Author: Leslie

At the end of March, 2010, I started running. I had never, ever, run before, but I had to do something to jumpstart the fitness routine and to maintain sanity through law school (not to mention my divorce). After trying on my own and really sucking at it, I decided I needed help, so I bought the Couch to 5K app (C25K). Turns out it was a great idea because it was a forced discipline. It told me when and how to run, imposing its goals on me. I completed that app, which seemed kind of a miracle, and was so inspired by my achievement that I then did the Bridge to 10K one. In a few months (4, actually) I went from not being able to run to the end of the block to running over 6 miles.

After I completed that app, I kept running, sort of. I no longer had that “forced” discipline, so I did it less and less, or in spurts, with no real goal except the vague “to stay in shape at some level.” The distance definitely dropped even though I’d still get out there every other day for weeks at a time. It just wasn’t the same.

Meanwhile, one of my law school buddies ran her first marathon a couple of months ago. She’s considerably younger than I, of course. Still, I’m way impressed. Surprisingly, she contacted me to ask me to run a half-marathon with her. I thought she was nuts… I mean, the 10K had been a challenge to achieve, but 13.1 miles? That’s more than twice that distance! And then I thought about it and said “Yes.”

Why am I talking about this to you? Well, because it’s all about using tools and doing the work.

You have goals in your business. You want to bill $X or get Y number of new clients or work with Client Z… you have (I hope) some goal or goals. In order for you to achieve them, you have to do the work. Every day. What are you doing to make that happen? What tools are you using to make sure you have an executable plan? Do you have a tool to structure the daily tasks necessary to achieve your goal?

Me, I bought a new app to train for the half-marathon in March, 2011. Now, every morning (well 6 out of 7 days a week), I have something I have to do. I know I can’t get to 13.1 miles on my own–I need a tool to help me get there. With this app, the plan is laid out for me. But I still have to do the work, every day. I have to commit to that, to the work, and not weasel out with excuses. Like this morning, when it was cold outside and my bed was warm and I’m fighting a bit of bronchitis–I did not want to go run and could hear myself saying that I should rest, etc. But I had promised myself to be committed to the program, to do the work, and so I laced up the shoes, fired up the app, and ran my assignment for the day.

Most creatives have a hard time structuring their time. There is a false belief that creativity comes from inspiration which cannot be controlled or forced or scheduled. These are rationalizations to avoid doing the work. If you don’t regulate your time and activities, you don’t achieve the goals you want. Maybe you feel like you are working all the time, but you are doing so inefficiently and without specific purpose, and this hurts your business.

Are you one of those creatives? If so, you need to read this article about how more successful creatives structure their time and concentrate their efforts (this older article is also interesting and related). Basically, less time + harder effort = higher level of success. In other words, you have to do the work, regularly. The work for you includes the work you may not love (marketing) as well as the creative work. And structure in these efforts is your friend.

So, as we head into the end of the year, I suggest taking some time to brainstorm some goals or at least figure out what you want to accomplish in 2012. Then, find some tools to help you achieve. Calendaring apps, GTD systems… there are lots of tools out there. I can help you with your planning, of course (that’s part of what I do), but, no matter what, you’re still going to have to do the work. Commit to it.

Here’s a good starter list of things to commit to for 2012:

1. I will do my work.
2. I will work smarter and harder, but not longer.
3. I will schedule my efforts.

There is no shame in using tools to help you. Or using a coach. Or admitting you need help to do what you want to do. I know you can make 2012 a more successful year–you just need to do the work.

Okay people, the year is rapidly coming to a close and if you want to be ready for 2012, marketing-wise, you need to get on it. Time to write up marketing plans, re-edit your website and your portfolio, improve your targeting, or at least get a review of what you have out there now.

In other words, now is the time to book me to help.

Extra super fabulous reason? A 15% discount on my regular rates.
Book before December 15, 2011 (work may be completed later as needed) to get the discount.

I’ve been thinking a lot about love and passion lately. Keeping with the recent theme of marketing being like dating, this does apply to your business. Yet I have been kind of reluctant to talk about it and I wasn’t sure why. Then I realized that it is because this is where the analogy gets personal. We go beyond the flirtation here to the real connection that must be made. This is intimacy.

Part of the trouble is that I think the terms have been sort of co-opted by the touchy-feely folks out there. Not just photo consultants, but all sorts of business consultants chant that you have to be passionate and do the work youlove. They aren’t wrong, exactly, but they sort of cheapen the deeper meaning of the words and, I think, give people a cheat. The words, to paraphrase The Princess Bride, do not mean what they think they mean. They become throw-aways, flattened, not carrying the depth they need to. And, thus, we are misusing them–claiming a profundity that isn’t really there.

