....and why that might be affecting your results...
I chat with a lot of photographers about training, business etc to see if what can help with will be a good fit for what they need. I can usually tell within a few minutes of chatting if their photography business is part time along side another job, or if its their only source of income.
How can I tell? Because I also see some of myself at a time when I also worked another job and ran my own photography business there are a few things that stand between these two types of photographers in business.
I find that photographers with another job sit on the slide lines of decision making and actioning things a lot more. They take less risks, they love photography and they want to make a full time career out of it but there is always less push (from themselves) because they are reasonably comfortable living in both camps but hoping the photography one will take off one day and I get that, I’ve been there.
There is of course the chance that the photography will take off organically and turn into your full time gig, absolutely, but there is a bigger chance that unless you are all in, working on it, learning and growing, it will stay a side hustle or hobby.
Photographers that don’t also work a part time job seem to have a different approach to business - there is no cushion. Its all or nothing and they seem to be more 'All in' on their business. Take more risks, really push themselves to find solution to problems….after all this HAS to work….there is no pay day otherwise….and they don’t want to go back to the day job…that’s usually part of the motivation to keep going.
Like many photographers, when I started I kept my part time job. I kept working 3 days a week and ran my business around that. My studio was only open for shooting/viewing, its location meant that was possible, no problem with the shutters being down, it wasn’t a high traffic area.
But one day, we made the decision to move the studio to a better location, that location meant the studio had to be open business during hours, not having the shutters down most of the week as it was on a busy road, lots of free advertising, and we wanted it to open 5 days a week….we had to make it look like it was open!
It was a big decision to quit my job at the same time as taking on a higher priced lease, but we still didn’t having a steady flow of clients…we’d be doing this part time for 8 months…hoping it would work, but still hanging on to the part time jobs, we weren’t all in…but we still wanted it all.
THEN the magic happened.
7 articles in national newspapers in no time at all, radio interviews and magazines too
We started to get noticed, we were standing for something and we kept on with it.
That top image of the client laying on the chaise longue was taken in our very first (and looking back) awful studio, but it was what we could afford at the time and it got us off the blocks.
You might have read about the Law of Attraction, you might have heard about manifesting…at that point in my life I had never heard of it, but, it is only now, looking back that I realised that when we made the biggest decisions to commit to goals… that is when the biggest developments happened.
We manifested that. Manifesting isn’t all about the LOA but it is about making things happen, however you do that…working hard, researching, marketing etc....because we were all in and committed to our goals.
You might not believe in any type of ‘woo woo’ stuff, I hear you.
Woo woo or no woo woo involved - if you are committed to your goals, they align with who you are, you are standing up for something, you work at them, you leave no stone unturned, you stay positive…and it has to work ….you find a way.
Now, I’m not telling anyone to quit a job if they aren’t ready, absolutely and completely far from it….but I am asking you to be aware of your goals and what you really need to do to reach them.
The goals you have right now…what are you really doing to reach them?
If you have landed here, before anywhere else...I'm Seona, a working photographer, trainer and coach based in Glasgow, Scotland.
I can help with IPS training workshops online, newborn training and coaching - Can I help in your business? Let me know 🙂