 Only you can set and enforce your boundaries. Art inspiration by A New Dawn Part of being a small business owner is deciding what you will and won’t accept. Of course you want to please your customers, but you also have to define and defend your boundaries.
I was talking to a client recently — we’ll call her Lily — who is fed up with unpredictable revenue and is considering closing her doors. We all know the photography industry has become increasingly competitive and that it’s harder than ever to make a living as a professional photographer. Lily, however, has a strong client base, is established in her market and is actively working. Her problem is that clients aren’t ordering, and so Lily doesn’t know when or from where her next mortgage payment is coming. Her clients are pleading for extensions or forgetting to order by the deadline because they’ve been “busy” or “on vacation.” What can she do?
Well, I could give her a whole spiel about in-person ordering sessions, time-limited online galleries, reactivation fees, etc., but I know she already has appropriate sales policies in place. The issue here is enforcement. Lily wants to keep her clients happy but, by caving to their unreasonable requests, she is threatening the financial viability of her business and family.
As a small business owner, you have to be both “good cop” and “bad cop.” You must define your policies and then enforce them, because no one else will do that for you. I know that’s hard…
It feels better to be Ms. Nice Gal, to avoid confrontation and to have everyone like you — for women, I think this is especially true. But Ms. Nice Gal doesn’t put food on the table and keep the lights on. Ms. Strong Business Woman does that.
Is there an area of your business in which you’ve been playing nice to your own detriment? What would Strong Business Woman (or Man) say?
Cheers,
Last month, I shared about the creative block that has kept me from producing new photographic work for more than a year. Well, I am happy to report that something has shifted. Maybe it was a result of sharing my truth. Maybe it was the perfect combination of time and subject. Regardless, I felt an incredibly strong desire to pick up my camera recently and so I did…
I should mention that my husband and I have been traveling throughout all of August (you can see a map of our travels here). For the first two weeks, we road-tripped around the East Coast, visiting friends and family, and now, we’re headed cross-country to our new home in Silicon Valley. California is “home” for us, both because we lived there before departing on our year-long travels last March (2010) and we just fit there. But I digress.
While visiting my sister-in-law, Trish, I was captivated by her relationships with her two boys and I felt compelled to to capture them. First, I had to explain to her how strange this was since the last time I’d seen her, I was in the midst of a crazy work schedule, shooting weddings and portrait sessions round the clock. This time, I hadn’t had a session — by choice — in 18 months. You see, I couldn’t give less than my best to clients, and I haven’t felt that my best was present for a long time.
After a 5-minute session with Trish and the boys in their front yard, I felt reinvigorated. Although my skills are somewhat rusty, my joy in capturing moments and my love for photography is coming back. And I was able to maintain that creative drive through the rest of our East Coast road trip. What follows are some of my favorite shots. I know now that, as long as I allow my inner artist to drive my photography instead of allowing photography or business to drive me, I will find my way back from the edge.
One small breakthrough on the path to many more, I hope.
Cheers,
Editor’s note: Please welcome our newest guest blogger, John Rorer. John brings a wide variety of professional knowledge and experience to the table. He will be periodically blogging on topics including accounting, bookkeeping and sales. If you have questions related to these topics, please let me know in the comments below. Cheers!
Cold hard cash (c) Andrew Magill There’s an old business axiom that “production without sales is junk” meaning the function of a business is the creation of a product that is delivered to a paying customer; otherwise the business is pointless. Art is different in that the business of art has two aims: first it fulfills the artist, but it remains a hobby unless the artist can sell the work to a paying customer and fulfill the second aim of becoming self-sustaining. Like art, sales is a talent the presence of which differs dramatically in individuals, and like art, learning and practicing the necessary skills can significantly enhance the result. As the beginning artist needs to understand the basics of composition, the beginning artist hoping to sell his/her work needs to understand the basics of motivating customers to buy.
