Angela Pointon is an inspirationalist and advocate for professional photographers. She is a monthly columnist for Professional Photographer mag and offers Photo Business Renovations to photographers everywhere. Her brief e-book, “The Art Of A Photo Business: what every photographer wished they knew before starting their photography business” is available for download in all digital formats. Follow Angela on Twitter or Facebook.

DesignAglow recently posted a question to the photography community on Facebook:

“What is something you still want to learn how to do?”

The overwhelming majority of responders who said “how to juggle life and a photo business” snuffed out the occasional “learn Photoshop techniques” or “how to pose newborns”.

I firmly believe that if you're talking about struggling to juggle, there is something concretely wrong with your business. It might be something huge, or it might be something small. I suppose it all has to do with the severity of the needing-to-juggle feeling.

So I figured I'd put together a few tips. They're just plain old things that have helped me. Hopefully you'll find them extremely simple and adoptable.

1. Figure out your desired lifestyle, first.

I follow a ton of entrepreneurial business leaders, and I feel bad about not being able to credit the single person who gave me this advice early on.

Because the advice was awesome and impacted the decisions I make greatly.

What they said was, “figure out the lifestyle you want, first. Then build the business to match it.”

As I was personally contemplating my own business, I was ever so grateful to have had the advantage of learning this right from the beginning.

For me, my weekends were sacred. They were focused on family, and, since both my husband and I work, it's the only time that we can all be together. Work, therefore, is off limits on the weekend. I could not build a business that required working on the weekend, or it would break a fundamental lifestyle rule for us.

I also wanted one day per week where I could focus on something mandatory for my family or me. I have one day set aside for cleaning, organizing, doctor's appointments, or whatever else is required to keep life moving, in general. This day is reserved for these types of activities so I don't feel guilty for doing them when I “should” be working.

2. Crunch the numbers and build a budget.

Jumping into a business headfirst is awesome, and in some cases, really exciting. However, not knowing how much you need to make and how the business will impact your ability to juggle it all is a huge mistake.

As I started crunching numbers for my business, my first pass included a plan for only working two days per week. That first pass, however, proved to not make me enough money. I either had a pricing problem, a frequency of work problem, or both. I eventually struck a balance and figured out how much money I had to make per day I worked.

This exercise greatly assisted me in a few ways:

a) I could see (quickly) how pricing myself too low was going to kill me. I was just going to have to work too much to make what I needed to make.

b) I could play around with working 2 days vs. 3 days vs. 4 days per week, and see what lifestyle sacrifices would gain me, financially.

c) I knew exactly why I couldn't make less than my final scenario illustrated. It made turning down business that was priced at a lower rate way easier.

3. Plan to occasionally turn it all off.

I highly value driving, reading, shooting and watching videos. More times than not, when I allow myself pockets of time to do these things, grand business ideas or ideas for books I can write myself, come to be.

Without pre-planning time to think, shoot for no reason, read or just plain think, I'd never get to do those things and my business would ultimately suffer from a lack of creativity.

There is a misnomer that if you're so busy juggling, you have no time for time off.

Wrong.

Constantly juggling is going to get you nowhere. Taking time off (albeit carefully planned time off) can take you to amazing places with your business.

4. Know what works, what doesn't, and continuously refine.

Nothing is more meaningless and wasteful than doing things that have little impact on the greater good of your business. Whether it's pushing a service that isn't profitable, a marketing exercise with a low return, or being a member of a group you don't gain anything from.

If there is something in your business that isn't getting you to your goals, stop it or change it. Quickly.

Don't be shy or scared to hurt someone's feelings, either. If it isn't working, be upfront and take the time to explain why. As fellow business people, we should all be able to understand this.

5. Let go and know what to outsource.

You cannot do it all.

Yes, we're all perfectionists. Yes, no one edits like we do. Yes, no one handles client calls like we do.

But it's possible to train people, and you might be surprised. If you pick the right person to outsource to or take the time to hire the right person, they might actually do it better.

What things have you found or done in your business to help you juggle it all?

Growing up I always had a book on my nightstand. On summer vacations when the only distraction was a meal or two, I'd read about five books a week. Books were a huge part of my life until I was forced to read so much in school that it left little time for reading on my own terms.

