{"id":52536,"date":"2017-06-10T02:42:45","date_gmt":"2017-06-10T09:42:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=52536"},"modified":"2017-06-10T02:44:46","modified_gmt":"2017-06-10T09:44:46","slug":"photography-business-101-by-eric-kim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2017\/06\/10\/photography-business-101-by-eric-kim\/","title":{"rendered":"Photography Business 101 by ERIC KIM"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Dear friend,<\/p>\n

If you wanna start your own photography business, here are some practical tips I’d give you:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

1. Barbell pricing: free or expensive<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Give away your information or services for free.<\/p>\n

For example, give away your ebooks, photos, and information away for free– but when you charge money, make it very expensive<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

For example, give your client a free 1-hour consultation session. But then make sure you charge your client thousands of dollars for your services (if they actually want to book you).<\/p>\n

Give away your blog posts and information for free, but charge thousands of dollars for a workshop<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Give away free ebooks<\/a> but make your products<\/a> expensive.<\/p>\n

The death of the photographic middle class:<\/strong> This is my theory: in the future, the middle class will no longer exist. If you read the book \u00e2\u20ac\u0153CAPITAL<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, the concept is the rich are getting richer, and the middle class is either getting poorer or richer. In America, I see it happening. The rich are buying more Lamborghinis and Teslas, while the poor are still barely paying rent, and their minimum hour wages aren’t getting any higher.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

With Apple: their iPad is getting cheaper ($330) while their high end stuff ($3,500+ MacBook Pro laptop is getting more expensive).<\/p>\n

Music is either free (Spotify) or very expensive concerts, or $65 concert t-shirts. Or $300 YEEZY Kanye West sneakers.<\/p>\n

I see it here in Vietnam. The poor can barely scrape by. The rich are showered with Bentlys, Rolls-Royce Phantoms, Rolex watches, Hermes bags, and iPhones galore.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In the future, a wedding photographer will either cost $500 or $5,000+. In the future, a photography workshop will either be free (YouTube) or very expansive ($10,000+). Of course there will still be a lot of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153middle price\u00e2\u20ac\u009d stuff, but these photographers and entrepreneurs will struggle to sell anything– because competition in the middle will be too fierce.<\/strong><\/p>\n

2. Seek to be #1 in your field<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Peter Thiel (co-founder of PayPal) has a theory of a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153creative monopoly\u00e2\u20ac\u009d– you need to be #1 in your field, or you will die, or just struggle to survive.<\/p>\n

For example, I’m currently enjoying monopoly profits from STREET PHOTOGRAPHY<\/a>, which frees up my mind from money– so I can actually write articles like this on how you can earn money. To be frank, I already have enough money to last me the rest of my life. I don’t need more money. But certainly holding the street photography throne (I’m #1 on Google for street photography) gives me peace of mind, to help society more.<\/p>\n

Google owns the search engine market, by a long shot. Nothing comes close to Google Maps. Even Uber is dominating Lyft by a large margin.<\/p>\n

Apple controls the smartphone market with the iPhone. Samsung doesn’t really come close.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

For me, I became number one on Google for street photography<\/a> by blogging about it a lot. I’ve written 2,700+ blog posts from 2011-2017. No human being has written as much on street photography, or ever will. I’m the most passionate street photographer I know, and also the most passionate photography blogger.<\/p>\n

Without passion, you will never become #1 in your field, or sub-gene.<\/p>\n

3. Dominate a niche<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Practical advice: seek to dominate a niche, and then scale upwards.<\/strong><\/p>\n

For example, choose something very specific. So for example, you can focus on \u00e2\u20ac\u0153film fashion photography\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. Or you can specialize in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153minimalist architecture photography\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. Be specific.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I was lucky, when I started this blog in 2010, there were no blogs just on street photography that showed you how<\/em> to shoot street photography. I had good timing, but I also worked my ass off. It took me probably 1,000 shots of espresso to write the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Learn from the masters of photography<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d series.<\/p>\n

So try to find a niche that you’re interested in photography that hasn’t been blogged about a lot, then seek to dominate that niche. It will take you at least 6 years.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Even now, I work 14 hours a day, 7 days a week. No rest for the wicked.<\/p>\n

I drink probably 5-6 cups of coffee (black) a day. No breakfast or lunch. Without a love of hustle, you will never make it.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

If you want to make it in the field of photography business and entrepreneurship, this is my takeaway advice:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Build TRUST<\/a><\/strong>: trust is a simple word for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153branding\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. Trust takes a long time. Don’t bullshit your audience. Be honest. Be generous, helpful, and useful. Do this everyday for five years, and you will build your name. <\/li>\n
  2. Charge a lot of money: when you do sell something, charge 25% more money than you think you should.<\/strong> We often under-sell ourselves in business. Don’t rate yourself as cheap. <\/li>\n
  3. Never stop hustling<\/a><\/strong>: while you’re watching Netflix and dicking around on Facebook or Instagram or Snapchat, someone is building their personal empire. Don’t get left in the dust. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Lastly, always believe in yourself, do deadlifts<\/a>, drink espresso, and be strong.<\/p>\n

    Always,
    \nEric<\/p>\n

    Photography entrepreneurship 101 ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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