Happy Tuesday!

Every week, I ask ChatGPT 4 to critique my main topic, and I share what it has to say, both good and bad. Some interesting suggestions this time, all included below.

Before we dive into the tips, you should know about an event I’m part of this month:

YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS THIS

I’ll be a speaker at the Hair of the Dog Summit, an online 2-day event on 26-27 September 2023, and registration is NOW OPEN 🎉

The online summit is all about helping photographers attract more dream clients and make more sales.

Registration starts at only $17 and that gets you live access to classes from 10 of the industry’s BEST who are sharing their proven business strategies (all from the comfort of your favorite chair!). No brainer.

Here’s just a sneak peek of some of the topics our speakers will be discussing:

➡️ Build steady revenue streams with a portrait membership program with Annemie Tonken

➡️ Master the storytelling technique to position your client as the hero with Anne Thomas

➡️ Discover the secrets to tapping into the luxury market with KT Merry

➡️ Learn the art of leveraging PR to skyrocket your business with Zoe Hiljemark

➡️ Improve your site’s UX (and SEO!) to get more (and better) clients with Alex Vita 👋

And so many more!

In addition, this is the summit that gives back! 100% of your $17 registration will be donated to the Hair of the Dog Conservation Fund, a 501c(3), to protect and support wild animals and wild places all around the globe.

So, if you’re looking to improve your business by making more money by booking more clients in your photography business - register today!

P.S. - Are you unavailable to join the summit live but wish you could? No problem - there’s also a VIP All-Access Pass that will give you lifetime access to the recordings, a private podcast feed of the classes, and over $2000 in awesome speaker bonuses! For Pass holders, I will offer free access my online design course, and will also hold a group coaching call in October. You don’t want to miss it.

QUICK TIPS

1. What photo buyers want

The photographer traits that photo buyers are looking for:

In an old survey that PhotoShelter did, here are the photographer traits that photo buyers/editors most often mentioned: Flexible, Receptive to criticism, Committed, Professional, Creative, Collaborative, Fast, Sharp and fully understand the brief, Experts, Open-minded, Humble, Attentive to detail, A problem solver, Able to stay within budget

And avoid things that buyers don’t like - photographers who are: Disrespectful, Late and miss deadlines, In a bad mood, “Divas”, Poor listeners, Unable to collaborate, Unprepared, Unprofessional, Unskilled in their art and technical ability, Unable to manage their time well, A “clock-watcher”

See how many of them you can convey on your website, while still being honest.

2. Look back and review your business from time to time

If you’re just blindly focused on taking more and better photos, you’ll lose sight of things around you:

• what your competitors are doing

• how your own sales are trending

• the state of the entire photography industry

This is scary. Sure. You might even need to completely change your specialty at one point, because of how the market and your skill set have changed over time.

So aim for a quarterly review of your business where you look at things like:

• How was your work schedule recently? How could it be improved?

• What can you change about your daily/weekly routine to work more on growing your business?

• If you’re juggling multiple photography specialties, are your spending time on them proportional to how much you enjoy them? Do you have the right balance between income and personal satisfaction in your work?

• Do you have enough confidence in your work? Are there any big gaps in your photography skills? Or in your marketing or web-design skills?

• Are you saying “NO” enough? Are you prioritizing a busy schedule over fewer and more impactful projects?

• Are there aspects (about your photography business) that you know you’ve been putting off for a while?

• Are you avoiding important tasks because of fear of failure or fear of success?