Most Businesses Define Themselves By What They Currently Do - And Why That Is Bad

It's a standard business model, but too often small business owners don't bother with the "development" and "analyze" components. In this market you can't fly by the seat of your pants and just design and implement!

This post hits on such a serious topic for so many photographers. You've got to listen to your target audience and pay attention to the trends, working hard to figure out what's coming next. I'm amazed when I still hear photographers discussing the issue of giving clients the files. It's a moot point if you want to stay in business. Every day the market changes. Every day we deal with another paradigm shift. It's no longer about survival of the fittest, but survival of the most creative and best listeners!  Skip Cohen

by Scott Bourne

Photographers are all about selling their services based on what they learn at the big conventions, or what their competition does. The problem with this is that your customers want you to be ahead of them.

I talked about business models last week and how they need to match up to buying models. This is an extension of that idea. Your customers want digital files. You sell prints. You are focused on your process and your business model not THEIR needs or THEIR buying models. 

Concentrate on the benefits you can bring to your client not the process by which you work now. Step away from how you work today and ask yourself, "What will my customers want tomorrow."

If you only go this far, you will be ahead of the curve. But if you want to win big, extend this further and start trying to build products that your customers will learn to desire. You have to teach them. You have to educate them. Most importantly, you have to be focused on them, not on your process.