The other day, I was talking to a photographer friend/client about his work and I indeed said the now common words–that he needed to show work he loves. This person is someone I know beyond the usual client relationship so I knew that he could be very blunt. I have a couple of friends who are like this: very straight-forward so when they say something confusing, it stands out. Knowing this about him, his reply struck me: he said he didn’t love any of his work, but he also said he loved a lot. I didn’t get what he meant so my mental warning bells went off. Then he said that he defined love differently, and something clicked in my head: Love isn’t the right word to use. We have to stop using it.

We love all sorts of things–our family members, our romantic partners, pets, chocolate, great shoes, the way that woman looks in that dress, mountain biking, Family Guy, Hugh Jackman, Scarlett Johansson, the Parrot Sketch, a great massage, your kid’s piano playing, and pizza, just to name a few. Love is sort of different for each thing. So, going back to my friend/client, for this man, he can love some of his images but not not love them at the same time, because it all depends on what love we are talking about.

This really made me think. Why do we use this word that becomes almost a throw-away? How can I ask clients to show work they love when they love mac-n-cheese?

So, I realized that it is definitely the wrong word to use and that’s part of what makes me so uncomfortable to discuss it. First because it means I’ve been teaching the right thing wrongly for some time and, second, because the word we need to use is even more intimate. We need to stop tip-toeing around and come out with it. We need to talk about passion.

What I’m talking about when I say (said) you need to show the work you love is that it has to be the work you are passionate about. Now, that word has its own pile of possibilities and can also be misued, but I think we can all agree that if you are passionate about something, it evokes a very strong (often physical) reaction. Often, you cannot describe why you feel what you feel, you just know you feel it, something, something big, deep, profound, animal, wordless.

Look at the derivation of the word (from dictionary.com):

 1125–75; Middle English (< Old French ) < Medieval Latin passiōn– (stem of passiō ) Christ’s sufferings on the cross, any of the Biblical accounts of these (> late Old English passiōn ), special use of Late Latin passiō suffering, submission, derivative of Latin passus, past participle of patī to suffer, submit; see -ion

Suffering. Submission. These are big, profound words. Think about it in its most basic form: sexual passion. What pops into your mind? It could be any number of things but the one thing it is not is “thoughtful.” Passion isn’t about thought–it is about the purest form of emotion/feeling. Raw. Unprocessed. Exposed.

Funny how the words of your art are also evocative of the emotion you need to reach.

Passion is scary. Going back to the dating analogy, we’re conditioned by society to keep passion in check. It’s too revealing–too close to our real self and too dangerous to show (so we are told). Too much emotion, too much rawness and reality and you might scare off the other person! Let yourself go, reveal your passion (your deepest self), and not only do you run the risk of the other person checking out, you might get laughed at in the process.

Also, as soon as you start talking about suffering and submission in the context of dating, society implies a marginalization: BDSM, fetish… the so-called “darker side” of human relationships and sexuality.

The same thing happens with your work. If you choose to show only the work you are passionate about, you are revealing your innermost self–your raw, open, very real creative self. This is the work you want to make more than any other, the work you submit yourself to. It is your master, by your own choice to submit to it. You are, in “society’s” mind, self-marginalizing.

But in our industry, in the arts, that is a good thing. Art isn’t art when anyone can do it. You have to be different, have something that is you and only you in your work to be successful today. Anyone can take a photo and many of them are good, but they aren’t art without that something more, and they won’t get you good projects from clients. Today, you have to go beyond the every day, the safe, the normal–you need to differentiate, to self-marginalize, to reveal your passion.

Passion scares the hell out of us, especially us Americans, because it touches our deepest inner nature. We are a shallow culture in many ways and we still have a puritan streak a mile wide. But passion is also something we desire, covertly sometimes. Passion is why the works of artists (including authors and musicians as well as the visual), touch us each in our own way–each individually connecting with the other who most speaks to us. It is an intimacy.

And so it is with your art. You have to reach out to your targets and show your passion. You will connect with the right targets to whom that passion speaks. It is a deeper, more fundamental, and very real connection. It is intimate. And it cannot be faked.

But, your highly evolved brain is telling you, it’s too risky! It’s too real! How devastating is it going to be if the viewer rejects it or, worse, laughs or criticizes?

