A Place to Grow
It’s a fact of life, we all get older, we change, and many things change around us.
Take the wedding industry as example. I used to be the young buck booking more weddings than I can handle.
Nowadays, not so much. Ageism? Competition? Too many younger more handsomer young bucks & buckettes and too many cell phones?
[Read more…]Baby portraits don’t really work for me much anymore. They are long, hard and, well, a flooded market. There are a million baby photographers within five square miles of my studio. Likely yours too.
I don’t really mind competition. It motivates me to stand out, create offers that are unique and constantly find ways to hone and refine my sales message.
[Read more…]It’s getting bad out there. But it’s been getting bad since, hmmm, 2001 when I first went digital.
I’m sure they thought the same thing when 35MM entered the scene way, way back. Fearing these new cameras would forever change their industry. Which it did.
Or back, way back, when electronic flashes replaced gun powder as a better, safer, lighting source for photographers.
Everything changes. We all know that.
[Read more…] So, I’m reading this book:
“The Complacent Class: The Self-Defeating Quest for the American Dream”
By Tyler Cowen
It explains what we all know. There is a malaise, a complacency. Everywhere….
Maybe it’s because life is too good, or cultural shifts, or laziness or a mix of all these forces and more.
Who knows. But I am curious. Why? The more I understand, the more I can move in the right direction.
For example: We can all agree that complacency has permeated the entire photography industry. Not everyone, obviously, but generally speaking.
Why else would so many be happy with cell phone pics?
I see opportunity. Do you?
Opportunity to avoid complacency in our photography skills, and push ourselves to excellence.
Opportunity to avoid complacency in our photography marketing skills, and push our business to better results, sales and profits.
It’s why I created so many programs, including one of my favorites: Fuzzy Duenkel’s “Transcend the ordinary” Lighting program. A four part series from one of my favorite lighting and posing experts.
Few are his equal.
We don’t have to fall into complacency. There is opportunity, if we decide to find it.
Rob
My brain won’t stop. I thought for sure it got filled up years ago. But, alas, there’s still room left in that little pea brain of mine. Go figure.
I call myself an info-junkie. Others might be more generous and say I am a self-educated, self-made man.
Either way, the best education comes from within.
A few weeks ago while at the marketing summit at Maggie’s studio in Oakville, Maggie and I had a bit of a disagreement. I mentioned to the group how one needs to identity road blocks, issues, in your life, in order to grow, expand and prosper.
She, being the proverbial queen of positivity and light, thought it too negative.
“Why focus on that?” she exclaimed. “Keep it upbeat, positive.”
“Because, our personal issues can block the way to progress. One can’t push beyond our limits, until we identify them. We all have limits, imagined or real….we need a reality check, so to speak.”
I like money. And you should too. There’s a lot of fear and negativity around money. Anyone in business needs to master their emotions and attitudes around money in order to get ahead. It’s important.
I used to not like it so much. Mainly because I felt like a useless, less than worm inside.
But that was me.
I lacked self worth, self-esteem, self-discipline and self- image.That sucks. And it showed in my bank account.
When I sobered up back in ’91, worked on myself, found a brand new sense of purpose and optimism, I learned some simple truth about money.
Mainly, Money:
There’s more. Much more.
I’ve shared my thoughts, lessons, strategies and insights learned over the years in many seminars and in coaching classes.
Invariably, someone gets their panties in a knot and resents what I say.
Sometimes they resent me. Go figure. Odd thing that is, and oddly enough, I’ve seen this with mostly men. I had one guy leave my presentation because I was trying to convey the simple message. His loss.
One of the BEST books that found it’s way into my life back then was a quick easy read by Jerrold Mundis titled: “Earn what you deserve. How to Stop Underearning and Start Thriving.”
I can’t recommend this book enough. This book changed MY LIFE.
Some of the core truths that made me squirm, triggered my sense of self worth and really, really made me think was the list about under earners (which was me) were:
Under Earners:
•ARE USUALLY IN DEBT•HAVE LITTLE SAVINGS, FEW ASSETS•OFTEN IN FINANCIAL CRISIS•FEEL STRESS, PAIN AND FEAR OVER MONEY•DO UNPAID WORK: VOLUNTEER, CHARITY or SHOWCASE WORK•HAVE A VAGUE IDEA OF WHAT THEIR EXPENSES ARE•BELIEVE MONEY WILL SOLVE ALL THEIR PROBLEMS
I believe we’re entrepreneurial by nature. And trade has been around since way, way back when. Possibly a million years or more, in some form or other.
IF YOU ARE PARALYZED BY FEAR OR GUILT MONEY WILL NOT MOVE TOWARDS YOU BUT AWAY FROM YOU…
“No one can rise to his or her greatest possible height in talent or soul development unless he/she has plenty of money, for to unfold the soul and to de-velop talent he/she must have many things to use, and he cannot have these things unless he has money to buy them with.
A person develops in mind, soul, and body by making use of things, and society is so organized that people must have money in order to become the possessor of things.
Therefore, the basis of all advancement must be the science of getting rich.”
A few years ago I presented a webinar titled: “Wealth Attraction Goal Strategies For Photographers.”
It’s in the forum for members. If you haven’t watched it, I urge you to. It’s too valuable to pass up.
When I wore a younger mans suit and had more balls than brains, I couldn’t manage a studio if my life depended on it, so I got fired.
This was way back. Early 80’s. 24 yrs old and somehow managed to land a position managing a national franchise type photo studio.
(I had a killer resume that impressed someone. They literally hired me over the phone, no more questions asked. The one question they shoulda asked was: “Can you clean?”)
This job I took just prior to starting my own studio. I had little idea what I was doing, but I did learn a lot, because I read their manual. It was loaded with great studio management information. Like finding the McDonald’s management binder and then starting your own. Gold!
Sticks and stones…you know the rest. The modern day witch hunt, the Twitter mob and such killed that simple idea and decided, or we let it happen (for now) the idea that anyone can be ‘offended’ and remove the person, or persons, the source of their offense.
Too often this happens when people are successful. Especially in business. Dan Kennedy said it years ago before being hyper-offended became so acceptable and popular: “When you start making money, you become a target.”
We’d always freak out when we’d see a monkey. Or, an entire family of them. Because we had never seen many before.
Now, it’s routine.
We see tourists who haven’t been in Costa Rica very long stopping, pointing and oooohin and aaahing.
Last month, while in Costa Rica, a monkey walked right into our condo complex, casually strolling along. I barely took notice.