Posts by Sean McLellan

2. Be Yourself – Be Different – Be Remarkable.

“Be yourself” may sound cliche; however, this one is huge and definitely worth expanding. There are a lot of people out there right now saying “be different.” The big thing to be aware of is that being different does not mean “find something different and copy that.” The good thing is it’s so easy for people to fall into emulating what’s popular, that being yourself will already put you well on your way to being different.

Once you’ve got that down, let’s say you’re comfortable being yourself and now you’re specifically pursuing expanding how to differentiate yourself. The pursuit of different.  Once you find a way to differentiate yourself, and differentiate what you’re offering it, don’t stop there!  Things change so quickly in this industry that ‘different’ is an ever moving target. Once you do something different, it immediately becomes that target. Is that a bad thing? Not necessarily; use that as tool to always continue to push yourself to innovate.

After you’ve ventured into being different, push it to the next level: Do something remarkable. What is remarkable? Things that are remarkable are worth talking about–worth noticing. Exceptional, new, interesting, etc.

In “The Purple Cow,” Seth Godin writes “The reason it’s so hard to follow the leader is this: the leader is the leader because he did something remarkable. And that remarkable thing is now taken—it’s no longer remarkable when you do it.” Well said Seth, I couldn’t phrase it any better myself. Although, I will add to it:

If you’ve done something remarkable, it will only be remarkable for a limited time. How long is that? I can’t say—and I’m sure it varies depending on any number of factors; but if you do something remarkable and expect to coast from here on out: think again. Be careful or you’ll wake up one morning only to find that you were passed by, long ago. And shouting “But I invented the piano key necktie!” no matter how loud you do it isn’t going to help you.

Originally this was going to be a single post, but as the details of each idea grew, I thought it would be better to space it out over a few days.  So, if you like what you see, keep checking back for the rest over the next week!

1. It’s not easy.  Make sure you love it.

It all starts with the foundation. Let’s back up and start at the beginning.  Possibly, let’s back up to before you even get started—or maybe you’ve already started, but you’re not full time and are considering taking your business to the next level.

It seems simple, right?  I have a digital camera and a computer, so I can be a wedding photographer.  HA HA HA!  I can’t tell you how many photographers have started out this way, only to be in tears a year or two later because they are being crushed by the mountain of work that’s on top of them.

If you love wedding photography, be sure to take steps to prevent from ever getting into this situation.  If you’re already in this situation, make some time to make an effort to get out.  If you’re serious about it, it is possible!  However, if you don’t love it and just thought you could make extra money on weekends, chances are you won’t have the motivation to work through it.  Without a passion for what you’re doing, it will eventually collapse, and you’ll be left with a trail of people that are all very unhappy with you which will lead you to be unhappy yourself.

Also, be aware that it’s not just running around with a camera and taking photographs.  You’re running a business.  You set the hours, you are responsible for keeping track of everything and staying on top of it all.  Mel and I love photography, but we also love business.  If you hate business, I would suggest looking into having someone help with that aspect.  Getting into wedding photography while loving photography but hating business is a recipe for disaster.  Seek help immediately!

Thanks for reading–that wraps up Tip #1–the rest are coming soon!