Not long ago {1-2 months ago, to be precise}, from the exterior everything looked like there's no possible way that I could be struggling... I had no idea how to express my frustrations or my concerns because on the outside it looked like I was 'busy' and kept clients coming in.
What many people didn't see is that I had booked the sessions several months in advance at a low 'session fee' rate, a rate that couldn't even pay ONE of my bills by itself and relied on the sales of prints that simply .... weren't happening. I found myself spending nights searching for second jobs, googling ways in which to encourage sales, ways in which to restructure... and I found myself repeating the following things:
'I cannot make any sales!'
'No one is booking.'
'I am going in debt trying to keep this business a float.'
'I need a second job to support my family!'
There were times in which I would sit down and cry, for what felt like no reason. Nothing really had to trigger me, I simply just felt sad and pretty hopeless. This was MY dream and it was falling apart beneath me because I was trying to keep everyone happy and satisfied... but myself and my own family. I set up a charity in the middle of all this chaos, even though MY FAMILY needed money... even though WE needed help... and I am far too honest of a person to have not donated it and I did... and I also never touched the money that came from it even though there were times when I wanted to.
I even sat down in the middle of all this chaos and lowered the cost of prints to encourage something .... and nothing happened still.
But what did happen was interesting... one day, I sat down and said to myself : "These are the things that will need to change in order for you to support your family and keep this business going."
I went from telling myself 'I can't.' to 'I will' .... and I did. And I was terrified. Who restructures in the middle of the year?!?! The person inside me who thought she was doing the right thing by making it easier on everyone else but herself was scared. What if people won't commit to the new pricing structure? What if people won't book?
And so, I started to repeat these things:
"People will book you."
"You will make sales."
"You will stick to it."
"You will find ways to encourage sales that will not hurt you financially.''
"You will get out of debt."
"You will be successful."
One thing I never stopped believing is that I can do this and I have the talent to do it. I am repetitively modest when it comes to my work... but of course I know that I take good photographs, I worked VERY VERY hard to be able to do that and I am no longer afraid to say that my photographs are worth it... they are worth it. The time I put in to taking a better picture is worth it.
After I began to TRULY and actually put the value in to my work a very interesting thing happened.
I booked.
And booked.
And booked.
And not only did I book, I booked by making an amount that I was comfortable with. An amount that would help support my family and help me achieve the things I want to achieve with this business.
In 14 days... I booked 8 weddings, 2 seniors, 3 families, and 1 newborn. & I believe that it was the changes that I made, the mindset that I changed, and the way in which my approach shifted that helped me get those bookings .... because I could already take a picture, but I couldn't put myself first.
And now when I have setbacks, I will not allow my mind to shift in to the negative.... I will remain positive and understand that this is MY dream. I will make this happen and I can no longer worry about keeping everyone else happy if it means it will take away from my own happiness in the process. I believe we can BOTH be happy.
So you may have seen the changes around here... many of them very obvious, many of them subtle or behind the scenes. & if you know me personally, you know that I am as honest as they come... I feel being open and telling the truth is a good way to get people connected with you - although it also provides negative people with something to use against you but those people can only truly light the fire if you give them the fuel to light it - so am I afraid of the criticism? Absolutely not.
Is there a possibility that some won't continue to follow me on this journey? Possibly. But I cannot focus on that when I have my own family to support, my own obstacles to overcome, and my own dreams to make happen.
From here on out it will be onwards & upwards. And I will never look back.
Thank you to those of you who believe in me, who have chosen me to take part in your life and your journey and most importantly, thank you for being a part of mine.
Crystal
No comments:
Post a Comment