{"id":105605,"date":"2018-07-24T22:42:36","date_gmt":"2018-07-25T05:42:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=105605"},"modified":"2018-07-24T22:47:23","modified_gmt":"2018-07-25T05:47:23","slug":"1000-true-followers-how-to-build-your-own-niche-in-photography","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2018\/07\/24\/1000-true-followers-how-to-build-your-own-niche-in-photography\/","title":{"rendered":"1,000 True Followers: How to Build Your Own Niche in Photography"},"content":{"rendered":"

A simple entrepreneurial<\/a> idea: to thrive in today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s modern society, create your own niche, create your own ideal lifestyle, and figure out how you can improve your life!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a niche?<\/h2>\n

\"hands<\/p>\n

The word \u00e2\u20ac\u0153niche\u00e2\u20ac\u009d comes from \u00e2\u20ac\u0153nicher\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, which literally means to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153build a nest\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s based on \u00e2\u20ac\u0153nidus\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, which means ‘nest’ in Latin.<\/p>\n

So this is fascinating to me, because of these reasons:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. A niche (nest) is small. You can only fit so many baby birds into a nest. <\/li>\n
  2. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s this concept of an \u00e2\u20ac\u0153ecological niche\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, in which organisms create new environments which are favorable to their thriving in life! (Karl Popper describes this in his book, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153In search of a better world). <\/li>\n
  3. A nest is a good visual: A mother bird (aka, you) builds her own nest, stick by stick! And if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever seen a nest, it is often \u00e2\u20ac\u0153scrappy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d made up of random bits and scrap material. And it takes a lot of work, dedication, and effort for a momma bird to build a nest. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    \n

    1,000 true followers<\/h2>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    The technologist Kevin Kelley came up with a good idea called \u00e2\u20ac\u01531,000 true fans\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d that in order for you to make a living in your niche, all you need is (roughly) around 1,000 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153true fans\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u201d individuals willing to invest their time and money into you!<\/p>\n

    In today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s crazy social media world, we are obsessed for follower numbers for the sake of numbers. I think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a natural human bias to like seeing numbers go up for the sake of it (anchoring effect in psychology). Also our modern world is becoming more \u00e2\u20ac\u0153quantified\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d we measured progress and worth in life with numbers. And as humans, we are constantly comparing ourselves with others. Therefore you will look at your follower count and compare yourself with other photographers or people in your field.<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    Now this is dangerous, because what usually happens is the following:<\/p>\n

    \n We become the play-thing of algorithms which end up \u00e2\u20ac\u0153nudging\u00e2\u20ac\u009d our behavior.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    For example, Facebook (who also owns Instagram) has a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153news feed algorithm<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00e2\u20ac\u201d there are certain types of posts which get more likes, views, and comments. So eventually what happens is that you only post content to social media which you know will get a lot of likes, and slowly, over time, compromising your initial authentic vision and voice.<\/p>\n

    \n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    You don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need thousands of followers. You don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need tens of thousands of followers. You don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need hundreds of thousands of followers. You don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need millions of followers.<\/p>\n

    All you need is a small and dedicated niche and followers who truly believe in you, your message, and your artistry.<\/p>\n

    \n

    How to build your own niche<\/h2>\n

    \"library<\/p>\n

    To build your own niche is quite simple:<\/p>\n

    \n Make your own blog, and keep writing and sharing content which has a strong and compelling message.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    I advocate for a blog<\/a>, because it will give you better long-term control and freedom of your own platform. Simply put, signup via bluehost.com and install WordPress.org.<\/p>\n

    Of course you can have a Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, etc \u00e2\u20ac\u201d but only devote 10% of your focus on these social media platforms. Devote 90% of your focus on your own blog and website\/platform. Only building a following on social media is digital sharecropping<\/a> (do you remember how the owners used to trick poor folks into thinking they actually \u00e2\u20ac\u0153owned\u00e2\u20ac\u009d their land, whereas in reality, they were indentured servants?\u00e2\u20ac\u201d just a step above slave). Don’t build your kingdom on quicksand<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    \n

    Google SEO<\/h2>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    The more specific your website or blog, the better.<\/p>\n

    For example, when I started this blog, I knew my niche was going to be \u00e2\u20ac\u0153street photography\u00e2\u20ac\u009d not \u00e2\u20ac\u0153photography\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. The ocean of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153photography\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is far too vast. I started to focus on my passionate niche, which is street photography (a puddle in comparison to the entire field of photography).<\/p>\n

    I blogged passionately about street photography from 2010-2018 (8 years), and over 4,000 blog posts. Now I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m #1 on Google for street photography. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m glad I focused on \u00e2\u20ac\u0153street photography\u00e2\u20ac\u009d when starting off, instead of just doing general photography blogging.<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    The basic way SEO (search engine optimization)<\/a> works is this:<\/p>\n

    \n Write lots of high quality content which gets linked to by other people on the Internet.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    Google\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153page rank algorithm\u00e2\u20ac\u009d works like academia. The more \u00e2\u20ac\u0153prestigious\u00e2\u20ac\u009d websites link to your website, the higher you will rank!<\/p>\n

