Well, guess what. Today is Wednesday.

Thanks to Adam Westbrook (@adamwestbrook) for sharing this week’s top tweet: “Creativity vs. Cash,” part of the Break Through Your Creative Blocks series on the Lateral Action blog (forgive them for the vibrant red highlight color, the advice is worth the visual assault).

The post leads with a great quote from Hugh MacLeod of gapingvoid.com:

“The creative person basically has two kinds of jobs: One is the sexy, creative kind. Second is the kind that pays the bills. Sometimes the task at hand covers both bases, but not often. This tense duality will always play center stage. It will never be transcended.”

It goes on to outline three options for, let’s not say transcending that duality, but dealing with it in a healthy way.

1. Put creativity and cash in separate boxes
2. Earn cash from your creative work
3. Take a creative approach to earning cash

As you might guess, option three is where the really good advice comes in, with specific examples about how you can apply creative thinking to every aspect of your business — and actually make it fun :)

If you find this post helpful, please pay the creative karma forward and send us more tweets with useful information for creative entrepreneurs. You can even comment below, include @liveBooks, and click “Tweet this comment.”

We hope these conversations continue and that “After Staff” and RESOLVE will continue to be a place you come to for community as well as resources. If you’d like to look back at any content from last week, a permanent page with links is here. A few highlights from later in the week included very personal insights from David Leeson, his first public comments about leaving the Dallas Morning News last year, and a no-holds-barred interview with the inimitable Bill Owens.

~Miki Johnson

Marita Holdaway

www.benhamgallery.com

I founded Benham Gallery in Seattle in 1987. Dedicated to emerging and mid-career fine art photographers, I have been consulting since 1998, and reviewing over 1,000 portfolios annually. I have presented workshops for artists nationally and internationally, helping them further their careers by developing their professional tools for finding and successfully approaching appropriate venues. As an invited reviewer and speaker, I have attended over a dozen photo festivals in the USA, Latin America and Europe.

My hope is that photographers will learn to follow their hearts and not the almighty dollar. There are so many other ways to become wealthy without selling your soul and time to corporate America. Perhaps the photo community can find a way to tell the important stories, instead of the sound bites the media puts out.

Click here for a list of all other “After Staff” posts.

• What is your favorite thing about what you are doing now? Are there things that have been hard to adjust to?

Nanine Hartzenbusch
I love that my work hours are flexible. I have a nine year old son I enjoy spending time with so I schedule my work during his school day, and schedule only one photo session a day on the weekends. I miss having newsroom colleagues, but have joined a photographers networking group for creative support. I also regularly get together with clients or potential clients for coffee…

My favorite thing really about having my own business is just that — that I can take the skills I’ve acquired over 20+ years and do something different with them. I can provide storytelling images of children that will be cherished by their families for years to come.

Stuart Thurlkil
I love when we are done with a project and our clients express how happy they are with the final results. I am an affirmation junky and love when what I am doing makes others happy. It is really gratifying to do work that people respect and appreciate. It is amazing when a client gives you creative freedom to run with your vision.

I had a hard time at first with the identity shift out of newspapers. I considered journalism a calling. I had been a journalist for a long time, and transitioning towards running my own business had many unexpected challenges. I realize now that I will always be a story teller and journalist at heart and that I will continue to create images that speak to our social, economic, and cultural condition. The amazing thing has been how many people have wanted me to do this for their family, company, publication, etc.

Eric Larson & Jen Sens
We love working together on every project. Brainstorming, traveling, shooting. We’ve worked hard at creating a niche that keeps us working for great clients who are still willing to fly us to shoots. The fact that we get to do it together is a dream.

That said, it’s still a tough road to hoe, and you pay a certain price for living the dream. We don’t get paid vacation. While our friends and family think our life is a vacation, we work our butts off and the travel that we do isn’t something I would slip into the vacation category. We have to force ourselves to schedule downtime, somewhere where cell phones don’t work. And when we do, we usually turn down paying jobs for it.

The same applies to things that most people take for granted, like making dinner plans with friends or, here’s a big one: having kids. Sometimes we feel like we live to work, but then we realize that most people feel this way, and at least our job is something we are very passionate about. We are always thinking about our photography. This can put a strain on even simple things, like trying to enjoy dinner (which we’ve made a no business-talk zone). We’re slowly learning how to balance the business with the personal — otherwise we will go crazy.

