© eunice brownlee 2009

If you’ve ever attended a network marketing event and listened to a sales pitch on why you should join the ranks of whatever company and sign up as an independent consultant, what I’m about to tell you is not news. In a down economy as this one, they’ll tout the extra income, job security, and flexibility to work in tandem with your full time job as the reasons to sign up. In an up economy, it’ll be your love of working with the product you adore, getting to meet new people, or the unlimited potential of income to be able to leave that “J.O.B.” Either way, you will never hear someone tell you, “I don’t think this is the opportunity for you.” They will get to know you and your strengths, and tell you how you can use those strengths, paired with their “proven method” to find success. By the end of the discussion, you’re actually thinking about how you can make it work in your life.

I know what happens next — it all sounds so incredibly amazing and wonderful. Work from home, bring in some extra cash, make money doing something you love. So you scrape together what extra cash you have (or whip out that credit card), invest in your starter kit and get excited about the potential and how your life is going to change. I know this because I have walked that road several times, with a variety of  MLM (or as they prefer to be called, network marketing) programs. And I’ll admit that I’ve failed. As do 95% of people that take on self-employment ventures.

Why? Because they fail to realize that they are running a business. Now I’m not trying to pick on these companies, as I have a few friends that have been VERY successful (ahem, Tarrah Brandsma, who is my absolute hero in this field) and I think that if you really work the program, it’s the easiest way to venture into the world of small business with a low investment and low risk. But most people don’t recognize that it’s good business habits that make them successful. Instead, they fall in love with the product and think that a personal endorsement of how amazing it is will convert to sales on their own.  Most people fail to embrace this reality and, in turn, they fail. I know I did.

I am really starting to see that photography-as-a-business is becoming the new fad of self-employment. When I mention to people that I am a professional photographer, I usually get, “oh yeah? I have a photography business too.” What most of these people really mean is that they own a dSLR, maybe know how to use it a little, and people are giving them some money in return for a CD of images that may or may not be retouched. Or people will tell me how much they love photography and want to make a few extra bucks or be able to stay home with their kids, but the reality is that a simple love of the product — photography — won’t make a successful business.

People think that by investing in their “photography business kit” — a dSLR combo from Costco they bought for $800 and consumer version of photo editing software, attending a few free workshops and seminars, and charging people a little bit of money for a session, that they have a photography business. I’m not trying to sound snarky, but the reality is, most people step into this venture because they love photography, not because they love running a business. And most of them have really successful photography hobbies.

I was at a PUG meeting the other night, where photography business guru Jason Aten spoke on the business aspect of our industry. He told us that 100,000 new photographers declared themselves to be “in business” in 2010.  “If you’re not making money, then you don’t have a business, you have a really expensive hobby. I’m not just saying that to be a jerk, it’s what the IRS says,” Jason said. While we all have our start-up hiccups where we seem to be bleeding money into the red like nobody’s business, if there is no intent to turn a profit, it’s not a business. And if there’s not a plan to convert the work into profit, it’s going to fail. Like Jason, I don’t have my degree in photography, I have it in business (although I don’t have an MBA from Stanford like he does), and I do what I do because I want to run a successful business.

When I first started pursuing my photography career, I tried to network with several area photographers to mentor under them, understand their business, and get my name known among their circles. I was ignored, hung up on and laughed at (no, really – one guy laughed at a portrait I showed at a critiquing workshop and told me my work was “uninteresting” and would never be valuable to anyone). It was tough to handle, but I didn’t give up because I needed to set myself apart from all the other folks out there that claimed to be aspiring professionals like me. It wasn’t until two years ago that I accepted that I needed to spend more time on my business than on my photography and it was that reality that turned the tables for me.

I am grateful to have found a beautiful network of photographers who ARE willing to impart their knowledge and help me to grow and succeed. Even so, I work hard to find ways to set myself apart from the other “photography businesses” – not that I feel that I compete with them on any level, but because I want my clients to see the value of spending money with someone that has invested in them, and, as a result, the future of their business.

As a surge of photographers continue to come into the market, I hope that each of them seeks out a mentor, and I hope my fellow professionals will be open to mentoring these people rather than pushing them away. If you’re an aspiring photographer and you’re not crazy about the business side of things – I encourage you to look into learning everything you can about your craft and finding an established photography studio that is looking for associate photographers. This way, you can do what you love without having to worry about the business side of things.

There is plenty of work out there for everyone that wants to pursue photography, but in the end, those that are business minded will prevail.