Recently, my passion for reading was reignited. I was determined to “unlearn” some of the things I learned. I wanted to, in a sense, find evidence of a truth that was just a mere glimmer of a spark inside my soul. I wanted to believe that I'd be able to turn a blind eye to 60-hour work weeks, mere minutes each day with my kids and the incessant, nagging, haunting repeat of negative voices in my brain.

For anyone who has worked a large percentage of their life at a job that was unrewarding, unfulfilling and seemingly a means to a weekend of menial tasks required before the workweek starts again, you know what I mean.

Okay let's shake off that negativity. Cause I've got some truly awesome business and life books for photographers that rocked my world. They'll rock yours, too.

I'm putting these in the order that I actually read them. I don't have favorites or a list of top fives. These are all equally fab in my, ha, book.

Book 1: Different

If you've listened to any of my webinars or followed me for any length of time, you know that I scream about this book from the hilltops. Different by Youngme Moon is the quintessential marketing book that is critical for anyone who has an interest in marketing or who markets their own business. This video she made gives you a great quick peek at what her book is about.

I also had the chance to see her speak about a year ago. I loved her so much, it was all I could do to keep myself from plowing onto the stage like it was a hardcore rock show and stage dive into a sea of business peeps.

That would've been weird. Glad I didn't.

My big takeaway from Different: I should have saved that $50,000 I spent on grad school and spent the couple of bucks to read this instead. Seriously. It talks about the critically important parts of marketing and leaves all the, shall we say, BS behind.

Book 2: The Art Of Earning

The Art of Earning by Tara Gentile was the therapy I needed at just the right time (for like ridiculously cheaper than I ever thought I'd buy therapy for). In this e-book, she attacks the often lame perception that people have about their worth, the value of their services and how they should price themselves. Truthfully, I still struggle with little conversations in my head about pricing and worth. Reflecting on what I learned in this book helps me get over those thoughts every single time.

That's what I mean about this book offering a bit of therapy.

I had the chance to see Tara speak in Philly about 7 months ago, as well. It was great to get to chat with her one-on-one afterward about why she wrote The Art of Earning. In her words, she was finding herself hearing “valuation” dilemmas and head trash from so many of her clients, that she figured she should write about it and help people get over it already!

My big takeaway from The Art Of Earning: we are all the biggest offenders of limiting our own abilities to earn more money. We need to get over it and get ready to take on the world, instead.

Book 3: Crush It!

Albeit a bit dated (meaning one small part in this book speaks about Twitter as a “new social platform”), this book had some awesome content about hustle and being true to your own self. I tend to read a lot of female authors, but found Gary to have a tender side and a true willingness to want to teach from the heart through stories about his own experiences.

In Crush It! he talks about working in his family's wine store in New York and using video and YouTube to do something completely different than anyone else in their industry had done up until that time.

Now an author of multiple books, he travels the country speaking about it. What I really liked about Gary is how unapologetic he is about himself. He talked about how others thought his video set should be more polished and professional, and how he refused to censor his profanity-laden mouth as his audience grew by the thousands.

My big takeaway from Crush It!: don't underestimate the power of hustling and being true to yourself (and no one else). With elbow grease and creativity, everyone is capable of achieving anything.

Book 4: The Fire Starter Sessions

This is a deep kick-in-the-guts-and-pants-at-the-same-time read. In The Fire Starter Sessions, Danielle LaPorte describes how she used to work one-on-one with people “stuck” in their professional lives. What she noticed is that everyone had a small fire burning inside of them that, at one point or another, was suppressed and repressed. No matter how small the fire was, it never went away. When life created a series of events, people started noticing that fire again and wanted to inflame it, but didn't quite feel like they had permission to.

In this book, Danielle gives us all permission (even though we don't need it from anybody, truthfully).

What she does so beautifully, however, is step-by-step she goes through the same program she used to work her clients through. It offers a lot of introspection, guidance and makes the thoughts that once seemed real and absolute, disappear into the vast fog of sillyness.

My big takeaway from The Fire Starter Sessions: all of us let other people's opinions mess us up at one point or another. This book helped make that inner voice louder and stronger than any other voice out there.

Book 5: May Cause Miracles

I'm still in the middle of this book. It's the most “woo woo” of the entire bunch. What I mean by that is it's very deep, very spiritual and might be a bit too much so for some (even me).

If you tend to look at meditative thinking as something that will make no difference, you might not make it far enough in this book to see a difference. However, I'm personally looking past that myself, because I see the value in the state that the author is trying to get the reader to by the end.

