Summer Reading List
[by Jay Kinghorn]
There’s no doubt that the business landscape is tough for photographers right now. Still, every day, green shoots are appearing in the publishing and advertising industries that will allow well-positioned and technologically savvy photographers to make and impact (and a good living) as the recession subsides.
Here are a few books I’ve found valuable in thinking about my business, assessing the services I provide clients and getting through my to-do list.
Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne. I find new insight from this book every time I read it. Blue Ocean Strategy offers clear guidance to rethink one’s business to focus on untapped markets and new opportunities.
The Innovator’s Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book That Will Change The Way You Do Business by Clayton M. Christensen. In researching the panel questions for the ASMP Copyright and The New Economy symposium this spring, I kept coming across references to this book citing it as an influential source for understanding why well-managed companies, who fail to change to meet new technological needs and client demands, fail. Sure enough, Clayton M. Christensen delivers, offering strategic insights for managing any business through periods of rapid change like we’re experiencing today and giving us both the strategy and the courage to make the leap from our current business model to the new model that will carry us into tomorrow.
Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity: This is a book I find more valuable with each read. Allen’s GTD method is well proven and will help you focus on addressing both day-to-day tasks and your big-picture business goals.
