Tara Gentile, a thought leader and creative business coach. She brings creative thinking to branding, product development, and marketing that incorporates both strategy and high touch design. Her approach to business in the You Economy resonates with MBAs, PhDs, and graduates of the school of life. She writes frequently for the Daily Worth, Design*Sponge, and Etsy. Bestselling author, Jonathan Fields, named her blog a Top 22 Single-Voice Business Blog of 2012. She’s the author of several popular digital guides including her latest on the relationship between personal art and money, The Art of Earning.Visit her websites: Reclaiming Wealth and KickStart Labs

1) You project a tremendous sense of discipline. Who do you attribute this trait to? Your mother, as you say, instilled in you the habit of saving. So, she would be my first guess.

I think you’re right – my mama taught me discipline. Her business – she supported my brother & I as a seamstress – was driven by her values & personal priorities. She wanted to be present in our lives as much as humanly possible: picking us up from school, attending softball games, being there when we were sick.

So naturally, she found the discipline to work at the wee hours of the morning to get a batch of alterations complete or the strength to canvass the wealthy neighborhood a few minutes away with flyers about her business.

I think her disciple also emanates from just how much she loves & is challenged by her work. She still owns a sewing business even though she doesn’t need to work. She truly wants to be at her sewing machine crafting new garments & altering old.

My discipline is very much the same. I want to work as hard as I do. I want to provide for my child. I want to model entrepreneurship & self-determination for my child. I’m also driven to discipline by my clients because I want to serve them at my highest level all the time.

But my personal discipline is also paired with a deep appreciation for time off. I don’t push myself through “not feeling like it.” If I don’t feel like it, there’s a reason and I respect that reason. I do something else instead — even if that something looks frivolous on the outside.

I work hard & I play hard. It’s a good life and one I’m happy to lead.

2) If I can speak for photographers as a collective, I would say we sincerely believe we can be both profitable and pursue our art. But we also a lot that gets too easily derailed. What would your advice be to stick to the path we initially imagined we would be on?

First, make sure you’re not trying to do more than you can for the sake of money. Photographers (and web designers and web developers) all fall into the category of trying to work too much. As in, you try to accumulate too many billable hours. You work more to make more money because that seems to be the easy way to do it.

How can you make more money working less? Charge more for what you do. Create other revenue streams (i.e. sell prints at the right price, create books, diversify your services). Run your business smarter (i.e. create systems for referrals)

Second, make sure you’re differentiated within the market. If where you shine is taking pictures of families with small children, make sure everyone knows that’s your specialty. If you’re the master of black & white, show that on your website and have a “no color” policy. You’ll be able to charge more for your best work instead of making less doing more things.

The average joe doesn’t know the difference between you and the 50 other photographers in your geographic area. Make it obvious. Show average joe that you understand his unique needs. Be the best match or tell him to go somewhere else.

3) In your seminal ebook, The Art of Earning, I get the feeling you are giving us artisans permission to pursue our dreams, which includes honing our craft and creating a sustainable lifestyle for ourselves and our families. Am I reading that right?

Yes! And right there you’ve hit the nail on the head. It’s a two fold mission in becoming a thriving artist:

a) Hone your craft. Get better at what you do. Don’t just learn about business — learn to become a better artist! Keep up with trends, invest in equipment, learn new skills.

b) Create a sustainable lifestyle. Make the money you need to live the way you want to live. Nothing is out of your grasp if you name it & work towards it. Don’t aim for getting by, don’t aim for working 100 hours per week. Aim for sustainable and thriving.

4) You say “transformation is valuable” and I agree. But who gets to place value on that transformation? Let’s say a wedding client of mine is looking at a picture I took of her and her late grandmother on the dance floor. How does one put a dollar value to that emotion the bride is feeling at that moment? And how is that value conveyed to my client without sounding like a used-car salesman?

This is one statement from the book I might back pedal on a bit today. Not because it’s untrue but because it needs context.

People don’t actually buy “personal transformation.” No one believes there is a lump sum of money they can plop down & become better, smarter, richer, or prettier because of the service they’ve just bought. However, overall transformation is something that can be broken down into its parts. Those parts can be bullet-pointed, named, and price tagged.

For a photographer, transformation may be seeing yourself as you’ve never been seen before. It might be capturing the beauty of friends & family gathered ’round. It might be providing the best souvenirs from a moment in a child’s life.

