This is Business

The two biggest fears of artists-turned-owners

Two of the biggest fears we artists-turned-owners have about 'going pro' are:

1. Selling ourselves

2. Selling our art

The positive attention and encouragement we receive as enthusiastic amateurs can give us a false impression that we don't have to 'work' to earn business - that we can just exist, just hang our shingle, publish our work to our portfolio site and Facebook, and paying clients will beat a path to our door.

Typically introverts, folks like you and me are fueled from within instead of without. Shy or not, social situations deplete us more than they energize us, and our alone time is where we regroup and recharge.

We're also humble creatures. We're quiet, unassuming, and while we don't brag, we enjoy positive attention as much as anyone.

So the prospect of marketing and selling - getting our art, name, and message in front of our ideal clients - sends a lump straight to our throats.

The only thing most human beings fear more than death is public speaking, and both marketing and selling feel like close siblings to this boogeyman.

So what's an introvert to do?

There are always going to be "best practices."

But so many of those best practices are hand-built by and for extroverts. A quick flip through most Marketing 101-type books shows as much (and can set an introvert to reckless perspiring).

I'll always encourage you to step outside your comfort zone to test the waters on good ideas and practices - you never know when what's holding you back is a true aversion, or just an unnamed and unfounded fear that can be overcome with doing.

We'd all love to have business fall in our lap.

But we can't just wait for our clients to find us.

The secret sauce for you will be finding the most effective and efficient methods of marketing and selling that get (and keep) you booked solid, maximizing both your enjoyment and profit for the time you invest in your business.

The advantage obviously goes to the extroverts, folks energized by the attention of others.

As I've written, attention is fantastic for business, so long as it leads to paid work.

Three important things:

• Accept that the fastest ways to get booked solid are extroverted practices;
• Accept that the maximum profits per client are going to come with extroverted sales practices;
• And accept that your "best practices" as an introvert aren't going to look like their best practices.

You need to write your own playbook.

And you know what?

That's okay.

Don't buy into the cult of maximum productivity and maximum efficiency.

Don't worship profits at all costs.

The boutique photographers turned business gurus are some of the worst about selling you their $500 playbook without knowing anything about you or what kind of player you are.

Let's be real: you don't have to do this.

You chose photography.

You chose to go pro.

You're doing all of this because you want to.

You never have to incorporate practices into your business that make you hate being a professional photographer.

Stretch yourself, test yourself, challenge yourself, but never forget that you are in ultimate control.

As always, you define your success - nobody else.

What then are your blood, sweat, and tears worth if you build a business that brings you no joy? That, in fact, saps your energy, creativity, and happiness?

You face two great tragedies: succeeding in building a business you hate, and failing to try at all.

There's a huge range of opportunity between these poles: plenty of room to study, practice, learn, test, fail, adjust, experiment, succeed, do better, do worse, and every moment, take another step closer to building a business you enjoy - even love.

I can't imagine the last 15 years of my life without Outlaw Photography; all of the friends I'd have never met, art I'd have never made, money I'd have never been paid with which to bless my family, the stories I'd have never earned for the telling, the blog I'd have never written (howdy y'all!)...

The blessings have been countless.

If I had never pushed myself outside my introvert comfort zone, I'd have never plumbed the depths of my talents as a marketer or salesman; I'd have never tried new things, broken new ground within myself, and discovered where my honest personal limits lie.

If I had forced myself to continue with "best practices" which made me miserable, that despite facing my fears continued to create more stress than success for me, I'd have burned out. There would be no Outlaw Photography to serve my clients or enable life experiences for my family we couldn't otherwise afford.

I found my balance.

Not by luck, but by consistently trying new things, testing myself and adjusting course by what new things I learned - about photography, business, and myself - along the journey.

Give yourself the opportunity to succeed.

To do what you think you can't.

To realize you're capable - and maybe even enjoy - things you didn't think you could do.

And to have tested and consciously chosen not to adopt the "best practices" which leave you burned out and depleted.

I could have made more money.

I could have booked more shoots.

I could have done a lot of things that would make my business more successful on paper.

But I'm thankful I didn't.

I am thankful for the strength to challenge myself and the wisdom to discern which of the countless branching paths to success best balanced risk and reward - choices unique to my personality, my experiences, my strengths and weaknesses.

Let me assure you, it was a messy, disjointed, graceless, downright butt-ugly adventure. Lord of the Rings, it was not. I'd have never found my personal success without many trials and errors.

