As much as images are in a photographer’s DNA, words (and the stories they tell) are every bit as important. What’s your story?
Go along to any photography convention and you will no doubt see classes and workshops on every aspect of the craft: how to use lights; choosing the right printer paper; posing your subject; the joy of f-stops, shutter speeds and why you should care; retouching skin; how to add fake backgrounds… The list goes on. What I find intriguing, however, is that there is much less emphasis on one key aspect of any business: finding and telling your story.
In this age of smartphones, tablets and the internet, we photographers have access to our images right here in our pockets. So if we are ever asked (and sometimes even if we’re not asked), we can drag out a phone and, with just a few flicks of a finger, have our entire portfolio right there to show (or bore) people in a heartbeat.
But have you ever noticed how the most successful photographers rarely do this? Have you ever wondered why?
The art of the storyteller
There is an adage in business that you will attract people like you. Outdoor people will attract outdoor people; country music fans will attract country music fans; geeks will attract… Okay, maybe the list isn’t perfect, but you get the point.
When you become a professional photographer, it’s easy to slide into the mindset that it’s all about your photography – and there is, of course, some truth in that. Indeed, as your image-craft develops, your confidence in selling will increase, but that is only a part of the puzzle.
When you turn pro, you build a traditional business – albeit as a one-person band, but a business nonetheless. And all the regular, boring, old-school principles apply.
If you pick up any book on business- building, it never says you should become the best dressmaker or car maker; they never say your sandwich shop has to invent something new; they will never say you have to have the best tech when it comes to selling real estate. So why do we, as photographers, think it is only about creating the best images?
Any book on starting your business will say you need an ‘elevator pitch’: a short sales pitch you can give in the time it takes to go between floors in an elevator. Say 60 seconds or so.
But your story is bigger than that. The elevator pitch is just a teaser of the story you wish to tell – but first, you must have a story.
When you’re next thinking about the things you need to do to turn pro, spend some time thinking about the kinds of people you’d like to work with, and the clients you’d like to attract.
Write all of this down…