Following up on yesterday’s post, I was reminded by one of my followers about the phone. Continuing on the (totally sexist, sure, but mostly accurate) same theme that photographers are the girls in the paradigm, how you relate to the phone is different than usual, guys.
Yes, you have to make calls, which is kind of like asking for a date (and can be intimidating and scary), but both genders do this so that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the Wait. Every woman knows this story: you have a great first date and then you wait for the guy to call. There are a gazillion theories about whether you should ever call him or how many days you should wait before giving up on him calling… the point is you have the Wait. And it’s torturous.
For photographers, you have a great meeting (like a first date)–the contact says she loves your work and wants to find a way to work together and then says she’ll be in touch. You leave that meeting feeling on top of the world. Then, the next day, you wait for that phone to ring. Day after day you wait, and the phone does not ring. And your brain starts spinning:
Why hasn’t she called–she said she wanted to work together!
Maybe she was lying when she said she liked my work…
Did I say something wrong in the meeting?
Maybe I should call to see if she has a project for me…
Is my phone working?
I wonder if she’s using another photographer…
Here’s the thing: you are completely out of control–that is, you cannot do anything to make that phone ring. Let go. You have to just put it out of your mind (after sending a “thank you” of course) and stay on your course of marketing. The phone will ring, when she really does have a project for you, but you can’t push it. Stay in contact through your marketing (mailers, emails, etc.) and let go of trying to control the buyer. You can’t and it will only piss the buyer off if you try.
The Wait can be torturous, but as the old saying goes, good things are worth it.