Welcome to another Reader FAQ! Thanks for submitting your questions to us – we get such a thrill out of answering our readers most pressing questions about their businesses.
This is an ongoing series, so make sure to read the rest of our Reader FAQ posts.
If you have a question that hasn’t been answered already, check out the info at the bottom of this post for how to submit.
You never know, it just may be featured here on the bloggy-blog!
On with today’s question…
What do you think is the biggest secret to your success?
This is a tough question to answer, and I hate to sound vague, but the biggest “secret” to our success is no secret at all. Its simply relationships. How does any small, service-minded business succeed?
It’s people.
There is absolutely no software or album or website company out there that will do more for your business than loving people and building relationships. But you have to have an authentic attitude built around humility and service. Don’t build relationships in order to get ahead in your business – that kind of attitude will hurt you more than you can imagine, not only in wedding photography, but in life. Build relationships in order to help other people. Care about other people. Work hard on your business and work hard at loving others. That’s the formula for success – life success – in our opinion.
A really great book to read on this topic is “Love is the Killer App” by Tim Sanders. The book really focuses on how important truly loving others and putting them first really is. Highly recommended.
What are the most important things you got from reading Fast Track Photographer, and how have you incorporated them into your lives/business?
For me, the most important thing I learned from reading Fast Track Photographer was to realize that I needed to make a decision as to what kind of photographer I am – am I a signature brand photographer or a freelance photographer? Both have tons of positives and negatives, but seeing them clearly laid out before me made me realize that what I thought I was in my head may not have been what I was being to my clients (which I think is a big struggle for a lot of photographers).
In the end, I decided that we were going to be a signature brand business, which meant that we needed to center our brand around our personalities in order to appeal to brides. This is when we decided to blog more heavily about our personal lives and we began the process of rebranding our business from it’s original name, Jeff Youngren Photography, into what it is now, The Youngrens.
The other major concept which I found really affirming was the notion that no matter what I think (or how tired, bummed out, or discouraged I am), I’ve got something unique I can bring to the table and that uniqueness is valuable. This lesson will never grow old!
We LOVE answering questions from our readers (we’re not kidding, it’s the best part of this blog).
Head over to our Photographer-Only Facebook Group and vote with others on topics you’re dying to hear about!
***As always, make sure to read through the current Reader FAQ posts to make sure your question hasn’t been answered already!***
Hugs,
Erin
