Stop the Doom and Gloom

Many pros I know are not happy with the way the photographic profession has been heading these days. They have had it with the the soccer moms and dads "stealing" their business. They are sick and tired of the fact that "digital" has cheapened what they can charge for their work because so many people are just giving their work away - photography, that is.

Folks, my answer to these kind of remarks is, Wake Up! If you think this is your competition, where have you been with your photography style and business practices for the last five years? Remember the quote I posted on Monday, "Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed...every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn't matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle...when the sun comes up, you'd better be running." So stop the complaining and get running!!

There is a great article over at FreelanceSwitch right here covering three important topics: 1. Know you market; 2. Know your brand. 3. Build your business around your brand. To paraphrase Sam Kinison... If you're in a market that doesn't support the building of your brand... MOVE! I guess that's why Gregory Heisler moved to New York after RIT, Rochester Institute of Technology.

It's time we start thinking like the big boys of business to separate us from the "small fry." (By the way, it's OK to be a "small fry" too - if you want to be, but not me, thank you very much.) You say, hey, I'm not a billion dollar corporation. Well, neither is Sean Cayton who runs Cayton Photography with his wife in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Check out his article over at Black Star Rising right here for his thoughts on the subject. His last paragraph in his article, "Photography has never been so popular or more in demand. And I am glad for it. It allows anyone with determination to do this job and to make money at it." I just checked out Shawn's blog too - lots of insightful posts here. I just added him to my newsreader. Way to go Shawn - good stuff!

Hey gang, I'm getting off my "soap box" and getting on with the day. Have a great weekend. I'm catching up with my daughter to hear her NY City adventures and hear about seeing the ball drop New Years Eve up close and personal. See ya' Monday. --David