Top 12 Lessons Learned from 1 Year in Business as a Full-Time Photographer

The start of the year has brought a lot of changes, goal setting, and travel planning for the year, and it also marked my first year that I have been a full time photographer. Being a full time creative has been the most challenging yet rewarding career path I have ever embarked upon, and there were definitely a lot of hard lessons to learn. Here I share some of the things I learned and hopefully they will help you whether you are an aspiring photographer, small business owner, or just curious!
1. Make a 12-month business plan
Even if you’re not entirely sure where the year is going to take you, setting up at least an outline of a 12-month plan can be very beneficial. You can keep track of where you are progress-wise, what goals you did or did not accomplish, and adjust those goals as needed to be more realistic. Beginning this second year of business, I went over my previous 12-month plan, and it felt so amazing to look back and see that I had accomplished a lot of the goals I had set. A few were also quite unrealistic, but that is okay because year 1 is pretty much a lot of figuring things out. My 12-month business plan for this second year is a lot more detailed and nuanced, as I have a more clear goal for where I want to be and I know better what I can accomplish in a year.
2. Have diverse income streams – and put money aside for taxes!
Landscape photography in particular is sadly no longer a one-stop shop for making a living. Stock photography and print sales have plummeted, and while I label myself as a travel and outdoors photographer, I share a lot of similar challenges as more “traditional” landscape photographers. To make ends meet, you need to diversify your income streams to as many sources as you can – be it commercial photography, weddings, social media related, or maybe even a part-time job that’s unrelated to photography. Other ways you can diversify your income can include: content creation for brands, affiliate sales (on a blog, your social media accounts, etc), selling products (ebooks, presets, photography courses etc), or selling a service such as teaching/coaching, or leading workshops or tours.
KEY: make yourself a separate business bank account and make sure you put money aside for taxes, because you definitely don’t want to end the quarter suddenly needing to pay a huge chunk of change and have no means to do so.
3. Surround yourself with a supportive community
One of the best things you can do as a photographer is surround yourself by people that inspire you, people who push you to work hard, people who can teach you, and people who support your work. I have learned so much from other photographers over the past few years, and it is so helpful to have people around to commiserate with who understand what I am going through as a photographer and as a small business owner. Photography can be a lonely job, with no coworkers and fewer social interactions, and your family and friends may not understand your career choice or what you do, which all can all feel quite isolating. Year 1 in business is a tough slog, and you’re going to need people that lift you up if you are going to make it through.
4. Play the long game
Unless you have a photograph go viral, you are NOT going to be an overnight success. It’s really easy to see other photographers on social media and think they just arrived on the scene, but every single one of them has spent YEARS building up their business and pushing themselves to be a better photographer. If you want to be a full-time photographer, you need to be okay with putting in years of work before you see a true payout.
5. Get outside your comfort zone
As a photographer, most of your best shots are probably not going to be somewhere you just walk up to a location, in perfect weather, snap a shot and leave. Most times you are battling crazy weather, you probably haven’t slept much, and you’ve visited this location for three years straight before all the conditions lined up perfectly. As smartphones and cameras improve, it becomes harder and harder to stand out from the pack, which means pushing yourself to your creative limits. On the business front, you need to constantly be putting yourself out there. I get asked all the time how I get jobs with certain brands, and I would not have worked with any of them if I sat around and waited for them to come to me. I reach out every single week, facing rejection after rejection, all chasing the one single yes that leads to a job.
6. Educate yourself
Now that you’re a small business owner, every single investment counts. Instead of chasing some new camera body or lens, invest instead in yourself and your business. Go to conferences, take classes, watch tutorials, paid or unpaid there are so many resources out there to help you be successful. One of the reasons I love photography is that the journey is never ending – there is always a new technique to learn, your editing style is always developing, and you can keep training your eye to find new, captivating compositions.
7. Learn how to dedicate your time effectively
Managing yourself is one of the most difficult challenges you are going to face. There is no one telling you what to do, and you set your own deadlines – so you could either write 3 more blogs or you could watch 3 more hours of Netflix. Training yourself to have discipline and learning how to be productive is an essential skill for your business. You also will need to learn what the most effective use of your time is that is going to yield the most profit down the road.
8. Be willing to sacrifice
If you haven’t figured it out already, this path is not an easy one. You having to be willing to sacrifice your time; spending hours late at night after you’ve already worked for 8 hours researching new blog posts or editing photographs for the endless posting on social media – all instead of hanging out with your friends, family, possibly significant other. You are also going to have to sacrifice not just your time, but also your money. They say you have to spend money to make money, and I’ve found that to be 100% true. Before I got any sponsored travel I spend my own dime on trips, trying to showcase my skills and build up my portfolio. My best advice here is to save up at least 6 months worth of salary before jumping into full-time work: you’ll be surprised how quickly it goes.
9. Social media isn’t everything
This one was a hard lesson to learn over this past year. While social media has opened up a lot of doors for me, I also think it can be a huge time drain that ends up going nowhere. Don’t put all your eggs into one basket, because Instagram or any other app could suddenly be gone tomorrow, down the same dead-end path as MySpace and others.
10. Ignore everyone else’s path
The biggest challenge of this career is that there really is no roadmap to success. I have listened to so many podcast episodes of successful creatives and every single one of their paths was different. So don’t waste your time trying to be someone you’re not and try to fit your journey into someone else’s. You are unique, and your story and your work are special – unlike anyone else’s. Focus on what makes you different from everyone else, and lean into it – that is how you will find your audience and develop your own style and voice.
11. Take care of yourself
This is a marathon, not a sprint, and burnout is very real. Work hard, but also take time to take care of yourself. Self care and rest will help keep your mind and your creativity fresh. Especially if you travel a lot for work, having a routine, eating well, exercising, and keeping in contact with friends will all help you past the many make-or-break moments of being a full-time photographer.
12. HUSTLE!
Photography is an extremely competitive, extremely packed field. But like any other creative field, it’s my opinion that the best talents aren’t actually the ones that make it. At a certain point, everyone in this field is talented, and you could be an absolute genius, but if you can’t work hard and put as much into your business as you do into your photography, you aren’t going to make it. I believe that the most successful photographers are the ones that worked harder than anyone else, were business-savvy, and took big chances on big dreams. They may not necessarily be the best photographers, although they are certainly extremely talented, but they HUSTLED as if they were the best.
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Hey I’m Rebecca!
I’m a freelance travel & outdoors photographer and blogger living in the US but you can find me adventuring around the globe! On this blog I share tips to help you improve your photography, inspiration to explore the outdoors, destination guides, and travel tips, and more to plan your own adventures!
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