GOT PLANS?

Someone really wise once told me "You can't steer a parked car."  In addition to being true - it's a great illustration of the difference between those who experience success, and those who don't.  I also think it's something we can all relate to. 

Imagine getting in your car to go to the store.  Just because you turn your car on, you'll never get where you're going if you don't first start moving.  You'll never head towards the store, if you don't take the car out of park and start driving.

I think this happens to us all the time.  We have big dreams.  We even make big goals, and big plans.  We have the best of intentions, but nothing happens.  Somehow, after the dreaming and planning, we stop.  As a result - we never execute our plan.

Making plans is the easy part.  It's the executing that separates the successful from the rest of us.  It's the executing that separates us from living our dream.

What do you need to stop planning, and start doing?

ARE YOU SUCCESSFUL?

Are you?  How do you know?  What does being successful mean to you in your business?  I think its easy, as photographers, to get caught up in this picture of what it means to be succesful.  I think it's easy to think that success = rockstar.  I think it's easy to look at our industry and end up with a distorted, twisted concept of what it really means to be successful.  

Is it about being sponsored by the "cool" lab?  Is it about being featured on the "cool" blog?  Is it about selling out a workshop, or building a following of photographers?  Is it about having the most blog readers, or the newest and best camera gear?  Is it about having a retail storefront?

There are a lot of ways you can define success, and there are just as many ways to run your photography business.  How you choose to define success will determine where you spend your energy, and it will determine the type of business you will build.  

For me, success means one thing - to add value to my family.   That's why I do what I do.  It's why I run a business, and it's why I choose to be a photographer.  Everything else is just details.  To be more specific, value means time, money or peace of mind.  My business has to add those three things to my family, or it isn't successful.  

TIME

Running a business is hard work - and a lot of it.  It takes a lot of your time, but the trade off is that - for the most part - you have huge amounts of freedom in how you spend your time.  You have the ability, and the luxury, to live the kind of life you want to live.   For my business to be considered successful, it has to allow me the freedom to be with my family.

MONEY

It has to make money.  That's all there is to it.  My business has to allow me to provide for my family.  Photography isn't just a hobby for me, and if I'm giving my life to this, it better give us the financial return for the work I put into it.

PEACE OF MIND

I love what I do, and I love sharing that with my family.  My responsibility is to be sure that the business is running solid - because a failing businesses doesn't help any of us sleep better at night.  If I'm up nights worrying about clients, or jobs, or finding clients or jobs, then my business isn't successful. 

Oh, and by the way - there's a difference between "being" successful and "appearing" successful.  Too many people care far more about the later.

So, my question is: How do you define successful?  Are you there?  If not, how are you going to get there? Leave a comment below and join the conversation!

FREE COPY OF "STARTING OUT RIGHT"

Want a chance to win something free?  Of course - who doesn't!  Here's the deal - I'm going to give away an e-book copy of my book, "Starting Out Right: Photographers Resource Guide" for free on Monday.  Why?  Because it's Labor Day, so in honor of the hard work you put into building a photography business, I want to do something to help!

Here's how to enter:

1. Follow @jasonaten on twitter

2. Paste the following to your twitter status: 

Win a free copy of "Starting Out Right: Photographers Resource Guide" by @jasonaten http://bit.ly/r0JBbN

3. Leave a comment below and share the most valuable thing you've learned about starting or running a photography business.

Do all three, and I'll randomly select one winner on Monday at 9:00PM EST. 

A FEW PLACES I'LL BE IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS

It's been nice being home for the last few months after a year of traveling a little over 90K miles.  I've really enjoyed a little extra time with the girls after being on the road speaking so much last year - and the beginning of this year!  That said, I have a few places I'll be over the next few months, and I wanted to let you know.  I hope we'll get a chance to meet soon!

Click on the titles for more information about each event.

South Bend PUG   |  August 16, 2011

I'll be speaking at the South Bend PICTAGE USER GROUP next week, on the Business of Photography.  We'll talk about the Top 10 things every photography business needs to know.  The event is free to all photographers, and I'd love to meet you there!

Lansing ONE DAY INTENSIVE  |  September 12, 2011

There are still a few seats available for the ONE DAY INTENSIVE here at our studio.  Looking for a workshop that focuses on best practices to build your business?  This is for you.

San Diego PUG  |  September 21, 2011

I'll be in San Diego next month for a free talk at the PUG on the 21st, and then a ONE DAY INTENSIVE, the next day (see below).  I'm going to be sharing a new talk on "Marketing that Makes $ense," and we'll look at how we really find and reach our ideal clients.

San Diego ONE DAY INTENSIVE  |  September 22, 2011

There are 10 seats available for the ONE DAY INTENSIVE in San Diego.  Looking for a workshop that focuses on best practices to build your business?  This is for you.

10,000 HOURS

Do you ever wonder what it is that makes some photography businesses so successful?  Is it that they have such exceptional raw talent as photographers?  Is it that they have the world's most wealthy and beautiful clients?  Is it that they are marketing geniuses?  I guess it's possible that one or more of those things are true of them, but that's not what separates them from everyone else.  The truth?  Hard work - a lot of hard work.

If you've read Outliers, by Malcom Gladwell, you're familiar with the idea that it takes 10,000 hours to be truly "great" at anything.  I won't go into all the details of the book, though I highly recommend you read it.  Gladwell makes the arguement that the greatest success stories essentially come down to 2 things: a lot of luck and a lot of practice.

He argues that across industries, across different disciplines, and across artistic endeavors, the standard is the same: it takes 10,000 hours to truly become great at something.  It takes that much practice to truly master your craft in a way that no one else has.  It takes that much practice to become "great." 

Of course, "great" doesn't equal "successful."  That almost always requires something else - luck.  Here's the thing though - I think a lot of people sit around waiting, hoping, praying that they'll get lucky.  Unfortunately, luck is not particularly predictable.  And, even if you get lucky, you still have to be "great."  You don't become great by accident, and you don't become successful just because you got lucky.  

I think this is great news!  I think this is so encouraging for those of us that want to become great artists, and build successful businesses.  I think it's a call to action, for each of us to practice, practice, practice.  It's a challenge to pick up our cameras even when no one is writing a check.  It's a reminder that the more we shoot, the better we see. Since January, I've taken thousands of photos, and less than 10% of them are for paid clients.  I don't know what "practice" looks like for you, but maybe it's stating a personal project.  Maybe it's photographing your kids.  Maybe it's offering your talents to a charity organization.  I'm not even worried about "great," but right now, I'm striving for "better."

Luck, though it's not something you can plan for, is really about what you do with it.  The truly great stories of success are about people who had put in their 10,000 hours and were uniquely able to take advantage of their situation.  The good news is, practice is something you can do something about.  

What are you doing to become better?