It’s Not You – It’s the Economy
[by Judy Herrmann]
This past January, my studio celebrated our 21st business anniversary. In that time our business has survived 4 recessions and soot damage that destroyed literally everything we owned. With all that history, all those experiences, I can honestly say that in 21 years of working as a full-time self-employed photographer, this last one has been the hardest.
As I travel around the country talking to photographers, I meet so many brilliantly creative business people and artists who are struggling like they’ve never struggled before. Even as it breaks my heart to see so many people hurting, I believe we can all take some comfort in the fact that we’re not alone. It’s not you. It’s not your work. It’s not your failing. It’s not your fault.
This is no ordinary recession – like it or not, we’re living through a game-changer. In previous recessions, as one door closed, other doors opened. New doors are still opening but they aren’t where they used to be. To find them, we have to look farther and keep a more open mind.
It’s time to focus on creating value – to broaden your skill set and seek creatively satisfying work in areas with greater market demand and less competition. Explore new technologies, join with others to cut costs and expand offerings, figure out what your clients believe their problems are and find ways to help them solve them.
4 Responses to 'It’s Not You – It’s the Economy'
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Thank you for the encouraging words, Judy. It’s been a rough week and reading this helped a little. I’ll be sure to pass it along to our chapter.
Judy, As usual, you are spot on. Keeping an open mind and looking places you never dreamed of, for projects you may have never thought of, sage advice for a challenging time. I have always believed In the middle of difficulty lies some of the greatest opportunities. So, instead of focusing on the things that are not going well at present, I tend to spend that time looking for those golden opportunities. Thanks Again for the reminder!
I agree with the post, but I would caution — don’t use the economy as an excuse for poor sales, and don’t let it keep you down.
Find other ways to grab interest. Don’t focus on selling photography – focus on selling value. It’s all about ROI.
Did you know that quality photography is one of the highest ROI things a company can do to improve sales on their websites? If you’re a product photographer, seek out reports on the ROI of good quality photography, and then go out and pitch companies who could use a facelift. Show them the reports. If you can demonstrate that hiring you will pay for itself, you’re in the door!
I worked for two years as a nightlife photographer. When I started in Salt Lake City, nobody was getting paid to go out and shoot club events. Clubs and promoters traded access for photos. In response, I built a list of fans, and a rolodex of media contacts.
When I was able to show clubs and promoters that I could solve two business problems for them: bring in more fans, and get them press, they stopped laughing at the sticker price and started to hire me – and I earned more revenue licensing the photos to that rolodex of media contacts than I earned selling the service to the clubs and promoters.
Now there are crews of nightlife photographers covering dozens of events every week in Salt Lake City.
Whatever your specialty, somewhere there’s somebody who could use your services to solve their real-world business problems. Find them and when you pitch – don’t pitch photographs. Pitch solutions.
Eric -
This is a fantastic story and a perfect example of looking for opportunities in untraditional places.
Thank you for sharing!