What are you investing into your clients?

I didn’t enter my the business world as my adult life was beginning. I started out as a professional minister. For 10 years I worked with kids, teens and parents in a couple of Kansas City churches. That beginning has given me a different way of operating business. With that thought in mind, let me ask you a question.

What do your clients represent to you?

Seems like a simple enough question, right? You are in business to make money. The money doesn’t come in, and you are not an option for professional photography in your town. On the one hand, I couldn’t agree more. I believe that you need to charge and get paid what you are worth.

But step back and  think about the question again. Think about it with these eyes:

• The art of photography that you fell in love with however long ago that it was.
• The mother who comes in 2-3 times a year to have her son’s life recorded with your beautiful images. My assumption is you have attached more than just a dollar sign to her name. You have come to appreciate her and her son. You are excited to help them document his life. You have come to love that client.
• The high school senior or bride (hopefully not one in the same) who comes to you and is visibly nervous and uncomfortable in front of the camera. But by the end of the session and when they come back to view the images love them AND they way they look. You love that feeling of building confidence.

To really have a great business, no matter what you base the business around, it has to be ‘about’ something. Have you been able to decipher what your photography studio is about beyond bringing in income?

What are you investing into your clients?

Denise Lee Yohn recently wrote an article about the importance of love in business. Not something you hear very often, but read through the article and you see her point. What do you love about your business and the clients who walk into your studio everyday?

Most people don’t naturally feel good about the way they look. They are insecure about their height, weight, shoe size, facial features, or any number of other issues. Because of this, photographers have the unique opportunity to help make each of their clients feel good about themselves – even if for just one day.

As a photographer, you have the rare opportunity to help people truly feel good about themselves AND make money while doing it. Not only that, but you can give your life and business a sense of purpose. You can help your staff a feeling of doing something beyond doing a job.

So figure it out. You’ve had people over the years take time to invest into you. Let your business be more than just a way to make a living. Let it be about investing into the people who walk through your doors to give you money for the incredible product you are able to create.