The indefatigable villain named Resistance fought like hell on every battleground to deter me from my victories.

But I persisted.

And I am so, so glad that I did.

Don't give up, fellow introvert.

Marketing and sales aren't as bad as the boogeyman in your head has made them out to be.

You will find what works best for you, your own best practices, and you'll learn to thrive just like I have, just like countless other artists who were able to reach just far enough outside their comfort zones to grasp success.

Remember the “self” in self-promotion is you, and guess what? You are in charge of you! Introvert or not, you make the calls on what fits and what doesn’t. So do things in the unique way that works for you." - Paul Jarvis, Effective Marketing For Introverts

Next Steps

• Let's make some lists! List 1: Let's say you are absolutely not allowed to do any marketing or sales that you don't know for sure, right this moment, you would enjoy. How would you market yourself? How would you get your art and message in front of your target market? List every venue, physical and digital, every opportunity, every method you can think of to make the connection between what you have to offer and Your People.
• List 2: Now, make a list of every marketing idea and effort you can think of that isn't on List 1; all of the extrovert stuff, the public speaking, the cold calls, the in-person introductions and Asks, the direct approach, the collaborative work, the PR / press opportunities, absolutely anything and everything you can think of that would get your art and message in front of your target market that isn't on List 1.
• List 3: Pick three marketing ideas from List 2 that you believe wouldn't kill you, but would help you get more attention and bookings. Three things you think you can do, but don't think you would enjoy. Let's just say, for funsies, that you were going to do those three things. What are the all the baby steps involved? If you were really going to do them, outline the effort - what would be involved? What would it look like? What are the steps? What does that path look like?
• You knew this was coming: Pick the idea from List 3 that you feel you're most likely to really do, and... Just Do It! Let go of the results. Focus on process. Disconnect from identifying with the success or failure of your efforts. Just...do. This is how you test yourself: look outside your comfort zone for an opportunity you would not naturally gravitate toward, make a map of the journey, and then adventure! No matter what happens, you will have grown - you'll have studied, learned, practiced, and grown as a marketer and business owner. Repeat this process as often as you can to really feel out the risks which lead to the best rewards.
• Brainstorm session: Get out your pen and paper. If you weren't the one responsible for taking action on your marketing ideas - let's say you were given a nice grant to hire a master marketer to enact your dream marketing plan - what ideas would be your favorite? What would your marketing plan look like? What are the ideas that excite you about how they present your art and business to your community? Let your imagination run wild, free of the fear of having responsibility to act on anything you write down here. Later, mine this list of ideas for things you can slip onto List 2...and maybe List 3.
• My writing at PartTimePhoto.com exists to serve your needs as an amateur photographer making the transition to paid professional. I appreciate and welcome your readership, and invite you to subscribe to my e-mail newsletter at the top of any page of this site.
• What's the biggest struggle holding you back right now? E-mail me your answer (yes, right now!), and let's make a breakthrough today.
• If anything in this post has spoken to and inspired you, please comment below, drop me an e-mail, or call or text me at 830-688-1564 and let me know. I'd love to hear how you use these ideas to better your part time photography business!

---

by Outlaw Photographer James Michael Taylor

Are you an artist or an attention whore?

Ouch.

Okay, normally I'm not so hard on you guys.

But I've got to give you some tough love for a minute - it's for your own good.

Some of you don't want to be professional photographers.

You're reading PTP, you're taking some photos, you're dreaming of the camera gear you want to have and the professional image and recognition that comes with owning your own creative business.

But...why?

If you're stagnant - if you're procrastinating on launching, or finalizing your pricing, or perfecting every pixel of your web site instead of hustling paid photo shoots...you have to ask yourself an important question:

"Am I an artist or an attention whore?"

Do you want to hustle? Do you want to market yourself in your community? Do you want to learn to sell so well that you're able to perfectly match a client to a product offering, and maximize your profits in the process? Do you have a heart of service for your clients? Do you want to fail forward and fail faster? Do you want work as much on your business and marketing as on your art?

Or do you just want attention?

Hey, it's human nature - we all want to be liked, to be popular, and especially as artists, to be recognized for the work we do. We all love the Likes, the kind words, the glowing testimonials.

But, if you feel stuck in first gear with your business, is it because you don't really want to own and run a business? Do you just want the attention of a professional photographer?

Let me be first to raise my hand: I went through a years-long phase of shooting for attention and the social high, benefiting neither my business nor my bank account. I can't tell you how many hours I poured into shooting local sports, into six-hour 'fashion' photo shoots, getting attention for attention's sake.