In May Cause Miracles, Gabrielle Bernstein takes us on a journey that most people otherwise wouldn't take. It's a journey familiar to extreme yogis and meditative gurus… but for you and I? Not so much.

It is proven that within 40 days of repeating an activity or way of thinking, it creates a shift inside of us that has greater chance of permanency. So in her book, Gabrielle sets up 40 days of very short morning, mid-day and evening exercises that briefly change your thinking. One day at a time.

My big takeaway (so far) from May Cause Miracles: I do see some perspectives shifting already, and I'm only into the 20th day of the 40 days. As I mentioned, it's a bit “woo woo” and sometimes, truthfully, I feel silly. But, I'm trusting in this book to shift my outlook on some views, because, honestly, without these 40 days of exercises and meditations, I'm not sure how else they'd shift.

If you're like me, you've got too many books you'd like to read and not enough time. If you love Amazon, then I highly recommend you do what I do. Create an Amazon Wish List and pick away at them one at a time.

What I Did With Everything I Learned

I took a lot of the learnings from the books above and got inspired to write a brief book for photographers, too. It isn't a how-to book, but rather an inspirational slant on what you need in order to be a successful photographer today.

I recently launched it, and it's called: The Art Of A Photo Business: What Every Photographer Wished They Learned Before Starting Their Photography Business.

Download it here in all electronic formats.

What books have you read that inspired you to think differently? I'm always looking for new ones to add to my Wish List, so submit your favs below!

This Angela Pointon‘s first blog post as a regular contributor to Tiffinbox. Please welcome her by reading her article and posting your thoughts in the comments section below. Her book, “The Art of a Photography Business” is coming soon. Follow Angela on Twitter.

It was a cold evening in May. The wind was whipping and the chill on my skin felt like needles. Being outside was painful. It was that night that I decided to slide my film SLR into the frigid nylon interior of my camera bag. I didn't know it would be the last time I saw it, and I didn't know that, after that night, I wouldn't touch another camera for 12 years.

That evening was the nightfall of a best friend's wedding. I put my camera bag down to hug the happy couple and wish them well, and when I went to look for it a few minutes later, it was gone. For all of you who've had equipment stolen, you know how much that sucks. As a photographer, I firmly believe you build a relationship with your tools. You work with them for so long, that you instinctively know the clicking sound they make and the idiosyncrasies about them… almost as if you're in an extended love affair together.

But getting my camera stolen was only the kick off of my hiatus away from capturing images. I certainly could have bought a replacement. But I didn't.

Here are my real reasons for putting down my camera …

1. Money

I just could not comprehend how a photography career would support me both financially and as a professional. I remember taking one business class in undergraduate school where they loosely talked about why you need a contract, why you should become an LLC and stuff like that. They never discussed the how, but they definitely discussed the why (and it was scary to my young 21 year-old self).

I couldn't connect the dots between photography and how it would support me. I decided I didn't want to live in Manhattan after working there and commuting back and forth from Philadelphia for about a year. I was taught that NYC was where you had to be if you wanted to make it. Social media was non-existent, film, chemicals and a darkroom or very expensive lab were the only options, and the upfront costs for launching my own photo business seemed ridiculously daunting, risky and doomed.

2. Failure

The photography program I attended had some bold, many times harsh, professors. Critiques were conducted with the intention of “preparing students for the harsh words that clients would definitely be using”. In other words, the variety of climaxes involved in the various classes I took (i.e. when you were showing your work) were structured to prepare you for a lifetime of rejection, insults and “truth”. As a very positive person, this sounded like a life of pure hell.

3. Readiness

At the time, I just wasn't ready. I knew I had a ton more to learn about business and there was something else waiting for me to discover and fall in love with. I spent three years in graduate school earning my MBA and studying the art and science behind marketing. After that, I spent seven years at a marketing agency practicing it for hundreds of million dollar businesses, so that I could learn from mistakes that didn't cost me as a professional. I've watched what it takes to massively succeed, and I've watched what it takes to fail.

I bought a digital SLR the month before my first son was born. I read the instruction manual, understood about 25% of it and started shooting again. It made a different sound. Not nearly as nostalgic as my film SLR's clunk when the shutter snapped open, but I got used to it. Admittedly, I still don't understand all of its functionality, but, then again, I don't aspire to, really. I don't enjoy thinking about technical details. I much prefer thinking about what I was trained to think about: design, composition, color and light. I'm old school, using a new school device.

