Read this if you're socially anxious
I’m not going to tell you to get over it. To just brave up and get outside your comfort zone. Nor to accept defeat.
If you suffer from severe social anxiety, it’s a non-starter to suggest you start cold calling potential co-op partners or approaching strangers at Starbucks. I encourage this kind of direct engagement because it gets you booked solid faster.
But it’s not the only path to success.
I have a lot of heart for my fellow artist-entrepreneurs who suffer from social anxiety. How to grow your art and business when so many ‘normal’ social interactions are anywhere from hard to impossible?
It’s okay. Your path just looks different.
Your path is more passive. Your path is more digital. Your path is slower, but equally persistent, with just as much hustle, and potential.
I know you’re not using social anxiety as an excuse to be lazy, or to not ‘brave up.’ I know that just answering the phone or being the first to reach out by text or e-mail is a BIG deal, with powerful physical and emotional reactions.
Some of us are in wheelchairs. Some of us have weird senses of humor. Some of us are almost blind. Some of us are socially anxious.
- Step 1: Give yourself grace, and let go of the sense that you even need allowance or forgiveness for your social anxiety. It’s just a reality, one ingredient in the recipe that makes you the unique artist and person you are.
- Step 2: Let go of all the BS stories that make you feel bad for how you are, that make you feel unworthy or incapable of success. If you wouldn’t tell someone in a wheelchair or with no hair or with a lisp that they can’t be a professional photographer because of how they are, then stop telling yourself the same.
- Step 3: Let’s brainstorm. If you accept your social anxiety and stop feeling bad about it, if you let it be okay, what are the new rules of your game as an entrepreneur? How are you going to rewrite your story and game plan and road map as a professional photographer to work with your social anxiety instead of through or around it?
Take this idea as far as you can for now. Then start executing on it.
Stuck here? Not sure how to untie this knot? E-mail me and let me know, and we’ll work on it together.
James Michael Taylor
www.parttimephoto.com
P.S. I have a book in the hopper on how to deploy my Freemium Photography business model specifically for those with social anxiety. Would you like to see me move that book up in my writing queue? Drop me a line and let me know!
How practice overcomes perfectionism
Perfectionism is a killer as a artist-entrepreneur.
We pour so much of ourselves into our work, then tie our identity closely to that work. We get scared to "sell" ourselves because we identify so closely with our art and business - a rejection of our work is a rejection of ourselves.
That hurts.
I'm a people-pleaser, so it's doubly painful for me - not only do I fear rejection, but I don't want to do be a bother, to annoy, to harass. (all fears we hold around asking people to do business with us)
A concept I learned in the audiobook The Practicing Mind is the self-soothing saying of "I'm just practicing."
If we're Mr. or Ms. Big Shot Professional Photographer, there's no room for imperfection.
But if we're "just practicing," imperfection is expected. Even embraced, because we're 'failing forward' - we're trying and testing and learning and growing.
Whenever I get too caught up in my own head and ego, I catch myself, stop, and say, "I'm just practicing."
We'll never be perfect.
We're going to fail - and thus learn - a lot along the way.
And every time I run into a wall, despite the emotions around that, I know I'm facing both a challenge and an opportunity to carry on where others would quit.
Every time I persist, and every time I make progress.
Hey.
It's okay.
Whatever is scaring you, or holding you back, especially if it's your own thoughts and feelings...
It's okay.
Give yourself grace, and tell yourself, "I'm just practicing."
See if that doesn't help get you unstuck and having fun again with your photography.
What's the biggest challenge holding you back today? E-mail me and let me know.
James Michael Taylor
www.parttimephoto.com
P.S. Laci read my new book Freemium Photography and said "This was an awesome read that pushed me to really think about what I am looking for in my journey as a photographer. It kept me scrolling and wanting to read more and it was perfect timing for where I am at currently." Freemium Photography is now available for immediate download right here.
What's my professional photography niche again?
A conundrum:
One of the fastest ways to gain traction as an early-stage professional photographer is to tighten your niche: who specifically do you serve, and in what unique way?
But...how do you know what niche you want to serve if you haven't worked with enough clients?
Coaches of coaches Greg Faxon and Toku McCree were talking authentic sales and marketing last week, and Greg brought up the concept of the niche spiral:
Instead of looking at choosing your niche as a final and inflexible sentence, look at the process of defining your niche as a spiral. You start on the outside with a rough idea of what kind of niche you want to serve, and as you do shoots and gather data, as you work with different kinds of clients, you begin to circle in on the kinds of clients you most love and want to serve.
Start with your obvious preferences: if you hate kids, don't be a family photographer. If you love kids, start with them. If you love moody, emotional, moving black and white relationship portraiture, make that. If you hate that moody stuff and love wild colors and pillow fights and big laughter, well...make that.
If you have no clue, try this:
1. What kind of photos are you drawn to? If multiple kinds or styles, how could you synthesize and remix those styles together for your own vibe?
2. Think back to a time when you experienced and overcame a hardship. How can you connect that experience, those emotions, to the kinds of clients you might like to serve? This offers built-in empathy and understanding with your clientele.
3. What are your hobbies and interests outside of photography? What's your best friend's personality like? Where does he or she shop or hang out? Build an avatar of your ideal client from the people you most like to spend time with.
From here, make something up and test it. Form a thesis: "I like portraits of kids having fun being kids, with lots of color. I remember being the nerdy but creative theater kid, and what that was like in school. I love music and video games. My best friend and I love to crack wit, solve problems, and talk about health and fitness. We shop or hang out at Starbucks, Vitamin Shoppe, Planet Fitness, Barnes and Noble, and Texas Roadhouse."
That paints a pretty vivid picture of a niche to test, right?