My MySpace friends list was full, but my bank account was empty.

There's nothing wrong with creating art for fun, creative expression, or even out-and-out attention.

Attention is fantastic for business...

...when it's leveraged into paid work.

If you're ready to be a paid professional, to grow your business into a blessing for your community and your finances, you have to transmute attention into business.

This is marketing alchemy.

This is what separates paid professionals from looky-loos.

If you're just in this for attention - you're in no rush to get paid, you 'just want to make enough to pay for the hobby,' you spend more time on Facebook than creating art, you've been 'building your portfolio' with free shoots for years, you've read 13 blogs and books and magazines this week on photography and camera gear and not one on small business or marketing, you're talking about becoming a professional photographer but taking no steps and making no tangible progress...

It's okay.

No judgment here.

You don't have to change anything you're doing. I'm truly not trying to make you feel bad, or call you out in a bad way.

Your photography, your business, and everything you do within it, and every reason you do it, is yours to manage and enjoy; never forget, you do this because you want to, and you're always in charge.

But I don't think you're here because you just want attention.

If you're elbows deep in PTP, if you're reading these words, you're more than ready for more than just transient attention.

You're ready to take bold steps.

You're ready to finalize that price list, settle on a name for your business, and land your first paid clients.

You're ready to step up, take risks, fail forward, focus, to take action and not just read and dream.

You're ready to check off that to-do list.

You're ready to take action, to put yourself out there, even if you do it wrong - to take imperfect action.

You're ready to disappoint a client, kick yourself in the ass, learn, then get over it and move on.

You're ready to make mistakes - and learn from them.

You're ready to schedule the time every day, every week, to make your dream of being a professional photographer a reality - baby steps.

You're ready to put a stake in the ground, finalize the 'details' of your business, and start doing business instead of just (over)preparing for it.

You're ready to leverage every ounce of attention you get with your art into testimonials, referrals, marketing mojo, repeat clientele: money in the bank.

You're ready.

You're here. Right now. You're ready.

You are not an attention whore. You may have been acting like one for too long, but we're on the march now; we're professionals, and we're done with the procrastination horsesh*t that has turned our blazing passion and limitless potential into a slog through deep mud.

I had to learn to do this with my photojournalism for the local paper.

Instead of just soaking up the attention of a great front page photo from under the Friday Night Lights, I learned to make the ask: when complimented on my work, I'd steer the conversation to my professional services, and seek out the needs of my potential client then and there.

I'd make the ask; I'd ask for their business in that very moment.

And I got it almost every single time.

Leverage.

I learned to do this with my fashion work. Few styles get as much attention from the hip, artistic, and young (read: lucrative high school seniors), as fashion photography. Every Facebook Like and comment becomes an opportunity to make the ask and land a new client.

Attention is a good thing.

Even more so, in my book (and I believe in yours too), when that attention is alchemically transformed into hundred dollar bills.

When I pose the question, "Do you really want to be a professional photographer?", it's okay if you don't truly know - if you're not blazingly sure you're up for all this.

But I implore you:

Try.

If you've come this far, if you have the spark of a professional artist within you, I can't encourage you enough to try. Make a go of it. Give it all you've got.

If down the road you're unhappy, if you're burning out because you can't find a way to enjoyably balance your art with business, then stop.

I'll say again: your business is by you and for you. Verily, you're a blessing to your community and clients in the art you create for them, but you're the boss - you never have to do anything you don't want to.

You can always go back to creating art for the pure enjoyment of it.

You can always go back to just shooting, processing, and posting for attention; for funsies.

But I believe you've got a lot more in you, and that's why you're here.

Dive head-first outside of your comfort zone. Learn who you are, and what you're capable of. Challenge yourself. Strive. Persevere. Dream, and Do.

Start where you are

I love being a professional photographer.

I love the creativity, the wonderful clients who become lifelong friends, I love volunteering and serving my community, and I love that the money I earn with my art blesses my family with comforts and life experiences we couldn't otherwise afford.

An inherent interest in the business, marketing, and sales of professional photography is in no way a prerequisite to success.

Start where you are.

There is no right way, no perfect course of action; hell, even the 'best practices' aren't surefire keys to success.

Success is a process - it's trying new things, guided by the knowledge you gain from books and blogs and fellow photographers, and failure is a big part of that process. You have to fail forward, make mistakes, even embarrass yourself a few times.

