so I got a really interesting question over in my photo boss Facebook group and
the question was "what are some things you wish you knew before you became
a photographer?" so what do I wish I would have known before I started doing this
all professionally. I really like this question I think it's really good and I
took a while to think about it. and I've been writing down points and tips ever
since and that was a couple months ago. so today I'm going to be sharing with
you all the things I wish I knew before I became a photographer! I wish I would
have known that you cannot buy attention. now money helps in marketing but money
is not everything. attention is earned. and the way that you
can earn it is by providing value or entertainment or answering a question or
solving someone's problem. and I wish I would have known this before because I
wouldn't have wasted so much time sharing facts or random things about
myself or about what I was doing that no one cared about. so, if you feel like no
one cares about what you're posting - ask yourself if you're helping anyone, if
you're solving any problems, or answering their questions or entertaining them in
any way. the second thing I did not fully understand or grasp when I first started
out was that until I became comfortable with my work and more importantly my
pricing none of my clients were going to be comfortable with my work or my
pricing, so the sooner that I stood behind that and I got really comfortable
and confident in that they became confident in me and my collections of my
pricing and they were willing to pay it. the third thing I wish I knew was that
there are some things you can read about and there are some things you just need
to go do. so if you are in one of these weird learning phases where you're
absorbing so much information every single day because photography is
something you really want, and you can taste it and you want it and you know
that it's where you want your life to go - but you're not actually shooting every
single day - and getting camera in your hands and learning the
settings you're doing something wrong. so that's something I really didn't
understand when I first started. I thought if I could educate my way and
just read my way to being successful that that would work but that's
ridiculous. so if you are doing more reading than
shooting you gotta flip the two. the fourth thing that I wish I knew when I
first started out was that the absolute worst thing you can ever do is copy
other people .copy other people's websites copy other people's work their
Facebook groups their ideas because it's already been done it's not true to who
you are and it will not get you to the next step. you may fool people for a
little while, people thinking that's you and that's your idea, but something will
not resonate because you stole that idea or you took someone else's editing style
so the best thing you can possibly do is focus on you and start getting really in
your lane because when I first started out I thought okay well that person's
successful because of that so I'll take that and that person's successful
because of this blog post so I can write that too but the sooner you figure out
what's unique about you the sooner you're actually going to stand out, so
maybe you are like I was and you're in this trap of replicating what other
people are doing and copying other people and it's not getting you anywhere
and that's because copying is the worst thing that you can do in your business.
the final tip, and this is kind of a deep one, is that I wish I would have
understood that people want to feel like they belong. people want to feel a sense
of community and inclusivity and that they're a part of something bigger. the
sooner that you can make people feel like they belong to your brand or that
they're a part of a club or that they're on the inside by being a part of your
brand and inside of your client experience the better it's going to take
you so much further than almost any of your other marketing efforts because
they're going to refer you them they're going to talk about you then because
they feel special they feel included in something special by being inside of
your company culture so by hiring you they get to use a certain hashtag by
hiring you they got a special gift by hiring you they got a unique process
that they can only get with you I would have known these things a little earlier
on I think I'd just be one step ahead of where I am now so if you're along your
journey in the first few years take some of these tips rewatch this video take
some notes because it will revolutionize your business so if you can learn from
people that are a step ahead of you who've already made mistakes and are
further ahead you're going to get there faster my question for you is - what is
one thing that you wish you knew about photography either when you first
started out or right now??? leave it in the comment section below!! I hope that this
has helped you to get a little bit of insight as to things that would have
changed or wish I understood when I first started and I hope that it helps
you get to where you need to go a little bit faster thank you so much for
watching. I'll see you guys next week. bye guys