When you grew up, what did you foresee doing as a career? I doubt you popped out of your mother’s womb and declared interest in photography. At least, I did not.
In fact, I have tried my hand in a number of trades and continue to explore new ones. I find it not only fun, but important to grow as a person … to build human capital.
Human capital is the stock of competences, knowledge and personality attributes embodied in the ability to perform labor so as to produce economic value. It is the attributes gained by a worker through education and experience.
- Wikipedia
Essentially, building human capital is educating oneself. And I encourage learning all types of things (knowledge for your business and outside of your business).
It is important to build the stage before you even have a voice…
Chicken or the Egg
Most small photography businesses are created like this:
- I have been shooting for a while.
- I am pretty good at photography. At least, that’s what others tell me.
- What? I could get paid doing this?
- Let me get some business cards and get this ball rolling.
There wasn’t one thing that triggered the action of another. It’s unlikely that you woke up wanting to start a photography business with no photography experience whatsoever. The process was not cyclical like the debate of whether the chicken preceded the egg.
Rather, it was progressive. Imagine that practicing photography for fun was building the stage. Validating your style with paying clients through the business was your voice.
Just as how a photography business could have evolved from learned experiences, imagine what other opportunities are out there if you exposed yourself to them (through the building of human capital). Who knows what else is out there?
Fastest Ways to Build Human Capital
Learn. I love books, magazines, blogs and etc. I observe. And I don’t learn with the intention of building a business with it. I study anything that piques my immediate interest – even Las Vegas casino decor, restaurant service, prices … everything.
Experiment. For fun, I experiment what I have learned at seminars, conventions and even on this blog (tee hee). And if the experiment fails, I reflect.
Risk. When the stage is set, that means an opportunity is ripe for the picking. Alas, it’s usually out of our comfort zones. So, build the courage and just do it.
To risk is to open up chances for failure. And failure is something we all try to avoid. What’s the worst that can happen? Lose time and financial capital?
And if so, who cares? You have one thing that no one can take away, which is your human capital. You can always start over.
So…
Opportunities have a short shelf life. But before you can even see opportunities, you must first expose yourself by constantly learning.
Learn for fun and share with friends! If you want to share this article, Facebook, Twitter and Google+ buttons are below and a click away! xo
Next, comment one thing you started doing because the stage was built through knowledge and experience.
Sincerely,
Lawrence Chan
P.S. I’m leaving for Australia this Sunday. Excited for some meat pies!
On July 28th, I’m going to an event called, “Thursday Throwdown,” which is a free networking event for wedding vendors hosted by Girl Friday Weddings. Come hang out!
July 28, 2011 at 6:30PM
271 Pacific Hwy
Crows Nest, Australia 2065
Map
A warm thank you to Milton Gan for graciously inviting me.
P.P.S. I got this lovely email from Brandon Bartee about my pricing ebook.
I just wanted to say thank you for writing the pricing ebook! Since reading it, I have actually tripled the income from my portrait business almost over night!
As a kid, I played with computers. And that led to an IT job at UCLA!
Those were fun times…
I was a teacher and soon to be Principal before photography. I still supply teach for the pension but that experience and those degrees gave me the skills to speak in front of groups easily as well as the ability to clearly communicate with my clients.
i started doing real estate photographer for local realtors by studying and learning how to do it for my own home when we put it on the market. they saw it and started asking how much i charged. :)
Great stuff- I’m not sure if you know Lawrence, but I was a middle school / high school teacher for 8 years before resigning to go full time into wedding photography. I always tried to make the most of each opportunity and to learn from each experience-
That’s wonderful, Kenny! We are all amalgamations of our past experiences, thus making us truly unique in how we see things and ultimately what we offer to clients.
Can I just tell you how much I love these helpful articles. You should make a stop in Hawaii after Australia! Maui cattle company….mmm….good beef.
I want to! Julie and I have been thinking about it. I’ll let you know if that happens!
This is an excellent article Lawrence. Thank you for writing it! The sad thing is how little value we sometimes put on Human Capital. For most of my young life I bounced around different career paths and hobbies, thinking I lacked focus or passion. However, when I finally discovered my love for photography, I also found out that everything I had done up until that point gave me exactly all of the tools I needed to be a successful photographer. Without the sum of my past experiences (and the Human Capital it built) I know I would not have found the success I enjoy today. I just wish somebody had told me this years ago, so I could have stopped beating myself up so much for not finding my true path earlier!
That’s wonderful, Carolyn! And who knows where your adventures might take you? You might do something different (using cumulative knowledge) that includes photography.
What’s beautiful about this setup is that if you’re open to change, you’ll never be bored.
Eeeeek! Lawrence, thanks for helping me hold my head high as we make the move to Caribbean to “experiment & risk” :) We’re planning to get to Julio Iglesias’ & Oscar de la Renta’s neighborhoods by teaching yoga!! :))
Rock it, Katya! If you meet Julio and Oscar, tell them that I think both of them are pretty swell.
Another fantastic article! I absolutely agree with constantly educating oneself not only to grow a business, but mentally and spiritually :)
I am about to start applying your package pricing techniques which were awesome. But I remember reading on your blog some time ago, tips on how you choose (not the client) the images that will go on the wedding albums. I can’t find it now, no matter how much I search, could you point me to that post? Will greatly appreciate it if you have the time, I know I’m asking a lot :-/ but, I’m starting to deal with albums now and it’s not going so smoothly I could really use some help. Thanks
Sorry, Moriama. I don’t remember myself lol.