No kidding, there is no set fee for “the bride & her late grandmother on the dance floor” but that doesn’t mean the fee should be low just because it’s a beautiful moment either. Charge what you need or want to charge and then back it up with the language that you use to describe the service that you offer.

Break what you do down into tangible bits. Let people feel into having you as their photographer and give them a sense of what both the experience of being photographed & the experience of seeing the photos will be like.

Don’t worry about sounding like a used car salesmen. This is ridiculous! You’re not a used car salesmen. You weave beautiful stories when you talk to friends about what you do – weave those same stories for your potential clients.

Then say with confidence, “This is my fee.” And give them the space that they need to say, “Yes.”

5) Is having or making that “third choice” – beyond saving/investing or spending it on “stuff” – the driving force behind the art of earning? Also, do you recommend you declare this third choice to your clients so that they understand WHY you are doing what you are doing for you and your business?

Yes, the art of earning is always about earning with purpose. It’s not about earning more for the sake of earning more — and it’s not about earning enough to “get by” or “have just enough.” If you’ve built your business with a big ambition, and I hope you have, then earning money is a byproduct of working towards that big ambition.

The more you serve, the closer you come to your ambition, the greater your realize your purpose, the more money you stand to earn. Not in a drain-’em-til-they’re-dry way but in a whole-hearted people-see-the-value way.

6) In a world where there are other artisans also providing a similar service, how does one distinguish oneself? Is it by clearly defining how we will deliver either an experience or product full of meaning to the client?

First – let me say – differentiation is so important! It’s probably the biggest thing standing in between you and more money, you and better clients, you and full artistic self-expression. It’s true!

I could talk all day about differentiation but I want to define it in two ways today:

First, your values define you. What are your values? How do you prioritize? What makes you stand up and say “yes!”? My values include wisdom, excellence, and equality. I know I resonate with someone else’s work when I see those same values echoed back at me. I can instantly align with both their purpose & their modality.

Talk to me in values. Tell your story in values. Explain your process in values. Give me something to say “yes!” to.

Second, your value drives you. What are you really selling? What are people really paying for? Understand your value from your customers’ perspectives. Interview them about how they received your services and what was important to them in the experience.

Don’t paint in broad strokes. Use fine detail. Share others’ experiences and allow me to see myself in their examples.

7) How much does faith personally direct you to help people?

Great question. Up until about 6 months ago, I didn’t realize how much my faith & my previous academic study of that faith had carried over into my business. My faith not only directs me to help others but has shaped my whole outlook on business & the commercial system.

Especially observant folks have noticed that I have “Bonhoeffer chick” in my Twitter bio. Bonhoefferchk was my first blogging handle. But the theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer is also the theology I ascribe to personally. That theology has also directly impacted my approach to business.

Bonhoeffer posited that “Jesus is a being for others.” Jesus’ sole purpose was to live his life for others. While great self-love & self-acceptance is a necessary part of that kind of faith, it manifests itself outwardly in service. That’s the kind of business I know seek to run and the kind of business I direct my clients to run, as well.

Yes, you must self-express through your great work. Yes, you must have a high self-worth to increase your net worth. But in the end, it’s service of others that pushes you onward. It’s service that defines your success. Your work exists for others not merely for yourself.

Those are the kind of businesses I want to see in control of the new economy.

Are YOU part of the “new economy” that Tara mentions? I highly recommend you follow Tara Gentile on Twitter. Sound off below to tell us what you thought about this interview. If you would like more such interviews, please help me spread the word. Thank you!

You probably already know that I work with a Business Coach. Sondra Ayers and Jerry Deck of Buzzworthy Success are who I work with because they know the photography business, have seen it grow and change and stumble and then grow up all over again.

More recently, I have considered working with a Life Coach (also known as a Personal Coach) as well. Why? Well, to help me get my priorities straight. I have just had two invigorating sessions with Bernadette Bolton of Exceptional Life. She works with clients far and wide. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my friend Arvind Devalia out of London, England, who is also a Life Coach.

If you are a photographer, I would also urge you to consider working with a Photo Coach. Two names come to mind – Selina Maitreya and Mike Davis.

So feed my curiosity a little will ya?

Having a Business Coach, Life Coach and or a Photo Coach could make or break your business. Do you work with a coach? If you do, tell me/us why? If you don’t, why not? Do you know of Business, Life or Photo coaches who should be mentioned? List their names and their website links below in the comments section. Thank you!

