Whenever I meet new people and try to tell people what I do, it is difficult. I’m not quite sure how to introduce myself. but upon thinking about it for a little bit longer, The best way I would describe myself as an Internet photography entrepreneur. That is, my passion is using the power of the Internet, and to promote photography and interesting ways.

What is your personal goal?

I think a lot of people want to pursue photography to make their passion their living. But is the end all goal?

if so, then the way to do this is simple. To make a living from your passion and photography, sell either your services or your products online or in person.

And what is the best product or service to sell? I think it has to do with education. Either sell workshops, in person experiences, or teach online zoom workshops.

Or another idea is to develop hard physical products, like haptic industries. Produce and sell camera straps, or other camera accessories.

Create your own website and platform

The easiest first thing you could do is create your own website blog platform. Honestly at this point it’s all the same thing. Go on bluehost.com and install wordpress.org and start with any starter theme and just start posting. and what is the goal blogging? To never stop posting.

To niche or not to niche?

I say just pursue your passion. for example, my passion was street photography, and for over a decade I have blogged on street photography and other things.

I see a simple recipe for success is this: focus 80% of your blog posts on your niche, and allow the other 20% to be other random things on your mind.

Blogging versus vlogging

Also when it comes to blogging, focus at least 80 to 90% of your focus on blog posts. Other 10 to 20% on YouTube vlogs. why? Because ultimately YouTube is not your platform. But YouTube is the second worlds biggest search engine, which is a good way to help you get discovered. And make sure in your YouTube videos to always mention your first and last name in your own personal website or blog.

You are the brand and product

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Don’t get suckered into becoming a servant or a slave of another brand. Rather, promote yourself in your own personal brand above everything else. for example, better for Eric Kim to promote Eric Kim than Eric Kim to promote Leica or any other camera brand.

How to get discovered and how to get exposure

A simple way to get discovered is through Google SEO, that is, Google search engine optimization. That is when somebody searches for something on Google they find you. A simple way to do this it’s just think about what information you’re looking for, and write about it.

For example, in the early days I was very interested in how to conquer my own personal fears and street photography, and so I wrote blog post on that. Same thing goes with finding the best cameras for street photography, and then I also blog about that and my own personal experiences.

What is an expert?

An expert is literally somebody with experience. And if you have attempted or tried out something, do you have some sort of level of experience. And therefore anyone with even a tiny bit of experience as an expert.

Do not get intimidated by thinking that you don’t have enough experience. Because no matter how much of a newbie you are, there will always be someone else with less experience than you.

Your own personal raw experiences are king

My greatest advice is just talk about your experiences openly and honestly. Don’t sugarcoat anything. Be extremely raw and opinionated.

And don’t worry about getting hate or critique. If anything, the best measure of success the amount of hate, and negative feedback. Because at least you struck a chord with people. And the cardinal sin of the Internet is this: being boring.