The Right Revenue Streams
"To Photograph is to hold one's breath when all faculties converge to capture a fleeting reality". -Henri Cartier-Bresson
Our Blog Challenge today is to choose a business model and I've been thinking about my response all day. The options are active models such as a coaching service or residual models such as a digital product. Active revenue streams require a lot more of your presence and attention while residual models require you to invest resources up front, but continue to earn revenue after the project is complete. The right answer depends on your personality and lifestyle and it's given me a lot to think about.
Active revenue streams usually involve more interaction with people but demand a lot of your attention. Residual revenue streams allow a lot more freedom of time and place but can be more isolating. As a professional photographer I'm currently working on a mix of both by offering photography services and brainstorming some digital products. I'm also planning on making my first offering free in exchange for feedback and testimonials from readers. So far these are my ideas;
1. Iphoneography hacks (iphone photography)
2. Protography for dummies (gopro photography)
3. Basics of photography guide
For those who are interested in photography but maybe aren't professionals, what products would most interest you? What are your biggest desires or frustrations when it comes to photography? What are you most interested in photographing? What are your go-to resources for learning more about the hobby? What new skills are you interested in learning?
My initiation into photography was a very hard road filled 12-16 hour days and often 160 miles of driving per day. Most days I didn't get a lunch break and barely had time to use the bathroom. I would spend all day shooting and driving and all night editing only to start again the next day. To survive I had to learn quick and I had to be incredibly efficient by breaking photography down into easy, repeatable steps that could practically be done on auto-pilot. I don't want other people to learn the hard way like I had to. I want to use those skills of simplification and high efficiency to help other people get amazing results without the brutal learning curves!
