Dear Santa,

Here’s my list for this Christmas. Please read it carefully so you don’t mix it up like you did last year:

• Less stress and more success.
• More spare time and less spare tire.
• Less grey hair and more grey matter.
• Big bank account and small credit card bills.
• Pay rates go up and camera prices go down.
• An idle vacation and a busy vocation.
• Large photo budgets and small copyright demands.
• Faster computer and slower deadlines.

I’ll be leaving some gluten-free, sugar-free, fat-free, nut-free, taste-free cookies on the front table along with a glass of soy milk. If things go well this year, I’m sure we’ll see the return of the frosted double fudge chocolate chip brownies and the grande caffé mocha with extra whipped cream.

While looking through LinkedIn, it’s interesting to see how self-employed people describe themselves. While corporate employees are often given a title by the company they work for, self-employed folks can make up any title they want.

It’s a safe bet that anyone who declares themselves to be an “expert”, “evangelist”, “guru”, “life coach” or even “ambassador”, probably isn’t.

The words “analyst”, “strategist” and “specialist” could likely be replaced by “clerk” or “office worker”.

What exactly do the titles “innovator” and “visionary” mean? One might wonder if “self-employed” is somehow related to “self-important”.

There’s a difference between blowing your own horn and blowing hot air. We all know that any business that uses words such as “best”, “honest”, “qualified” or “high quality” in its slogan is probably fooling only themselves.

Perhaps commercial photographers and corporate photographers should use a title such as:

Visual Communications Strategist

Chief Imaging Officer

Visual Opportunity Research Analyst

Pixel Control Specialist

Visual Innovator

Photon Optimization Engineer

Digital Light Technician

Optical Solutions Developer

Creative Communications Visionary

Principal Visualization Wizard

Titles are used to create certain expectation. But the only title that matters is the one that a customer gives to the business.

For a self-employed photographer, this title will ideally be along the lines of, “Wow, what a great photographer you are!”

Self-invented titles are just words on a business card. But earned titles are memorable, especially to the customer.