But that's what professional success looks like. It looks like perseverance, tenacity, hunger, focus, failure, practice, learning, attention, leverage, humility, and courage.

Where you are today is not where you will be tomorrow. The world is turning, whether you choose to make your move or not. If you're not taking action, even just baby steps, the world - and your dream - is passing you by.

You're here, you're breathing, and you have a camera in your hand.

That's called opportunity.

Now: Try.

Next Steps

• Get unstuck. Right now. I know there's at least one, two, a few things burning in your mind right now, ways you know you're procrastinating because you've been satisfied with attention and dreaming instead of taking bold steps to be the professional you dream of. What decisions do you need to make? What stake can you drive in the ground right now in making your business real? What brave thing will you do today?
• Brainstorm session: get out your pen and paper. There's a road between where you are this moment and where you need to be to call yourself a professional, to be ready to ask for and land paid work. What does that road look like? What are the baby steps between here and there? Don't worry about what you don't know, no map identifies every pebble or crack in the road. Take the time to lay out every single baby step, every action big or small you can think of that will get you to the point where you'll choose to ask for and earn paid photography work (I word it this way for a reason: you will never be 'ready,' there will never be a 'right' time). Schedule the time, as little as five minutes a day, on your calendar for the coming week to work on these steps. Add them to your to-do list. Then do it, step by step by step, no matter how confused or lost or imperfect you feel about it; keep moving forward. File this away in your Brainstorms folder (and schedule the time on your calendar a month from now to pull this out and check off everything you've accomplished - which if you do the work, I guarantee, you'll be amazed at how far you've come in just 30 days).
• My writing at PartTimePhoto.com exists to serve your needs as an amateur photographer making the transition to paid professional. I appreciate and welcome your readership, and invite you to subscribe to my e-mail newsletter at the top of any page of this site.
• What's the biggest struggle holding you back right now? E-mail me your answer (yes, right now!), and let's make a breakthrough today.
• If anything in this post has spoken to and inspired you, please comment below, drop me an e-mail, or call or text me at 830-688-1564 and let me know. I'd love to hear how you use these ideas to better your part time photography business!

---

by Outlaw Photographer James Michael Taylor

Accountability is the plateau killer

Like skydiving and asking a girl to dance, sometimes you have to experience a dreaded act before you realize how awesome it can be.

Accountability has always been that way for me.

I grew up an only child, homeschooled, with one real friend (and a handful of seasonal cousins).

I was a loner by environment, which grew to be my nature. I became extremely self-sufficient, from my education to my life and entertainment.

Unfortunately, I missed those early lessons of teamwork and the power of accountability.

Only in the past six months have I experienced how accountability can move mountains in my life.

My vision of accountability as a tool for reaching goals was of an overzealous (and way too perky) fitness trainer calling me at the butt crack of dawn to yell at me to go run.

Or my mom asking me if my underwear is clean. Every day.

Or some overly helpful friend, in whom I would confide my desire to lose a few pounds, then criticizing my every meal choice and telling me to eat more fiber.

Until I finally experienced it, I never imagined accountability to be such a powerful, completely enjoyable way to turn my dreams into reality.

Where I Found Priceless Accountability

The amazing Steve Arensberg of Free of Gravity, under the umbrella of Scott Dinsmore's tribe, launched in January the San Antonio Live Your Legend group - where folks bootstrapping passion projects gather to exchange updates, ideas, and encouragement.

This group has changed my life.

A lot of this change has been behind the scenes, but in the post you're reading now and beyond, the effects are tangible.

Having a group of passionate, empathetic, encouraging folks with whom I can share my successes and failures has proven to be the greatest catalyst for change in my life since discovering gurus like Michael Hyatt, Jeff Goins, and Tim Ferriss.

From the thought leaders, I'm forever indebted for teaching me what to do and how to do it.

From my fellow Live Your Legend folks, my peers turned friends and accountability partners, I've learned how to get it done.

In sharing my passion project and my goals with these folks, I've had to take my head out of the clouds of concepts and ideas and possibilities, and put my boots on the ground. I've had to take my vision and turn it into an action plan - and take measurable action on it.

Every one of us reports on our plans and progress every meeting. And every one of us is invested in the success of everyone else.

It's easy to disappoint ourselves. Let's be real - we're used to it.

But when you know there are going to be two, four, ten faces looking back at you as you talk about your successes and failures - folks who know your dreams, goals, and what you wanted to accomplish this month - it takes inaction, paralysis, and excuses off the table.