Here’s the trick: it will be only as devastating as you let it be. You have control over that–how you react–so the reality is that you risk nothing by putting yourself out there. Moreover, the rejection isn’t likely about you, it is about the other person. Because passion is so deep, many of us are afraid to react to it honestly and, instead, try to diffuse the tension it creates. People laugh or criticize to take away from their own discomfort at being confronted by something so real, so intimate. So, if someone laughs at or even dismisses your work, s/he is probably just uncomfortable at the honesty. S/he isn’t connected to her/his own passion and denies it in others so as not to face it in her/himself. Kind of like being asked something intimate and making a joke to avoid answering. It isn’t about you at all, it is about the other person!

But when you do reveal yourself, when you are passionate and there is no laughter, the connection is amazing. Like in dating, not everyone will be your match. Not everyone will want the real you, your real work, but when they do connect with you, through your passion, you will have a deeper intimacy. You will then truly partner with your client and be fulfilled in your work, your career, your business, and in ways beyond just pecuniary.

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.

I was having a conversation with a newly single photographer recently and he said that he thought that marketing was maybe like dating. I laughed because I have been saying that for years and have even been given some shit for that position. But I’m telling you, marketing is very much like dating.

Then I thought about why so many photographers don’t get that, or fight it. Then it dawned on me: marketing in your photo business is like dating; but this time, you’re the girl.

Since most photographers are still male, and mostly heterosexual males, this means they have no idea what it’s like from this position! It also explains why so often my female clients “get it” faster. We’ve been there! This is our “natural” state of being in the social world and now that marketing is so incredibly enmeshed with social (hello, there’s a reason they call it social media, people), we girls get how it works even faster. Guys, therefore, need to catch up a bit.

So, here are a few basic “rules” to get you guys started:

1. You have to put yourself out there. The world will not beat a path to your door no matter how fabulous you are, you have to go out there and let the world know you’re available. Go to events where your targets go, send promos, have a great website, etc.
2. Put yourself out there, but don’t put out. Doing the first one for free or a discount is like having sex on the first date, before even getting dinner. I don’t care how hot your target is, you just can’t. You may really, really want it, but you have to respect yourself to be respected by others, so just say “no” when asked (or even begged).
3. Dress for the date. If you are going out in public with any chance of being seen by potential clients (like going to lunch or for drinks with friends to a trendy place), dress up more. If you are going for a client meeting, really pay attention to the details of grooming and tailoring. I don’t care if your “date” is dressed like a slob, you’d better look fabulous.
4. Debbie Downer and Donna Desperate are never sexy. If you have been sending promos and are making calls to get a meeting, don’t sound desperate and, if you get a “No, I’m too busy,” say “Thanks anyway. Mind if I call you again in a month or two?” And if you get a meeting, at that meeting do not ever ask “Do you have a job for me?”
   Be upbeat and respect yourself. You’re a successful photographer–even if business has sucked lately, you have something to offer that no one else does–the way you think and see. Head up, smile, and never beg for attention or work. There are other fish in the sea.
5. Stalking never works. Guys, you know you hate it when some girl comments on every post you make on Facebook, or shows up where you go “accidentally,” or calls (or texts), like, every day even though you never answer. Same for buyers. It’s not cute, it’s scary. Have a schedule for your marketing efforts and stick to it.
   Gather data by following targets on Facebook, etc., but use that behind the scenes, so to speak. For example, if you know that a target’s birthday is coming up (thank you Facebook) you can send them a print with a happy birthday note. Do not, however, show up at the family party uninvited. (eek!)
6. Be interesting, sure, but more importantly, be interested. Okay, I may be violating girl-code here by telling y’all this, but it’s always better to encourage the person you are flirting with to talk about himself than to talk about yourself too much. Asking questions, listening, smiling & nodding, asking good follow-ups… all important. Don’t be a fawning lump (no one likes someone who has no opinions or stories to tell!)–but do encourage your target to open up and share.
7. Don’t sit by the phone. Okay, our phones are on us all the time but we don’t have to answer them 24/7–not for dates and not for business. I’ve said for years the best way to get a gig is to go on a vacation, and that is true. Being a little less available makes you look desirable and not desperate. Don’t answer the phone for business calls on weekends or off hours… it can go to voicemail and you can listen to it and choose for yourself whether it is a real emergency or something that can wait until Monday morning.
8. Don’t try to pick up the check on the first date. You’re the girl, remember, and sexist or not, if the guy asks you out, he should be paying for the date. In marketing, this is much like #2 above–here I mean don’t offer a discount in the attempt to get a project. It also makes you look desperate (see #4). If you get asked to estimate on a project, don’t think about how cheaply you can do it–think about the value you bring to the project and price accordingly.
9. Show a little leg. Like #1, you have to put yourself out there and you should do that in your marketing by showing your best work. But, don’t put it all out there (on your website or whatever). Keep some goodies in your print book only (or at least in a private electronic format like a pdf or something) so that you have something special to “put out” to those who make the effort to respond to your flirtations. Oh, and your best work is often your personal work so don’t be afraid to reveal some of that “leg.” Targets love to see the real you in your work–that is going to show in your personal work most of all.
10. Don’t lie. If you lie, you break trust and you will never build a relationship. Again, remember you are the girl in this paradigm and you want (eek!) a relationship, not just a bunch of notches in your bedpost. Lie once and you have quite probably no shot at ever “getting in bed” with this target. Ever. Be honest about who you are, what you want to do creatively, what your capabilities are, what you bring to the relationship, why you are attracted to your target… everything. You can spin the facts to make them look as positive as you can (kind of like wearing makeup), but do not lie.
    For example, if you haven’t had a paying project in six months and your target asks how things have been, you can answer “Good. Busy.” Why? Because you have been busy trying to get work and that’s good! But if the client follows up with “Who have you shot for in the past six months, you should say “I’ve been working on personal projects” rather than lie and say you shot for Bob’s House o’ Widgets or whatever. The truth will out, as they say. It’s not worth it.

