Is Your Photography On Autopilot? Should It Be? Should You Be?
It seems as though a plateau can be a comfortable place to camp for a while, but there are new plateaus to conquer if we want to reach the top.
A lot is happening in this ol’ world right now.
Some of it great.
Some of it less than great. A lot less.
It takes effort to focus on ourselves, our goals, our own futures when we are daily pounded with seemingly fresh negativity—that is actually old, rotten negativity.
But then, artists work through that by creating more art.
No, I’m not saying you should make activist or social art, that is up to you and I don’t care.
I just want us all to make more art. More of our art.
For us.
“We should make it our goal to make more art” someone in the back yelled out just now.
Yes, yelling out dude, we should.
And where should we put that goal?
Does it go on the top of that tall list of goals we have been making since we were kids?
“I’m going to have a yacht.”
”I’m going to be president.”
”I’m going to learn to work the saxophone.”
I’ll play just what I feel.
We make goals all the time.
Going to get these videos done for a client.
Going to write that book I’ve been talking about for 10 years.
Going to finally ride my motorcycle to Alaska.
Goals.
Meh.
They sit on the mantle next to the list of things you were going to grab at the supermarket. (Damn, I miss going to Piggly Wiggly. Not the store, the name. What a brand!)
Saunders' reason for choosing the intriguing name Piggly Wiggly® remains a mystery; he was curiously reluctant to explain its origin. One story is that he saw from a train window several little pigs struggling to get under a fence, and the rhyming name occurred to him then.
Unlike pigs, goals are a dime a dozen.
They can also be small, lethargic, and terribly uninteresting.
That’s the nature of goals.
“I’m going to get in shape at the gym starting right after the New Year.”
Yeah, no one cares.
We don’t.
We can smile, nod, and give you a high five, but we don’t really care.
Cause we have heard that before.
Even from our own mouths.
“Yeah, someday I'll… “
Bullshit. Someday isn’t real.
You know what is real?
A plan to make that goal real.
That is what’s real.
And that takes us to the closet to grab our “working on cool shit” hat.
Where is it… hold on, probably under that basket of slightly used gym shorts.
Yes!
Eureka, here is the hat I need to wear. The “I’m going to plan my system” hat.
(I thought you were going to get the “working on cool shit hat?” Yeah, I must have tossed it when I tossed out that stack of DVDs with the workout dude in spandex.)
Plan your system to get to your goal.
It isn’t hard, but it isn’t easy.
And do it on paper.
Stop… just stop with the “I prefer to use the computer” crap, OK?
Do. It. On. Paper.
With a pen.
You remember double the stuff you write down versus what you type.
In addition to being faster and more accurate, the fMRI neuroimaging data from this "paper notebooks vs. mobile devices" study suggest that the act of physically writing things down on paper is associated with more robust brain activation in multiple areas and better memory recall.
Psychology Today
Yeah, I brought receipts.
First things first, top of the paper.
What do I want to achieve?
Be specific, not grandiose.
I want to have my work in a gallery by June 1, vs I want more people to see my photos in a gallery someday.
Did you do it?
You are now in the 20% of people who write down their goals, or even make goals for themselves.
Most of the goals we have were created by other people.
Your parents.
Your spouse.
Your boss.
The HOA. (Yeah, I am not an HOA guy. I’d probably end up in the slammer telling Bubba how I got even with the HOA after they told me I couldn’t park my motorcycle in my living room or some other silly rule.)
This goal is ours and ours alone.
Sweet, but we are not done yet.
Now write down the things you are going to do to get to that goal.
This doesn’t have to be a long list, but it also has to be a list with some teeth in it.
What I need to do to get my work in an art gallery by June 1.
We are going to be specific, but slightly loose here so we can tighten it up in the third part.
Here’s a few I would have.
Find galleries and meet the owners.
Find out what kind of work is selling in their galleries.
Find out what they expect from you (framed or unframed, number of prints, bio, references, fine art (numbered) or wall art, signed or unsigned, commissions paid, and when they are paid. You know, the kind of stuff galleries and artists talk about.
