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Photography Business Competition

I don’t believe in competition. Maybe that’s not quite clear enough…  I don’t believe in worrying about (or paying attention to) competition.  Your success is not contingent on what your competition is doing.  And if you think it is…  you’ve missed the beauty of being an entrepreneur.  Your success depends entirely on you.

You know Dr. Samuel Pierpont Langley, don’t you?  You should.  He was followed around by the newspapers; he had impressive credentials, an extensive education, incredible funding, the support of the government…  Every indication pointed toward him being a sure bet.  He would be the first to take flight.

Everyone seemed to know it…  Everyone except perhaps Wilbur and Orville Wright.  Ahhh.  Now that name you know.  But you shouldn’t!  They had no funding, no access to the greatest minds of their time, no newspapers following them around.

And yet, they were so passionate, so focused, and so excited about accomplishing their own dream that while the whole world was watching their competition…  The Wright brothers took flight on December 17th, 1903.

I see so much concern and wasted energy focussed on “the competition.”  Competition is an excuse.  Apple didn’t concern themselves with their competition when they broke into the TiVo market, the cell phone market, or the personal music device market.  Stephanie Myers didn’t put down her pen because someone else had already written about vampires.  And you shouldn’t stop going after your own dream because someone else happens to share it.

It does not matter if they have the same camera, the same lens, the same website template, the same actions, the same pricing… It also does not matter if they are cheaper.  Your success is not contingent upon them. STOP giving your competition so much control.  They don’t determine your success – you do.

I am not the best photographer in my town!  I am not priced where everyone else is priced… I cost a lot more!  There are two photographers who follow my exact business model that happen to live within 5 minutes of my home – and almost two dozen more that live within 30 minutes of my home.  How do I know this?   Because they’ve purchased my program, The Thriving Photographer™.

I believe that there is room for all of us, and I’ve learned from my own experiences that the journey is a lot more fun when you stop worrying about what others are doing and start focusing on how to beat your own personal best…

P.S. Sorry for chopping my head off… That was not artistic. Just proof of my imperfections, in case my typos weren’t clear enough 😉 

SO WHAT ABOUT YOU?

What insights can you share that have helped you get past competition and on to finding your own unique place?  Share in the comments below!

 

 

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Are you ready for more?  I’m determined to prove to as many photographers as will let me that you can have passion, profits and time for a great life.  I create six-figure photographers, and I’d love to teach you, step-by-step, how it’s done.  This is happening for photographers from all over the world who are just like you.  Let me prove just how wildly successful YOU can be!

If you’re ready to take your business further, sign up for email updates (it’s free).

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  1. Tiffany says:

    You are so right!! In Jan 2012 I started a website makeup and made the mistake of googling my competition and that pretty much was the end of my “big brand makeover”. In fact I kind of forgot all about until I saw your video. I knew there was a reason I stopped….lol I am pretty sure it was you or Zack Prez who said stop looking at the competition back in the fall and I listened. This year I started again and my content is coming from the heart, my site is truly all about me and when it’s done – watch out! Great video, great post!!

  2. Meghan says:

    Thanks Leah – great video! Very encouraging to be reminded of the competition in every industry. I think as artists, we tend to put blinders on to the world outside of photography. And at the same time, we aren’t celebrating enough that we are individuals no matter the business we’re in. Today I was just pulled into a FB group of top notch photogs in my home Cleveland area, and I gotta tell ya, I am intimidated to even make a peep. I feel like I’m a phony compared to these “old-dogs” but the truth is, none of them are me. None of them can provide the exact same experience that I can, because there is no other Meghan G quite like me (I made a rhyme, lol!) Sometimes I just want to leave facebook and forums forever and never look back at anyone else’s work except for my own. Again, thanks for the great reminder to be better than ourselves, and not better than others. xoxo

    • Congrats on the invite Meghan… Obviously you’ve got something the like! 🙂 And yes… I totally agree about the blinders to every industry! It’s like photographers don’t drive down the same roads that the rest of the world does that have a McDonalds, Jack in the Box, BK, Carl’s Junior and whoever ELSE that’s selling hamburgers through a drive thru… SIDE BY SIDE and they seem to be doing A-OKAY! 😉

      There’s room for success for anyone who’s brave enough to go for it! I truly believe that!

  3. Jason Sooter says:

    Great perspective on competition!

  4. Kathryn says:

    Leah,
    I just wanted to say, “Thank you!” I needed this so much. We moved a few months ago and I had summoned all my courage to start my own business in our new hometown. When we moved, I started looking at competition around and an “award winning” newborn (which is my passion!) and children’s photographer lives around the corner. Literally… around the corner. I got very discouraged and have just let it all go for the moment. This has been inspirational to me and I have written on my calendar, “The only permission I need is MINE!” Thank you for always sharing and inspiring me!

    Kathryn

    • You’re so welcome Kathryn! That would definitely be hard… I have some insanely amazing photographers who live right next to me too… I don’t even try to compare myself to them. I just try to do what I do better than I did yesterday! 🙂

  5. Melanie Matthews says:

    Leah, Thanks for another amazing post! I admire you so much! Really needed this one!

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