I dream of... DREAM BIG!!!

Dreaming the dream. That's where all of this business stuff started. Let's dream some more. Dream really, REALLY BIG. And write down every detail of that dream in a notebook.

WHY am I asking you to dream big? Because to make it big you have to dream big.

If you think about your dreams at night they're a bit sketchy, aren't they? You could be standing in the middle of  Freemont Street in Las Vegas and all of a sudden be in your bedroom at home. There's no rhyme or reason and we can be and do anything in our dreams. So, what if you could make that happen in real life? Well, you can't warp from Freemont Street in Vegas to your bedroom, but you can make your dreams come true.

I really believe that writing down this outlandish dreaming about your photography venture is an integral part of the process of building your business. You know what you DREAM of being, but that's a dream and flits away just as quickly as a dream at night does. However, if you write it down in black and white (or blue and white or whatever color pen you are using...) it becomes real. You have something to hold yourself accountable to.
What do you dream for your business? Not just the simple, easy answer of "I dream I will make money taking photographs of _______."
The nitty gritty of it. The WHO, WHEN, WHAT, WHY, WHERE and HOW of it. This is the dream, so it doesn't have to be real or even work out perfectly. It's what you WANT.
Who are you going to photograph? Families, babies, seniors, wedding, events, wildlife, births... Who will be your clients?

What kind of photographs are you going to provide? Remember! This is the dream, not the simple! I will provide amazing artwork pieces for my clients that is specifically designed around their home and family!  Or I will provide affordable portrait options to middle class families who can't afford to pay a million bucks for great portraits. Or I will provide product photography for local business websites...

WHEN will you work? Do you want to work around your kids schedules or around your significant other? Do you want to run a full time operation or do you only want to work a certain amount of hours? Will you work all year long or will you work only in certain seasons?

WHY are you doing this business? Why are you the one your clients will choose? Why are you going to succeed where many others have failed? My clients will choose me because I am a rocking photographer and I am going to succeed because my name will be more famous than Snookie. Hey, it's a DREAM!

WHERE will you do this? Your studio? Client's homes, businesses and on location? Both? For me? Hey! It's a dream: I will travel all over the world taking family portraits of the rich and famous!

HOW will you provide them images? CD? Prints? Small or large? Albums? How will you operate your sessions and proofing?

There are hundreds of questions for each of those questions and more. Start a notebook and in it write down your thoughts about how your business looks in your head. This is going to be what gives you direction on where to go with each stage of your plan. Don't worry-it will change over and over and over. That's probably a good thing. As it changes update your notes and forge on! Just make sure you are keeping it written down!!!!