Photoshoots | Editorial vs Commercial | Part 3

How To decide your Artistic Identity and Business Focus | Part 3

Business Focus | Entrepreneur

There’s an element of being an entrepreneur in all of these choices |

• editorial photoshoots
• commercial photoshoots
• something new (entrepreneur)

That’s where we left off in Part 2 of this series.

 

While most of wish that we could focus 100% of our attention on the artistic side of our endeavors, today’s reality is that we must be both a good artist and business person to be successful.  Regardless if you work for a company or are running your own show, your focus on business needs to revolve around being an entrepreneur.

Strategy Canvas | Today vs. Tomorrow

The concept behind the first-stage Strategy Canvas is comparing where you are today with where you want to be tomorrow.  By “tomorrow,” I mean what will make you the best you–an extreme version of the best aspects of your personality and art.

Tip:  It’s ok to have diversity in your art and it’s also ok to specialize.  In other words, it’s ok to say “My art is not for you.”

Here’s how to find your niche |

1. Write down 5 artistic and 5 business categories that are important to you.
2. Give yourself an honest score in each category as of today.  The range of scores should be 1 to 5.  What the range of scores means is up to you.
3. Score yourself again on where you want to be two years from today.
4. If you have access to Excel, Google Chart or something similar, graph your results to better help visualize the difference between Today and Tomorrow

Example Strategy Canvas |  Today vs. Tomorrow

Tip:  The key to being on the right track with your Strategy Canvas:  there should be large divergencies in more than half of your categories when comparing your Today and Tomorrow scores.  If there isn’t:  try again.

Tip:  An excellent tool for all the details behind the development of a Strategy Canvas is the book Blue Ocean Strategy.

Tip:  For more useful art and business tools, click HERE.

In Part 4, we’ll look at how to move from your Today canvas to your Tomorrow canvas.

This story is an excerpt from Concept, my upcoming photography book.  To learn more about my books and classes and to receive a discount, you’re invited to subscribe to my List by clicking HERE.