Photographer or Marketer?
What came first, the chicken or the egg?
By Robert Provencher
I love photography. Always have since I was a kid. There is something truly
wonderful about creating beautiful images by using your own skills and talents.
It's especially wonderful getting paid for the very thing that I love doing.
Portrait photography is a great way to earn a living and be involved in
something that is considered to be a passion, a love.
I also love marketing and business. Problem is, I don't know what came first, the chicken or the egg? Did I become a photographer first, or a businessman.
Truth be known, I believe I had both in me, but didn't start to awake the "marketing" side until the latter part of my life. Although I was always somewhat successful doing what I loved most, taking pictures, running my own studio, I didn't really catch on to the business side of things and realize the true potential for profits until I awoke the marketer within me.
I started my photography business over 25 years ago. I was only 24 years old and to me it was as obvious as day that I was to be in business for myself. I had little formal training in both photography and in business, just plain old ambition. I also went against what my teachers told me years before when I said I was going to be a photographer.
You see, they painted a gloomy picture. Not a "wise career choice" they said. Fraught with starvation and struggle. Luckily enough I was somehow oblivious to these warnings and just went ahead and did it anyway. Good thing I didn't listen to them.
Oh yeah, I had my moments of struggle and starvation. More than what the average person would possibly be willing to tolerate, but that could be part and parcel of learning and struggling in any business.
But I always had a drive to get the message out there. I'm almost too embarrassed when I recall some of the marketing messages that I created in my early days. I look back now and simply say to myself that I was just a kid, still wet behind the ears.
But the one underlying theme that is I can honestly say contributes to success more than any other is persistence. Persistence and eagerness will eventually pay big dividends. It finally did for me. I finally grasped the marketer within and realized that this skill alone will contribute more to success than any other skill.