So, with those ten starter tips in mind, go out there and flirt… er, market!

For those of you who don’t know (and missed the earlier post about this), in the last week I successfully faced and overcame my greatest fear. I flew. I know, for many of you it seems unbelievable that I have traveled to places to speak, done SB2 and the like, and have done it all without setting foot on a plane. Trains and the trusty car are my friends.

I used to fly, but after returning from a trip to Europe, a very long time ago (last century, in fact), I decided I just couldn’t get on another plane. So I didn’t.

It wasn’t until recently that I decided I really wanted to change that. I wanted to challenge myself. I knew that in order for me to get to where I wanted to be, both physically and metaphorically speaking, I would have to fly. And I didn’t want some mental block to stop me from achieving what I want. So, I flew to Atlanta (and back) to deal with some family issues and to, well, test my wings.

I can’t tell you how many times the voice I had heard for so many years tried to say “Turn back! You can’t do this!” And each time I thought about all the stuff I’ve done that I never knew I could do, but tried and did anyway. Like law school and the Bar. Scary, big, tough things that lots of people can’t or won’t do. Recognizing what I have done let me know I could indeed do this.

More importantly, letting go and trusting others made me successful. You read that right: letting go and trusting others permitted my success. I didn’t have to keep that plane in the air, I had to trust that others would do that for me (and everyone else). I had to trust them to do their jobs. This is the tricky part and something we can (and should) apply to our businesses.

We can’t control everything. Some things we can, but other things are completely out of our control. If you want to shoot for Client X, you can only control what you do, not what they do. So you need to focus on what you can do: make the best work you can and present it to your targets in a compelling manner, consistently. Then you have to let go and let them do their jobs.

You must reach out and do so to the best of your abilities. You have to work hard to make great, original, compelling work, first and foremost. That is your job. You also need to present it to your targets, over and over. That is also your job. And you need to let your targets know you can do what they need you to do (like production). That too is your job. Most importantly, you need to make sure your targets are actually the right people to target in the first place. That’s your job as well.

But, your targets’ job is to find the best/rightest (sorry, not really a word but go with it) person for their project. You have to trust them to do that. You cannot try to control them into choosing you. You have to let go after you have done all you can, and trust that they will do their jobs. You have to trust that they will choose you when you are the right person for their needs. And you need to let go of the projects you don’t get (they were never yours!) and focus on being the rightest person for the next project/target.

When the match is there, they know it. That is their job. When they don’t choose you, it is for a good reason, you have to trust them on that, even though it’s really friggin’ hard to do. You wanted that great project–of course! Still, you have to trust that they work with gazillions of creative providers and they have information that informs their choices that you cannot possibly understand. Just like I don’t know how to fly or maintain a 757, even though I understand the basics of flight (air pressure, lift, etc.), you don’t know everything that goes into their choices. It’s not your job.

Instead, you have to trust and respect their professionalism, just as you want them to do for you and just as I had to do with the fine employees of Delta. And in the end, if you do your job and let them do theirs, you’ll get where you want to go.

For those of you patient folks who use an Android-based phone, now you too can have my brain in your pocket, without the squishy mess. The BAP2Go app is now available in the Android market. As with the iPhone version, it is currently priced at $39.99 ($20 off its usual price).