Christopher Record
My favorite thing about what I’m doing now is the freedom I have in my life. I used to have to commute through rush-hour traffic twice a day to get to my work and then drive all over town for assignments. That has been cut down a great deal. But my favorite thing is still taking pictures. I still get a thrill when I capture a great moment or a striking image.

The hardest thing to adjust to is probably coming to the realization that it’s not just about great photography. You really have to work at the marketing and promotion, and those things were all new to me coming from a journalism background.

Heather Hughes
I rarely work the holidays now and after almost 9 years of working the Saturday shift every week, it is really nice to have some of them off (I only shoot 30-35 weddings a year and some of those aren’t on Saturdays). The hardest thing to adjust to would be the ebb and flow in income, with lots of checks arriving from April until September and sometimes none in slower months like December or January. I had to learn how to budget my annual expenses better, expect the unexpected, and save more money than I think I will need so I still have enough to cover the bills through the slow season.

©Burk Uzzle

Miki Johnson: When you were 30, your photographs were included in shows at both the George Eastman House and the MoMA. How did that come about? What impact did that have on your career?

Burk Uzzle: I suppose Magnum showed them pictures, as I was never a buddy of those people. It had zero impact on my career or development as a photographer.

MJ: What was your first solo exhibition and how did it happen? What lessons did you learn from it?

BU: The Riverside Museum in NYC worked with Cornell Capa to do a show of my work, and all that effort was a template for what eventually became his now famous “ICP” show. I learned how really great it feels to walk into a museum and see my prints big on a wall, and to offer a certain amount of trust to talented curators who love my work.

MJ: You must have had extensive contact with curators and gallery owners through your work with Magnum. Do you have advice for photographers who want to form relationships with these people?

BU: I left Magnum in 1983, so my contacts have been formed mostly since I left Magnum. I find it difficult to form relationships with museum people, as most of them seem to be dedicated to following the herd instincts of devotion to the latest fad.

On the other hand, the good ones, who think independently, can really change your life by believing in your work, encouraging you to keep on keeping on, and helping you have the confidence to work with the integrity of individuality that important work requires.

You just have to be very patient, find a way to figure out who the worthwhile people are, somehow meet them, and somehow show them work. All this is very different from pursuing “career” instincts.

MJ: How do you approach an art project differently from how you do a documentary one? What skills and styles apply to both styles?

BU: I consider documentary photography, whatever that term means in the world of Photoshop, to be the most subjective form of work. Art photography, for me, means fine work representing the same values of devotion to quality of feeling, seeing, craft, and artistic presentation as documentary work. I just try to do good work that feels true to myself, and don’t pay much attention to categories.

It’s really all the same — be yourself, be as good as you can be. Be honest to yourself and to your subject, respect your subject matter, and pay as little attention as possible to what other people think, or how they want to apply definitions and categories to what they perceive is important in your work. Or, for that matter, what they think the important agendas are in the world.

Some of the greatest work in any field is about the, at first glance, seemingly trivial subject matter. It’s really all about how deep are your feelings.

©Bill Owens

Miki Johnson: So tell me what you’re working on now.

Bill Owens: I don’t do photography anymore. I have so many things I’ve done and I can’t get it to come back to me in sales or work or anything. I don’t know what to do but to have another career, to be into distilling. I’m available as a photographer, but the distilling thing is exciting. I make money every day of the week and I have a career. People want to know how to make whiskey, I have a product people want to know about.

MJ: What about your books that you’ve already produced?

BO: You’ve got to remember that your royalties are only like $1.95 on a $30 book. So the books only open up museum and gallery shows. Museum shows don’t sell prints. Galleries can sell prints, but I’m the documentary stuff that’s in a weird category. I’m not William Eggleston, who’s an artist. People buy “art.” They don’t buy somebody who spent their life researching and documenting and trying to make a visual statement about our culture. Maybe that tide will turn and they’ll buy documentary photography because it speaks to them, but it ain’t happening now.

