want, to make it work FOR YOU. Have the confidence that you're smart enough to see what is and isn't working, and to change things and test them to see how to make it work better.
And, yes, this does mean you have permission to go out and buy a bunch of colorful sticky notes and turn your wall into a makeshift Running To-do List or Scrum board.
Have fun. :)
What's your biggest hesitation to testing this system? What is and isn't working for you in time management? E-mail me and let me know.
James Michael Taylor
www.parttimephoto.com
Why so serious?
Are you okay?
This is what my coworker asked me last week as I glared intensely at my computer screen, tight in the shoulder and hunched in the back.
I bet as you're reading this e-mail, if you check in with yourself real quick, you'll realize where the tension is settling in your body. Shoulders, back, gut, arms, hands...deeper, head and heart, right?
My pastor on Sunday likened that tension, worry, anxiety, to sitting in a rocking chair.
Back and forth... "Oh Lord, here we go, I bet this is going to turn out badly..."
Back and forth... "This client is going to hate my photos, I know it..."
Back and forth... "I shouldn't ask that person to shoot with me, they'll think I'm crazy or a weirdo..."
Back and forth... "Gosh I can't believe how imperfect my art / pricing / web site / business cards / personality / sense of humor / awkwardness is..."
Stop.
Take a breath.
Shake out that tension.
Get up out of the rocking chair.
And...have some fun.
Did you forget that you own your business?
Did you forget that you are in charge?
Did you forget that you can do more of what you enjoy and less of what sucks?
Did you forget that you're on this journey because you WANT to be?
I forget - trust, I forget all the dang time. That's when I find myself in the rocking chair, back and forth, tensed up like a dog who just ate a pair of momma's nicest shoes. That's when my coworkers or friends ask me, "Dude, are you okay?"
Are you having fun with this journey?
How can you have more fun as a professional photographer?
Not sure? E-mail me and let me know what you're dealing with. I'm always here to help.
James Michael Taylor
www.parttimephoto.com
P.S. My Freemium Photography book is now available for only $5. In it, I get out of the way, and give you the best business model (from how to make better art, to how to get booked solid, to how to launch) I've seen and tested and refined after 18 years of professional photography. It's simple, practical, and works. Hallelujah, right? :)