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What’s The Real Secret To
Getting Started In
The Business Of Photography?
As I write this, I’ve been digitizing a lot of old slides and film negatives including many tens of thousands of Pam’s client images from way back in the film days.
Included with the old negs and slides is the paperwork from each job, and every now and then I come across something interesting, like — THE #1 SECRET TO STARTING A PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS!
I will show you what triggered the “#1 secret idea” in a moment. At first glance, it may not look like much, but it’s the real deal and the real secret to starting any business.
Ignoring it will stop you cold... using it will make you unstoppable!
So, here is the story behind it all...
When Pam first moved to North Carolina and decided to be in the business of photography she didn’t have any clients. In fact, she didn’t even know exactly what she wanted to do with her photography business. She just knew she wanted to do photography.
Now, to top this off, she didn’t have much training. So her technical skills were pretty low and the equipment she had was bottom-line basic — not what you would consider to be “pro”gear.
In short, she couldn’t have started from a lower point, especially considering that the market was already saturated with professional photographers and the entire population in our area was “thin” — less than 70,000 in the entire county.
For sure, had we “analyzed the market” from the perspective of a business consultant, we would have advised us to start a different business. In fact, there were some people who told us just that.
But we didn’t listen.
Pam got started anyway.
And in those early business days she did any job she could get including types of photography she didn’t particularly like, had not done before, and didn’t really know how to do.
Which brings me to the “interesting thing” I found while scanning Pam’s old client files. It was from one of her very first jobs in North Carolina and involved interior photography for a hotel... something she still doesn’t know much about even today. It is just not something she is passionate about.
But she took that job anyway because in the begriming any work is better that no work and one thing can lead to another. In this case, it was a start, and getting a start — for real — trumps not doing anything.
Getting started in business even trumps making a big profit, or any profit — as you can see from the note below, the “hotel job” was not one of Pam’s most profitable projects. It was also done at no risk to the client... whatever it takes to get started with real work for real money even if it’s not much — each step builds confidence, moves you forward, and lays the groundwork for the future.
OK, here is the note that triggered the memories of how we got to where we are today, and why Pam can now charge $997 a session and up — it just wouldn’t have happened had we hesitated, used “logic,” or let a “lack of” hold us back...
I hope you enjoyed this little dose of “motivation” and “can do” encouragement. The NYN photography business success course can, of course, give you the nuts and bolts of getting started in the business of photography, put you way ahead of where we started, and keep you motivated, but ultimately you must apply the true secret of getting started any way you can and not letting false barriers stop you!!!
Photographically yours,
Jeff Farr, co-founder and director
Not Your Normal School of Photography
