ADVICE
Question
Continued from previous page
PAUL: My business is relatively
young, and I sometimes question
whether I should be establishing
a niche or if I should just take
any business I can get?
PAUL: What do you see as
the pros and cons of being
self-employed versus working
for a larger, often moreestablished company?
Answer
in your marketplace, then you can price it accordingly. But if you're doing the same thing that
20 other photographers are doing, it's going to be a little tougher to charge more. Because
what's going to distinguish you? If you're passionate about something and if you're doing
great work, the financial part of it is going to come and you'll be able to charge what it's worth
because you're good at what you're doing."
LEE: "Well, the easy answer is the buck stops here. You're responsible for your own destiny.
A really great quote I heard recently: 'It's not my fault, but it's my responsibility.' If you're in
business and something goes wrong or something happens, it may not be your fault, but
things happen. You can't go to the boss and say, 'Hey, I screwed up. Fix this for me.' You
have to be willing to take the responsibility of doing everything.
"Some people are good self-motivators, good self-starters. There are people who work from
home and can get up in the morning and they can get a ton of work done sitting in their
pajamas in their kitchen. And there are other people who would love to do that, who would
love to try that, but they wake up in the morning and just can't get themselves motivated,
can't get themselves going. And that's the other part to it. You have to make sure that if
you're working for yourself, that you're going to have the discipline it takes to do what you
need to do. And if you're just starting, that means hustling a whole lot. You've gotta be out
there, you've gotta be doing the work, you've gotta be making contacts."
PAUL: As a freelance shooter
who stays plenty busy with the
creative side, do you think it's
worth it to just bite the bullet
and hire someone to take care
of the financials?
LEE: "If you find that the business part of it is really difficult or you're not doing an adequate
PAUL: I know that one of the
LEE: "We've been really fortunate because, many times, new clients find us. When you've
most intimidating parts of
starting your own business is
establishing an initial client
base. Do you have any advice for
seeking out new business?
job at it, and if you're able to sustain yourself and maybe feed another mouth doing what you're
doing, then hire somebody to take care of the accounting or do the business part for you.
"There are a lot of really talented people in a lot of different industries who have to rely on
business managers. You look at musicians, you look at artists, and they are phenomenal
at what they do. But if they had to manage their money, if they had to take care of billing,
it would drive them nuts. Sometimes, people find that the hardest part of doing their job is
sending out a bill."
been in a business for a while, your reputation is there. If you've got a good reputation, many
times clients will seek you out. I think, if I was out meeting a client for the first time, I would
want to have a portfolio that showed the kind of work that I do, but more importantly, I would
learn enough about that client – before I walked in to meet with them – to know what they do.
Get a good sense of what their needs are.
"The other thing – and I think that this is maybe a little bit more 'old school versus new school'
or 'old guy versus millennial' – is to be polite, dress appropriately, send thank you notes after
you have an appointment with someone. Even if you don't close the deal with them the day
of, send them a note and thank them for their time. Many times, businesses or people hire
other businesses or other people because of a feeling, because of a relationship that they
feel they could build. And so, while it's certainly going to be somewhat skill-based, many
times they're going to hire you because you impressed them with the kind of person you are.
If you're in our business, there's a lot of people who do what we do. A lot of times, people
are hiring us because they feel good about the way that we present ourselves, they feel that
there's a level of experience that's going to be valuable for them. They feel that they can relate
to us."
Paul Flessland Photo
LOCATION Moorhead, MN
PHONE 320-583-8786
WEB paulflesslandphoto.com
56
FEBRUARY 2016
Media Productions
LOCATION 3241 University Dr. S, Fargo
PHONE 701-237-6863
WEB mediaproductions.com