Here we are, a new year and hopefully a more successful one in terms of generating work, pushing the hut development forward and generally starting to get life moving in the right direction after the years of post-injury and post-covid slump!
So… what is the plan then?
My main focus in the first half of the year is to get the basic foundations really shored up - so I will be pushing the hut development as that is really the key to everything else. This will provide a base income over the main “season” which should help lift the family into a better position to face the future. It also gives me the chance to really start on the workshop business as we will have onsite accommodation, and that is really going to be key to working this part of the business as I want to - my model is intended to be somewhat different to others operating through the Highlands on a couple of fronts… firstly I live here so can constantly develop the course content and take my clients to fresh new locations, secondly I can do all this at a lower price point as I really want it to become more accessible to those on more modest incomes!
For the moment I am going to really work on the photography weekend workshop market - Friday evenings to Sunday afternoons - and we will see how it goes from there.
I also plan on a social media campaign, more video content, building the YouTube side of things (which I keep dabbling at but without any conviction!) so expect a lot more content to come.
Then there are the big projects that have been sitting on the back burner for some time. Those are going to see a lot more attention this year - which will feed in to a couple of personal aims in terms of restoring some of my health and mental health that have both suffered over the last 5 years or so. How will they do this? Well - they involve walking/cycling to get to locations that are off the beaten path! This will also help feed into locations for my workshop clients as I start to uncover some of the more hidden places.
Then we have the commercial photography side of things. I am going to have another big push on that front this year - starting in the next couple of weeks. I have created a new pricing menu for property work that is simplified and my pricing has gone much more aggressive without cutting corners and quality. I want to pick up more direct work this year rather than reliance on agencies who pay low and simply aren’t coming up with viable volumes at present. It’s a useful back up income source, but it won’t provide the main bulk. I will keep working with existing clients too, and they will also get to benefit from the new pricing schedule!
I am also going to try and do more of the things that are way outside my comfort zone in terms of promoting myself, there may be something of a change in my appearance away from looking a bit like a hippy on the cards (don’t expect suited and traditional hair style mind!). Also I will be hunting out any route to promote my work and get it published in as many places as possible. I have been told that I am good by enough people with very, very prominent careers and portfolios the problem is that if only the worlds best photographers get to see my work it isn’t really putting it in front of clients! I am starting to understand what they (yes David… you) have said to me, that I have always been a “photographers photographer”. So 2024 is a profile building year!
