AnywhereMan

My wife Sarah has been doing some part-time photography for the past few years. She does it more as a hobby just because she really loves taking pictures, but it’s nice that she can actually generate some income for her time as well.

We had a conversation this past weekend about how she feels like more and more folks in our area are getting into photography and offering their services for hire as well. With so many options, why would anyone hire her for a session?

I thought about that a little bit and even compared it to my freelance web business. Why would someone enlist my services when there are so many other folks doing what I do?

I think it comes down to differentiation. There are little things about working with me, or having my wife take your pictures, that are unique. We all do things in our own way and the method to our madness is what sets us apart in a couple of ways.

Differentiation From The Amateurs

We’ve all probably run into this one, and I think Sarah sees it too when people find out what her rates are and convince themselves that they can do just as good of a job on their own, for free. This attitude used to drive me nuts but honestly if you are dealing with potential clients that have the cheap DIY attitude, you’re best to let them do their thing without you. Chances are if you did work with them you’d regret it.

Here’s the thing: It’s true that technology is amazing. Anyone has the potential to create amazing websites, photos, articles, or apps. But there’s still a learning curve. The last time I checked, our camera didn’t tell me what direction to face, the angle to hold the camera, how to position the subject, and how to get everyone to smile at the same time.

It still takes practice. And because you practice your craft on a regular basis, you have differentiated yourself from the amateurs.

Differentiation From Your Peers

Notice I didn’t use the word “competitors.”  We’re all freelancers, and we’re in this boat together. And this isn’t a little tiny life raft; It’s a cruise ship. And it’s a cruise ship that is headed out to sea to rescue survivors from the Titanic of corporate America.

I think people love working with the little guy and are fed up with the bureaucracy of large firms. That’s the advantage that we have. I really do think there’s enough business for most of us. A lot of times we can even collaborate. I emphasized this to Sarah as we were talking about her photography.

However, you still need to define the specific reason someone might choose you over one of your peers. The more and more we do what we do, little things start showing up that define the way we approach our craft.

As an example, Sarah is phenomenal at photographing kids. She captures moments in a photojournalistic, real-life manner that a big studio probably wouldn’t be able to easily do. She also has a specific style and user-experience unique to her approach. And I think that’s why people hire her.

Practice Makes Art

Knowing and developing your style is what’s going to differentiate you. Not only that, but it’s going to help you identify the type of client that fits your style, thus helping you market yourself more accurately as well. The more you are out there practicing your craft, the more you’ll be able to build an experience and product that has your fingerprints all over it.

Once people know what makes your brand unique and expect it, you won’t have to worry about amateurs or peers.

I did some organizing over the weekend and found this in a box of random stuff. Remember when everything was on these 3.5″ disks? It wasn’t even all that long ago that we were still using them.

I remember my college roommate installing Windows 95 on his fancy new laptop computer back in 1995 (of course). CD drives weren’t even standard yet so he installed the complete OS using about 20 of these 3.5″ disks. Unbelievable!

These things hold 1.40 MB. ONE POINT FOUR ZERO MBs!!! I don’t think I have a single song in my entire music collection that would fit on one of these.

My point is this: Don’t be a 3.5″ disk.

Well, not literally. But continually have a plan to do what you do…better. It doesn’t have to be anything major, but it can be something as simple as setting aside an hour per week to research new trends in your field.

If you’re a programmer, learn the ins and outs of a new plugin or API. If you’re a writer, challenge yourself to write about something you’d normally consider too difficult or complex. Heck, write a book! If you’re a designer, spend some time each week going through a tutorial for a new method in Illustrator. Just commit to improving your skills a little bit at a time.

It doesn’t even need to take much planning ahead of time. Try out a new app and just tinker with it for an hour or two. Relax, you’ve built the time into your schedule. Use this opportunity for a little “sandbox time.”

Don’t be the freelancer or employee who is stuck with a 3.5″ floppy skill-set in a 16 GB USB flash drive world. You’ll find yourself tossed quickly.

Unless you end up in my box of junk that never gets thrown out.

It’s good to look back and see how we’ve improved in certain areas, both on a personal and professional level. Sometimes we get a better feel for the direction we want to go with our career just by looking at the areas in which we’ve developed.

I run my own home-based company, and I don’t have the luxury (or annoyance, depending on your point of view) of an annual performance review. Nobody is taking notes and holding me accountable on the things I’ve done well or the things I’m improving upon in my career. It’s all up to me.

Today I want each of us to list one thing we’ve gotten better at on a personal level and one thing on a professional level. Don’t worry if the things you list aren’t areas where you’re an “expert” by any means – just areas where you’ve seen growth and development in your abilities.

Next, I want you to list one skill, either professional or personal, where you would like to improve in 2010.

I’ll get this started…

Personal: Playing acoustic guitar. I’m still super far from being a virtuoso, but I’ve always been more of an electric guitarist. This past year I’ve transitioned into playing a lot more acoustic, and trading my main electric guitar for a gorgeous Taylor K-10 really helped.

Professional: Video. I was looking back, and last January was really the first time I put a fully-produced video together for a client. Since then I’ve immersed myself in video through AnywhereMan and a lot of little projects. I have really enjoyed it and have learned a lot.

Skill to Improve: Verbal communication. This year my goal is to rid “um”, “ah”, “so”, and “you know” (Totally a MN thing) from my vocabulary. These words show up constantly in my videos here on AnywhereMan, and I want to see improvement in that. I’d also like to learn to keep my speaking more focused and concise.

Okay, now I’d like you to list the same three things. What have you gotten better at both personally and professionally, and what skill or area would you like to improve in 2010?

Have a Happy New Year everyone!

I love that I get to live where I do.

Winter isn’t my favorite time of the year, but on days like the one when I filmed this, it sure is beautiful. I also like being able to adjust my work schedule to work on building new skills, such as filming and editing.