Motivation is the key force in success whether it is in stock photography or any other endeavor!
Building A Stock Photography Career
In many ways building a stock photography career can be very
simple. Create photos…get them online. What could be simpler than that? Of
course, as they say, the devil is in the details. As in what images to shoot,
how many to shoot, where best to get them distributed, how to keep production
costs under control, how much pre, and post, production is appropriate. Hmmm,
the list tends to on and on.
The Most Important Ingredient For Success: Motivation
As a matter of fact, the list, if you really want to excel
in stock photography, gets quite daunting and even complex. To really rise to
the top tier of stock shooters requires, at least in my opinion, undertaking a
lot of tasks that one really doesn’t want to do. At least there are a lot of
tasks that I have to do that I don’t want to!
Which brings me to that most important ingredient for stock
photography success; If I had to list one ingredient that is most vital to
success as a stock photographer it would be motivation.
Are You Willing To Do Whatever It Takes?
The question is: Are you willing to do whatever it takes to
succeed? If the answer is yes, then you can succeed. If you aren’t the greatest
photographer you can learn and get better. If you don’t know what to shoot the
agencies will tell you, or you can learn to discern what the trends are and the
needs are. If you work flow is
inefficient all it takes is time, dedication and the Internet to find a better
way.
Dealing With Obstacles
Motivation enables you to deal with the obstacles to making a stock photography career viable. Patience and perseverance are examples of qualities necessary for success and requiring motivation to maintain. It took me ten years before I was earning enough money from stock to let go of my assignment work. Are you willing to spend ten years working at something to reach a high level of success? Are you willing to take a hard look at what is holding you back…and then put the work in to eliminate those obstacles?
Motivation enables you to deal with the obstacles to making a stock photography career viable. Patience and perseverance are examples of qualities necessary for success and requiring motivation to maintain. It took me ten years before I was earning enough money from stock to let go of my assignment work. Are you willing to spend ten years working at something to reach a high level of success? Are you willing to take a hard look at what is holding you back…and then put the work in to eliminate those obstacles?
I Am Motivated; I will Find A Way
This is an ongoing exercise as well. Right now I am
reviewing all of my contracts with my various second-shooters. They need
updating. It isn’t something I want to do, but I know that if I don’t take care
of it now I will pay for it later. I have now spent four years furiously
working on building web traffic, something I really don’t want to be doing, but
that I feel will ultimately be of significant importance. Too, while I am at an
age where the temptation is to say that I have earned a rest, maybe even
semi-retirement, I am setting new higher goals of production. In this case
there is not just the struggle to produce more, but to do it in a way that
doesn’t make it feel like a burden. But hey, I am motivated! I will find a way.
