The most frequently asked question by photographers is: How Can I Book More Weddings?. I’m definitely not a marketing sage, but I wrote an article for Pro Photo Resource this month dealing with the importance of creating vital relationships with industry peers. Here’s a snippet of the article…

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So I have this obsession. And it comes in the form of athletic wear called, LuLuLemon. I can’t ever get enough of the reversible pants, lycra tops, and, yes, even the sweat bands. I practically live in these clothes and I’m afraid my husband thinks I’ve made a solemn oath to don nothing else. Indefinitely.

A couple days ago, my husband asked me to stop the burning hole I’ve created in our savings account and stop shopping. Riiiiiight. We went back and forth about my expenditures and in exasperation, I said, “It’s because of the bag, alright?! I just love that darn bag!”

You see, LuLuLemon packs your purchases in a red and white bag covered with motivating quotes, and I simply love it. I tried explaining this notion to my husband and he told me he’d print the same quotes and tape them around our home if I wanted to be inspired. Riiiight.

One of the quotes printed on the bag is: Successful people replace the words ‘wish’, ‘should’, and ‘try’ with ‘I Will’. Ineffective people don’t.

When I first started my business, I knew this to be true. Of all the photographers I admired, a common thread was their ability to take action. To DO whatever it is they set out to. It made me proud and simultaneously jealous because I was sitting in an office at a 9-5 job with a packed lunch secured at the bottom of my purse. After getting home from a long day, the only action I took was in the form of pizza delivery and remote control clicking. I definitely wanted to take action, I just didn’t know how.

The key, I later discovered, was getting to know successful peers. I called a few new photographers in my area and gathered us for lunch one afternoon. We were all at the same point in our business and looked for ways to grow…

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To read the rest of the article and learn the best way to create a network of referrers, be sure to visit Pro Photo Resource! Also, if you have suggestions for what next month’s article should address, leave your ideas in the comment box…I’m running out of things to write about! 😉