I was sitting at a café in Cape Town, South Africa. Joining me was an aspiring photographer who’d watched several dozen of my videos on YouTube. We’d agreed to meet and chat about photography and enjoy a strong African coffee.
“How do I take my photography to the next level?” he asked.
“Do you mean your photographs or your business?” I replied.
He thought for a few seconds, “Both, I guess. I just want to get to that next place. What should I do?”
He looked at me as if I had a secret, some special trick that would open new doors to creativity and business opportunities.
I took a sip of my coffee and told him that unfortunately, there is no such trick. There is no one thing. We talked for a couple of hours and I told him the things that have worked for me over the years.
As we were leaving the café, he said, “You should write all of this down.”
I thought that was good advice, and so I wrote this article. Here are six things that have worked wonders for me. I think they’ll do the same for you.
Number 1: Jump Start Your Brain
In the early 90’s I read a book that changed the way I think, it’s called Jump Start Your Brain by Doug Hall. I learned that the best way to be creative is to fill your brain with lots of stimuli. It also helps to dabble in several different disciplines, just too keep the creative juices flowing. There are a lot of different things you can do, but I believe one of them is critically important.
Read
Read a lot. Reading is good for your brain and your creativity. I read about 2 hours every day (I love my Kindle). It doesn’t really matter what you read, just read. You’ll begin to get new ideas, see the world differently, make new associations, find new insights, and broaden your horizons.
If you just don’t know where to start, head over to Goodreads. You’ll find lot of suggestions by people who love books. If you want to see what I’m reading, click here.
Learn the Process
Enjoy other forms of art; painting, film, theater, sculpture. Visit your local museums and galleries. Learn why artists created their works. Try to learn as much as possible about their creative process. This will help you define your own process and create work that speaks from your point of view.
In addition to seeing work in museums and galleries, there are some great documentaries on Netflix and iTunes that pull back the curtain on creativity. Here are just a few:
What do all of these documentaries have in common? They show how very successful people create. It doesn’t really matter if you’re making the best sushi in the world, the funniest stand-up routine, tuning a piano for Alfred Brendel, passing the sommelier’s exam, or riding a motorcycle around the world – all of these things take passion, dedication, discipline, and years of hard work. All things we need to be better photographers and run successful businesses.
Number Two: Shoot Personal Work
This is your time. It’s important that when you shoot personal work that you keep it all about you. Don’t tell the model she’ll get great images for her portfolio, don’t promise a client great work if they allow you to do your own thing. Those things may happen, but don’t expect it.
Keeping your personal work personal means that you free yourself from the expectations of success. You’re giving yourself permission to fail, and you need that. You need time to try new things, even if they don’t work out.
It’s Your Playground
One of my favorite images came from a session of personal work. I’d seen some abstract paintings where the artists had painted clothes made of water. The painter was playing with textures and shapes and I wondered if I could do something similar with my photography.
I got every kind of texture I could think of; fabrics, metals, leaves, mud… Anything was fair game. The first shoot was a miserable failure, but when I looked at the images I noticed that a window screen that I’d used as a background looked pretty interesting. I scheduled a new shoot and, after a few experiments, found something that worked.
It’s Your Safe Place
Shooting for yourself allows for lots of trial and error. You can fail with reckless abandon and it’s OK. This is your safe place, the perfect spot to learn new things. Avoid trying something totally new with a paying client. It’s better to do a few tests on your own time and make all your mistakes in private. You’ll figure out all the pitfalls and be ready for that big assignment when it arrives.
Schedule It
Make personal work a regular part of your routine. For years I saved every Friday for trying new things. These sessions led to hundreds of the videos that I made over the years. One hour of real world practice is worth 10 hours of watching tutorials on YouTube. Get out there – shoot!
Number Three: Get Connected
Working with other photographers will help you learn, but it will also help you build your business. Join a local photography club and stay active. Offer to teach a workshop for the club, check the club listings for opportunities to assist, or just enjoy a good cup of coffee with new friends.
As your network becomes stronger you’ll find yourself filling in for other photographers when they can’t make it to a shoot, or when they are offered a job that’s outside of their specialty but perfect for you. Your fellow photographers will appreciate it when you do the same for them. Everyone wins!
Number Four: Build a Consistent Brand
Nothing says, “I’m an amateur!” like a website that’s hosted on Blogspot or some other free domain. Spend the money and get a domain name.
Don’t fret, getting your own domain is not difficult. If this is something you’re not comfortable doing, then hire someone to do it for you. liveBooks or SquareSpace are good places to start.
Once you have a domain make sure you use the same name for all of your branding. Use the same domain for email. Make sure your FaceBook page matches the name of your website. The same goes for twitter, Instagram, and all of your other social feeds.
I know it sounds obvious, but I’m still amazed by the number of people who have one name on their website and a different name on FaceBook and a totally different name in email. Don’t confuse your clients. Get one name and stick to it.
Number Five: Measure Everything
Your business needs to be profitable. To do this you have to know what’s working and what’s costing you money. Keep records of everything and then do regular analysis to stay on track.
Social Media
Use Google Analytics and other tools to track everything. Facebook, twitter, and Instagram all have tracking tools for business accounts. Use this data to learn about your customers and what campaigns are working, and which are not.
Financial Data
It’s a good idea to hire an accountant to help with your finances; invoicing, taxes, budgeting, and analysis. A good accountant will keep you honest and show you where you can save. Most importantly they will show you what is not working and help you avoid big mistakes down the road.
Use your financial data to make sure you’re charging enough, plan for future purchases, and prune areas of your business that aren’t profitable.
Putting it Together
Perhaps you’re spending 100 hours on family portraits for a $100 profit, but your senior portraits are making $500 in just 10 hours. Using your data, you can either increase prices for family portraits or stop shooting them altogether. If you combine your financial data with your customer data you may learn that your family portraits are leading to your senior portraits, therefore an increase in family portrait advertising may help both revenue streams.
Once you make a decision, let’s say you’ve launched a family portrait ad campaign on Facebook, use the data to see if the investment was worth it. You won’t know what’s working unless you track everything.
Number Six: Print More
You will sell more prints to your customers if you have a studio full of samples. Print large beautiful prints and hang them on your walls. Make metal prints, canvas prints, photo books, and more. Show these to your clients when they are reviewing their images.
This is one of the easiest ways to increase your profits. I’ve known photographers double or triple their sales by doing nothing more than having samples for clients. It works.
The Next Level
None of these things are incredibly difficult. It boils down to the same old advice: invest in yourself, practice your craft, network with colleagues, and advertise. It will take time and a lot of discipline, and if you’re consistent you’ll see your business and skills grow. You’ll get to the next level.
