by Skip Cohen

I'm not sure what there is about Sunday mornings but they always lend themselves to being a little more reflective. Even as a reader, most of you are in a different mindset on a Sunday morning than you are during the rest of the week.

I used this quote by Ross Perot in a post the other day and while the topic is similar, it's still so perfect for a Sunday morning.

“Most people give up just when they’re about to achieve success. They quit on the one yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game, one foot from a winning touch down.”

So many times over my career in this industry, I’ve seen people give up, just as they were about to cross the finish line. They lacked enough faith in their own spirit to keep plugging away a little longer.

If I ask a group of photographers about advertising, somebody will always say, “We tried it once, but it didn’t work!” Ask some people about trying some different lenses or shooting wide open for a different look and you’ll hear almost the same, “I’ve tried it, but my clients like the look I have!”  Ask them to move the lights in their studio, the ones that are put in the same spot every day on the masking tape on the floor and you’ll sense the same concern.

Well, what if those photographers are all standing on Ross Perot’s one yard line?  What if they just needed to run that ad a few more times for people to contact them?  What if they only needed a little more patience to wait out the economy?

Here's one more example...if you've been following me since I left Rangefinder, I've been involved in four different blogs.  Each one has done slightly better than the previous blog. SCU is breaking all the records, not because of anything I did, but thanks to some amazing friends.  When we first started talking about building a better resource center for education I could have easily walked away the minute somebody said, "There's too much out there already!"

...and there's the fun of this industry, you just never know until you try something. I"m not saying you should take random risks with your business, just believe in yourself and utilize your network. We're an industry filled with talented artists, great writers and amazing visionaries...we just have to remember to not let all the daily garbage in our lives get in the way resulting in a "listening disorder"!

I know it’s tough waiting for your ship to come in.  In fact, there’s a great line I’ve used most of my adult life, “It’ll be my luck when my ship comes in, I’ll be at the airport!”  But I’ve seen so many photographers who were able to stay focused, stay aggressive in their marketing efforts, believe in themselves and things did come together.

It’s all about taking action, being patient and not giving up.   And since Ross Perot put me on the one yard line this morning, might as well stay with a football theme and give Vince Lombardi the spotlight:

“It’s easy to have faith in yourself and have discipline when you’re a winner, when you’re number one. What you’ve got to have is faith and discipline when you’re not yet a winner!”

Photo Credit:© Pezography | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos