04 — What You Desire is Possible
Let’s settle a debate: you can make great money from the exact photography you want to produce, provided these 3 things are present:
Suitable distance from your buyers (region/culture matters)
Your work is not incredibly fringe, alienating or esoteric AND is damn good (this is the Adele principle: she doesn’t need to contort herself for the market — what she has to offer is inherently desirable)
You have a wealth-producing mindset: solid work ethic + profound motivation (truly believe in the work) + willingness to adopt & live out expansive beliefs
REMEMBER:
Customary businesses link a consumer with a product
Visionary Businesses link like minds through shared values
Stated positively:
Be near enough to your desired clientele
Create work that is genuinely above average (mediocre does not deserve wealth)
Burn the toxic mental litter from the garden of your mind (example: “no one will pay for the work I love to make”)
Attract Like Minds by Sharing Your Mind
If we proceed from the premise that Visionary Business requires likemindedness, your greatest wealth generator is to share your genuine mind: in words, images, sound, client contact and beyond
In Business and The Art of Lore, we discussed the connection between supplemental storytelling around the images we sell; the stronger the lore, the stronger the sales
More on self-revelation here:
Encouragement from David of Dos Las En La Mesa
Identify, Protect & Defend Your Vision
In this simple slide photographer John Dolan compares two mindsets: “I hope the clients like my pictures” vs. “I wonder how good these photos can actually be.”
In the first, the artist is focused on perception. In the second, the artist is focused on art. Be an artist. People-pleasing and Visionary Business do not mix.
I create what I think the market wants > I therefore hide my mind > The genuinely likeminded cannot find me
Protect and defend your vision by following what genuinely moves you
Discover what genuinely moves you through relation and contrast: in masterful photo books, compassionate community and good action you will find who you are and who you are not
Uncompromised vision attracts wealth & fulfillment in equal measure