Today’s guest post is by Jared Bauman who has built a photography studio in Southern California that photographs over 200 events and sessions annually. In business for a decade, Jared’s clients fly him across the world to document their big events. Jared is a Co-Founder and President of ShootDotEdit, the #1 post processing partner for the professional wedding photographer. Known for his business background, Jared has released several educational DVDs and tours the country speaking to photographers about their small business. Follow him on Twitter.

Think Like An Owner

Mention that you’re a small business owner to anyone, and more than likely the response is along the lines of “Wow, you must make a lot of money and have a lot of time off!” Contrary to popular opinion, being a business owner seems to be synonymous with being a jack of all trades and master of none. Being a small business owner is overwhelming, time intensive, and all consuming.

In his book “The E-Myth”, Michael Gerber talks about going to work ON your business, rather than IN your business. By stepping back and watching your business, you learn to develop a system that will work outside of you. Systems don’t make mistakes … Only people do. So by developing a system, you can ensure that your business will run smoothly and effectively, providing the best possible product and experience for your clients.

Think of how much time we waste each day. Imagine if you weren’t the owner of the business … But merely just an employee. What would the owner think of how you spend your time on a daily basis? Are you working just to get things done? Or are you going to work and acting like an owner, working on tasks that only an owner can to grow and advance the business?

Determine the tasks in your business that only you can do. Spend time developing a system at your studio. It takes a lot of effort. But, by creating a manual for your systems and operations, you’ll be on the path to working ON your business, rather than IN your business. And this is where you’ll experience all of the freedom that small business owners dream about.

Efficiency

As small business owners, we are responsible for every part of our business. Most days, we juggle email, phone, calendar, billing, editing, production, IT … All in addition to our busy shooting schedule!

Because of this, becoming hyper-efficient at the tasks we are required to do becomes imperative. If we HAVE to do the task (reference the previous entry for more on that), then we need to perform the task as quickly and efficiently as possible. This is the only way we’ll be able to spend our time growing our business, rather than just operating it.

Here are some great tips for becoming more efficient in your daily tasks:

1) Set up Drafts and Rules in your inbox to handle frequently asked emails. Typically speaking, most of the emails we receive … We’ve answered before. Save your answer as a Draft, and next time you get that same email, copy it over as a response. Add a personalized intro and close, and send it off!

2) Utilize Rules to sort through emails that you can delay for later.

3) Utilize shortcut keys. Apple has a well-developed set of shortcut keys, along with Gmail. Shortcut keys can shave minutes off of your daily activity, but these add up to hours each week. You can see what that adds up to each year.

4) Take advantage of software like Text Expander to further reduce duplicated time.

5) Maximize your usage of a To Do list app, like Wunderlist or Things. Tasks that can be handled quickly (under 2 or 3 minutes) should be taken care of right away. Anything else is placed on your to do list, with a defined due date.

6) Much of this seems mundane and somewhat extraneous. However, if you can maximize efficiency on day-to-day tasks, you leave yourself able to do more of what you love…. And isn’t that what we all got in this for?

Pricing & Packaging

Pricing. It’s often the last thing we think about as photographers. We focus on our website, our branding. We pour over reviews of the latest gear, and try to learn how to light for every situation. Email monopolizes our time, and fulfilling client orders takes up our off days. And yet, pricing is one of the most important pieces of our small business.

Believe it or not, there is actually a science behind Pricing. From the beginning, you should set your goals BEFORE you construct your pricing. Do you know how much you want to work? Do you know how much you want to make? All of these things should be taken into consideration as you construct your pricing.

Confusion is usually the main reason prospective clients don’t book. Confusion enters the picture when the pricing is introduced. It might be confusion through the structure of the pricing, and they couldn’t find a package that suited their needs. Or maybe they were interested in an album, and there were just far too many options. Maybe they didn’t see an engagement session anywhere, it wasn’t in the packages, and they couldn’t find it on the a la carte list.

Simplifying the pricing process gives you a huge advantage when it comes to booking.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

1) Have an odd number of packages. This gives your pricing a “natural middle” point, which naturally guides your clients towards certain options.

2) Whenever possible … Less is more! Reduce the number of options available.

3) Don’t show them the whole menu. Save the details for later.

At the end of the day, keep it simple, and remove confusion at all costs. This will ensure you give yourself the best chance of booking the wedding, and working with the couples you really want as your clients.

