Every single day of the week, young photographers email me, tweet me, fax me, send me snail mail or call me to ask how to get started as a professional photographer. Their stories are usually quite similar. When pressed, they usually say that they are waiting on a good logo, a new business card, a updated-release of their favorite photo software or the holy grail – a new camera or lens.
Whatever their excuse for not getting started on their journey to becoming a professional photographer, it’s just that – an excuse. It’s much, much, much easier to blame your lack of this or that for not succeeding than it is to simply go out there and try.
I’ve talked about this problem in many ways, but I was inspired to use today’s headline on this post by a young man I have long admired. C.C. Chapman is a consultant, motivational speaker and social media guru as well as a big fan of photography. I became aware of him years ago because of his work as a podcaster. Since I’ve done a fair bit of podcasting myself, it wasn’t unexpected that our paths would cross.
He’s co-written a great book called Content Rules
The book hasn’t gotten much attention in the photo community because it’s not aimed directly at photographers, but I’ll tell you this – every single GoingPro reader should read “Content Rules.” There are tons of lessons there that emerging photographers can benefit from.
If you can’t afford the $15 I’ll sum up the book (from and for the perspective of a professional photographer) as best I can in one sentence. Make your photo business about helping people and start doing that right this minute – start making stuff and putting it out there right now without thought or concern about it being perfect.
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This post sponsored by Adorama – More than a camera store