Why do people buy? Ranked by result, buyers are motivated by:
- A need that a product satisfies;
- A fear that an opportunity might be lost by not buying;
- Pride of ownership; and
- Keeping up with the “Joneses.”
In the case of art these motivations do not always occur according to the traditional ranking, and in the case of famous artists, motivation #3 might be primary – the pride of owning a masterpiece has certainly prompted intense competition and prices at auction. But, what about the rest of us, not yet famous but hoping to become so while still alive to enjoy the rewards?
The #1 motivator—satisfying a need—usually relates to commercial art or wedding photography, where a need for the specific product occurs due to a unique circumstance, or professional decorating, where the art is merely one piece of a larger overall theme. The rest of the time motivators #2 and #4 can become very effective with the appropriate presentation.
When you create a unique item for which there is only one opportunity of ownership for a prospect, whether it’s a photo session with young children, an original painting, or even a sculpture, the impulse and circumstance of the creation will never occur again. If a prospect really likes the piece, and truly understands it is only available right now and will never be available again, often they will act to avoid regretting the lost opportunity later. When you use good closing techniques, which we will discuss in a later post, or offer a deal for the customer in exchange for their testimonial and referral to others, clients then become subject to the motivation of keeping up with the Joneses. Who wants their neighbor to have something that they can’t have?
By all means, follow your heart and produce works you love, but remember that being a professional requires talent in more areas than art. Only you can determine whether your art is a business, or just practice.
John Rorer is Vice-Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of Currituck County, part of North Carolinas famous Outer Banks resort area. Four decades of experience in banking automation, investment securities, accounting, sales management and real estate development support his broad base of experience advising small business owners on how to make opportunities of the many challenges of entrepreneurship. He serves on the boards of and as a consultant to local non-profits, as well as provides websites, social media marketing and internet business advisory services to start up businesses in that area. John studied engineering at Univ. of VA., political science at Lynchburg College and law at T.C. Williams Law School of the Univ. of Richmond. He is a licensed real estate broker, general contractor, instrument-rated pilot with helicopter experience, avid racing sailor and horseman; and he is blessed with two wonderful grown children and an exceptionally understanding wife who forgives all his pre-occupations.
(c) David M. Goehring It happens to everyone. If it hasn’t yet happened to you, prepare yourself. There will come a time when one of your clients is dissatisfied. It may have just been a bad day, you may have truly screwed up, or your clients might not be the right fit for you… Whatever the reason, now you have to deal with the situation. So, what do you do?
- Make every reasonable effort to ensure your client is happy. Take an objective look at the session. Are you happy with your session, truly? If no, offer a reshoot. Maybe you or they were having a bad day. If you know you can do better and you want to try, a reshoot could turn dissatisfied clients into super fans. However, if you love your results and feel like you already gave them your best, you might have to accept that these clients aren’t your “peeps.” In that case, offer them a refund. You can’t mold yourself into their ideal photographer and trying to do so sets a bad precedent for your future relationship. Note also that I highlighted reasonable above. A reshoot or refund is reasonable; offering double their money back or free sessions for life is not reasonable. You get the idea.
- If clients prove to be impossible, express your sincere apologies and walk away. Some folks are intractable and impossible to please. This says a lot more about them than it does about you, but more on that in another post. Not all people are your ideal clients. If you’ve tried to please your dissatisfied clients and they’re not responding or are still unhappy, you have to accept that and move on. You can’t change who they are and how they feel, and beating yourself up over their issues doesn’t help them or you.
- Learn from the experience. After you’ve taken some time to calm down, analyze the situation and adjust for the future. Were there any hints beforehand that these would be difficult clients? Take a look at the circumstances surrounding the situation — what they hired you to do, what they said they wanted, where they found you, etc. — and see if you need to make any changes in how you attract, educate or communicate with clients and prospects. Maybe one of your marketing tactics is attracting the wrong clients. Maybe what you say on your website is suggesting that you do one thing when you really do another. Maybe how you educate clients about working with you is leading to misunderstandings. Pause and reflect.
