A while back, Amit authored the fantastic Photojojo book and took on cancer for himself and thousands of others (an absolute hero).

This past week, Chris gave the world a fantastic gift when he published The $100 Startup. It may be one of the more important business books you’ll read in our times.

I’ve read it personally and think it’s one of the most elegant, accessible, inspiring and clear articulation of what is possible for upstarts. It’s one of those “every once in a while…” books that gives you the chance to change everything.

That is of course, if you get it and read it and put it to work.

Chris also happens to be my guest this week on Fast Track Coaching. I hope you’ll join us. Get your free ticket here.

Order your copy of $100 Startup here.

Better Together…

- Dane

Despite those who’ve declared music dead, I’d say that – based on results – their industry is actually in resurrection mode right in front of our eyes. I think musicians are also in front of photographers by a good bit since digital commoditized them first.

Might there be something we could learn about how they are reinventing their ecosystem?

This past weekend I had the chance to hang out at Coachella (ah-mazing by the way) – perhaps the front edge of live music (it’s a music festival with about a dozen live and several other highly interactive music related activities going on simultaneously in a massive open field) and a great environment to observe what could be our future, if we choose it.

So, here is what struck me this weekend…

First, in the music industry (just like the photography industry), standouts are (still) standouts.

What I mean by that is the real talent are working harder than ever and are getting rewarded for it. Those that just “call it in” no matter how skilled they are musically are talked about in the crowd as arrogant and irrelevant.

Application: how hard are you (am I) at giving the entirety of our profession our A-Game? Seems that’s the first thing. If we want a shot, we better be giving it all we got.

Second, the best musicians (just like photographers) are head down working at their craft AND their platform now more than ever. And they sure seem to be getting rewarded for it.

Application: If you were to measure your time, how “head-down” are you (am I) these days? More concerned with drama online or getting busy creating? Focus seems key.

Third, consumers will pay to be moved emotionally and to get access to talent. Do even some rough and conservative math at a place like Coachella and it becomes immediately evident people are getting compensated.

Application:Creating a great experience (in their case music, performance and brand… in our case photographs, customer service and brand) and then embedding that experience in real products (in their case souvenirs, t-shirts, merchandise and music – downloable AND analog… in our case prints, albums and photographs – downloadable AND printed) are mutually critical.

Finally, finding internal integrity is the trump card that makes talent, talented. My hunch is the same is true for anyone who creates for a living.

Application: Are you in alignment with what you are made to do (am I)? If not, I think we’d be wise to take pause, re-calibrate and go again.

What does your hunch tell you?

Normal.

When you decide to be a runner there are a couple things you should not be surprised by as you actually get into the game… that is, when you get beyond the buying of the shoes, the picturing the finish line, the dream of being in shape. Here are a couple that came up for me this morning…

The first mile is almost always rough.

Quick start followed by feeling great (for a moment) followed by plehm, gasping, wanting to quit and slight irritations like earphones falling out, aches, pains or many other excuse to stop quick. No problem if you throw in the towel. Go for that coffee! Just know that you’ve transitioned from being a runner to being a latte drinker.

Ankles twist.

Some twists are serious. Some aren’t. Regardless of the severity it’s probably wise to stop, breathe, assess, make a decision on what you’re committed to relative to the obstacle that has come your way and find a way to keep going. It’s no problem if you cut your pace in half. It is a problem if you could keep going but call a cab to take you for the latte instead.

Hills.

Speaking of slowing down, that’s what “up hill” will do. Honestly though, real runners tend to relish hills. They’re the place where you can create separation from the competition the easiest. It’s also where people quit most often. It’s the wall that those who find a way through are rewarded for. What do you do when the hill shows up? It might just be opportunity knocking.

Rhythm.

I think the best part and least talked about benefit about becoming a runner isn’t the finish line at all. It’s the rhythm, the zone, the chance to align your cadence with your heart beat. It’s the one foot in front of another again and again (and again) and finding a sync with your soul. And it only comes to those who log the miles. And the fastest track I know to get that feeling is to hit the road right yesterday.

To complain about the challenges connected with any of these things just isn’t very helpful as a runner (or entrepreneur). To anticipate them is probably best… in fact, I say the hard parts are actually just markers indicating you’re heading in the right direction.

You are what you focus on.

This is good news actually… only tragedy is if you don’t take responsibility for what you choose to attend to.

So, whether you’re focusing on challenges in front of you, anxiety, obstacles, things you’re grateful for, visions of the future you’re dreaming of or taking action on the one thing needed to get you closer to making that vision a reality… you get to decide the things your mind nurtures and ultimately grows.

Not everyone believes this of course. Some think that the mind gets to go wherever it wants. And it will if you let it. Taking thoughts captive though is a power humans uniquely have. It’s just a muscle rarely exercised.

When you find yourself in conversations (with yourself or with others) that aren’t resourceful, feel the freedom to interrupt. The new perspective you choose to take just might redirect your entire trajectory.