I am honored to have Lori Nordstrom as our next guest blogger. You can find Lori teaching around the country, or on Photo Talk Forum, an online community of photographers dedicated to growing their businesses! Lori will be presenting at WPPI. “It’s a Brand New Game,” is all about shaking it up and keeping things fresh to stay ahead. It’s on Sunday, February 19 at 9 am.

I really can’t believe it’s February! Crazy really!! When I was a kid it went so fast … now I just wish for days back! It’s funny how that reverses as we get older – when we’re little we just want to be older, and now we just want to be younger again. Maybe even want a “do-over”. I guess it might be one of the most important things I want to instill in my kids … to live every moment!

Yes, it’s easier said than done. I had to remind myself today that even though January is over, we are still brand new into this new year. January for me always feels like a clean slate and a fresh start, so I’m always a little sad to see it go. This year however I’m going to concentrate on feeling every day like I do on January 1. What can I do today to make it the best day ever?

I’d love to share with you a couple of things that will get you to your happy spot for 2012.

Be A Goal Setter

Did you claim a New Year’s Resolution? Most don’t last, so don’t beat yourself up! It’s something that we call out at the last minute, usually after a couple toasts and say – “next year I’m going to …”

Goals are something different. Goals have direction. Goals need and require action. If you haven’t set real goals before, do it now! When you have a clear set of goals, both immediate and for the future, it makes it exciting to get up in the morning.

WHAT is the goal you want to achieve?
WHY do you want to achieve it? (Give it a purpose!)
WHERE are you, your starting point?
HOW will you achieve your goal? (Action steps)
WHO will you commit your goal to? (Accountability counts!)
WHEN will you reach this goal? (Specific deadline)

Zig Ziglar recommends setting goals in each of these areas:

Ziglar describes that when you are working towards goals in each of these areas you have a complete wheel. When you leave out one of these areas you’re going to end up with a flat tire!

I feel it’s just as important to set the daily/small goals and make a plan as it is to set goals for the future. Stephen Covey says that if you spend 15 minutes planning each morning, you’ll add 20% productivity to your day! Start each morning with a prioritzed to-do list, and get more done!

Start A Journal And Write Things Down.

This makes a huge difference in not only moving forward, but re-evaluating later.

I wish you the very best 2012! To help with your planning, download this Business Plan Workbook + Goals Worksheet for FREE!

One of my personal goals has always been to give back. Getting specific about that means defining when, where and how. I’ve been involved locally and raise money each year for several charities including the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, who I’m very involved with. However, in 2010 I went for the first time to Ecuador.

After falling in love with the people and the culture, and especially the orphaned children, I started a non-profit with fellow photographer Travis Gugelman with the hopes of raising money for the orphanages there. You can follow some of what we’re doing there at www.dandoamor.org.

The next trip to Ecuador will be in March 2012. If you are interested in coming on a trip with us or would like to help by raising money, please email me lori at nordstromphoto dot com. I would love to get more info to you about how you can get involved. It’s a trip and a cause that will change your perspective and your life – it certainly has mine.

What personal or business goals did you set for yourself and how are you going to go about achieving them? Tell us in the comments section below!

Yunghi Kim is today’s guest blogger. She is a highly regarded freelance photojournalist based in New York City. From 1995 until 2008 she was represented by Contact Press Images. She has also been a team leader at the prestigious Eddie Adams Workshop. Learn more about here and follow her on Twitter.

I’ve learned from my 28 years as a photojournalist and the hundreds of stories I’ve covered, how to quickly recognize a big story. It was clear from the start that the Occupy Wall Street movement (OWS) had all the right elements to become huge. Unlike most of my projects, I wouldn’t be traveling to a far off war zone. This story was happening right in my own backyard.

I don’t recall a movement or an event in my career that has struck such a cord with so many Americans. OWS changed the dialogue in America and around the world as well. It successfully brought attention to runaway corporate greed and gave a voice to the working “99 Percent” of us. All of this only a subway stop away from my home in Brooklyn. How could I not pursue this story?

Like so many of my bigger projects over the years, like “The Comfort Women of South Korea”, the Rwandan refugee crisis, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, my own desire to document the story in pictures would be my biggest motivation. To bear witness to history is a common drive among photojournalists. We want to capture actual events as they unfold and to create a visual story. Without this drive, I think it’s almost impossible to produce a meaningful body of work.

