Browncoat
Senior Member
I've put my photography business on the back burner for now until I can re-tool.
Even in my small area, I'm overwhelmed by Facebook Fauxtographers. These are all amateurs who have crap technical skills, but trendy effects on their photos. Never mind that none of them can take a photo without cutting off hands and feet. Never mind that none of them have a studio or lighting equipment. It doesn't matter. They're booking sessions left and right.
Me? I was doing okay, but could've been doing much better in my market to be honest. I was just lazy. And pissed off. Mostly pissed off.
I refuse to be trendy. I absolutely HATE following what everyone else is doing. But the truth is, it hurt my business. I was trying to sell a product that I wanted to sell, not what most customers wanted. My pride got in the way, ultimately. So I've closed the doors to rethink my position. This is a business, and businesses have to make money. Amazon did the same thing. They were once a book retailer that sold books, which people didn't buy anymore. So they went digital, and the rest is history. Now they're the largest retailer on the planet.
Learn from my mistake. You have to sell a product that people are willing to pay for, regardless of how you feel about it. Women are the ones making most of the buying decisions when it comes to portrait photography, and this is the stuff they want. They can't get enough of it apparently.
My website has been redesigned, and is now mobile-friendly. I removed my business from Facebook and just about every site that I could think of in an effort to start over with a brand new plan for 2014. Time to kick some ass.
Even in my small area, I'm overwhelmed by Facebook Fauxtographers. These are all amateurs who have crap technical skills, but trendy effects on their photos. Never mind that none of them can take a photo without cutting off hands and feet. Never mind that none of them have a studio or lighting equipment. It doesn't matter. They're booking sessions left and right.
Me? I was doing okay, but could've been doing much better in my market to be honest. I was just lazy. And pissed off. Mostly pissed off.
I refuse to be trendy. I absolutely HATE following what everyone else is doing. But the truth is, it hurt my business. I was trying to sell a product that I wanted to sell, not what most customers wanted. My pride got in the way, ultimately. So I've closed the doors to rethink my position. This is a business, and businesses have to make money. Amazon did the same thing. They were once a book retailer that sold books, which people didn't buy anymore. So they went digital, and the rest is history. Now they're the largest retailer on the planet.
Learn from my mistake. You have to sell a product that people are willing to pay for, regardless of how you feel about it. Women are the ones making most of the buying decisions when it comes to portrait photography, and this is the stuff they want. They can't get enough of it apparently.
My website has been redesigned, and is now mobile-friendly. I removed my business from Facebook and just about every site that I could think of in an effort to start over with a brand new plan for 2014. Time to kick some ass.
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