How to Create Success for Your Photography Business in the New Year
I love the energy of the new year. I love looking at a blank calendar, full of possibilities and imagining all the wonderful opportunities that the new year has in store for me and my business.
Because we're in the new year, I'm going to focusing on business and business growth strategies all month long to help you get started on the right foot.
Enrollment for The Six-Figure Studio is also open, AND I'm offering enrollment at the 2021 price—a whopping $1000 off the normal enrollment fee. So if you are really wanting to turbo charge your business growth this year, click here for my free webinar! In the webinar, I'll teach all about modern marketing: what it is and how to start using it in your business so that you can stand out from the crowd, book more clients and ultimately make more money from your art! I'll also talk to you about my group coaching program and share how you can join.
For those who are new to the podcast, I’m Sandra Coan. I’m an award winning portrait photographer who specializes in newborns and family. I’m also a certified teacher, industry educator and best-selling author. I started my business way back in 1999, so I’ve been doing this for a long time!
I’m proud to share that over the past 20+ years, I’ve grown my business from a side hustle to a multiple six-figure business, using a lot of the mindset and goal setting techniques that I’m going to talk you about this month on the podcast.
The Six-Figure Studio is a group coaching program that teaches photographers how to build the foundations for profitable business by creating a clear brand, strong marketing plan and repeatable and reusable systems for their marketing, messaging and with their clients and sessions.
HIGHLIGHTS
I'm a teacher at heart!
Teaching other photographers how to make money at their art is a huge passion of mine, and I want to talk to you about how to create a growth strategy for your business this year. I believe that as photographers, what we do is really important. Our work matters. We create memories and heirlooms for people and as such, we owe it to our clients and the world to make sure we are getting our work out there and seen by those who need it.
That is why marketing is so important! In order to create a solid marketing plan or a growth strategy, you need to know what you want. You need a goal, and the new year is the perfect time to talk about setting goals—especially for your business.
I find that setting goals helps bring clarity and focus to my year, which makes achieving my goals, even the really big ones, much easier. In order to reach your goals, you need to know what you want. Maybe this sounds like a no brainer, but the truth is, most of us spend very little time thinking about what we actually want from our businesses.
Instead, we focus on the wrong things like vanity metrics, how many IG followers we have, the current trend in the industry or what other people are doing/charging/saying in their businesses and work. We too often get caught up focusing on what we think we should be doing, or what a successful business should look like, instead of being clear about what we do and what works for us and our clients.
Honestly, that is the #1 mistake I see photographers make in their businesses!
Here's the truth:
The truth is, real business growth comes when you figure out what you do, what your dream business is and do that. That starts with knowing what you want and being intentional about creating it.
That’s what I want to ask you today. What do you want for your business this year?
Do you want to make 10K or 100K or something in between? Do you want to create and actually implement a marketing plan for the first time? Would you like to boost your SEO and start ranking on the first page of Google? Do you want a specific number of clients each week or month? What do you want out of your business?
Spend some time thinking about that. Write your goals down, share them with friends, share them with me via a DM on Instagram, etc. Writing and sharing your goals is actually a huge part of achieving them! There is famous study by Dr. Gail Matthews at Dominican University I've mentioned before that shows that you are 42% more likely to achieve a goal if you write it down.
That is because when you just think about your goals, those thoughts live in the imagination center in your brain, which is in the right hemisphere. The act of writing them activates the logic side of the brain in the left hemisphere. So when you think about your goals AND write them down, you engage BOTH sides of your brain! Isn’t that fascinating?!
The same study found that you are even more likely to achieve your goals if you write them down AND you share them with a friend. So think of me as your business bestie for the year—write down your goals and then send them to me on Instagram!
Don't forget to also check out my free training, The Modern Marketing Method. It's only 30 minutes long but chalked full of really great information that is going to help you turn your goals into marketing magic! You can sign up here!