I was surprised to see the wide amount of support generated by OWS and enjoyed the creative ways in which they spread their message. Everyday there’d be a protest scheduled for both the opening and the closing bells of the stock market. Complete with the now well known slogans like, “The banks got bailed out, and we got sold out” Often the protestors would use humor, such as dressing up like zombies or taking brooms to Wall Street and pretend to sweep away the greed. I think this strategy hit a cord with Americans and helped to successful brand the movement.

Of course, other times there would be a more serious tone. As when the protesters would play “cat and mouse” with the police, or even outrun them so they could march the streets, free of escorts, as they saw fit. These tactics often ended in arrests.

It was no easy task for the NYPD, probably the biggest and best trained police force in the world. Mayor Bloomberg claims it’s the sixth largest army on the planet! During arrests, police officers would form huge columns which would block what you could see. Frustrating, to know something is happening and not being able to photograph it. They’d also use a technique called “kettling” where people would be locked into a certain area (protesters, journalists, whomever) circled by police. Anyone trying to leave would be arrested. It didn’t matter who you were, once an officer decided to arrest you, there was nothing you could do. Many times the arrests seemed random.

As a freelance photographer, the thought of spending thousands of dollars in legal fees and going through the court system became more of a concern as I spent more time working this story. 

The protests were quite physically demanding. There was a lot of running, backwards, forwards, and sideways, during marches that would cover half the length of Manhattan. One day I ended up flat on my back (with another photographer on top of me) after being pushed by a police officer. Luckily I was able to find my glasses so I could continue shooting. Having a few new bruises at the end of the day was common among photographers.

Bruises are better than handcuffs any day!

I was fascinated by how efficiently OWS used social media to communicate with their supporters. They had their own live video streaming team with protesters carrying portable wi-fi enabled webcams. Everything they and the NYPD did was documented and shared almost as it happened. Eventually, I learned to utilize @Yunghi pretty well myself.

Zuccotti Park was another amazing scene. You could see Noble Prize winners, celebrities, average Americans and homeless people all rubbing shoulders and making speeches to one another.

If you had something to say, Zuccotti Park was the place to be!

Overall, this was a lot safer than much of my work. You didn’t have mortars going off or bullets flying around, but, it was often frustrating having to navigate around the NYPD. Still, I think my images stand up well and serve as a visual record of what I experienced and witnessed.

(The text of this post was edited by another incredible photojournalist, Ken Jarecke)

Did you field a camera and attempt to document the Occupy Wall Street protests? Tell us your story in the comments below.

This guest blog is by Ellen Petty, the Head Brandslinger at Identity Kitchen, a marketing and design studio specializing in photographers. She and her business partner Marty Thornley launched a new line of affordable all-in-one WordPress portfolio sites designed specifically for professional photographers at PhotographyBlogSites.com.

Just yesterday, they announced new lower pricing on their self managed, all-inclusive BlogSites. As a special thank you to the Tiffinbox audience, they would like to extend an extra $50 off your first year when you use the code TIFFINBOX50.

Let’s Start at the Beginning. What is Branding?

Your brand is your touchpoint. Everything from how you answer your phones to the auto-responder on your email. Yes, it’s the big picture items; your website, your business card, your space, but it is the cohesiveness, that glue that gives a clear picture to your potential clients. There are some companies, (Starbuck’s anyone?) They do this very, very well. Talk about the Starbucks cup, how it fits perfect in your hand. Not a waxy exterior, not styrofoam, a little thinner than a regular takeout coffee. How much planning do you think went into just the coffee cup? Now let’s talk interior, advertising, their charities, the music, the Wifi.

“That’s great for Starbucks”, you say, but how can I create a killer brand for my photography business? Here are 9 steps to not only get you started, and make sure you stay on track.

1) What’s Your Mantra?

Your brand essence, sometimes called your brand mantra, is the heart and soul of your business. Sometimes defined in a few words. Your brand essence is “Who you are”. Try and define your brand in six words or less. If I said “Maiden voyage…iceberg…not enough lifeboats” you would know Titanic. How can you define who you are?

Start with describing your work, yourself, your approach. Ask, who am I, who is this business? Choose 5-6 words that best describe you and your business.

2) Who Am I?

This is your brand positioning; what makes my business different from my competition? Is it the service that you give? Is it the kind of photographs you take? Is it the kind of photographer you are?

One of the most important rules in positioning your business and your brand is to know your competition. Once you know what you are up against, once you understand your competition you can figure out how you are different AND create a unique business perspective and carve out your very own market share.

