BetterPhoto Q&A
Category: New Answers

In Reply to part III

The BUSINESS PLAN, as boring as it is, remains your road map to success. It
is NOT a guarantee you will be successful, but it will place you head and
shoulders above those people who proceed without one.
Without one is like calling your travel agent and saying "I want to go to
Hawaii" Your travel agent will ask you "Where will you be departing from?"
If you answer 'I don't know", how can the travel agent help you?

By the way, a business plan need not be 200 pages long; we’re not trying to become a Microsoft co. My first business plan was 20 pages; and it served me well for over a year. It eventually grew as my business did; it had to.

Please believe this to be true; excellent photography is by no means a
gateway to professional photography. If it were, there would be a gazillion freelance
pro photogs out there; there are not as far as I know.

If you tell me what area of the country you reside, I may be able to offer
some helpful suggestions. There are some geographic marketing techniques that work better depending where you are.
You will have to tell me what you feel your strengths and weaknesses are and
what would please YOU the most.

I could have taken a position with National Geographic a few years ago. Many
photographers (amateur photographers) think this would be a dream job for a
photographer..Ha! Guess again..I turned it down flat after I heard what was
required of me. I'd be happy to tell you the story if you're interested.

Making money in photography is so much more than photography. It falls far
better under the heading of (Sales & marketing.) These two areas of BUSINESS
are much more difficult to grasp than shutter speeds and f/ stops. I believe
that if those of us who desire to be well paid and continue to be paid
shooting photographs, we need to spend more time studying Sales & Marketing
and less time behind the view finder..80/20 rule, remember?

So again, if you can be a little more specific about your goals, maybe I can
help.

Thanks again for your kind words.
I will be happy to return your emails when time permits..right now I need
to look at my P&L statements from June; write a letter to my bank, write two
monthly wash out checks to my assistants, write a bid on a contract shoot
and call my mom. All but the last are related to my photography biz.
You sure you wanna' do this? LOL Just kidding; it is very rewarding.

all the best,

Pete

ps: With your permission, I would like to post this letter to the BP forum.
I will delete your name of course.

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July 24, 2008

P.S. When you have time, could you tell us about the National Geographic?

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July 25, 2008