In the time that has passed since the start of the Covid pandemic a few things have changed.
I started a print store selling my work, I started adding new photography related products to my Etsy store, and I started to think more about how to create alternative sources of income that are not completely reliant on actually having to turn up to a commercial job and trade time for money - something I have been doing since 1985! (Ironically enough the same amount of characters in this blog post!)
Selling a product online was actually a revelation to me - why would others like my work and spend their hard earned money on it? Is it hard to do? How much time is it going to take me? I had so many questions.
Thankfully I had plenty of time on my hands (thanks Covid) to work all these things out. The good news is that others did like my work, it was a bit hard to do but learn-able, and other than the initial setup - wasn't that time consuming (although I will admit to the fact that I am obsessed with constantly fine tuning my SEO, more out of interest to see what works than anything else).
When the commercial photo work dried up, the cashflow dried up. Problems arose.
Opening up the store and selling prints online was fun. Actually, waking up in the morning to an email order for a product I have made is exhilarating!
It made me realise that I'd been a bit stuck in the old way of doing things I'd always done. Find clients, foster relationships (a lot of whom ended up being great mates!), charge monthly and rinse / repeat. When something happens that changes this... it's a massive shock to the system.
The world is a quickly evolving place to do business, what worked yesterday may not work today. ALWAYS REMEMBER THIS!
Trust in yourself, nothing is as bad as it might appear, and with a little bit of deep thought there is always a new way of doing something.
The end result is a new outlook and a new way of doing something I really love to do... making photographs for myself.
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