    So a simple tip is when you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re starting off your own website, blog, or platform, do \u00e2\u20ac\u0153guest blog posts\u00e2\u20ac\u009d on more popular websites in your field, and link back to your website.<\/p>\n

    Also, I recommend focusing on writing passionately about whatever niche you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re interested in, and try to do it 100x better than anyone else you see doing it. For example when I started blogging on street photography, there was very little information on the Internet on how<\/em> to shoot street photography. So I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m lucky I had the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153first mover advantage\u00e2\u20ac\u009d; and I persisted \u00e2\u20ac\u201d 8 years of constant blogging. On average I write 1-2 blog posts everyday, and I have over 1,000 videos on my YouTube channel (which I link back to my blog).<\/p>\n

    \n

    Persistence<\/h2>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re building your platform, I recommend keeping your day job. Because if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re trying to monetize too quickly, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not going to create good content or information\u00e2\u20ac\u201d you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to chase the quick nickels. But more important than quick money is building trust.<\/strong> And we all know that building trust takes a long long time \u00e2\u20ac\u201d how long does it take before you consider someone a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153true friend\u00e2\u20ac\u009d or your \u00e2\u20ac\u0153best friend\u00e2\u20ac\u009d?<\/p>\n

    Also recognize you might be the smartest, hardest working, and intelligent person in your niche and still not be able to make a living from your passion. Why? Sometimes the technology, the infrastructure, or society isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t ready for it yet. For example in today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s world, Cryptocurrency like Bitcoin and others are taking off, because we finally have good enough technology and internet infrastructure to allow for it.<\/p>\n

    The same goes with photography \u00e2\u20ac\u201d today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the best time to be a photography entrepreneur because very good digital cameras are now super cheap and affordable, and everyone has a camera in their phone! And now we finally have fantastic internet connectivity which has totally changed the game for photography.<\/p>\n

    \n

    How to increase your probability of success<\/h2>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    To be successful in your niche, these are things you want to increase:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Hustle harder (the harder you work, obviously the more likely you are to build loyal followers, who might one day purchase your products or services)<\/li>\n
    2. Avoid ineffective work: 90% of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153work\u00e2\u20ac\u009d doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make a meaningful impact. For example sometimes we waste time with emails, whereas it might be fake work that really distracts us from work that makes an impact. For example for myself, I create the most value when I blog; I try to avoid doing other \u00e2\u20ac\u0153busy work\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. <\/li>\n
    3. Experiment: Try taking unusual risks in your field. For example, I \u00e2\u20ac\u0153open sourced\u00e2\u20ac\u009d all my photos, free full resolution on my Flickr which was a huge innovation. The same goes with keeping all my photos, videos, pictures, ebooks, available open source. Much of what we are interested in doing (yet seems crazy in our head) is worth experimenting with! Just try it out, to see what happens!<\/strong> Nobody can predict the future – just experiment, see what happens, then modify your future behavior. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      \n

      How to increase your luck<\/h2>\n

      \"\"<\/p>\n

      To me, luck is having favorable opportunities.<\/p>\n

      To increase your opportunities you can:<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Go to the right conferences to network with people in your niche you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re interested in contacting with. <\/li>\n
      2. The more you blog (interesting and meaningful stuff), more people will discover you on Google, or via word of mouth. <\/li>\n
      3. Upload interesting videos to your own YouTube channel \u00e2\u20ac\u201d YouTube has been great for me as a trust-building and discovery tool. Consider that youtube is the second most used search engine after google (and google owns YouTube). <\/li>\n
      4. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Cold call\u00e2\u20ac\u009d or \u00e2\u20ac\u0153cold email\/message\u00e2\u20ac\u009d people you want to contact in your field. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t take it personally if people don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t respond. If you send 100 emails and get 1 response, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re probably doing well. Also use LinkedIn to contact certain people in your field you want to connect with, or Twitter. <\/li>\n
      5. The more niche, specific, and uncommon your field, the better. Easier to be #1 as the world\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s most famous \u00e2\u20ac\u0153color flash film street style photographer\u00e2\u20ac\u009d than the world\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s most famous \u00e2\u20ac\u0153fashion photographer\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
        \n

        BUILD YOUR NICHE TODAY!<\/h2>\n

        \"\"<\/p>\n

        You must build your own niche (nest) stick by stick — just like a good momma bird flying to and fro from the nest.<\/p>\n

        Every stick is like every photo, blog post, video you share. Every day is like a new stick.<\/p>\n

        \"Eric<\/p>\n

        Be persistent, hustle hard, and know that you have the power of your own destiny in your own hands! So disregard a business plan; build your own niche today and don’t delay– you’re racing against hourglass sand!<\/p>\n

        BE BRAZEN,
        \nERIC<\/p>\n

        \n

        Photography Entrepreneurship 101<\/a><\/h1>\n

        \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

        Never stop innovating: “Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Photography Entrepreneurship<\/a>“.<\/p>\n

        \n

        Photography Entrepreneurship 101<\/h2>\n

        \"\"<\/p>\n