Do many people still make New Year’s resolutions? Although people have good intentions, I suspect this is done mostly for fun.
In no particular order, some resolutions for the new year:
1. 4256 x 2832 , 300 ppi, 1440 x 900 (photographers’ joke)
2. Take more pictures. Musicians rehearse, athletes train, firefighters do drills. Photographers also have to stay in shape by taking pictures.
3. Learn to make better pictures. Today’s digital photography equipment is new, but it’s funny how photography styles go in cycles: everything old is new again. Keep up with computer technology without losing sight of what’s really important – the photography.
4. Do more effective marketing. If someone doesn’t understand what you’re saying, talking louder won’t help. If it didn’t work the first time, then why repeat it? Marketing has to be in the language of the customer and delivered to wherever that customer might be. Don’t expect the customer to come to you.
5. Find more clients. This is related to #4 but it also refers to finding different types of clients and widening the customer base. Almost all businesses have a need for photography, if only for their web site. While it may be good for a photographer’s ego to shoot only for large national corporations, there are far more local businesses that can benefit from quality photography. A client list can never be too long.
6. Look into the possibility of expanding or at least partnering with others to form a new business. It’s important to adapt to changing times but the question always is: in what directions are things changing?
7. Take better care of both physical and mental health. Being self-employed often means putting business and customers first. There’s always work to be done which means a self-employed person usually puts themselves last. Poor physical or mental health affects business health.
8. Learn to predict the future. Failing that, learn to better read the present. You have to know what your customers want today and might want tomorrow.
9. Video. After speaking with various clients over the past two years, the interest and demand for video has been an absolute zero. Not a single business or editorial client has any interest whatsoever. However, re-read #8 above. If a client should ask for video, a photographer can’t say, “Sure, just wait a few years while I learn it.”
10. There have been some interesting portrait projects in other cities that seem to have benefitted people in those cities. Perhaps these ideas could be brought to Toronto. Photography is more than a business. The power of photography to get attention and send a message can benefit not only corporate clients but also the general community.
Are there any other resolutions a professional photographer should make?
Tags: business practices, freelancing, marketing