Do what works for you to get some clarity:
- Mind map these words and ideas, see how it all connects for you;
- Print out a bunch of images that represent these truths for you, lay them out on the table or floor, and start moving things around to see the relationships;
- Talk this out with a good friend and see what they see that you can't see clearly.
Once you have a grasp on the niche you want to serve, just keep that front and center: make sure your art communicates your love for that niche; also your portfolio, your web site, your blog and e-mail newsletter, your business cards, the places you advertise and leave your flyers and volunteer.
Test for 3-6 months. See what hits, what misses. Iterate.
And when and if you want, change it all up. Remember, this is your business: you can change anything and everything you want, anytime. Test. Learn. Adjust. Pivot. Grow. Change.
Your niche is a direction, a focus, a love letter. It's neither a cage nor a death sentence. It's a way of telling yourself, and your market, "FOR NOW, this is who I serve, why I serve them, and how I am the uniquely right photographer for them."
What's the biggest challenge holding you back today? E-mail me and and let me know.
James Michael Taylor
www.parttimephoto.com
Focus on your strengths first
You need some wins.
We impatient, self-flagellating human beings tend to want to change completely all at once. We go cold turkey. We don't wean off carbs, we swear them off. We don't start at the gym for 10 minutes, we go for two hours (then can't move for a week). We don't commit to feeling a little better, we set the goal of a summer swimsuit body in 30 days.
Wins build on wins. Mojo, baby.
But the human brain is built of deep-cut neural pathways. Your sugar addiction is a superhighway. Your dream habit of meal prep and lifting heavy at the gym is a bike trail. And your new goal of eating and acting healthy is like trying to divert rush hour traffic down that dirt path.
Likely to end in a wreck.
But...(and this is a good but, for once)
Superhighways start out as wagon trails.
Rough country evolves into wagon trails, trails into paved roads, paved roads into two-lanes into eight-lane cross-country interstates.
Takes time. Takes purposeful effort. Takes some vision, and a commitment to the vision.
How do you evolve your artistic and professional skills into the top 5% of your peers?
Focus on your strengths first.
When I coach a struggling photographer, some of the first assessments and exercises we do are to identify superpowers both known and hidden.
(Do you love reading books and blogs about business and/or photography? Did you know that's a superpower? Most companies with thousands of employees can barely get their people to do mandatory continuing education, much less study independently and passionately to grow their skills.)
This has two purposes:
1. To break the self-destructive obsession with weaknesses.
2. To rediscover the personal foundation of strength upon which that photographer can uniquely build their art and business.
Weaknesses can be shored up later.
Some of those weaknesses will turn out to be powerful differentiators, and surprising strengths when reframed.
But focusing on your strengths first lets you grab low-hanging fruit. It makes your wins come easier and faster. Aren't you tired of feeling stuck and frustrated and discouraged?
Hit the reset button and start over working from the foundation of your unique strengths.
What frustrating, slow, energy-draining work are you doing right now that's leaving you feeling inept and frustrated? E-mail me at james@banderaoutlaw.com and let me know.
James Michael Taylor
www.parttimephoto.com
Updating Design
Pardon the minimalist look around here - I'm making long-overdue updates to the PTP site design.
I want to make sure you've got easy access to all the content here on the site, that Google can find it and share it, and that it looks good enough (on desktop and mobile) it doesn't give you a headache trying to find and read what you want to know.
What excuse do your clients have to be photographed?
A big sale.
A smart promotion.
A themed mini-shoot.
A tight niche.
A charitable event.
A fun social experience.
A feeling of family.
A feeling of fun.
A feeling of beauty.
What are the GREAT excuses you are giving your potential clients to say YES to a photo shoot with you?
Different clients have different wants, need, interests, pains, desires.
How are you varying your marketing efforts to give each of those clients - all within your tight, targeted niche - to say YES to a photo shoot?
Which of the triggers of sales influence - scarcity, reciprocity, social proof, etc. - are you employing to compassionately help the RIGHT people say YES to a photo shoot that would bless them?
If your answer is “I’m not,” or “I don’t know,” drop me an e-mail at james@banderaoutlaw.com and let me know where you’re struggling.
Fair warning: my first question in response will probably be, “Why is that?”
Within your answer to that question is probably the solution you’re looking for.
James Michael Taylor
www.parttimephoto.com
A photo party makes a great consolation prize
Reader Emma recently hosted a giveaway contest to grow her e-mail newsletter list (a great idea!). But she wasn't sure what to offer as a thank-you to those who didn't win:
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I also want to send a welcome/thank you email to all the people who subscribed to newsletter to enter the giveaway contest, but not sure what to include in it yet (was thinking I’d offer the discount but now not...)
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She and I talked a bit about discounting before. I'm not a fan of devaluing your work, but definitely a fan of creative barter, such as for video testimonials or introductions to referrals.
For a consolation prize, a photo party is not a bad idea:
* One hour
* Location of your choosing (the park, or wherever you have good light)
* Serve some light refreshments (bonus if homemade)
* Make mini-shoot portraits of everyone who attends (if they entered your giveaway, they're hot leads, right?)
* Do it all for free. They only have to RSVP.
Then send reminders out the week and day before the party.
For whoever shows up (whether that's one person or a dozen), give them the red carpet treatment for that hour. Laugh, ask questions, be curious, get to know them, make it social and fun and light, no sales pitch; just a really nice, good experience for all.
That way you're not lowering the value of your work - you're giving a red carpet VIP experience, and getting invaluable face time with people who could be your next ideal clients.
Are you booked solid for the next 13 weeks with a waiting list forming? If not, drop me an e-mail at james@banderaoutlaw.com and let's talk about ideas.
James Michael Taylor
www.parttimephoto.com