The importance of “business” in the photo business.

One of the other professional hats that I wear is “photo expert.” At least, that’s what I call myself when nobody’s watching.

Part of the job of a “photo expert” is to write things on blogs and such, and tell other people what they think. That’s what I’m doing here, and that’s what I did last week when I wrote this blog post over there at Outdoor Photographer magazine. That post in itself linked to another blog post, which I did not create. However, as a photo expert, I was able to spot it for being great. That’s the life of a photo expert.

All kidding aside, it helps to be expert at what you do, especially these days when suddenly lots of competition is coming from hobbyists with cameras who think being a professional photographer is easy. It’s certainly fun, and worthwhile, and I wouldn’t steer anyone else away from joining the profession. But it’s definitely not easy. If you’re going to do it, you’ve got to make sure to pay attention to all the things besides the photography that make the business succeed.

The post that my post pointed to was all about what it takes to succeed as a professional photographer. I’d point anyone there if they’re interested in joining the ranks. Then I would add my own 2 cents by saying, as I did in the OP blog, to really focus on the business side of things. It’s the passion for photography that gets you going, but it’s the attention to what your customers want (as well as understanding what they need) that keeps them coming back. That’s the business. And it’s the business acumen that makes it possible to earn a living from it all.

It’s tricky, that’s for sure, to balance the business side with the creative side. But hopefully our clients know that we’ve always got their best interests at heart, that we will do literally whatever we can to meet their needs, and we’ll always try to do it with a smile. All we ask is that they understand that the business side of the equation requires that we charge for our services. And we believe that for the quality of work and service we offer, our rates are quite affordable.

It may seem strange to pay for services that so many people do for fun, for free… But that’s how we are able to make a living by turning a “hobby” into profession. It starts with the passion, and it helps to become an expert, but in the end it’s really all about the business.

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