Photographers in Business: It's Time to Focus on Your Focus!

© hirko

In many of my posts, and articles for Shutter Magazine through the first quarter, I decided to share content related to building a stronger business for 2018.

The first month of the "slow season" is rapidly coming to a close leaving you less and less time to strengthen the foundation of your business. All of you know how to focus your camera, but so many of you can't find a point of focus for your photography in the new year. 

When it comes to your overall career, you probably started out on one path with a very definite purpose.  Along the way, many of you lost sight of your goal. You started taking little side trips. The side trips are sometimes fun, other times nothing but stress-producers. They slow you down, and usually, you don't realize it.

It's like those days when you have some very specific things you want to work on, but instead of doing your own thing, you keep getting interrupted. At the end of the day, you can't figure out what you did, because all day you were helping solve everybody else's challenges.

I went off in search of some ideas from people known for their focus:

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"Success depends on getting good at saying no without feeling guilty.
You cannot get ahead with your own goals if you are always saying yes to someone else’s projects.
You can only get ahead with your desired lifestyle
if you are focused on the things that will produce that lifestyle." 
Jack Canfield
 
"The older I get, the more I see a straight path where I want to go.
If you’re going to hunt elephants, don’t get off the trail for a rabbit."  
T. Boone Pickens

"Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem. We all have twenty-four hour days". 
Zig Ziglar

"When you have a pile of bills that you have no idea how you are going to pay,
you cannot focus on the bills, because you will continue to attract more bills.
You have to find a way that works for you to focus on prosperity, despite the bills around you." 
Rhonda Byrne

The good news is there's still plenty of time to do some fine-tuning and here are some ideas:

• Find a place you can think without being interrupted. Take an hour and just think about what you want 2018 to look like. Is success about more revenue, expanding your skill set or increasing your customer base? Or, is it all of the above in which case everything starts with your skill set.
• Who are the icons in the industry who have the kind of profile/business you'd like to have? Start with putting their names in the YouTube search box. Then, expand to a search on Google. Follow their blogs and check out their schedules in the months ahead. Are they speaking at conferences you can attend?
• What conventions/conferences are you attending in 2018? Have you registered for the classes which can help you the most in achieving your goals? (Always take 1-2 classes completely outside your comfort zone!)

Most important of all take the time to think things through. There is no AF button. This is all about manual focus and thinking through your goals. It's not enough to just have a lofty goal - you've got to decide on the steps you need to get there!

"Next in importance to having a good aim is to recognize when to pull the trigger." 
​David Letterman