Although dealing with dissatisfied clients can be challenging, it is a blessing in disguise. Ever heard that you learn more from failure than success? Next time you have challenging clients, remember: They may be the the key to improving how you talk about what you do and deliver on your promises. So give ’em a big old hug and kiss and then send them on their way.
Have you ever had a dissatisfied client? How did you handle it, and what did you learn?
Cheers,
There has been no greater gift that has come into my life than connecting with my inner artist. When I discovered my personal joy in photography, it didn’t stop there; revelations of who I am and where my inspiration comes from continued to flood in. Inspiration flows when we can operate from a space of clarity and connectedness. There are contemplative tools that can be used to draw out our inner inspiration and serve as a personal guide to living authentically as an artist.
Contemplative tools come in all shapes and sizes. Practices like meditation, going for walks in new places, or yoga are healthy activities that can fuel creativity and nourish the soul.
My contemplative tool of choice is Morning Pages.
It started with a book I picked up back in 2009 from the recommendation of one my favorite photographers MeRaKoh. The book, The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, literally LITERALLY changed my life, and it continues to do so to this day. One of the tools mentioned in the book is a journaling exercise called Morning Pages. Morning Pages are three pages of free form writing of whatever is on your mind flowing straight out onto the page. These pages have helped to reveal my own hidden truth and renew my creativity every morning I put my pen to the page.
When I first began writing morning pages, it was exciting. Julia Cameron had instilled in me the motivation and trust that writing three pages every morning was going to lead me down a path of self-reflection and provide guidance for my artistry. It did do all of these things and more…but not right away. To be quite honest, in the beginning, writing morning pages was annoying. I would set my alarm clock to wake up thirty minutes earlier every morning, take out my notebook, and write…about nothing. Sentences like “I am so tired today” and “have to go grocery shopping” came out onto the page. It seemed counterproductive and I didn’t feel like I was getting anything out of it. But still, I believed in the power of writing out my thoughts, as jumbled as they seemed at the time. I did this up until late 2010 when I hit a lull. While writing my morning pages, I hit a point that started to reveal layers and layers of truth that I wasn’t quite ready for. My mind rebelled and so I put down the pen. I stopped writing for about three months.
During the time I stopped writing things became cluttered. I had no outlet to release the stream of thoughts that entered my mind on a regular basis. My mind was like a clogged pipe that had been backed up with all sorts of gook. There are so many things that gets trapped in our minds on a daily basis that it actually forms a block that impedes the desire to create and express ourselves freely.
This blocked energy left me feeling uneasy and stuck; unable to express myself creatively. I soon found myself setting my alarm clock again to ring thirty minutes earlier as I made my way back to the page every morning. The practice of doing morning pages everyday helped me to:
- move forward after a job loss;
- get through a creative slump;
- openly share my stories of pain and glory
The experiences we go through in life impact us in the smallest of ways. Morning pages can serve as a release from the build up of toxic thoughts and inaction paving the way to putting ideas in motion.
It doesn’t matter what contemplative tool you use to connect with your inner self. You may find that developing a meditation practice works better for you or chanting “om” three times before starting your day. These are the kind of tools that come from within and are unique to every individual. When you incorporate these tools in your life as a daily practice, you can form a conduit giving you direct access to your authentic self.
Try incorporating one of these practices in your daily routine just for one week. Don’t set any expectations, just immerse yourself in the activity freely and assess how your inner self responds.
What contemplative tools have you found to be helpful in reconnecting with your authentic self?
Guest post by: Ariane Hunter, professional portrait and wedding photographer. When Ariane is not shooting, she is either blogging her musings about conscious living, practicing yoga, or adventuring the streets of New York City. She firmly believes that everyone has unique talents that should be shared with the world. Her motto is See Beauty… Learn more by visiting her website and following her on Twitter.
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Kate Watson - Yay, glad to help Cindy!
cindy - love it…. so funny that THAT is what i was just needing to hear!