Angela Pointon loves photographers and artists. She studied photography, but had a love affair with business and marketing. She decided to combine all three together when she started Steel Toe Images. She coaches and inspires photographers and other artists to kick major butt through her one-on-one sessions, blog, emails, workshops and her first book (coming soon), called “ A Swift Kick In The Pants: Business Smarts For Us Creative Types”. Follow Angela on Twitter, Facebook or her blog.

When you're working by yourself for yourself, you're often left to your own (bad) devices. So how do you manage to pay attention, get stuff done and keep on keepin' on toward each one of your goals?

Make yourself accountable to someone.

If you’re anything like me, I value a bit of “nagging” in my life. I like when people ask me “what’s up with such and such for your business?”

For me, running my business is a lot like going to the gym. When I go by myself, I might not get the most sweat-induced workout in. But, if I am working out with a personal trainer, I am damn sure I do what I am supposed to (or I risk disappointing that trainer!). The same goes for my accountability coaches. My coaches happen to be my husband (he’s tough!) and some of my business heroes that I’ve connected with over the past few months.

Planning and perfection are just other words for procrastination.

Know yourself. Are you going to plan the bejesus out of everything you need to do? Are you obsessed with getting things “just right” before you move on? Have you ever said, “but it’s not perfect, yet.”

Some of us go over and over and over something so much that we get bored of what we’re working on and move onto the next thing before we even reveal anything to anyone. Being disciplined also means knowing when something is good enough to ship to the rest of the world.

Want to find out more about being disciplined?

Tamara Lackey, an unbelievably successful photographer and highly disciplined business owner, is joining Angela Pointon and Tiffinbox for a live webinar on Wednesday, October 3rd from 8:30 – 9:30 PM EDT. We’ll be discussing exactly what it takes to be disciplined in your photography business. Register for this webinar, along with three others in the series, here.

This webinar session is part of a series of four webinars, all available for just a $25 donation (all donations go to support Tiffinbox). This webinar series will sell out. Learn more here.

Can’t attend live? Don’t worry. All registrants receive a recording of each webinar.

Inside this webinar series you’ll get access to the brains and experiences of people who’ve worked with hundreds of businesses just like yours. In addition, the photographers speaking have published books, taught hundreds of photographers and have work featured in places like Vogue, O-The Oprah Magazine, Professional Photographer Magazine, and many more. Reserve your spot by registering immediately here.

Angela Pointon loves photographers and artists. She studied photography, but had a love affair with business and marketing. She decided to combine all three together when she started Steel Toe Images. She coaches and inspires photographers and other artists to kick major butt through her one-on-one sessions, blog, emails, workshops and her first book (coming soon), called “ A Swift Kick In The Pants: Business Smarts For Us Creative Types”. Follow Angela on Twitter, Facebook or her blog.

I’m here to prove one thing and one thing only: that every photographer and artist can be a good businessperson, too.

You probably haven’t led dozens of successful businesses.

You probably don’t have an MBA.

Heck, you barely consider yourself a businessperson at all. An artist? Yes. A business person, sales person and marketer? Humph.

But guess what? I’ve got good news.

There is an undeniable truth that you might not know. There is a secret the world has been hiding from you until now. There is something so unbelievably amazing; you’re going to smile when I tell you. Many really awesome artists who earn loads of money aren’t trained or academically educated in the fundamentals of business, either.

So how do they do it?

There are four things that an artist must have in order to be a good—no make that great—businessperson. And the very first thing is the most critical element you must have: Gut Instinct.

I’ve got more good news for you. We all have gut instinct.

We all have something innate in us that tells us what decisions are good, and what decisions are bad. You can choose to listen, or you can choose to ignore it to the point where you don’t recognize or even hear it anymore.

So what makes some photographers successful and others not so much?

Understanding how to listen to your gut instinct, how to decipher between instinct and fear and how to make wiser decisions in your business using gut instinct is the most critical measure of whether your business will succeed or not.

Join me on Wednesday, September 19th from 8:30 – 9:30PM east coast time for a FREE live webinar to learn all about how to listen to, understand, and utilize your gut instinct. Can’t make it on that date? Register anyway and we’ll send you a recording of the event whether you attend or not. Space is limited. Reserve your space and register now.

Want to really kick some butt? Join me for the entire series of four webinars where you’ll learn about each of the four critical elements you must have in order to succeed. Learn more and find out how to register here.

Angela & Tiffinbox are combining forces on a four part webinar series starting in September 2012. Learn more here. All money raised goes to support Tiffinbox.