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These are conversation starters, not a test. There’s more than one “right answer”.

1. Are there too many photographers? Do you think it’s different now to 10-20 years ago? If so, why? How does it impact your business, and can you do anything about it?

2. What is it that enables people to earn a living cooking, writing or taking pictures when almost everyone can do those things? What’s special about them?

3. How many commissions — weddings, portrait sittings etc — do you need, and how much does each one need to pay you? (ie to cover you, your equipment, your overheads, your retirement and the direct costs of doing the job)?

4. Are you prepared to take the food from your competitors’ mouths? If not why not?

5. Do you go to your competitors for advice? Or maybe you “emulate” them? If so why?

6. List five things that distinguish you from your competitors (quality, service and award-winning don’t count).

7. If you can’t list five things that differentiate you, what are you really competing on? Could it be your low price?

8. Have you thought about why your clients are prepared to pay you so much money? Or if they’re not prepared to, why not? What motivates them?

9. Your last ten clients … why did they book you? Do you know? What can you learn from that?

10. How many of your bookings come from word of mouth? What did those people hear or see about you … and was it in your best interests?

11. What can you learn from musicians? How do they deal with the fact they have to give so much of their stuff away for free?

12. Do you get enough enquiries? If not what are you doing to get noticed?

13. If you do get enough enquiries, how many people drop out after meeting you? How many people drop out after they hear the price? If you have a problem, does this point to what it might be?

14. What are you doing about social media and search? Do you think you need your own website and blog? Even though it seems like everyone just wants to hang out on Facebook and Instagram?

15. Why do most photographers rely so much on weddings? What other photo opportunities could you take advantage of? And what would that take?

16. How do you deal with the problem that so many wedding clients just want the digital files? Or don’t you think it’s a problem?

17. How do people discover that you sell products? Do you feature them? Do they help you stand out from the crowd?

18. If you choose your suppliers on price, is it OK if your clients do the same? If not, why not?

19. How do you get your clients to say, Wow … how much is that? If they don’t, what needs to change?

20. How do you get from beginner to top of the heap without being a price taker? Does being a price taker work? Is it better to be a busy price taker or get a second income?

21. Bonus question: Is everything going swimmingly in your life and business? If not, did you skim the questions or think about them? There are no right answers but your therapist-coach-confidant wants to know.

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