{WE’RE SO EXCITED TO WELCOME NATHAN HOLRITZ OF PHOTOGRAPHERS EDIT BACK FOR HIS SECOND POST IN HIS SERIES ON THE LAURA LEE CREATIVE BLOG! YOU GUYS ARE GOING TO LOVE HIM AND ALL THE KNOWLEDGE HE IS GOING TO SHARE FOR YOUR BUSINESS. TODAY, NATHAN WILL BE TALKING ABOUT DOING THE RIGHT THINGS FOR YOUR BUSINESS AND YOUR LIFE! GRAB A CUP OF COFFEE OR TEA AND MEET NATHAN!}
I previously shared How to Get Things Done Quickly and Easily, but today I want to take a step back and ask you: are you even doing the right things?
There’s no question that we have lots to keep up with as photography business owners. And, it’s absolutely vital that we have an efficient system that enables us to manage that to-do list. But, what if that list could be 30-50% shorter, to begin with? What if we could just focus on the tasks and projects that would most effectively grow our business so that we could spend less time in front of the computer, and spend more time doing (enter your favorite activity here)?
The biggest step to focusing your energy on what matters most is establishing a Big Picture View.
In her book, Time Management From the Inside Out, Julie Morgenstern says, “No matter how hectic life gets, the most successful people in life have a big-picture view that helps them rise above the chaos and maintain their perspective. A big-picture view is your overriding vision, your belief, simply put, of the meaning of what your life is all about, of what you want it to be. Your big-picture view keeps you on track, providing the context and motivation for all your decisions about how you spend your time.”
It’s easy to get caught up in the busywork of running a photography business if we don’t have an overarching set of goals – a Big Picture View – that drives our life, which then drives the business model that we develop, which then drives what we put on our to-do list each day, then we’ll waste a lot of time on things that don’t really matter.
So how do we develop that Big Picture View, and spend our time doing the right things?
#1 – Be Clear About Our Values
The first step toward developing a Big Picture View is being clear about our values. Values are – very simply – those ideals that bring us the greatest happiness. For example, my values are Health, Growth, Simplicity, Kindness, Connectedness, Proactivity, Consistency.
Being clear about what brings us joy as a human being will enable us to establish life goals for ourselves that will be most fulfilling, which in turn means that we can develop a business model and a weekly workflow that are most fulfilling.
(For more about how to establish clear values, download Tony Robbins’ free e-book, ReAwaken the Giant Within!)
#2 – Be Clear About Our Strengths
It doesn’t make sense developing goals that don’t play to our strengths as individuals. Pushing ourselves outside our comfort zones is a great thing from time to time, but we should be focusing the majority of our time on what we’re best at, in order to maximize productivity.
For example, you may be a great photographer, but not a great accountant. Stop doing your own accounting, delegate that to a professional, and focus your energy on the talent that will bring you the biggest ROI for your life and business: photography.
Or maybe you know you aren’t the artist type, but are great at running a business, and want to be involved in the photo industry. Hire a team of photographers to handle the artistic work, and you run the business side of things!
Focus on what you’re good at. You’ll be glad you did.
#3 – Be Clear About Your Financial Goals
Very simply, you should know how much you need to make (to pay the bills and put money in savings), and how much you want to make (to buy the things you want, do the things you want, and see the places you want).
These numbers will help you decide the photography business model you develop, which will drive the services you offer, the clients you go after, and the prices you charge.
#4 – Be Clear About Your Time Goals
You might be able to make $400k a year, but if you’re working 80 hours a week in order to make that happen, is it worth it? Does that kind of life reflect your Values?
Being clear about your financial goals is important to developing a Big Picture View, but you also need to be clear about how much time you’re willing to put into a workweek, in order to make that money. Maybe it’s dialing your annual income goal back to $300k so you only have to work 60 hours a week, or back to $125k a year so you can cut your workweek hours to 30.
In Conclusion
Running a successful business requires putting the work in, but if you work intentionally, you’ll be able to minimize busy and burnout. Take some time today to establish your Big Picture View, start doing the right things, and enjoy your business and your life all the more!
Thank you, Nathan, for this helpful advice! And an even BIGGER thank you to Photographers Edit, one of the amazing sponsors for the 2018 Fireside Retreat! At the retreat, I’ll be teaching creative entrepreneurs and photographers everything I know about workflows, systems, work-life balance, outsourcing, growing a team, time management, getting rescued from our to-do lists, and so much more. We are SO THANKFUL for Photographer’s Edit and the incredible content they’re sharing here on the blog AND with the retreat attendees. AND we’re also excited to say we have three spots left!
You can learn more about Photographer’s Edit here.
You can learn more about The Fireside Retreat here.
Nathan is a minimalist, conversationalist, and entrepreneur. He is the owner of Photographer’s Edit and the host of two insightful and inspiring podcasts, Bokeh Podcast and The Love Portrait. In all of Nathan’s endeavors, he places his focus on the importance of relationships.
You can learn more about Nathan here!
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