Take light!
Light from the sun brightens Earth.
Light from a bulb illuminates the room.
But light from a laser . . . can cut through anything (just ask Han Solo).
So why is light normally safe and harmless letting us enjoy the day or read a nice book, but in the form of a laser can be deadly?
The answer is: FOCUS. Lasers are just 'focused light'. They show us the power of focus. Imagine how much more powerful your business would be if all your time and energy were more focused. "Specializing" in your business gives you the power of focus. I'm going to tell you a few ways that specializing has helped us succeed in our business and I hope it helps you see the advantages you can enjoy by focusing yours.
Pick up your yellow pages and look at the Photographers in your area. I bet most of their ads say that they do everything: “portraits, children, weddings, sports, babies, seniors, animals, bar mitzvahs, landscapes, toadstools (okay, I’m exaggerating, but you get the point). It seems like a good idea to offer everything, right? I mean you don’t want to turn away business . . . do you?
Here’s the problem with offering everything. Imagine a radio station that played every kind of music: rock, classical, Christian, rap, country, reggae, & blues. Would you listen to that station (would anyone?), or would you find one that specializes in the kind of music you want? Radio stations have figured this out – you only hear stations today that specialize. So if you put yourself in the place of an excited young bride who is looking through the phone book, would you want a photographer who does everything? Or would you want someone who specializes in weddings? If you were an adoring new mother, would you want a “baby specialist”, or would you be content with someone who mentioned “babies” in the middle of a list of things they can do? So you see how it’s very easy to get passed over when you do offer many types of photography. In trying to catch everybody . . . you end up gaining nobody.
Besides attracting more clients, "specializing" allows you to do what you love to do. I’ve talked to lots of new photographers who do weddings . . . who HATE to do weddings. I can see the relief in their eyes when I suggest they specialize in something they love. We all know that we do a better job when we work on something we love as opposed to something we just happen to be “good at”. Like John Eldredge says in his book Wild At Heart, “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” Sometimes it takes a little bit of “doing everything” to find out what exactly you want to specialize in. But once you find the type of photography that makes you “come alive” . . . that is what you need to build your business around. That is the only way to succeed and enjoy every day of work.
[So don’t just agree to do any session that people request of you. It’s okay to tell people, “I’d love to help you out, but it’s really not my specialty. I would recommend Studio Blank for that – they are awesome!” Also, keep in mind that it’s fine to do the occasional gig that might be outside your specialty – just don’t advertise that you do it, and don’t put the images on your website.]
Another thing that is great about specializing is that it simplifies your marketing. Pretend that you work for a marketing firm and a client hires your services. You ask her who her target market is and she says, “New mom’s, expecting moms, to-be-brides, people who play sports, people with pets, people with families, high schoolers, and Jewish moms with young sons.” After your heart attack, you would probably decide to drop the crazy client. But that is the job for the photographer who does everything - their advertising budget is very high and spread very thin. But when you focus your business on one target market, you increase the power of your advertising. All your time, energy, money and brainpower can be locked onto one target, creating a laser that cuts through anything.
What specialties are there to choose from? When we started Heather Bookout Photography, we specialized in the first year of life: maternity, babies and children. We concluded that this is a narrow enough specialty because there are only a couple of months separating our clients who go from maternity to baby. And there’s only a couple of years separating babies from children (repeat clients). That specialty has worked very well for us. Getting people on baby plans is the huge payoff for our niche. I know very successful wedding photographers and I know photographers who just do families and make a great living. So there is no short-list of specialties – it’s only limited by what you want to do the most. Hey, invent your own specialty.
After we had achieved some success with HBP we decided to add another photographer. (you may have or may be thinking about partnering with another shooter). The way we made it work was to choose another specialty for our new photog (this prevents clients from being concerned about which photographer they will get). So we invented “Studio B” for high school seniors, starring Amy Douglass. We marketed it as a separate business to avoid watering down our brand and keeping the benefits of specializing. After all, what senior wants to go to a baby photographer? (They’re already sensitive about being treated like a baby). The way we structured it was to form Bookout Studios which houses 2 photography studios (HBP & Studio B), 1 video production studio (Bookout Films) and whatever specialty we decide to add later. Everything marketed as a stand alone business. Every manager responsible for their own marketing ideas and execution. Thus, not losing the power of focus and maintaining laser-like precision from each artist.
Think about your business like the first Star Wars movie. The whole Rebellion Fleet was focused on one thing: shooting one laser into one tiny hole to destroy the Death Star and win the war. They sent everyone on the one mission. They lost all their fighter jets except one. But because of their single-mindedness and perseverance, and focused plan, young Skywalker made it through and blew up the space station. So when you focus on a single purpose – at least 1 of your ships is going to make it through.
So that’s my viewpoint on specialization. Hope it helps you in building a profitable business and in finding your passion. So stay on target . . . stay on target . . . and keep your focus.
