portfolio was not competitive and their efforts needed to be
applied to developing a competitive body of work, one they would
be pumped to go out and sell. Somehow they knew on an uncon-
scious level that the work was not good enough. That’s why they
were not actively selling. Being unaware of where you sit with your
work is not acceptable for people whose value is to create work
that represents the best of what they have to offer clients.
Take an inventory of your images. If you have any doubt
that you can do better, begin now to develop work that you
can’t wait to show and sell.VALUES SHAPE RELATIONSHIPSYour values will shape your relationships with clients.
They will also energetically attract clients with similar ideals.
While this is not an exact science, my experience as a consultant
has given me much opportunity to observe the businesses of
several hundred photographers over the last twenty-eight years.
It is no exaggeration to say that your attitudes and how you
service clients will draw specific people to you.
People who are service-oriented, have a positive demeanor,
treat others kindly, and price their work fairly tend to attract
clients who are looking to work in a win-win fashion.
If you find yourself complaining about clients, whining about
how you never get paid enough, and how all your clients never
seem to appreciate what you do, you will draw to you people who
also have this outlook on life. It’s called the Law of Attraction and
many books and films have documented how this works. If you
see yourself in a whiny, complaining mode, stop it now, unless
you wish to attract whiny, complaining clients.
Your job is to build a business around the values that are truly
yours, knowing that in doing so you will attract the clients you seek.
The next step is to determine what type of relationships you
would like to build with your clients. How will you serve those
that hire you? While relationships in today’s market look and
feel different than they did ten years ago (clients had more
time, there were no art buyers, and people answered their
phones), relationships do exist and are often the reason why a
photographer is hired for a specific assignment.CHAPTER1 / YOURVALUES, YOURBUSINESSChapter 01.qxd 7/3/07 12:19 PM Page 7