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MISTY C

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Keep Hustlin’ | A Pep Talk For Photographers

April 6, 2017

Hi, I'm Misty.
Welcome to the blog where I share the beautiful parts of my business. You'll find tips, tricks, and stunning images. 
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Hey you!

Yes you. I mean you, you sweet little budding photographer out there. Listen here, sweet cheeks. There’s going to be people out there that tell you to quit while you’re ahead. There’s going to be those that tell you that it’s never going to work. You may even have family tell you that it’s not worth it, and that you need to just take time to be home. I’m here to tell you to not listen to them, but also hear me out.

The photography business is a crazy one. Being a small business owner, itself, is a crazy thing to jump into. I can probably tell you how your story goes…

 

You got a “nice” camera. Maybe you were given that nice camera, but one way or another, you are now in possession of a “nice” camera. You start scouring the internet for everything you can possibly find about taking good photos. You practice on your dog, your things, landscapes, birds, horses, basically anything you can get to stand still long enough to get a few shots. You love figuring out what your aperture, shutter speed, and ISO do and how they all correlate with each other. The more photos you take, the more you post on social media and then it happens. One of you friends say it…

“Hey Susie! You have a nice camera! I have a cute family! Let’s go take pictures!” and you jump at the opportunity! You’re so excited that you can’t even wait to take them and you spend hours trying to learn more about posing kids, and getting them to look at your camera. It’s so exciting and new, and you’re loving it all!

Your friend agrees to pay you $50, and you think you just scored! The shoot goes great, you deliver the photos, and they love them! Then more and more people come to you for those $50 photo shoots. You start to get busier. You start investing some of that money you’re making into better lenses, maybe even a better camera body, and things are turning out better than ever! There’s still going to be people doubting you, and people that are sick of seeing all the photos that you’re posting, but I’m here to tell you a few things.

It’s like human nature that when things are going great, something goes wrong. There’s going to be times that you run into clients that hate their photos. There will be times when it seems like no matter WHAT you do, your clients just aren’t feeling it. You’ll have times that you have to refund money even though you worked your tail off to make things right, but listen here. Remember when you first started, and you loved learning and growing, and everything was so fun?!

Let’s get back to that.

The busier you get the more you’ll be able to bump up those prices. The more you bump up those prices, the more you’re going to get the response like “oh, sorry, that’s not in our budget.” It’s going to be rough, and it’s going to tear you apart, but here it is. Keep Hustlin.’

If you love what you do, and you love your clients even more, people start to take notice. People start to see your work, and how you treat the people you spend time with and they’ll want that! You’ll impress others. You’ll inspire others. You’ll make others want to be just like you (and then you run into other issues, but that’s for another day).

Keep hustlin' so you have a nice camera....

Like I said, there’s going to be people that doubt you, and times that you just want to throw in the towel. If you do, they win. Everything that you have worked so hard to create will just be gone. This small business ownership isn’t for the faint of heart, but when you hustle that little heart out, things always work out.

Do you, and don’t just be like everyone else.

Be genuine.  Remember the golden rule? Treat others how YOU would want to be treated.

Hustle. Especially during those hard times. Hustle ’til it hurts.

Then you’re getting somewhere. You’ve got this, sweet cheeks.

Misty  
 xoxo

  1. This is great advice! Thanks for the encouragement.

  2. Candi says:

    You are so right!!

  3. Joanna Moss says:

    Thanks for the pep talk. I really needed it last week! It’s amazing how we have either low lows or high highs, very few in between!

  4. Oh Misty, I needed that today! Thank you! My sister-in-law majored in photography and did a prestigious internship with a master photographer, and keeps telling me that I’m working hard for nothing because people just can’t make money as a wedding photographer anymore (which makes me sad to hear a fellow photographer so down about it). Most days I take it as a challenge, because I know it is totally doable. But this week I’ve let myself start to believe it. I needed this kick in the pants. I can do this! Thank you!

  5. Shelby says:

    I needed this, you’re awesome Misty!

  6. Kristi says:

    This is awesome! I needed this little pick me and inspiration to just keep hustling!! Thanks!

  7. Mindy says:

    Absolutely! Hustle defines our passion. Great inspiration.

  8. Jill says:

    Absolutely love this girl! So much beautiful encouragement!

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I'm Misty! Welcome to the blog where I share the beautiful parts of my business. You'll find tips, tricks, and stunning images. 

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