I have hands-on distilling classes now and I have a trade show. I have a life. I have an e-learning class on my website — I’ve made $1,000  on it already. I’ve got a new niche! You’ve got to be making film. It’s film that sells. People can’t take their eyes off of videos. I can put up any kind of film and they’ll stand there and watch it all the way to the end. But if it’s a still photograph they’ll glance at it and walk away. I’m going to take some of my digital films that are up on my website — and thank god I never posted them on YouTube — and I’m going to turn them into DVDs and try to sell them at MoMA and art museums as a DVD collection. I think I can find that little niche because people know my book and who I am, so I can sell them a DVD of my movies.

©Bill Owens

MJ: I wanted to ask about working for the Livermore Independent, what prompted you to get started there?

BO: I knew to be a good photographer you have to work at the craft every single day and develop the craft every single day, and as a newspaper photographer you’re out there working all the time. So I wanted to come from that discipline of shooting every day. And as soon as you arrive in suburbia there’s a million things to photograph. When I was in college I studied visual anthropology and I knew “the village” was an eternal subject. Like W. Eugene Smith’s Spanish Village or the FSA’s studies of America. So I just knew I wanted to go in that direction, and there I was in Livermore, a typical village in America.

I never started out to do a book. But I began to shoot…I did a study for the chamber of commerce for the town. I got a $500 grant. Then you just keep on grown, but you keep working at the newspaper because you’re exposed to high school football, the JV, the Lion’s Club, the Rotary Club, the Fire Department, all that stuff. And you can shoot and shoot and shoot, and then you can go back and do it again. And I knew everybody in town so when it came time to do the book and get releases signed I could go back and get a quote and put together something important. I usually say, “Man, leave the Eskimos alone; leave the American Indians alone — they’ve been photographed enough.” Photograph what’s right in front of your face.

MJ: What made you finally decide to leave the paper?

BO: The paper downsized and I got laid off. So you can freelance it for a while but if you’ve got a wife and kids you’ve got to have money. You’ve got to support your kids to go to college. I was there for 16 years, and then I had Buffalo Bill’s Brewery for 14 years. I found a Nikon under the front seat of my car one day and I sold it. I had to move on.

©Bill Owens

MJ: Has anything changed for you now that photography is not your “profession” anymore?

BO: I don’t know what to say when people ask what I do. Often I say I string for the New York Times — because I do it once every two years. But I don’t pursue it because I’d rather be on the phone with a glassmaker in Illinois about my upcoming conference. I have three people working for me in that business, and it’s fun to build a small business. Whereas a photographer, you’re alone, it’s just you.

MJ: But you still take photos just for yourself. Do you find that it’s different now that you shoot for yourself instead of a paper?

BO: No, I work the same. I’m looking for the great shot always. But, I made a trip across America, four months, and I have 52 DVDs full of images. You want to go through that? What’s the end gain when I’m done with it? No one’s going to buy it. These agencies don’t want a photo of the Grand Canyon that’s mine with a sense of humor, they want the beautiful sunset one. I’ll just move on. But I’m shooting film, that’s really fun. I shoot with a little Sony, lo-res. It doesn’t matter. People always ask, “What kind of camera?” I say, “Whatever camera fits in your hand.” It’s not about the camera, it’s about having an idea in your head and an eye. If you don’t have an eye, go have lunch.

MJ: So are there any similarities between running this business and being a photographer?

BO: I usually take photographs and turn them into illlustrations for the business. I told you about that trip across America, all those images are in a new book called The Art of Distilling Whiskey and other Spirits. It’s going to be a big table-top book. So now I take my skills as a photojournalist into the distilling world and do great photographs of distilling.

Click here for a list of all other “After Staff” posts.

“Their day job as a journalist does not take away from the fact that they see the world and craft images in a way that creates a response from curators and collectors. It doesn’t matter how you get there—if you have an artist’s eye, they’ll collect you.” - Frank Evers, co-chair and co-founder of the New York Photo Festival 2009, and formerly the Managing Director of the VII Photo Agency

The fine-art marketplace

• Is it art? – Photojournalism has emerged as the art du jour

• Transitioning from advertising to fine art – Talking challenges and strategies, photographer Brian Kosoff shares his experience

Ask her about technique, workflow, marketing, or anything else that’s on your mind — I’m sure you’ll be equally impressed. Leave a question in the comments section, along with your website if you have one, and she’ll respond asap, also in the comments, so others can benefit from the good advice.