And a few more you can add…
You are now acting as if you are an artist, and that is a big first step.
Feeling a bit better now? You have identified a dozen or so things that you are going to have to do to get a chance at a gallery show.
But that is, really, a big “who cares” if there is no strategy, plan, or system to make those goals a living, breathing actuality.
The System Takes Shape
How I Will Achieve my goal of having my work in a gallery by June 1?
Here is where we list out the actions, in a step-by-step way, that will get us from pure, abject poverty to living on a yacht and selling our artwork by June 1.
What?
I see that kind of promise all over the interwebs and I thought it was normal to say stupid stuff like that. Maybe I should wear workout clothes and cargo pants.
Nevermind.
It will depend on your current schedule, the assets you have, and the funds available to you, but that is all you, so figure it out.
The system:
Contact 15 galleries and get information*.
1 gallery per day
5 days per week
Finished by the third week of January
no excuses
Use the information gained to create your presentation. You should know what the average is for the galleries, and while they may be different, they will most likely be more similar in what they expect.
Now you need numbers:
How many prints do they want to see? (Let’s say thirty.)
How many do you have, and when will you have thirty?
Write it down and get to it.
Initial prints—the images you have now—will be ready by March 1.
No excuses.
Shoot schedule.
Shoot scheduling is the only way. This schedule should be initiated on January 1 and kept up until a gallery signs a contract with you.
You have identified some holes in your portfolio. I know this because we all have holes in our portfolios. I’m not clairvoyant, ya know. (Otherwise, I would have bought Apple stock back in the 80s… )
When are you going to fix that?
Every Thursday is a shoot day*
Every other weekend is a shoot weekend.
You will make 5-10 shots per week (or bi-weekly if you are working a lot).
The shoot schedule is as important as a doctor’s appointment to find out if your ticker is ticking. Do not forgo them. Either actually.
No excuses.
This will continue through March.
April begins the showing and meeting part.
Two galleries a week with full presentations. You should probably begin setting up those meetings in late March.
Take notes to prepare for the next gallery presentation.
Embrace the process of showing, being ignored, being exalted, being forgotten, being sought… it’s all part of the thing, so embrace it all.
No excuses.
That is an example system to reach the goals you set when you said you wanted to be able to show your work in a gallery by June 1.
Will it work?
Remember the part about me not being clairvoyant?
I don’t know, nor will I blow smoke and tell you it is guaranteed.
But I do know these things:
You are closer to your goal than if you did nothing.
You learned a hell of a lot about the gallery side of photography.
You have created a system for doing this stuff that will continue, and one day you will be in a gallery.
Life is a funny thing.
We are hardwired to set goals.
We learn to walk, to talk, to drive, to make Tamales with just a hint of Jalapeno, to make photographs. We are constantly setting goals.
Get home before dark.
Find cheaper mobile phone pricing.
Lose 10 pounds before the next reunion… oh, never mind. I didn’t care then I don’t care now.
But systems, the mechanics of getting those goals to work, are not naturally acquired. We have to exercise our brains and our bodies to make them happen.
A goal lives in our minds.
A system lives in our actions.
Whatever your big goals are photographically, take the time to form a system. And then work on that system, tweaking it when needed, and you will find your goals do indeed come to fruition.
Unless your goal is to find a better food than tacos.
If that is the case, there is no hope for you, my friend.
(* Note: This can be geographically specific. Living in rural Wyoming may be less, living in downtown Memphis may be a few more. This is YOUR number.)
OK, what is this about?
You can buy a .sucks domain?
Who knew?
The Client Acquisition Sprint starts on Tuesday. It is built on a system to show you how to find, get, and keep commercial photography clients. Find more information here. I will not run it again this year (heh).
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.
The Creative Class: Expand your toolset and become a one-person visual agency capable of pulling in steady and repeated income. If you have questions, let me know, and I will answer them as fast as possible.
Discount codes for In the Framers:
Cohort Discount $197: $1000 | A23CD7E72E
Creator Discount: $100: $197 | 2BA98E4053
"Do. It. On. Paper."
yes yes yes co-sign!