My Last Photography Business Tip For 2009 – Most Important Video

Posted by NewPortraitBiz on Dec 30, 2009 |

So, another year’s gone by and we wonder how does it go so fast.

My father always told me, “The older you get, the quicker time passes.” Wow….was he right on that one

Me and Lisa had a great year both in business and with our family. We had a few bumps in the road, but we never let that get in the way of our vision and the goals we set for ourselves. I can’t stress that enough. You need to stay focused and keep the big picture crystal clear.

My question for you is, did you reach your goals for 2009? If not, what held you back from reaching them? Did you write them down? Did you create a plan?
I created the last video for 2009 that explains a simple technique that has worked time and time again for us.

The idea of sharing this with you happened the other day when I was cleaning out my office. I came across one of my notebooks that had some ideas and action steps that I wrote down back in August of 2008. I looked over what I wrote in that notebook and was really surprised at what we have achieved in such a short period of time.

Once again, this was proof to me that this technique really works.
In my notebook, I wrote down a plan to teach others about photography and help them get started. Keep in mind, we were starting all over again online. Yes, we did own an established photography studio in our town, but we were unknown in the online community. We had no idea how to get our message out there to others.

So, I created a plan to make some videos for Youtube, create a website, an Ebay store, an Amazon store and build a list of subscribers to share our photography experiences with and help them get started. I even wrote that we had just 860 subscribers on that day.

Well, it’s December 2009 exactly 16 months from the time I wrote that plan and we reached our goals and then some.
We successfully created our Ebay store where we sell our Digital Props & Backgrounds on CD’s and an Amazon store that sells the same products as Ebay. We created our NewPortraitBiz course that teaches a simple step by step plan to get new photographers started. This course has been a huge success.

After creating NPB, we added a private members forum that supports our students so they can help each other as they grow. We’ve had over 7 “Live” coaching calls that I never thought I would have the chance to offer. In the process of all this, we’ve created a list of over 6,000 subscribers and it’s growing everyday. We’ve also created some new friends and partners that we will have forever.

I’m not sharing this to brag, just to show you that we started over again from scratch and created a plan and took action. Everyone’s plan will be different and needs to be tailored to their specific goals. But…the bottom line is to create a plan and stick to it.

Here’s some of my Action Steps I follow every day and every year.

Step#1 – Write In A Notebook

Take an hour and write down what you want to achieve in 2010. What are your goals? Don’t just write down to make lots of money. Be specific and know the reason “Why?” What will it do for you and your family? How will it make your life better?
You need a clear picture as to why you are going to work hard towards these “Goals”.

Step #2 – Create A Plan

Now that you know what you want and why, create a detailed plan. If you want something in life, you need a plan to follow and there’s always a plan. Once you have a plan and break it down, you can see what it is that you need to do and create smaller action steps to follow. This will simplify things and help make each step smaller and easier to obtain.

Tip: Make sure to include the date on the top of everything you write, so you can come back and see how far you’ve come.

Step#3 – Work In Smaller Blocks Of Time

It’s always easier to set smaller chunks of time to work in. I like to work in 30, 60 and 90 day chunks because it gives you a deadline to finish those tasks. If you write them down, you will be accountable to complete them. It also allows you to reevaluate what’s working and what’s not. Now you can concentrate on what has worked. It’s pretty simple

Step #4 – Make A Commitment

This is a big mistake that a lot of us make and that’s to be consistent. We often wonder why we didn’t reach our goals, but it’s usually because we didn’t stick to our plan…if we even had one. You need to make a commitment to yourself and stick to the plan. Learn from everything you do…Good or Bad.

Step #5 – Write Daily

Make a commitment each day to take 5 minutes and write in a journal. List everything you did to work towards your goals. This can be a big game changer for you. This will keep you focused on the plan and also remind you why you’re doing this. If you write about it, it becomes real in our minds and the vision is crystal clear. This is very powerful.

Step #6 – Surround Yourself With Like Minded (Positive) People

It’s so important to surround yourself with a support system. This goes for anything in life. If you find people that are interested in the same things you are, you will stay focused and be supported in your plan. They don’t have to be doing exactly what you’re doing, but you want a positive support group that can help you…not hurt you.

When you hit a bump in the road, you need help getting back on track…not someone telling you “I Told You So”. Be mindful of who you let in your support group.

Tip: Model people that are where you want to be or better yet…even Bigger! Usually people aren’t successful by accident, they create a plan and stick to it. Follow what they do and you will be successful too!

Getting Started:

So to get started, here’s what I want you to do.
Post a comment below and tell us what you want to achieve in 2010. This way you’re taking the first step and documenting your vision. Next year at this time, you can come back to this blog post and see how you’ve done.

Remember, you may not reach all your goals the first time, but you’ll learn in the process and be that much closer to reaching them.

Now…it’s up to you to Take Action!

So…here’s a toast to much success for you and your family in 2010
Happy New Year!

Scott & Lisa

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