3) Define Your Target Audience?

Do you know your target customers? Who are you going after? Engaged couples? Parents? Parents to be? What is their demographic? How do you want to come across to them?

This is where you really think about who your client or potential client is. Where do they shop, what toothpaste they use, how much disposable income they have, are they like you are they not like you?

4) Get Inspired

Now that you know who you are, what makes you/your studio different, who your competition is and who you are talking to…it’s time to get inspired, and really push that creative envelope. Look to places outside the photography industry for inspiration. Fashion, architecture, music, fine art, even food. Wherever your muse lies, don’t be afraid to interpret. Pinterest is a fantastic place to create style boards and have a sneak peek into other creative formulas.

Below is an example of an inspiration board and how we translated it into the online brand design for Studio Diana.

5, 6 & 7) The 3 C’s; Get Creative, Make It Cohesive, Keep It Consistent

Ok, you have your strategy, you have your inspiration boards, now it’s time to get creative. Whether you are designing your brand yourself or hiring an outside designer, this is where the magic happens. The “Ah-­?ha” moment. The spark, that can be realized as your own personal touchpoint or brand.

Once you choose a design path make sure there is a thread or a few that keeps your brand cohesive and consistent across all mediums. Print, online, advertising, promotion, and sales. Don’t be afraid to loosen the reins on your brand as you move between mediums, keeping your brand consistent, does not mean choking it. This is where it may be helpful to bring in a professional.

Below are some examples of the creative process of Partridge Lane Studios. Also, an example of how we kept the look cohesive from printed material to the online presence.

8) Choose Your Best Work

If you have completed the last 7 steps, we know you can make choices. Don’t question yourself now. It’s time to choose your best work. Go through your body of work and choose your best 5, 10 and 20 pieces. Those should always be front and center on all your promotional vehicles. Be strong, if you feel a piece does not live up to the standard of these choices, they should not appear in your portfolio. Your online galleries should be between 20 & 30 photos per gallery. Always aim to put your very best foot forward.

9) Be Unique

If you have followed these steps you should arrive at a brand that is unique, because it is you. If it is true to who you are as an artist, it is right.
One of my favorite sayings when it comes to finding your true voice in life and in branding is by Oscar Wilde, “Be yourself, because everyone else is already taken.

This guest post is by Rob & Lauren, who are photographers, educators, travelers, and all-around fun-loving folks. They spend their time teaching on Photography Concentrate and creating portraits of fun people. They are currently obsessed with espresso and robots. Follow them on Twitter.

Once upon a time we made a really big mistake in our business. The kind of mistake that still comes back to haunt us on a regular basis. A real forehead-slapping, bad-word-saying, doozy of a blunder. 

But before we tell you what we did, let’s take a second to talk about mistakes. 

We’re human. So are you. (Unless you’re a robot, and then you don’t really need to read this.) Human beings make mistakes. All. The. Time. If you haven’t made a big mistake in your business yet, chances are pretty good that you will.
 
And so a big part of being a business owner is getting your mind in the right place to handle the inevitable missteps. Here are a few steps to take care of those problems when they pop up:

Step 1: Understand that you will make mistakes.
 
You’re not perfect and mistakes will happen. When you accept that, you’ll feel a lot less anxious and worried! You may even come to embrace mistakes when they happen! Maybe…

Step 2: Admit the mistake.
 
This is a big one. It’s easy to hide from your mistakes, and pretend nothing is wrong. Bad move. They have a way of getting worse over time, and you lose your ability to nip the problem in the bud. So when you make a mistake, acknowledge it. Write it down to make it real if you have to. Just admit you messed up, and you’ll be in a much better place to fix it.

Step 3: Look at the mistake objectively.
 
When it’s your business it’s easy to get emotional, and think the mistake is much more dire than it really is. Take a step back, get some big picture perspective, and figure out just what went wrong. Be honest.

Step 4: Fix it. 

This might not always be easy, but do your best to figure out how to fix the mistake. Make things right with clients, with your business, and with yourself. Every mistake is different, so there’s no single answer to this one. But now that you’ve admitted the mistake, and looked at it objectively, you should be able to figure out how to fix it.

Step 5: Learn from it. 

After you’ve worked to fix the mistake, now comes the most important part. Learn from it!! This is the silver lining, and the big reason why it’s ok to make mistakes. They are amazing learning experiences in disguise. If you figure out how to prevent the mistake in the future, you end up growing as a result of making it in the first place. Win!

