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If you’re running a photography business, then you should already be well into creating your photography business goals for 2021. I start my photography business planning for the new year in October and it has allowed me to continue to grow my business more than anything else I do.
If you don’t have any photography business goals for 2021 yet, though, you don’t need to worry. There’s still plenty of time. While I did start building a list of photography business goals for 2021 in October, I likely won’t finish my list until at least February.
Plus, goal-setting for photographers is less about getting it done in a set amount of time and more about making sure the goals you create are actually feasible.
So, dive into our least of New Year’s resolutions for photographers. We hope it will help you build your own.
Double Your Passive Income
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Considering the fact that the world is still in the middle of a pandemic and experts are suggesting a major recession for the next few years, I think it is extra important that some of your photography business goals for 2021 deal with income.
In this case, I specifically wanted to discuss passive income. Now, only about 10% of my photography income is passive. Nearly all of this passive income comes from selling stock photos. In 2021, I am making it a goal to double my passive income. If 20% of my income comes from selling stock photos, then that allows me to basically free up 10% of my work week so that I can focus on other projects.
If you currently have no passive income from photography, then you can make it one of your photography business goals for 2021 to get a passive revenue stream started.
Be a Better Accountant
photo by Chalirmpoj Pimpisarn via iStock
I have always hated math. It started in the third or fourth grade and I barely passed calculus my senior year. So, suffice it to say, I am not the best bookkeeper for my business.
Still, I understand it’s important. I make it a goal for myself every year and yet every year I fail.
As one of my photography business goals for 2021, I am promising myself that I will rotate through different accounting programs before I find one that I like and that I can stay on top of. I am starting to use Quickbooks right now and hope that it will help.
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Be Mindful About How You Use Social Media
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There is legitimately no bigger timesuck than social media. I understand that a lot of photographers are successful in marketing their businesses on social media, but I find that the amount of time I spend on social media every year just doesn’t make sense for my business.
So, one of my photography business goals for 2021 is to actually keep track of how much time I’m spending on social media every week. I’m hoping to cut my usage down to just five hours per week. The other time that I usually spend on social media will now be devoted to working on my website and blog.
Of course, you can dedicate your newfound time to other aspects of your business. I am choosing to spend more time on my website and blog because I have found in my surveys of new clients that more of them found my business through my blog posts than through my Facebook or Instagram.
Get Rid of Your Unused Gear
photo by EKKAPHAN CHIMPALEE via iStock
I already talked about my biggest timesuck this past year (social media), so it makes sense that I also talk about my biggest money suck (new gear).
I have a truly terrible habit of wanting a new camera or a new lens and just buying it instead of questioning whether I actually need it. This gear inevitably ends up in a closet, only being used once every few months, or in the bottom of my gear bag.
While getting rid of my unused gear is one of my photography business goals for 2021, I am combining this goal with another which is to only buy camera gear that I know I need in order to make money.
So, I won’t buy new gear that I really want unless I know that I cannot shoot a specific photo without it.
Make it Easier to Communicate With Clients
photo by SDI Productions via iStock
Most photography business tips focus on client communication, and I really wanted to provide actionable tips for this article. So, this one is.
It’s obviously pretty easy to suggest that one of your photography business goals for 2021 should be to communicate with your clients more frequently, etc. But, that isn’t really helpful. Instead, I’m suggesting that you make it one of your photography business goals for 2021 to sign up with Podium.
Podium is a messaging platform that pulls every single message your business receives and puts them all in one place. So, Podium takes your emails, your text messages, your DMs, your social media mentions, etc. and puts them all on the Podium app so that you never miss a message from a client again.
But, that’s not all Podium does because it also tracks things like how long it takes you to respond to a new lead, so that you can work on responding to new leads more quickly which directly translates into getting more clients and bigger paychecks.
Podium also helps you to hit one of the goals above, spending less time on social media, by tracking your ratings across Facebook, Google, and Yelp. This way you will know if you need to ask your clients for their good reviews without ever visiting the sites themselves.
Podium has the added benefit of making invoicing your clients easier because it allows you to text your clients their invoices so that they can pay them right off of their phone.
Plus, Podium is doing a free trial for anyone who wants to try it out before the new year. You can find out more information about it here.