I wanted to tell you my story of photography, because it drove what I do today. With so much negativity from outside forces, I put down my camera for 12 very long years. And no one reading this should ever resolve to do that. I am here to motivate, inspire, nudge, inform, cheer on, support and otherwise applaud you every day. Getting notes and comments of thanks is your support back to me to keep this bubble of positivity growing.

For those of you who never put your camera down … you are my heroes. For those of you who are pondering putting it down, wondering how you'll survive with so many photographers and often times feel like just throwing in the towel … I believe there is great hope for you.

My grandma, who gave me my first camera, a Kodak 110 with the disposable flash cubes that blew up with each shot, believed that anything was possible if you worked hard at it. In her mind, good things rarely came easy. The best things came with sweat and toughness (and a soft rabbit's foot in the pocket for luck couldn't hurt, either).

I know I'm just about the only one out there, but I actually believe this is an incredible time to be a photographer. The photography community is beginning to grow together, share information and get stronger as a collective group. People are challenged to work smarter and think differently. The free or drastically underpriced photographers will not prevail. They aren't sharing and they are structuring their businesses in a highly unsustainable manner. They won't last.

History favors the boldest and fiercest. I'll be the one cheering you on.

Good morning and a very Happy New Year to you all! Thank you for making 2012 such a special year for Tiffinbox. It's with your participation that we can make this site even better in 2013. I am truly excited to tell you that Angela Pointon, whose posts you have read here in the past, has agreed to come on board as a monthly contributor. Kicking that off is this very useful post for photographers who want to rock out their market in the new year. Read it, join us, comment!

A lot of photographers get confused by marketing. They consider it in the very beginning of their business, and those considerations typically include things they know they need, such as a website, business cards and a printed price list.

However, marketing is so fundamentally rooted when done well, that if you don't think about it properly, you'll end up spending a lot of money and wondering if it really made a difference in your business. Working on your own marketing is like being a doctor. If you don't truly understand the human body and how it functions, you cannot make it work better.

STEP 1:

Understand your target market deeply and fully. Often times, I find that business owners day dream about working with a certain target market, but find themselves consumed by working with another one. Thus, it creates an unfulfilling business and a bit of a feeling of quicksand that is difficult to get out of.

When you understand who you want to target, you take the first step toward landing more business from them.

STEP 2:

Understand what makes your business different. And remember, it has to be different in the eyes of your defined target audience… the people you want to be working with. I recently wrote an entire post about figuring out how to be a different, special and unique business in the eyes of your audience.

Read more about being different here.

STEP 3:

You have to define what financial bliss means for you. This is as unique as any other aspect of your business. Figure out how much you want to make and how many bookings you have to land in order to get there. Why is this important to marketing?

Your marketing should align with the goals of your business. If you do not define your monetary goal, how can you manage to market enough to obtain it? Oh, and one more thing about defining you financial bliss… it cannot limit you. Financial bliss is not a ceiling; it is just a target that you are shooting for. Exceeding it is highly possible and therefore, should be welcomed (assuming you're willing to work harder).

STEP 4:

Create the business goals you need to achieve in order to satisfy your financial bliss. These goals could include bookings, events you want to do or anything related to your business' success in 2013. I recommend including anywhere from 2-5 big goals.

STEP 5:

Take your big goals and break them down a bit. They should become a list of key steps you need to take in order to achieve the goals. As the days progress, your list of key steps will become daily tasks. I personally use Evernote, a free web-based tool and app, to keep track of the daily tasks I need to tackle in order to achieve my big goals. Goals become easier to obtain when they're broken down to small, easy-to-do daily tasks.

The One Page Marketing Plan

I recently launched a free webinar called the One Page Marketing Plan, where I went through the five steps listed above in greater detail and provided a free template for recording all of your thoughts and ideas. Download it here for free.

Photography Marketing Academy

On January 3rd, I am launching a new educational program called Photography Marketing Academy. This simple three-session program offers you access to up to five of your photographer peers and me. Together, we'll walk through your business goals for 2013, your current marketing, and you'll leave the sessions with clear, actionable steps you need to take in order to achieve a year of your dreams in 2013.

Learn more about Photography Marketing Academy and register. Space is limited and registration will likely close the morning of January 3rd.