Step 6: Move on. 

Remember, it’s ok to make mistakes. After you’ve learned from it, then move on. Dwelling on mistakes you’ve made doesn’t help you at all. Focus your energy instead on doing great things in the future. You can’t change the past, after all! (Unless you have a time machine, and if so we should talk.)

So, now are you ready to hear about our big mistake? Let’s do it.

After a couple of years of shooting weddings in our hometown of Edmonton, we thought it would be a great adventure to move to another city (Vancouver) and set up shop. We went out there to look around, and even did a bunch of networking with local photographers. 

Then, the big mistake: we announced that we would be moving on our blog. 

And never moved.

But all of our clients and potential clients thought we weren’t going to be in Edmonton anymore. They stopped contacting us, referring us, telling people we weren’t shooting here anymore…you can see why this was a big mistake. 

When we decided to stay in Edmonton we did post about it, and sent out a newsletter, but we never really admitted just how big the mistake we made was. We didn’t take the “fix it” stage seriously enough. We didn’t put in enough effort to make sure everyone knew we were staying.

And so fast forward a few years, and we still regularly get asked when we are moving, or hear statements like “Oh you’re still here! I thought you had moved!”. Bummer.

Luckily it didn’t send our business down the toilet, but that was a very real possibility. We’ve now learned to never make big announcements online unless we are absolutely, positively, 100% sure about it. 

So, have you made a big mistake? Did you admit it and fix it? Or ignore it and have it grow into a big issue like ours? What did you learn from your boo boo? Share with us in the comments now!

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Today’s timely guest post is by Jennifer Dunn of Social Street Media. She writes for a variety of clients, including Outright.com, the easiest way to manage your small business finances online!

No doubt you’ve already started the task of organizing everything for the end of the year. Or, at least, you’ve thought about it a lot! It’s never a fun thing to do, especially since it comes during one of the busiest times, the holidays.But considering your photography business’ future is very important at the end of the year. During the rest of the year it’s easy to put things off until later, including evaluating where our ventures are headed. When the New Year stares us down, it’s easier to commit to working a plan.

So what tasks are ahead for the savvy freelance photographer? Let’s take a look.

Take Photos

Hey, who would’ve thought? But these aren’t the usual beautiful landscapes and portraits you usually take. These are plain old boring office and workstations photos! Nonetheless, these pics can help you when it comes time for taxes. Your home office and/or workstation may be available for deductions from your small business. But if you don’t have evidence of anything you use daily for your work, it does nothing for you. Furthermore, your tax agent will know all the deductions you can feasibly pull off, but only if they know what you have set up for your office. While you’re at it, take stock of all your equipment as well. Along with your receipts, they will help authenticate the deductions you’re taking from your taxes.

Go Over Receipts and Contracts

Speaking of receipts, you’ll want to get all those in order before the rush of the tax season approaches. Times are tough, especially for those doing it on their own – naturally, you’ll want to squeeze every dollar you can out of your taxes. That’s why it’s important to have an up to date and accurate record of your exploits in 2011.

Do you know how much money you made and from where? Have you calculated all your expenses and categorized them properly? What about that DSLR you invested in earlier this year, did you take that into account? Everything has to have physical proof for it to work as a deduction, and every job you worked should be properly inventoried.

Going over receipts and contracts is especially important this year because of upcoming changes to your taxes like the PayPal 1099.

PayPal 1099

If you haven’t heard of this mysterious document, the PayPal 1099 is the newest tax document you may encounter in 2012. A lot of freelancers and small business owners operate through PayPal and other payment processing services like it, which means a lot of money is exchanged through these services. The IRS has taken notice, and now requires PayPal to report to them. This means you may get the new PayPal 1099 form. However, there are a few stipulations that may exclude you. For one, you must have made 200 or more transactions through PayPal. Also, those 200 transactions must have netted you $20,000 or more. If this sounds like you, then you’ll get the new form.

Luckily, it’s nothing complicated, just another tax form. However, it may mean you should wait until you actually get the form to start your taxes. Nothing like a little procrastination, huh? Check out the Outright Tax Center for more information on the PayPal 1099 and other important tax info for self-employed photographers.

What else do you typically do to ready your business for the New Year?

Make 2012 a win-win year. Did you know you can support this site by signing up for Outright? It takes just a few seconds. Outright.com – Automate your bookkeeping so you’re always organized and ready for taxes.