Growing the Business

Back at the beginning of the year, one of the many goals I set was to grow my photography business. While I still have a few specific sub-goals left (more on that a bit later), I have been able to fulfill a few mileposts.

Years ago I remember being taught that a goal left unwritten remains a dream. As I pondered how to grow my photography business, I decided that I needed to set some specific goals and then write out a plan to achieve them.

I knew that a bazaar was organized twice a year at work, once before Mother's Day and once again before Christmas, so I decided to set the goal to sell at the pre-Mother's Day bazaar, which would probably be in late April or early May.

With that in mind, I set the following goals: March - put together a portfolio of photos I wanted to sell in large framed prints and also as cards, then have them printed. April, have the photos framed and then make the cards. I would also need to design and print my business cards, fliers for portrait photography, and put together a small portrait portfolio to demonstrate.

I was able to get my portfolio together with plenty of time and have the prints made. Then things got a bit hectic.

I found out the exact date for the bazaar with about 10 days of notice. As a result, I ended up going to a frame shop that was close by and could get the work done quickly, probably paying significantly more than I would had I taken the time to shop around a bit more.

At the end of it all, I feel the bazaar was a success for me - it was a great publicity opportunity and at least one neat thing came of it. Someone asked me if I would be interested in putting together an exposition of my work! While the details remain to be worked out, it is an exciting opportunity and one that will serve well to continue to grow and expand my business. During the bazaar I also got a lot of wonderful feedback from people who were there, some of whom have professional training in the arts, graphic design, and photography.

When I returned home that evening, I found that Getty Images had contacted me to license some of my images! It was a great couple of days!

As for my other photographic goals (working more with adults to take portraits), I have a couple of other projects that are in the nascent stages ... hopefully more on those in the near future!