mmurph
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 p.1 #9 · $1-3,000 Portrait sessions? HOW?! | |
How much does an aprtament rent for? Depends, right? 
You need to start out by doing a market survey. Who charges how much in your area? For what? Who are their clients? What do the clients want? How large is the market? Is it saturated? Growing, declining, changing? .
Ig you were in real estate, once you looked at 100 apartments, toured thgem., looked at the pricing, taxes, purchase price.,and differentiating factors - security gates, lakeside, golf course, etc - you would get a good feel for the market.
You will develop your skills, intuition, knowledge. So you rented an apartment in the past. Could you buy a 4 unit building as an investment? Could you do an appraisal on a 65 million apartment building to see whether it was a good investment? Raise the money to purcahse it? Hire contractors and do a plan, including cash flow analysis, for a multi-million dollar renovation? Or is that beyond your range because yoiu have been dealing with family homes, etc.
As you learn to differentiate what you are looking at, you are educating your eye. It almost always happens that you will say at some point "I could do that"
But can you, really? And have you done it, and done it consistently, with self confidence, with total ownership and contol over all aspects of your medium?
Why are local bands local? Why are local writers local, and not on the national best seller list and on the Oprah Winfrey show?
Yeah, yeah, it is all luck, who you know, etc. etc., But really, that kind of whining attitude is exactly what you see from those who are **not** doing it. 
That is a loser attitude (ok, being a little harsh here.) But there are ceratin specific, objective reasons in any field that cetrtain individuils meet with continual, and ever-increasing, success.
I know you are trying to ask "what work do I need to do to get there." But the answer, really, is circular: "do the hard work" and you will know!
Do the hard work, day after day. Educate yourself, Look until you understand the objective criteria that correlates with success in your field, in your market, You have to be able to objectively measure yourself at each step along the way If you can't perceive the quality differences between one level and the next, you are not going to be able to create work at that higher level. . Maybe you need to set aside the next year to shoot 1,000 portraits to learn what you need to know?
Eventually you will know what your real niche is, and where you are at, and where you want to be. And whether you have the committment, determination, talent, etc to do what it takes, And a pretty good road map of how to get there, and the time line for how long it will take you to get there.
Think of professionals in any field. It could be a Finance MBA who wants to be a CFO, or a dance student, etc. How long does it usually take? What kind of steps do you commonly see onm the resume of those who have made it?
Find the analogous map for this field. Do a set of goals for 1 year, 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, and a lifetime plan. Do time and financial budgets for the first 5 years. Map out the research that will be required, conferences, professeional organizations that can help, etc.
Good luck!
Best,
M.
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