Was money your most important priority? Space? Your team?
Recognition? What part of your bio did you write about the most?
As you read and examine, resist the urge to edit. Shush the
voice that begins to tell you that this is all nonsense. Be open to
the information that your answers have for you. These were
your choices and they need to be heard. Honor the words and
ideas that you wrote down.
Finally, look to see how close your current life is to what you
have written down. Is it a hop, a skip, or a jump from where you
are now to your dream bio life?
As you go through the process of reviewing, do not disre-
gard any parts of your dream bio that seem like fantasy. It is all
possible. You simply need to determine which goals are mean-
ingful enough to you in order to commit to the hard work
needed to reach them.
Once you feel that you are done reviewing and that you have
gleaned as much information as possible, look at what you have
written and begin to list for yourself what success looks like to you.
Once you have your success list, begin to compare it to your
life as it is now, and evaluate the different areas of your business
that need attention.
Historically, photographers find that when they initially take
inventory, their visual content, their client relationships, and the
amount of money they make is not in line with their dreams. This
is not surprising as it is hard to accomplish exactly what you want
unless you have specifically put your attention on it.
If you have realized through this practice that a value you
have is to produce high-quality visuals for your clients, take an
inventory of what now exists. Do your images hold up to your
expectations? Are you showing a complete “body of work”? Will
your prospects know which assignments to call you for? Is this
the best work that you can do?
Being integral, walking your talk, begins with the work.
Make sure that you believe in the work and are excited about
the visual talent that you are selling.
Interestingly enough, I have consulted with many photogra-
phers over the years who could not understand why they could
not inspire themselves to sell their work. They would castigate
themselves, thinking that they should be out selling. When we got
together and I reviewed the work, it often became clear that thePART1 / VALUESChapter 01.qxd 7/3/07 12:19 PM Page 6