I’m not trying to sound like an altruist here. Regardless of whether you call it service or karma, the effect is the same: the more you give in those cases, the more everyone is effected for the good. For those of you who don’t know Beckett’s, here’s the recap:

Beckett has Cystic Fibrosis.

It’s a terrible disease. In a nutshell, it’s like ultra-athesma and it takes kids lives needlessly. No cure right now. But, it’s also a disease with strong reason to believe will be cured very soon. So, Beckett is literally in a race for his life while we move one step closer each day.

I met Beckett when the Williams family hired me to take their family portraits. That led to an epic day at Angel’s stadium (Beckett’s grandpa is a former major leaguer) and a deeper bond with their family. Over time, I began looking for ways to help and last year, Amy (aka superhero and Beckett’s mom) asked if I’d be willing to help photograph kids with CF for a fundraiser. A bunch of amazing photographers joined me at Huntington Beach Pier. Not only did we have a great time, but the event itself raised close to $500,000. Again, credit the hero’s like Amy.

What’s hilarious is last fall I got word that the national office for CF liked the shoot so much that they chose my image for a billboard moment in Times Square (see picture). How crazy is that? Getting one of my images on one of the most iconic spaces on the planet all started with caring just a little bit more than I had to for one kid on a family photo shoot (karma?). But forget that for a second… imagine having the chance to participate in the saving of a real kid’s life en route to saving millions more. I for one can’t believe my good fortune that I get to play a part.

 And so do you…

If you live in Southern California and would like to participate, I’m looking for 5 photographers who can help me this Thursday at Huntington Beach. We’ll be photographing about 12-15 kids (all ages) with the express goal of highlighting them being fully alive with our commitment to keep it that way. Please only apply if you’re up for falling in love with these kids and making a difference. This one is about them, not us.

If you’re interested please EMAIL ME (connect [at] danesanders [dot] com) asap with why you want to be a part… you’ll need to count on being available all morning Thursday, February 9th.

Thanks!

- Dane

Fear can save your life.

When what I’m up against deserves a legit fight or flight, I’m glad fear exists. The adrenalin it produces is a quick-burn fuel that can get me going.

But, what if fighting and flighting weren’t our only options when fear came to the party?

What if that feeling of fear existed for a higher calling… like a clue to a hidden treasure?

When I take time to pause and consider, I am amazed at how much more resource I have available to me in the face of fear. Add some humility, a willingness to work hard, and better still, a willingness to fail – or as Sun Tzu says… a willingness to die before you go into battle – fear will lose its hold.

What if fear was a sign that opportunity was knocking?

If I’m scared of my “not being as creative as that person over there” or “my business failing” or “the economy can’t support me“, I can attack the disabling part (fear) and embrace the objects in creative ways (the colleague, the prospects, the real opportunities in the existing economy).

When Emerson suggested to “… always do what you are afraid to do” I don’t think he was kidding. I think he was giving you and me our marching orders to unprecedented possibility.

“Imitation is Suicide. Insist on yourself; never imitate.” – Emerson

Be you at any cost.

It’s a mantra I hold pretty close. I pretend it’s a voice from above or within reminding me that my best hope at flourishing is to embrace the lot that is me.

But what do I do on days when I don’t like me very much?

If I’m smart, I lean in to the parts I don’t like.

Wait! But what if I’m in the midst of external criticism while others are producing stuff that blows me away – or worse… I think their stuff is lame and everyone else is celebrating it – what then? What if this is all happening and deep down, I’m just tired and disappointed with what is showing up in my life?

If I’m committed to being a creative, I go again.

Better yet, I double down on me. Any alternative is a sucker bet. In fact, I’m not even sure there’s an alternative. It may be the most sure wager I know. Of course if there’s truth here, I suspect I’m not the only game in town. It might be time to reclaim your chips too and put ‘em back to work on you.

“Our arts, our occupations, our marriages, our religion, we have not chosen, but society has chosen for us. We are parlour soldiers. We shun the rugged battle of fate, where strength is born.” – Emerson

A lot of life is preloaded.

My family, my socio-economic start, my race, my geography… I had no control over any of them and yet I live under them. When circumstances are favorable, I feel like I’ve won the lottery. When my back hurts or my internet goes out, I curse the gods.

The question I’m interested in is where do I take a stand regardless of my circumstances?

What do I care so much about that no thing will stop my commitment to it?

In the chatter about the “problems in our industry”, I’m believing that there are none. If there are problems, they are with me, they are with you or they are with us. “The industry” doesn’t exist apart from those three realities.

Problems live in that cowardly place where I expect all return and no investment.

Where must I go all-in? Where must you?

“There will be an agreement in whatever variety of actions, so they be each honest and natural in their hour.” – Emerson

How do you feel when you’re around confident people?

When folks are authentically themselves, without pretense or veneer, I’m not sure I could be more drawn in. Proximity to “the real” is like being close to a fountain of life. It invites me to be more truly myself.

From a distance however, I can be deceived into thinking I’m experiencing the real when I’m not. Kind of like seeing someone on television and then bumping into them in person. There’s a qualitative difference when I see them in the flesh and not through the screen.

