Fast, Free, or Good: Pick Two - or Use AI for Truly Mediocre Results
Mediocrity is not really in demand in places where real growth happens. I promise.
There is a saying in business: You can get it fast, cheap, or good. Pick two.
Cheap and fast is not going to be good.
Fast and good is not going to be cheap.
Cheap and good is not going to be fast.
These days, there is the idea that you can dop this with the magical, mystical world of technology.
In our constant search to land all three, we forget a vital thread that ties it all together.
Value.
I am seeing more and more ads on FB, IG, and other platforms guaranteeing that I can write a book in a week, or a day, and this morning I saw one on writing a book in less than two hours.
A book.
In two hours.
And I have no doubt that can be done.
In fact, I just did it.
Using a prompt, an easy prompt, I asked GPT to write a book on photographic lighting, including image suggestions, and it kicked out a mini book with very good, but blandly boring information.
It has no voice, no experience, no deep-dives, no ability to persuade or even instruct. It is boring, uninviting, and totally correct in the information it imparts.
Absolutely nothing is wrong with the information.
All in all, it took less than 3 minutes to do the outline and intro, and would take an additional 20 minutes (approx) to do all the chapters.
So it can be done.
I will share with you what GPT came up with in a PDF.
And there ya go.
I have no rights to this, so if you want to use it to write a book, go ahead.
Option one: Take the outline, which is arguably not too bad, and run with it.
Option two: Take each chapter and outline and ask GPT to “expand” on the information. Less interesting, but fast… really fast.
So the fast and free part is covered.
But is it good?
What does ‘good’ mean to you?
What does it mean to us?
What does it mean for the photographic world in general?
What does it mean for society?
I believe no definition could be of service to everyone.
Looking around in pop culture, there are a lot of things that massive numbers of people think are good that I find utterly appalling.
And I am quite sure that some things I think are good are thought of as appalling to many other people. Many.
I’m good with that.
In fact, I embrace it as a defining point in my aesthetic.
But that’s just me.
And you are just you.
But there are a few things I believe most of us agree on.
And that brings me to what I want to discuss today.
Are fast and free metrics on which we should focus our efforts?
Imagine:
Build Your Portfolio Fast and Free, With Gudnuff Portfolio Builder.
The fast and free way to build a business without any selling, inventory, or marketing with the Social Creation Administration Module (SCAM)
Create a meaningful, long-term relationship fast and free with the “I Don’t Totally Suck” app - (in-app ads)
Fast and Free Tax Preparation: We don’t even need your numbers.
If your car needs work, the Fast ‘n Free Garage is ready to help you out. We will text you an address, drive the car there, and leave the keys. A text will let you know when it is ready to be picked up.
All fast.
All free.
But we know they have no value BECAUSE they are fast and free.
We know it took little to no effort to create them, and things that take little to no effort are not worth much.
I cannot think of a single thing that has value that is both free and easy.
Another way of looking at it.
The original Sistine Chapel is nearly priceless.
A wonderful original photograph of it may be worth a lot of money due to its inherent rarity, and the perceived value of the artist who made it, as well as any particular techniques were used, or difficulties overcome.
An archival print made to exacting standards and limited in quality may have less value than the original image, but would still be substantial.
A cheap, factory-made print will be of much less value because the effort, tools, and materials to make it are commoditized. It also has no rarity to speak of.
A JPG on Wiki has literally no value at all. It is a reference image, and nothing more. It is incredibly easy to duplicate, and anyone can do it.
Image in your camera roll… need I say more?
And it is all the same piece of art.
You can have it fast and free, but it may not be of any value.
So what do we do with our work?
We show the value. We push the value in everything we do.
From presentation to offering, we show why we are not a ubiquitous blob of free and fast, but that we are creators that go beyond that nebulous destination of mediocrity.
As we move into a (brave?) new world, where there will be scammers, greedy grifters, and social pariahs of all types trying to force their way in between the real artist and the people who need excellence, we should look to ways of fighting back.
We must know more about our clients and their needs.
We must do more for our clients while helping them achieve success.
One-and-done is not the goal, we prefer collabs and continuing partnerships.
Being able to deliver quality faster is always going to be important, but the quality must never be the one to suffer.
My definition of good:
Well-made, durable, and aesthetically authentic.
Has research and experience behind it.
Is far better than the base, and better than the mean.
Good is a C in school.
Okay, perhaps a C+.
That is the middle of the road between being inadequate and not meeting the base standards, and achieving well above the base standards by measurable metrics. The A, so to speak.
And those are rare. (Well, they are rare in some places, in others, they are the standard… which means there are no standards. Looking at you, Ivy League.)
One of my students did some research into a client who had contacted her for a small gig shooting tabletop.
She noted that their website was totally awful, with bad links, and an impossibly difficult check-out system. She also noted no email signup and copy that had typos and worse.
So she pitched them on the photography.
And she added the research she had found while looking up her website as well as a few of their competitors.
She created a pitch that put her client’s website and ‘reach’ next to one of the competitors and showed them how they could fix it.
Two days later she is pitching the photo gig, a website migration to Shopify, and creating an email list builder for Mailchimp.
Photography: $3000
Website Migration: $3000 (she paid $800 for tech work)
Setting up Mailchimp: $1500
Total: Net: $6700 (after paying tech to migrate: $800)
Additional time above photography: 6 hours.
She is now learning SEO so she can add that to her offering and get between $500 and $1000 per month recurring.
And the client is calling with implementation ideas for more work as they are seeing the benefit of her knowledge and expertise.
AI can’t do that.
It can spit out cookie-cutter ideas, but it can’t really do what she did: provide the research that she provided, break it down so a couple of young entrepreneurs could understand it, and offer solutions that made sense.
And, most importantly, what her ideas could do for their business, the one she is now intimately involved with.
The gig? Yeah, it was fairly fast, it was not free, and it was better than good.
It was not a bad result.
For either party.
It was probably a high B.
Respectable.
If we want value, we must infuse everything we do with our values, and make them visible to everyone. In everything we do..
The way we do one thing is the way we do everything.
And everyone knows it.
Oh, and for fun:
Me
I want to write something cool, so I need your help. Can we rewrite this sentence with a more modern feel?
"Call me Ishmael."
ChatGPT
"Hit me up, I'm Ishmael."
Heh.
A few images from last week.
The “Build a Website Sprint” is enrolling now.
We start on March 22nd, and by Monday, March 25, you will have a website, a template for additional sites, and the knowledge on how to create a functional and beautiful website for you and your clients. This is based on WordPress and a builder called Divi that I use every day.
(All times are Pacific)
Friday, March 22, 5 PM to 8 PM
Saturday morning, March 23, 8 AM - 10 AM
Saturday afternoon, March 23, 5 PM - 7 PM
Sunday morning, 8 AM - 10 AM
Sunday afternoon, 5 PM - 8 PM
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One-on-one Mentorship: You and me - working together in an intense 6-month push to get you on the way to over $30K in additional revenue. The work we lay down will help you increase and scale your business for years ahead.
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love that photo up top Don!