If You’re Waiting for Clients to Find You, You’re Already Losing
Why Every Commercial Photographer Needs a Dream 50
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Hey all,
Good morning!
The business of photography has always been a marketing challenge, and never has it been more important than today, tomorrow, and the coming years.
But you have to have a strategic plan. Rock solid and sustainable.
However, if your marketing plan is sorta like "post some stuff and hope for the best", well…
You're not alone.
But you're also not in control.
Drumroll please!
Enter the Dream 50 List — a game-changer for photographers who are ready to stop the endless waiting and start some sweet winning.
The Dream 50 isn’t just a list of clients.
This puppy is a full-on strategy — a targeted, efficient, and relationship-driven approach to landing the right kind of work with the right kind of clients.
Here’s why building your Dream 50 should be your next move:
1. Targeted Outreach
(a.k.a. Stop Wasting Your Damn Time)
When you handpick your Dream 50, you’re identifying businesses, agencies, and individuals who are already a great fit for your work.
No more "spray and pray" marketing.
Instead, you focus on the clients who value strong visuals, create content regularly, align with your style — and treat creatives with respect.
(Yes, that last one matters. A lot.)
2. Efficiency and Focus
(a.k.a. Save Your Energy for the Right People)
Marketing can feel like shouting into a black hole.
The Dream 50 narrows your field of vision. You’re not trying to be everywhere for everyone — you’re laser-focused on the 50 relationships that actually matter.
This kind of focus beats "doing all the things" every single time.
3. Strategic Relationship Building
(a.k.a. Play the Long Game)
We’re not talking about scary cold calls and cheesy sales pitches.
We’re gonna start some real conversations.
How do we do that, you ask?
Simple. We:
Follow them on social.
Comment thoughtfully on their posts.
Send a smart, personalized email introducing yourself and your work.
Stay in touch with valuable and fresh content, not canned spam.
We’re not begging for a job — we’re building a connection.
And when they do need someone, guess who’ll come to mind first?
4. Prioritization and Planning
(a.k.a. Work Smarter)
Your Dream 50 shouldn’t be one giant, undifferentiated blob.
Break it down:
Tier 1: Ready to pitch now.
Tier 2: Almost ready — needs more relationship-building.
Tier 3: Aspirational clients — the dream gigs.
This way, you're always working the system.
Shooting personal projects that would appeal to your Tier 2s and 3s?
That’s smart, without feeling like heavy-handed marketing.
5. Tracking and Accountability
(a.k.a. Grown-Up Business Moves)
Use a CRM.
Or a spreadsheet.
Or sticky notes if you must.
Hell, a pack of Post-its is only a buck at the Dollar Store.
The point is: Track your outreach.
Who you contacted.
When you followed up.
What you sent them.
What they said.
Consistency wins.
Sloppy memory loses - every time.
Bottom Line
(a.k.a. Why You Must Get Proactive)
The Dream 50 flips your marketing from reactive to proactive.
It forces you to get clear on who you want to work with — and then actually do the work to get on their radar.
It's not glamorous. It’s not overnight.
But it works.
And it’s how real, sustainable, and personally aligned businesses are built.
See y’all next time.
When you are ready, here is how I can help you succeed.
Group Mentorship: a small group of photographers who meet to show images, work on their portfolio, and build their businesses with help from a wonderful group. Lifetime membership for one fee.
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.
24 Frames in May: One Roll, One Month, One Chance
There was a time when every frame mattered.
Not because you were romantic about it.
Not because it made you look cool.
But because you had no choice.
Film didn’t give you 1000 tries. It gave you 24 — if you were lucky — and a prayer that you nailed focus, exposure, timing, and that invisible something that happens between your finger and your gut when you make a real photograph.
And then we had to wait hours, days, weeks, to see if it paid off.
We’ve become bloated with perceived speed and instant gratification.
There's something defiant about slowing down.
There's something pure about not knowing.
There's something wild about waiting.
This May, we’re stepping back into that mystique with “24 Frames in May.”
One roll.
Twenty-four frames.
Thirty-one days to make something that matters.
No do-overs. No machine gun bursts. No instant delete button.
Just you, your camera, and whatever stubborn light you can wrestle onto that strip of light-gathering magic.
Maybe you shoot a frame or two every couple of days, or perhaps a road trip inspires your 24 clicks.
However you do it, treat that common little frame of cellulose as if it is a most precious commodity. Take time to explore the viewfinder, trying this angle or that POV, and make sure you own - and love - every square millimeter of your frame.
Why One Roll?
Because limits set you free.
Because constraints force creativity.
Because when every frame costs you a little time, a little money, a little piece of yourself, you start making different kinds of pictures — more careful, more honest, more necessary.
It’s not nostalgia that makes film seem magical.
Film is magic because it demands intention.
It forces you to listen harder.
It makes you see harder.
It teaches you patience in a world that forgot what patience looks like.
You don't get the dopamine hit of a blinking LCD.
You don't know if you nailed it until days — maybe weeks — later, when the negatives come back smelling faintly of chemistry and history.
Hey, that's the point.
The Gentle Grain of Truth
Every medium has a voice.
Digital sings sharp and fast, clean as a Karen Carpenter or Annie Lennox
Film hums slow and low, with a touch of Janis Joplin or Pat Benatar.
That grain, gentle as a cloud or gritty as #10 sandpaper, isn’t just an aesthetic. It’s a reminder:
That you stood somewhere.
That you chose to wait.
That you believed in the moment enough to give it permanence.
And permanence, these days, is a kind of rebellion. Permanence isn’t trending.
How It Works
Simple:
Find a 35mm camera.
Load a roll of 24-exposure film (color or black-and-white, your choice).
Shoot during May 2025.
No extra rolls. No sneaky second chances.
At the end, select your four favorite frames to share with the group.
(We’ll all want to see that glorious contact sheet as well.)
Not your four most perfect frames.
Your four most honest ones.
The ones you felt in your core.
See you all next time!
When you are ready, here is how I can help you succeed.
Group Mentorship: a small group of photographers who meet to show images, work on their portfolio, and build their businesses with help from a wonderful group. Lifetime membership for one fee.
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.
Ready to Build Your Dream 50?
Here’s How to Actually Stop Wasting Time Today:
Look — hoping for work isn’t a marketing plan.
Neither is scrolling LinkedIn and calling it "networking."
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