It boggles my mind how fast the world can change. One moment you’re riding high, gearing up for your best year yet. The next, you’re reeling back from a gut punch in the form of a global pandemic and a full-blown economic meltdown. It’s beginning to feel like a never ending slog.
I keep coming back to something Blair deLaubenfels of World’s Best Wedding Photos said during a virtual panel discussion hosted by Image Salon. I’m going to paraphrase here – The world is not ending. It’s just on pause and all of that kinetic energy is building up. There is going to be a boom after this. People are going to want to celebrate love and life, capturing those moments to cherish and remember.
We will get to the other side of this thing. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what we can be doing right now as photographers to be setting ourselves up for the post-COVID photography industry. After reflecting on my recent conversations with photographers, I’m left with just two points that I would like to share with you now:
TAKE THIS TIME TO ESTABLISH YOUR SYSTEMS:
I’m blown away by how much thought and time top photographers put into establishing routines, structure, and habits for themselves. They are aware of their weaknesses and put systems in place so those weaknesses don’t get in their way.
I had one photographer explain it to me as – everything I don’t have to do, I don’t do. I delegate out the tasks I hate or I’m not good at. This allows me to focus on what matters – connecting with my clients and making art. Hate managing email? Outsource it. Social Media, Blogging, and SEO ruining your life? Outsource it. Editing got you down? Image Salon has your back.
I’m obviously biased here. I mean, I work for Image Salon which is a Montréal based photography and retouching studio.
However, after interviewing some of the top photographers in the industry for The Image Salon Podcast, I’ve come to see that there is a clear link between financial success and the establishment of well-oiled systems. Once photographers put these systems in place and start outsourcing the tasks that are weighing them down, it frees up time and energy to focus on the things that matter: growing their business, improving their craft, and connecting with their clients.
DEVELOP YOUR VOICE:
It’s tempting as a photographer to try and be all things for all clients. It seems like that would be the common sense approach to landing more clients and increasing revenue – appeal to the masses.
It seems to me that the opposite is true. I mean, look at the photographers who are speaking at Conference and Chill. They know exactly who they are as photographers and what they are trying to say with their work. It’s their unique voice and style that attracts their clients to them.
After editing countless photos for thousands of photographers, we started to notice a trend – the photographers who seem to take off are the ones who have a clearly established style and voice. This is why at Image Salon we recently introduced our free “Find My Style Calls”, to help photographers narrow in on who they are.
For those of you out there gearing up to crush your professional goals, you’ve got this. But if you’re struggling right now, that’s ok. Take the time to rest, reflect, and recharge.
I hope you enjoyed the conference and that you took away a bunch of useful insights.
Take care and keep creating,
Image Salon
Bryce – Community Manager