Rachel LaCour Niesen

www.lacourphoto.com

As a photojournalist, I have pursued projects focusing on rural communities in Latin America and the Southeastern United States. My work has appeared in publications such as the New York Times Magazine and the San Francisco Chronicle. I earned a degree in photojournalism from the University of Missouri, where I was named one of the Scripps-Howard Foundation’s Top Ten Young Journalists.

When I stumbled upon wedding photography, I quickly traded my front row seat to world history for a front row seat to family history. Along with Andrew Niesen and Mark Adams, I started a wedding photography company, LaCour, which was named among the “Top Ten Wedding Photographers in the World” by American Photo magazine. I’m also a co-founder of ShootQ, innovative web-based studio management software designed to free photographers from the tedious tasks of managing their business.

Click here for a list of all other “After Staff” posts.

US soldiers take a break from the invasion of Iraq with a leap into a desert irrigation pond. ©David Leeson/The Dallas Morning News

Miki Johnson: How long were you a staff photographer and where? Did you think when you started that you’d be a staffer for life?

David Leeson: My career in newspapers began on Nov 20, 1977 at the Abilene Reporter-News in Abilene, TX. When the newspaper hired me, I was 19, a full-time college student working a part-time job sweeping floors at a local jewelry store.

I had no portfolio or degree and was unfamiliar with the term “photojournalist.” I was an avid amateur photographer, however, and built my own darkroom in my parents’ home when I was 17. The newspaper photo staff knew me as someone who would occasionally show up with a contact sheet of images from an event. I was never discouraged that they didn’t use my photos — I was happy just to be shooting.

I fell in love with photojournalism when I realized the power a camera could possess in the hands of a compassionate photographer. My life became consumed with perfecting my skills, including my heart, mind, and soul, for the purpose of affecting my community with images that would hopefully make a difference.

That essentially describes my 30 years in news photography. The last few years were dedicated to helping my profession navigate difficult changes, a new era fraught with demands for rich online content, declining readership, shrinking resources, and more work. I didn’t enjoy the work but believed it was important to give back as much as possible to a profession that had given so much to me. Besides, I saw my industry facing extinction and I was ready to do whatever I could to change the tide.

Unfortunately, I feel that I failed. My grief was more than the loss of something I loved — newspaper photojournalism — it was the feeling of having failed to be everything I could possibly be. I have wondered many times what extra part of myself I could have given that might have made the difference. My solace today is in realizing that I can still impact the industry from outside its walls. Perhaps, in fact, it is the ideal place for me to do it.

But the further I get from my life in newspapers, the more I realize that the best I can be is to be who I have always been, a small voice hopefully providing something of value to my world. In many ways, little has changed in my life. The day I knew that my career as a newspaper photojournalist had reached the end, I told my boss (and friend), the director of photography at The Dallas Morning News, that I had never been dedicated to a newspaper. Rather, I had always been dedicated to the ideals of photojournalism: through credible and ethical image making, we can bring needed change to the world.

I did believe I would likely retire as a newspaper photojournalist at The Dallas Morning News. But understanding that I am still in active service to my profession, even though I am no longer on the DMN staff, has softened the blow. The loss of a title did not change who I am.

First Gulf War - Iraqi prisoners of war - shot at night against burning oil fires. ©David Leeson/The Dallas Morning News

MJ: What are you working on now? What is the biggest difference between what you’re doing now and what you were doing as a staffer?

DL: There is little difference today from the life I was living the last few years of my career. My position at The Dallas Morning News could best be described as “research and development.” I spent inordinate amounts of time on finding new workflows and methodologies to help speed the process of rich media integration. Oddly, I found that I enjoyed that kind of work, although I knew it failed to “scratch my itch.”

I began shooting video for the newspaper on a full-time basis in 2000 after integrating video online at my personal website as early as 1998. I have never viewed myself as a photographer. I was always a journalist, so the idea of using a different form of communication was never a concern.

Nonetheless, the device that filled more than a quarter-century of my life with indescribable awe and wonder was a still camera. I have never lost touch with it. In many ways I am a far better still photographer today than I have ever been because I shoot images almost daily — just for pleasure. No one calls me to shoot stills anymore. Everyone calls for my video skills. I enjoy my work, but my heart is never further than a beat from my still camera.

