Over the last few months I’ve been thinking about the best ways to market my photo business. There are as many ways to do this as there are photographers on this planet. Marketing is not something I like very much. I want my photos to speak for themselves, but I’m realizing that the only way my photos can speak for themselves is if I help them get out in to the world and be seen by those who can help me. This requires marketing.
I’ve wanted to find a shortcut, a simple, easy, painless option of marketing. The more I have thought about the idea, and the more I have talked with photographers who are much more successful than I am at the moment, I have realized that there are no shortcuts. Marketing is a long, hard, painful process of pounding the pavement, knocking on doors, making cold calls, sending emails and getting out of your own way.
It’s so easy to come up with a laundry list of excuses. We all make them. It’s raining. It’s sunny. It’s just before lunch. It’s just after lunch. Monday mornings are bad. Friday afternoons are worse. I’m tired. I need a new business card. I could go on and on, but really, I’m just getting in my own way. I’m stopping myself from getting my pictures out the door and from letting them speak for themselves.
Now, I’m not saying that you should just throw your images out there without a plan and a vision. No. I’m not saying that at all. And, that folks, is where I stand at the moment.
What is my plan? What is my vision? What kind of work am I looking for? To do this I realized that I had to take a hard step and turn to outside influence. I’ve begun working with a photography consultant with whom I am going to be honing my vision. The goal is to narrow down what it is I want to do such that I can produce, or use existing material in a body of work that will speak to that vision and will serve to represent my goals clearly.
This is not an easy process. I’m asking someone to come in and look over my work critically and tell me what I need to do to become better. It hurts the ego, but I know that in the end it will have been worth the process.
Now, you’ll have to excuse me, but I have to get out of my own way and stop looking for shortcuts.
{ 1 comment }
I think you have the same dilemma that I do – namely that I have no direct vision; no specific method or result that I aim for constantly. I am trying to find it now – and I hope that you find it soon – I think we both know how hard it is becoming to continue effectively without it.
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