{"id":76880,"date":"2018-01-19T07:22:30","date_gmt":"2018-01-19T15:22:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=76880"},"modified":"2018-01-19T07:26:17","modified_gmt":"2018-01-19T15:26:17","slug":"should-i-monetize-my-passion-for-photography","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2018\/01\/19\/should-i-monetize-my-passion-for-photography\/","title":{"rendered":"Should I Monetize My Passion for Photography?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Photography Entrepreneurship 101<\/a>, we have covered how<\/em> to make money from photography– but we haven’t quite covered should<\/em> you try to make a full-time living from your photographic passion?<\/p>\n

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DOWNLOAD PDF<\/h2>\n

PDF: Should I Monetize My Passion for Photography<\/a><\/p>\n

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1. “Why?” is always the first question we should ask ourselves<\/h2>\n
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Black and White Headshot of ERIC KIM by John Hall<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The reason why we should cover this topic:<\/p>\n

\n Before wasting many hours and years of your life before you try to monetize your photography — be really honest with yourself and ask, “Do I really want to monetize my photography, and make it my full-time living?”\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Let my use myself as an example.<\/p>\n

When I was in college, photography was my passion. However, I didn’t realistically think I could make a living from it. Especially from street photography<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Cindy shadow. Lisbon, 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Thus, I took the ‘barbell approach’ from Nassim Taleb — I opted for a secure job (online marketing) and did my photography and blogging on the side. But I still had the dream:<\/p>\n

\n “What if one day I could monetize my passion in street photography, and make a full-time living from it?”\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I did some searching around the web, yet couldn’t find any information on the philosophical repercussions of turning your passion into a full-time living.<\/p>\n

2. Does turning your passion into your living ruin your passion?<\/h2>\n

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My primary concern:<\/p>\n

\n Would turning my passion of photography into a living cause me to love my passion less?\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Or in other words: Would doing photography full-time take the joy out of photography? Would my photography start feeling like a chore and a job, rather than my passion?<\/p>\n

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\"Woman
Woman with orange hair. Lisbon, 2018<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To fast-forward about 10 years, I have finally been able to successfully turn my passion (photography, street photography, blogging) into a profitable online\/offline business. I have been able to successfully monetize my photography through the following channels:<\/p>\n