It’s weighing on you, isn’t it?

Many photographers eventually get stuck in the throes of burnout. You’re tired of 10-hour wedding days. You’re tired of grumpy teens/dads/toddlers.  You’re tired of struggling to fill your book each month — and wondering if you’re going to make enough. 

Maybe it’s even making you question your passion for photography!

You need something new to turn your photography business around. For me, it was moving to brand and business photography and building a book of recurring clients. Let me show you the steps you can take right now to change the fate of your business — it’s not too late!

I Felt Like Quitting! I Felt Like Quitting!

As an entrepreneur, I have felt like quitting too many times to count. I get it. There are moments of weakness, confusion, and wondering if you’re doing the right things. Or wondering if you should have ever become a photographer in the first place.

Maybe your fall minis didn’t book up the way you expected or your FB ads aren’t digging up many new prospects. Maybe you’re even wondering if your photos are any good since no one seems to like them. There’s always something that allows a little self-doubt to creep in. 

One of the main reasons people prematurely give up is because their self-doubt takes over their mind. Don’t do that to yourself! 

It’s good to reassess and figure out what isn’t working so you can change it. But don’t take it too far. If you are doubting yourself, then you are limiting what you can accomplish in your business.

Let’s get you back on the path towards success, shall we?

Steps You Can Take NOW to Get on Track:

When you’re stuck in a rut, the first step is always the hardest. Maybe it’s because you’re afraid of making the wrong move or maybe it’s because you just don’t know what step to take. 

Let’s look at a few steps that will help you get started. 

💪 Allow Yourself to Make Mistakes

Nobody likes making mistakes but, honestly, making mistakes is the quickest way to grow. If you never try anything new, you will always be stuck in the same place. 

Though we all know this, we still get paralyzed by the fear of failure. What if it doesn’t work? What if it is a wasted effort? What if you spend money on a marketing campaign…and it doesn’t bear fruit?

Many of us view making mistakes as a bad thing. Let me tell you friend, you have to stop doing that. 

It’s time to view mistakes as an opportunity. 

When you make a move, even if it fails, you’re gathering valuable information. You can use that information in the future to try something else. Your new venture will be that much more likely to succeed because you’re basing it on data. 

But you would never have gotten the data if you didn’t make the “mistake.”

Mistakes can also bring clarity.

When you’re stuck in a rut, you can’t see the path out. (That’s why you feel stuck). 

When you make a move that doesn’t work out, now you know which was the wrong move. It brings you that much closer to knowing the right move. 

When you give yourself permission to fail, you give yourself permission to grow.   

💪 Extend Grace to Yourself

I absolutely love Emily Ley’s books and her motto of Grace Not Perfection. Living by this motto will help you so much in your business journey and in your everyday life. You only get 24 hours in the day and you can’t do it all — even if you want to.

So give yourself grace.

And during the process, keep track of your progress. Sometimes we feel stuck in one place because we aren’t paying attention to how far we’ve come. We’re so stuck in the here and now and feeling overwhelmed by the day-to-day, that we don’t notice the victories along the way. 

When you start tracking your progress, I bet you’ll be further along than you realize.

For example, have you ever put yourself on a diet? The first few days of discipline and exercise feel eternal. It also feels like you have nothing to show for all your work. 

But then a few weeks later, if you stick with it, people start noticing that you’ve made some changes. It’s hard for you to notice the small changes, but when you put on a pair of your old jeans, you suddenly realize how far you’ve come. 

You might not have reached your goal yet, but allow yourself to be encouraged by your progress.

The same is true for your business. If you don’t track your progress, it’s hard for you to see how small changes are improving your business exponentially. 

💪 Eliminate Self-Doubt

Okay, friend. It took me a while to believe it, and it may be taking some time for you to believe it as well, but there is only ONE you! You are the secret sauce to your business, and there is only one that can do it like you. Let that self-doubt go and trust in your ability to provide for your ideal clients.

Oh, it’s tough, I know. Especially for those of us in creative fields, it’s really hard to be confident and push forward. Everybody has different opinions about what looks good in a picture and when someone doesn’t like ours, we feel devastated. Or when it doesn’t get “enough” likes on Facebook. Or when…you fill in the blank. 

Have you ever heard of imposter syndrome? Yep, I’m a victim too. 

My pictures aren’t good enough. My process isn’t good enough. I have no idea what I’m doing as a photographer. I’m not really a photographer at all. 

I’m an imposter. 

If you believe those words, you will stay planted firmly where you are. Your photography won’t improve, and your business won’t move forward. 

But if you follow the steps I’m outlining here, you’ll make progress. So I’ll say it again:

• Allow yourself to make mistakes
• Extend grace to yourself
• Eliminate self-doubt (or at least shove it over there in the corner)

And then…

💪 Take Action Even If It’s a Messy Action

Are you a perfectionist?

While a desire for every task to be done perfectly isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it can be debilitating for your business. 

Have you ever missed a deadline because you were too busy trying to perfect the project? Have you ever spent days on a proposal that should have only taken an hour? Have you ever lost a client because of it? 

Maybe while the client was waiting for your “perfect” proposal, they got one from another photographer and hired them instead. In that case, the faster proposal was the “better” proposal. Yours might have been perfect but theirs won them the job. 

Let this sink in for a moment…not everything has to be perfect. Choose the important aspects to be a stickler about and let yourself relax on the other ones. 

Most of the time, messy action is better than no action. Try something, adjust as you see how it plays out, learn from the mistake if there is one, and then try something new that has a better chance of success. 

You can’t expect to grow if you’re never willing to jump in and try new things. 

Another one of my favorite authors is Lara Casey. In her book Make it Happen she talks about growing little by little. I know we all want it all and want it now. It’s okay to grow slow!

Take a Small Step

If you’re anything like me, you might be ready – eager even – to take the first step to change things around, but you’re just not sure where to start.

Don’t worry. I’ve got your back.

I’ve created a free training for you where you will learn how to build a 6-figure photography business while working the hours YOU want to work. 

I teach photographers how to build a brand photography business based on recurring clients. With this model, you won’t always be searching for new clients — you’ll already know what you’ll be making from month to month. 

Grab your pen and paper and head over to brandphotographersblueprint.com/training to watch it now.

It’s the best first step you can take right now that will help you make a decision in the next hour on what your next step should be.

“A year from now, you will wish you had started today.”

– LARA CASEY