There’s a single assumption that kills pricing faster than you can say “discount.” In fact, it’s so common, it’s endemic among small businesses. In today’s video, we’re going to dive into three ways you can improve pricing right away, but, more importantly, we’re going to talk about a better way to see pricing.

DEADLY ASSUMPTION: CLIENTS SEE PRICE RATIONALLY

Another way to put it is assuming that people buy or don’t buy based on price. The assumption is paramount to throwing money out the window, cutting growth at the knees, and boxing yourself in, while your competitors roam wide open.

Yet, you see it in play all the time. When people assume that the client’s fixed budget is fixed. When … Read more...

Fear scares the shit out of me.

I’ve spent nights sweating, days frozen. I’ve woken up, unable to see, unable to be, not knowing what I wanted to do, and afraid to find out. I’ve popped on the TV, slopped on the couch, being stuck in second gear for days, weeks, and months on end, all because I was more scared to find out I wasn’t what I wanted to be, than to simply get out of my bed, get out of my head, and become that thing itself.

Fear is a dark and menacing thing. It lurks in the shadows of our minds. Always hard to find, always waiting in the wings, never quite gone, never quite there.

But … Read more...

Wedding photography is not for the faint of heart.

The hours are long, the stress is high, the pay ain’t close to what it looks like it will be, and it will be commonplace that you will deal with a razor-thin margin for success on a day with a level of tension that most people will only experience a few times a year. Every. Single. Weekend.

You will be bludgeoned by every insecurity possible. You will be battered with an unrelenting torrent of competition in a field that has nothing more than a $1,500 barrier to entry for a cheap DSLR, a zoom, and a flash, and the better you get, the more you will put your heart on the … Read more...

2010 was a tough season. The recession was in full force, and I was struggling to find footing and trying desperately to figure out how to break through the ceiling. For all the shots that did work and for all the things that did go well, I just couldn’t put the pieces of the puzzle together. I was submerged and couldn’t figure out which way was up, and what I really remember was how hard it was to find actionable advice. Not that I was looking for the plan, but at least something I could hold on to.

Some of you know that I’ve been working on a premium product for awhile now. And that’s still coming. But while … Read more...