I have been “reinventing myself” since the day I first held a camera. Today I am seeking new journeys that could ultimately lead to a reincarnation of my life as a still photographer. Few people realize that I have dedicated nearly as many years to my photographic art as I did to newspaper photojournalism. The time is right for me to pour more of my energy into that area of my life passion than I have ever done before. Time will tell whether I was right or wrong, but I said the same thing when I chose photojournalism as a career (or did it choose me?). I also said the same thing in 2000 when I began shooting video.

The shoes of a dead Iraqi soldier tell a silent story. ©David Leeson/The Dallas Morning News

MJ: What was the hardest or scariest thing for you when you left your staff position? How did you get past it?

DL: The most difficult part of leaving my position at the newspaper was how similar it felt to my divorce in 1997. My children from that marriage were still young and I knew that I would no longer walk through the door to the sound of them gleefully yelling, “Daddy’s home!” I was deeply burdened by the realization that I would no longer be there for them in the stability of a loving home. Our lives would be changed forever. It was an understanding that left me stricken with guilt. But, I also knew that the life I was living had already reduced my effectiveness as a husband and father. I knew things were not going to change and I was faced with a difficult decision I never believed I would have to make. I became a divorced man.

I felt similarly when I left the paper. I knew that I would no longer be identified as an insider, a proud member of an outstanding photo department. When the news spread that I was leaving, some of the staff tearfully told me that the newspaper would never be the same. They described it as the end of an era. I wanted to be there for them, but knew that my effectiveness in newspapers had long since ended.

So, just like I had to learn to be a father apart from marriage, I also had to learn how to be a true friend apart from staff affiliation.

MJ: What did you do to build awareness of your new business and availability?

DL: I have been very fortunate because I have not reached a position yet where I have needed to look for clients. I was so busy during the first six months after leaving the newspaper that I jokingly told people, “I’ve been working so hard for my business that I have not had time to work on the business.”

Many years ago I realized that the world had changed as a result of the Internet. I was no longer “just” a staff photographer. I was in business for myself and my largest client was The Dallas Morning News. I hated it but knew that the day would soon come when I (and many of my peers) would be forced to consider a life apart from the newspaper. Sadly, I was right.

Nonetheless, I have been actively pursuing better ways to function in business. For instance, I just created a spreadsheet for creating video bids. It is based on a series of questions that I call “complexity points.” Each answer is attached to a point total and the sum of all points is added to a multiplier based on average time spent producing a video versus the final minutes of the delivered product. This helps produce more equitable bids and helps clarify the client’s needs for each project.

Otherwise, I am living as I always have. The key ingredient for me is passion. If I am not passionate about what I am doing then it’s likely I won’t do it at all. Ultimately I love the journey — the process of creative endeavor. Indeed, I enjoy it so much that I often have to remind myself that the process may be beautiful, but the product has a deadline.

Texas death row prisoner a few days away from his execution. “I’ve been waiting so long, it’s like a trip to the dentist.”©David Leeson/The Dallas Morning News

MJ: What is your favorite thing about what you are doing now? Is there one thing that has been hard to adjust to?

DL: One thing that surprised me in my new position as owner of a small business is how much I enjoy meeting clients and selling my services. I remember my first “sales meeting.” I was exuberant as I left and called my wife to say what a blast I had in the meeting.

But once I had time to reflect on the experience, I recognized the truth about that first meeting. For years I described news photographers as some of the best used car salesmen you’d ever meet. Success in photojournalism is far more than talent or a sensitive heart. If they want access, photojournalists have to win hearts and minds, sell themselves and their story. We have to win trust rapidly. Something that might ordinarily take weeks or months to accomplish often has to occur in the first moments of meeting someone.

So, the truth is, I was exuberant because I felt at home. It had been a long time since I was on the streets being forced to sell myself to a stranger. It was like a reunion. I realized how much I missed being a daily newspaper photographer, where events like that occur so rapidly and often that we cease to recognize them as a skill.

Oddly, even I have always been fascinated by entrepreneurs and studied the subject for more than seven years. Despite the fact that I accumulated a fantastic library of business books (review copies sent to the newspaper that no one wanted), I have never once considered myself a good businessman. I suck at business.

It takes extraordinary creativity to be successful in business. Everything from the original idea, to marketing, to closing the sale depends on a highly creative mind. Perhaps that’s why I feared it so much. Failing at business was the ultimate test of my creativity. I hated to believe that my creative abilities were restricted to life behind a viewfinder.

