You need balance as a photographer, and that means addressing the business side as well. We are creative beings, and running the day to day is something we’re so great at avoiding.
I relied on that to build my career, assuming that most photographers wouldn’t do the daily business. I made sure my day was organized and each part of my life was on paper. Here’s how I was able to get ahead and get the clients that I always wanted.
I created my own daily planner that was catered to a career in photography. Many of the store-bought planners had sections that I found irrelevant and ended up not using. That’s what made me design my own, and it proved to be highly effective.
Here Are Five Ways My Personal Planner Helped Me Grow My Career
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Learn Something Each Day: I challenged myself to learn one new thing a day, whether it was a tax code or how to use my tripod. One new thing adds up quickly and starts to propel your career forward.
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Balance: I failed when it came to balancing, but because I was younger, I was able to recover quickly. However, I put all my efforts into professional and nearly zero into my personal. The daily planner sheet helped balance that out.
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Reach-Outs: We’re isolated creatures, and it’s hard to build relationships when you’re hiding behind your computer screen. A good daily planner makes sure you document who you’ve reached out to. It’s about humanizing your work and putting a personality behind it. Not all reach-outs should be about jobs. Sometimes, you want to congratulate another photographer for creating something incredible, and other times, you want to check on someone’s mental health.
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The Physical and Mental: You have to take care of the physical health, the mental, and hydrate that body that runs your entire business. My planner took care of that, but I still fail on enough glasses of water each day.
- Stay Accountable: Sometimes, we creatives get excited about a new idea and then lose track of our destination. Keeping my daily sheet kept me on track and also kept me accountable. When business was sparse, I would flip back and see empty pages. When business was booming, I would flip back and see full pages and every category utilized.
Learn more about how a daily planner could benefit your business and photography career. If you want a copy of my daily planner, it’s also there in the video.
Either way, as a creative soul, you must nurture the business aspect of your career. In most cases, you’re the only one bringing the business. You’re the only one doing all the marketing, accounting, housekeeping, editing, shooting, financing, selling, website upgrades, social media, and more.
Take care of yourself! You have a responsibility to stay healthy and balanced. There isn’t another photographer on this planet who can see life the way you do, who can capture images from your point of view. Have a wonderful 2020 and beyond!