If you're an architectural or real estate photographer, are you waiting for things to happen to you, or are you making things happen for you?
In this video I'll walk you through a simple 3-step monthly action plan that I've created for photographers just like you. If you can complete this action plan each and every month you'll start accomplishing more in your business, and that's going to lead to more opportunities and greater business growth.
Your 3-step plan
Here's what you'll do each month when using this plan:
Step 1. Block time out in your calendar.
Step 2. List one thing you'll do for each category listed in the Monthly Action Plan.
Step 3. Complete all activities in 30 days or less.
Video sponsor: Urbanimmersive
They provide business solutions for real estate photographers around the world, including scheduling, payment, photo delivery and single property websites.
For more details visit their website: www.urbanimmersive.com
Video transcript:
The problem I see over and over again from photographers is that so many of them are sitting and waiting for things to happen to them instead of making things happen for them. They think it’s the problem out there, when in reality the problem is up here, right, because they're making the choice not to do things - that’s where the problem really is.
So if you’re the type of photographer who puts things off, then today is the day you flick the switch, and it all starts with this 3 step process that will help you move from procrastination to big time action taker.
Now before we get into that I would like to thank our sponsor for this episode, Urbanimmersive.com, and they provide scheduling, payment and photo delivery tools for real estate photographers. So for example, when it comes to single property websites they’ve got 11 different designs, and I must say that the quality of the Urbanimmersive designs surprised me, as I’ve seen website template designs from other companies that aren’t as good as these, at least in my view.
You can also customise each design for your various clients – so you can change colors, music, the agent branding and the management of the image slideshow. This means that once you customize everything you really have access to a lot more than just 11 designs, so you can deliver something that meets the visual needs of your clients, and I think they’re going to love that.
Here’s a quote I like from Dale Carnegie:
“Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.”
So what can you do? Well, the process we’ll look at today has 3 easy steps.
Step 1.
Step 1 is where we block time out to get stuff done, so we actually set time aside in our calendar. We do that because if you don’t put it in your calendar then photo shoots and editing takes over, and you don’t get it done.
Now what if you’re too busy because you’ve got so many shoots and you can’t take time out? Well, if you don’t have time to do this during regular business hours, then you might need to block time out at 11:00 at night on a Friday – if that’s all you can do right now then that’s what you need to do. There’s no excuses not to do that.
But what’s important here is that you set aside a big block of time in your calendar, and you keep setting that time aside until you finish your tasks.
Step 2.
Now we move onto step 2, and that’s where you identify what it is you need to do. To help you with this I’ve created this worksheet that you can print out so you can write on it (click here to download this PDF Monthly Action Plan), and then put this worksheet up on the wall in your office or somewhere visible so you can track where you’re at, and what you need to be doing.
Now, I know that 3 of the main areas where photographers aren’t taking action is around photography, marketing and pricing, so here’s what I want you to do:
Firstly, I want you to write down 1 thing you’ve been putting off around photography. Is there a skill you should be developing but you haven’t yet? Do you have some gear sitting around that you need to learn how to use? Write down 1 thing that you need to take action on, just 1, connected to photography, and if you’re using my worksheet write down your photography action step here.
Secondly, I want you to write down 1 thing you need to take action on for your marketing. Maybe it’s writing an email, or doing a blog post, or putting a marketing sequence together, but start off with just 1 thing and write that down, and add some extra notes so you know where you need to go with that marketing piece when you sit down to work on it.
Again, use the worksheet and write down your marketing action in here.
Finally, write down 1 thing you need to take action on that has to do with your prices, and you can write that in the pricing section of the worksheet here. For example, maybe you haven’t yet formalised your pricing for commercial clients, or maybe you need to set your next price rise and when you’re going to do that, but whatever it is, find one thing that you need to take action on for pricing.
Step 3.
Step 3 in this process is to complete these tasks during the time you’ve blocked out. So if you blocked time out from 11pm on Friday night, you need to work through this list and complete what you can during that time. If you don’t finish it on the first day, then block more time out in the days or weeks ahead.
However, you need to set a time limit so you don’t keep putting it off, and I'd recommend you give yourself 1 month to complete all 3 of those action steps, right? You’ve got one month from today to get them all done.
Once you complete all of those tasks, then I want you to pick 3 more tasks for photography, marketing and pricing, and write down 1 action step that you need to take for each category. Then once again, block time out in your calendar, and set yourself a time limit of 1 month to complete all 3 of those activities.
Then do it again, and again, and again, and by this time next year you’ll have completed at least 12 big actions for your photography, for your marketing and for your pricing, and if you do that then I guarantee you’ll see a big change in your business.
Need some help?
If you do get stuck and you’ve identified a need but you don’t know what you should do about it, then think about joining my coaching program where I’ve got over 500 modules, we meet for group calls every week and I’m available for 1 to 1 coaching calls as well, and if you’re interested check out buildaphotographybusiness.com/reps.
Alright, that’s it for today. Go and check out Urbanimmersive.com, and if you like this video be sure to leave a comment, and then subscribe or like this page.
My name’s Darryl Stringer, and I’ll see you next time – bye for now.