Ultimately I am learning that none of this matters. I see now that my father’s advice to pursue my passion is the only chance I have for success in my personal and professional life. Unfortunately business success is measured by the bottom line and, more unfortunately, I’ve never had a passion for money.

Nonetheless, my dad’s advice still works. I have no trouble attracting work because passion leads to taking risks and, ultimately, great work. Clients are attracted to people who care about what they do and are good at it. So, perhaps I’m not as bad in business as I thought. Perhaps business is just like photography — a style we create from the innermost parts of who we are.

I cherish the memory of my days as a newspaper staff photographer. I miss them at times, and then I remind myself that I am the same as I was.

A signature image from LaCour Photo. ©LaCour

You are the enterprise story

Transitioning from full-time staff photographers to business owners is one of the greatest challenges the LaCour team has faced. Mark, Andrew, and I have experience in editorial, where the editorial staff doled out assignments and the road map for our careers was well-defined. But what happens when that road map is ripped out from under you like a rug? Suddenly, you’re faced with an unfamiliar challenge: charting your own course by becoming a business owner.

We viewed this paradigm shift as an opportunity to pursue entrepreneurship.

Since the term “enterprise story” is familiar to photojournalists, it’s a helpful lens through which to see your transition from staff photographer to business owner. Enterprise stories are created by journalists to explain or contextualize issues or events. Enterprise stories require big-picture reporting and the ability to identify and articulate comprehensible patterns. These are also the skills required to build a business.

A successful business owner, like a successful journalist, cannot just be an “order filler” who simply executes someone else’s vision. They must come up with their own ideas. They must be enterprising, big-picture thinkers who have a vision and can strategically implement their own initiatives.

Being an entrepreneur is the ultimate enterprise story, with a twist. The story this time is YOU.

Our personal journey has been filled with epiphanies, many having little to do with the actual process of photography. Most of what we’ve learned involves important business principles. We’d like to share some tips and tools you can use to make a smooth transition into entrepreneurship.

Camaraderie is Critical

As staff photographers, we had the security blanket of teamwork to keep us motivated. If we had a bad day, or a bad assignment, there were fellow staffers who helped rally for the next, better opportunity. Plus, there was a newsroom team, helping generate story ideas and assignments to keep you busy. As a business owner, it’s easy to feel isolated and disconnected. There’s no built-in support network. And there’s nobody telling you what to do. That’s why camaraderie is a critical component of business ownership.

We advise business owners to connect and contribute to communities. Forums, like The Digital Wedding Forum and OpenSourcePhoto, are a great option. They are accessible places for you to ask for advice and bounce ideas off colleagues who understand the challenges you face as a business owner. I also think forums can be like virtual watering holes for small business owners. Pull a stool up to the online bar and share stories with other entrepreneurs. You’ll be amazed by how cathartic the conversation can be.

Don’t just get involved online. Pursue personal networking opportunities through organizations such as WPPI and PPA. Both offer valuable resources that will help you avoid years of trial-and-error. Learn from their sponsored seminars, trade shows, and conventions. Having face-to-face interaction with other business owners will help you establish strong relationships that you’ll need as you grow your business. When you need to call someone to discuss a problem or project, you’ll have a group of close colleagues ready to listen and help.

©LaCour

Reach beyond the obvious photographic community to business owners such as event designers, caterers, florists, and cake artists. Other wedding professionals not only relate to your struggles, they also provide business opportunities. Get to know them, express sincere interest in their businesses, and help them by photographing their creations.

The best tip we can share about networking is a simple principle from Seth Godin’s book Tribes: “The first thing a leader can focus on is the act of tightening the tribe. It’s tempting to make the tribe bigger, to get more members, to spread the word. This pales, however, when juxtaposed with the effects of a tighter tribe. A tribe that communicates more quickly, with alacrity and emotion, is a tribe that thrives.”

LaCour has applied Godin’s advice by tightening our tribe of key wedding professionals. Referrals are the lifeblood of wedding photography businesses. Like Seth, we recommend growing your network deeper rather than larger. You’ll see a greater return on your investment in select relationships rather than a cursory investment in a broader audience. We’ve seen a large amount of revenue come directly from a few key vendors with whom we have close relationships.