It’s not that what I’m experience is bad or good. I’m making a quality of experience observation here and not a moral assessment.

It’s just not accurate to think that the proxy is the same thing as the real. What I’m experiencing is more of an appearance or replica than the actual.

Kind of reminds me of Rene Magritte’s famous painting of a pipe.

He was making the metaphysical distinction that a representation of a pipe is not the same thing as an actual pipe. Not only is the observation clever, it is resourceful.

As I got to thinking about that painting, I was reminded of the “representations” I make up in my head about the cool things other people create – pictures, businesses, presentations, words on paper. Even the best versions in my mind of what I think they are creating is not the same as the experience they enjoy when they actually create the thing.

Turns out the only way to experience that first hand is to create it on my own.

Seems to me it has to be more satisfying to experience the real act of creating first hand than to try and get a proxy experience of what I see others create, even if my admiration for their creation is greater than my own.

Turns out that the only road to discover a vision that is authentically mine – that is aligned with what I am made to deliver – is to get on the road I’m made to travel and make it so.

“Our arts, our occupations, our marriages, our religion, we have not chosen, but society has chosen for us. We are parlour soldiers. We shun the rugged battle of fate, where strength is born.” – Emerson

Most every successful professional photographer I know is a part-timer.

… and if they aren’t, I say they might want to rethink their strategy.

Let me go one step further:
I don’t think the “part-timer” category is a meaningful distinction anymore. It feels more like the residue from a bygone era meant to cajole people into responsibilities they no longer need to keep.

We need a new way to understand the people (part-time or not) who are flourishing so more can find their way.

Mapping a path to success by logging more time doing the same old thing, however, is no longer helpful. To create something new requires at least as much attention as emulating what everyone else is doing. We need to either dump the pejorative label or embrace those who are doing it well.

Of course, the part-timer can come in many forms. Some of you have day jobs in other industries and care so much about your craft of choice that you wake up early and stay up late doing it. Others are committed to the industry but do multiple tasks within it. Regardless, very few are doing nothing but shooting.

It’s time we call part-timing what it is. Anything otherwise is out-of-line with our times and the nature of what we do as creative professionals. How often we click one particular tool (our camera) is no longer sufficient to define one’s commitment.

I wonder if a better category for pro’s would be to note who are creatively committed and who are not.

One thing we can all agree on, even if you disagree with my claim, is that committing to do “it” more creatively is required of all of us (regardless of what “it” is). If more of us did, I’m confident we’d get a more satisfying result relative to our efforts.

Let me explain…

The new-school creatives who do photography part-time aren’t lazy. Far from it! They also don’t get to give up their commitment to the craft of photography. If you want to join them, you will have a LOT of work to do. But, taking pictures turns out to take a relatively small percentage of their time.

Case in point: I did a little informal survey of some of the most successful studios in the US and discovered that the principal photographer was only behind the lens between 10-12 hours per week. The resourceful question then has to be what are these success stories doing with the rest of their week?

Consider the heroes in the field we admire: We know who they are because of their body of work, right? But that’s not all they do. So, what else are they up to? With rare exception, most diversify their offerings.

Witness the sea of successful photographers creating overtly outside their photo genre (commercial shooters doing fine art), creating with tools unrelated to the camera (i.e., writing, illustration, inventions, start-ups), not to mention those expanding into the educational field.

On close inspection, these contributions are just the beginning of how these stand outs spend their time.

Because the act of creating doesn’t scale, entrepreneurial creatives find ways to embed their creativity in products that scale on their behalf. It’s why biz partners like our labs (manufacturing facilities really) are so important to us. It’s also why writers, musicians and film makers leverage Amazon and iTunes and Netflix.

Photographers aren’t alone.

Notice any actors planning weddings? Any athletes you know become coaches? How about musicians selling Harajuku perfume or making surf movies?

Even if you don’t like their hybrid-creations, you at least have to acknowledge that what they’re coming up with helps each to stand out from their usual crowd.

When people feel threatened by the idea that the part-timer now rules the world, I interpret that they’ve unfortunately bought into the belief that their identity is been placed in the wrong spot. Identity was never meant to be centered what we do: no one gets to “be” a professional photographer. Those who claim it exclusively are selling themselves short.

We aren’t what we do.

A functional view of identity breaks down pretty quick. What we do is meant to be an expression of who we are, not the source of who we are. Identity is bigger than that.

That said, I do understand why the suggestion that we take part-time photography seriously will seem offensive to some. How can someone be a pro and only do it part-time? Plus, if I’m spending 60 hours a week on my photo business right now, how is that not a full-time gig?

What I’m noticing is too many in our industry are adopting full time responsibilities that are decided for them… in what Emerson would call their parlour. The rugged battle – where your true and unique strength can be discovered – needs some time to be developed too.

Wouldn’t it be more resourceful then to reallocate our investment of time to include creating outside of the norm? I dare you to give it at least a part-time effort.