Now every month you can get new Creative Lube podcasts as well as the Manuals and blog posts and additional content as I make it, at no additional cost.

Thanks again for your patience!

In case you don’t follow my blog on the legal stuff and if you have any interest in crowdfunding, I suggest you read about the possible tax implications over on burnstheattorney.com. Don’t get caught with your fiscal pants down.

I work out of a home office, as many of you do. For many people, this makes for a more relaxed and unstructured attitude about work–unfortunately, this can be dangerous for your business. Although creative people generally say they don’t like structure and discipline, the reality is that they do in some areas and, more importantly, that structure and discipline can actually improve their creativity. Getting sloppy about work can hurt more than you might expect. Adding some structure can actually liberate your creativity, if for no other reason than you won’t have to think so much about doing the non-creative stuff.

I’m not saying you need to get up and put on a suit and be a jerk. I don’t do any of that and I’m now a lawyer too, remember (where “jerk” is often included in the job description!). I am saying that there are certain things that are good to “ritualize” about your work and that by doing so, you’ll free up your creative mind to be more creative.

So, here’s my list of “rules” for working for yourself, especially if you work out of your home:

1. Have a specific space that is your office. This is best when it is its own room, with a door, but at the very least have a desk and chair (and shelves, etc.) in one place and use that space for your office work. I have a separate room–it’s actually the larger room of my 2 bedroom home because I only need to sleep in my bedroom but spend so much conscious time in my office that it is best for it to be a good, comfortable space.
2. Set working hours and stick to them. Okay, you are going to have to work late/early some days, but it’s a lot rarer than you think, especially on non-shoot days. Generally, set your working time and try not to work more than that. You’ll be surprised at how much you’ll get done when you know you have to be done by (say) 5:30pm and how the world won’t end if you don’t get everything done and leave it for the next day.
3. Every day you work from home (that is, you’re not out shooting), go to work like you are going to a “real” job. It is a real job and you should respect that. No working in your jammies. Get up, get dressed, and go to work, on time. And go home (that is stop working) on time too.
4. If you have others in your home (kids, partner), ban them from your office during business hours. No, I’m not kidding. You can take breaks and go grab a cuppa with your love or play with the kids (briefly–like a coffee break), but they must respect that you are working a real job during your business hours and need to be distraction-free.
   4(a). Animals are generally good to have in the office, though, according to studies.
5. Do not work during your non-business time. If you set your business hours to be 9am – 6pm, then don’t check your phone, return calls, work on your biz blog, whatever before or after that. When you are not “on the clock” you can improve your work brain by not working (this is particularly true for your creative brain). Also, your love/kids deserve your full attention when you are with them–be present. Besides, you deserve (and physically need) the break of not working when you are off the clock.
6. When you are at work, work. Pick a task and do it, then pick another task and do it, etc. I find I’m most productive if I make a list of tasks at the end of the day that I need to take care of the next day–I do this on an index card, by hand. In the morning, I look at that list and add items (occasionally delete one or two) to work on that day. As I do each task, I cross it off. At the end of the day, I have the satisfaction of a bunch of crossed-off items. Anything I didn’t get done goes on the next day’s card and this day’s goes in the recycling as I head out of the office.
7. Ritualize certain tasks that are part of your office work. For example, make Monday morning your bookkeeping time and do all your financial stuff during that time, every week. As always, if you get a booking for that day, move the bookkeeping to the next day, but generally do it at the same time every week. This goes for things like making “cold” calls, too–same bat-time, same bat-day, every week.
8. Ritualize something creative-related too. For example, make Thursday afternoons “brainstorm for self-assignments” time. I like what this entrepreneur does–you could do something similar.
9. If you use your laptop (iPad, whatever) “after hours” for Facebooking or the like, take it out of your office for that. 
   8(a). Blogging for your biz blog is part of your job. Tweeting, Facebooking, etc., might be, depending on how you are using the tool. For example, my FB biz page is work, my personal FB is just me, although I will admit that my general @LeslieBAP twitter is a mélange (@BurnsTheLawyer is definitely work-only, though). There is some grey in the social media world, but you can tell what is work when you think about it–do that during your work time.
10. Let go. You always have work to do. Always. There is always research on new clients or bills to pay or filing to do or something. You will never have it all done. So, stop working at the end of your work day and leave the work until your next work day–the world will not end and you will not magically go out of business overnight.

The more you ritualize your work, the non-creative part of your work, I mean, the more you free your creative mind to work at its peak creative efficiency. You owe yourself that.