How to Grow a Business Without Demand

Dear Jasmine, 
I've been debating about writing this letter for a while now but I need to get this out. I….feel…crazy…sometimes…. about……photography. Some days I feel great, like yeah I can do this. I love this. I WILL make this happen. Literally the next day I will wake up sad, angry, and wanting to throw my camera away. 

Some days I don't know where to begin. I crunched the numbers and would have to do 281 family/newborn sessions to do this full time. Obviously my pricing is too cheap. Yet I'm not in demand so raising my prices doesn't make sense to me. The pros in my area are charging over double what I charge and require print minimums. I get inquires and then crickets. After every session I usually feel deflated. The cost of doing business is intimidating. I'm trying to teach myself everything at once. Lightroom, Photoshop, Quick Books, posing, lighting, blogging. Everyone keeps telling me I have to do weddings if I want to make money but I know that isn't true. It's stressful. It is a full time job on top of my full time job. 

I just feel like I…am…NEVER..good..enough. How do I build a successful profitable business when I'm not in demand? 
Sincerely, 
Seeking Solace in St Louis

Dear SSSL,
I want to first address the emotional roller coaster every entrepreneur is on the minute they decide to start a business. When you refer to the peaks of one day and the gut-wrenching drops the next, I feel you. I hate to break it to you, but that feeling never goes away. As long as you're putting yourself in a place of creating, buckle your seat belt because it's a crazy ride.

Secondly, let's lay the foundation of your emotions: you're trying to teach yourself everything at once (which is very stressful!), but you have to understand that this work is imperative to what you do. You must learn posing, lighting, editing, and all the other business pieces of photography. So if you have one shoot or 100, the foundation needs to be there. Instead of viewing it as a list of things to do, view it as the things that get you closer to your dream. That shift in perspective will alleviate the negative energy surrounding your tasks.

Lastly, it's time to set some goals. Because, really, if you're always measuring your success against the idea of shooting 281 photo sessions, you'll be wildly disappointed (even if that idea is utterly unrealistic). So step one should be setting a goal for how many shoots you want to shoot in the next three months (dream big, but temper your ideas with reality as well). If you hit that goal, then reevaluate a new set of goals for the following three months (either more shoots, or less shoots getting paid more).

Follow this pattern for the next 9-12 months. If at the end of 12 months you've consistently missed your goals, or you're stuck in the same place, perhaps it's time to reevaluate pursuing photography as a professional career. Goals are used to measure our success (as defined by ourselves, no one else), so it's important to keep yourself accountable. If you've been shooting for more than a year, give yourself another year to give it your best shot with clearly outlined goals, then push your hardest.

Twelve months from now I hope to hear from you again, SSSL. I hope to hear the foundation you laid, the goals you set, and your hard work paid off. But until then, it's about the hustle and keeping your chin up.

Shine On,
j*