Know Your Audience

As a wedding photojournalist, the clients (bride and groom) are your primary audience. Unlike newspaper editors, couples are actually present to witness you working. So credibility is just as important to them as it was to your editors and readers, but now it’s more personal!

The bride and groom will not only remember their wedding through the photos you create, they will also remember how you conducted yourself on the big day. Were you gracious? Were you dressed professionally? Were you hands-on or hands-off? Proactive or reactive? Engaging or aloof? These are important questions to answer as you seek your signature style and begin to approach weddings as a business owner.

Remember, you’re not just in the image making business anymore – you’re in the business of creating an experience. You have a responsibility to your clients to provide superlative service. They’re as likely to remember (and tell their friends about) that as your photos.

Branding + the cult of personality

Sam Abell said, “Who we are is the most important thing about photography.” While this is true for staff photographers, it’s paramount for photographers who are building their own brand and business. Your brand and your business are directly connected to YOU.

In my opinion, photographers’ most common pitfall is visual schizophrenia. And I’m not referring to anyone’s mental health. Rather, I’ve noticed many photographers lack a strong sense of identity. This leaves them vulnerable to the whim of trends.

In the course of many portfolio reviews, I’ve seen work from photographers that looks like a collection of the best images from a diverse sampling of stylistic influences. Looking through a photographer’s portfolio, I can clearly see a visual history of all the workshops they’ve attended. The problem is that the photographer has so successfully emulated the styles of different industry icons that the collective result is a failure.

A prospective client looks at a portfolio like this and has no clear sense of the photographer’s identity. It’s natural to be influenced by other photographers and to experiment with styles. But when the resulting images end up in a photographer’s portfolio, they usually create ambiguity that can work against marking and sales efforts.

The most successful people in any field stand out because they’ve found a way to express who they are through what they do. This becomes increasingly true in a saturated, competitive market. So, I encourage photographers to ask themselves some soul-searching questions:

• Who are you?
• How do you approach photography?
• What is your style?
• Can you articulate this to your client in two sentences?
• Is your branding and marketing message consistent with your vision?
• Do your images work together to reinforce your identity?

So if sales are down, don’t just run out and buy the latest action set or add trash-the-dress sessions. Start with finding yourself. Then the clients will find you.

Business basics

Establish systems early – The early phase of business development is the best time to establish systems that streamline and automate your business processes. These good habits will serve you well as your business grows. It’s also the time to invest in cost-effective tools to help you pinpoint revenue sources and create a unique client experience.

Manage time or time will manage you - Time is your scarcest resource. You must manage time well or your business won’t grow and succeed. Business guru Peter Drucker said, “There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.” It’s easy to get mired in the busy work of your business. When we started LaCour, we tried to do everything ourselves: sales, shooting, editing, photoshop, shipping, accounting…and the list goes on! We resisted outsourcing and juggled the daily tasks of our growing business. This dangerous path leads to stress!

You will inevitably drop tasks you’re juggling and disappoint clients and yourself. Learn from our mistakes: Do what you do best and delegate the rest! Make a list of each task or action item and decide which you enjoy. If you don’t enjoy a task or you’re not particularly good at it, let someone else do it. Every minute not spent shooting or marketing is business lost. This means unprofitable activities like scheduling, customer communication, and production need to be as efficient as possible. If you don’t think this is a top priority for your business, think again.

There are many ways to streamline administrative activities such as ordering, scheduling, reminders, routine client communication, and production. You can start by creating an efficient workflow, or a well-defined and repeatable process, which enables you to deliver orders on time without taking on additional costs associated with hiring studio employees. There are also online studio management solutions and post-production tools that will manage these activities. It’s amazing what inefficiencies can be discovered by simply taking the time to analyze how you’re currently doing things.

Smart marketing – Since your network is your net worth, maintaining an organized relationship database is one of the best investments you can make in your business. It may sound basic, but trying to grow your business without a relationship database is like trying to drive a car without an engine.

If you want to grow your current relationships and develop new ones, you must keep track of communications with every client, colleague, referral source, partner, and prospect with whom you interact. With a well-managed relationship database, you can easily reach thousands of prospective clients in a single moment. Keep your contacts up to date on events, new services, awards, specials and other relevant information about your business. That way, you will come to mind first when they are seeking photography services.