We can reason ourselves into a lifetime of personal disappointment.

It's a lot harder to spin that horsesh*t to a table full of friends who know better.

If you're reading this, it's time to get your dream of being a successful part time professional photographer out of the clouds, off your to-do list and into the real world.

It's time to make tangible progress.

It's time to put one foot in front of the other, even just baby steps.

But where you are a month from now and a year from now has to be measurably far beyond where you are today.

It starts right now.

Commit to your dreams.

Seek out a friend or a peer or a group of good people with whom you can share your dreams, passion and goals (you can find the Live Your Legend groups here, and there are countless artists and small business groups to be found on meetup.com).

Find folks you can get face-to-face with.

As artists, we're often introverts, and it can be sweat-pouringly hard for us to proactively seek out and reach out to others for help - to share our dreams, show our vulnerability and admit our failures.

You will find equal parts relief, excitement, and motivation when you're in a room with folks facing the same fears and challenges you are, discussing what is and isn't working, and sharing your journey with them.

Steve and I sat together over coffee tonight. We enthusiastically spoke of our fears, our dreams, what's holding us back, and why. We parted with a handshake and good hug, new ideas, new inspiration. I pulled my keyboard out of my backpack and started writing this blog post to you.

Accountability is encouragement.

Accountability is motivation.

It's mutual investment.

It's movement.

It's tangible, hands-on, boots on the ground, step-by-step progress.

Accountability is the plateau killer.

I don't know about you, but I'm sick of feeling stuck. I'm sick of sameness. I'm sick of the plateau, the rut, the daily disappointment in myself when I achieve nothing toward my dreams.

Has a day gone by where you haven't taken a photo? How about a week? Month? A season where you didn't really pick up your camera or do anything to get you closer to your dreams?

Life is too short and I am too excited about making my dreams come true, for the benefit of my family, my community, and you awesome readers here at PTP.

In the spirit of podcaster John Lee Dumas, I am truly on fire - everything in my life has led to this day, every hardship and challenge and miracle and blessing has led to the words you're reading this moment.

I am ready to ignite.

Let's do this together.

E-mail me. Tell me what your dream is for your part time photography business, and what's holding you back. I'll do everything I can to help.

That's why I'm here - to encourage, educate, and empower you on your journey from amateur photographer to paid professional. The pleasure, and honor, is mine.

"Your peer group are people with similar dreams, goals and worldviews. They are people who will push you in exchange for being pushed, who will raise the bar and tell you the truth.

Finding a peer group and working with them, intentionally and on a regular schedule, might be the single biggest boost your career can experience."
- Seth Godin

Next Steps

• Find an accountability partner or group. Put their next meeting on your calendar. Clear the time; make it happen. If you hate it, if you puke in the trash can, it's okay - you never have to go again... But that won't happen. You're going to walk in a nervous wreck and walk out shocked at how much complete strangers care about your success.
• While I'd strongly encourage you to establish a local accountability partner or group, if you need an in-between baby step, drop me an e-mail. Let me know how I can help, or if you just want to talk shop on a regular basis to keep your head in the game. I'm here for you, but I will continue to encourage you to find some folks local to you so you can get that inimitable face time with fellow dream chasers.
• Brainstorm session: Get out your notepad and pen. What are the habits (or missing habits) that are most holding you back from making progress on your dreams? Think hard. Go deep. Really consider what changes would have the biggest impact on your growth. And they don't have to be photography-specific. For me, losing weight and improving my fitness is a huge goal that has a real effect on achieving my life goals. That translates into habits of meal preparation, healthy eating, and greater physical activity. Take your time and really identify all the ways you would like to change your personal actions or inactions, your behaviors, your choices, your attitudes, and write them all out. Don't let this list daunt you - we're all highly imperfect creatures. Now pick from that list the top three habits that are helping or hurting your ability to make your dreams reality; sticky-note this to your monitor (or mirror, or fridge) and be prepared to share this with your accountability partner or group. File the rest away in your Brainstorms folder.
• My writing at PartTimePhoto.com exists to serve your needs as an amateur photographer making the transition to paid professional. I appreciate and welcome your readership, and invite you to subscribe to my e-mail newsletter at the top of any page of this site.
• If anything in this post has spoken to and inspired you, please comment below, drop me an e-mail, or call or text me at 830-688-1564 and let me know. I'd love to hear how you use these ideas to better your part time photography business!

---

by Outlaw Photographer James Michael Taylor