Being at WPPI this week I’ve had a chance to talk with a lot of photographers, both old friends and new ones. Most people are optimistic about this year and many are already seeing slight changes in their business, all in the right direction. However, there are some common themes.

  • If anybody tells me they had a pretty good year last year or sales were at least flat, the next sentence is always, “But I’ve never worked so hard in my life!”  That last sentence is usually accompanied by a four-letter expletive and a huge *sigh*!
  • When exploring what activities meet the definition of “never worked so hard” it always relates to diversity in their business. They’ve started targeting some other photographic need in their community.

Another trend seems to be the younger the photographer or the less time somebody has been in business the more impatient they are to see results.  Their definition of success is just seeing business come through the door and that’s really my point this morning.

There are simply no shortcuts to success in any business today. Sure, there are stories of people who invent amazing products or concepts and skyrocket to the top instantly, but it’s not the norm. For most of us, it’s not going to happen overnight and while I hate to sound like my grandmother when I was kid, you just need to be patient, continue to work hard and trust your instincts.

The challenge with being successful is to first figure out your definition of success and second, stay focused and just keep doing the things you need to build your skill set and business.  If you wake up every morning looking for “success” as if it was a rare species of animal, you’ll never find it – in fact, you’ll scare it away!