As photographers we convince ourselves that we all have to go through this same “rite of passage” in order to be legit. It looks something like this:

Get Camera -> Work For Free -> Charge $50 -> What the Hell Happens Next

Most of you are probably in between the “Charge $50” and the “What the Hell Happens Next” stage of business. Maybe you’ve upped that $50 session fee to a *gasp* $150.

So the goal here today is to take you from “I could make more money working at Target” to “Holy sh*t I’m looking at a $2k+ deposit”. Ready?

So you’ve started a blog — congratulations! You’ve probably heard amazing stories of people making money from their blog and you’ve envisioned this life of writing posts + cashing checks (virtually). It sounds like a dream.

But maybe it’s not going quite as you expected. Maybe you’re not making it rain dollar bills, people aren’t knocking down your door with offers to pay you for posts, and perhaps all of this seems a lot harder than you thought it would be. Sound familiar?

Well, there are probably some pretty solid reasons why you aren’t making any money from your blog. And a lot of it starts with your expectations. Let’s break down the school of thought that’s traditionally surrounded the world of blogging + money making so you can start to see it a bit more clearly.
Bonus: we’ve got actionable ideas for you on how to actually start making money with your blog further down in this post, so keep reading!

Have you ever walked away from a restaurant or retail store and been so upset about the service you received (or more accurately didn’t receive)? Maybe you’ve been so frustrated with a business that you’ve vowed to never use their services again? It happens to all of us at one point or another in our lives, and it is really frickin’ frustrating! And if you’re anything like us you probably spend a good 2 or 3 minutes yelling – probably to yourself – about it in the car.

But, what if you’re the business that’s giving the poor customer service? Now, before you say, “no, no, no, that could never be me” or lose your mind on us about how unhelpful and unnecessary this post is going to be for you, just think about it….

I’m going to be brutally honest with you: Sometimes, we creatives can be a bit desperate.

When you work in a creative field, you often have to explain to non-creatives what it is that you do and why it’s a real job, and that you deserve to be compensated in real dollars for real work that has real value. It makes you want to barf. But hey, it comes with the territory.

Because of this, a lot of new creatives with new creative businesses immediately start freaking out about gathering clients as quickly as possible. They’re so worried about staying afloat that they take on any and all work that comes their way. I tenderly refer to this panic as “Business-Artist Desperation Syndrome.” It’s B.A.D.S.ville.

I’ve been here before, guys, and I can say with absolute surety that it is not a good look. I want to save you from some of the long-term effects of working with less than ideal people.

Starting your business generates a lot of emotions, right? One day you’re so excited and stay up until 3.00 a.m. working, and the next day you’re super nervous and wonder, “Will this even work?”

I’ve got a secret to tell you to help wipe away some of those nerves: you got this.

How can I be so sure? For starters, you’re not going to have any competition.