What problems or questions plague you?

Questions and Answers

By now, this blog is starting to take a bit of shape. You’ve probably got a feeling for the sorts of things I cover and that I know about. My biggest strength is on integrating different concepts to answer questions or build solutions. You’ve seen that with my post on dumping consumer wifi devices, it’s also covered in my post on cord cutting.

Making Money Solving Problems

I’ve been clear from the start that this blog is an attempt by me to make money. I want to do that by providing value and doing so in a way that is hopefully unique. In some ways, this follows the model of the Side Hustle School Podcast. In that podcast, Chris takes listener questions once per week and provides answers and suggestions. The episode I just listened to, one of the topics covered was how to adapt in changing industries.

Adapting to Changing Industries – Photography

That topic reminded me of a side hustle that I tried a few years ago. It’s one I made a little money in, but I didn’t have a successful model, photography. I believe I talked about having made a tad of money through my Alamy gallery, but I’ve netted less than $200 in total. In my exploration of photography, I noticed it was a changing industry. Film and developing used to present a significant barrier to entry in recurring costs. In the modern world film is essentially free, just empty your memory card. There’s plenty of point and shoot digital cameras that will produce some sharp, high resolution pictures. The general public doesn’t recognize the skill and time that goes into composition, capture, and post-processing. I read magazine article after magazine article complaining about disruptive new photographers who would offer a CD full of wedding photos for around $1000 where traditional photographers would sell individual prints at several hundred dollars a piece. The photographers were essentially arguing in favor of cartel type practices. They were refusing to adapt.

A Question Answered

So what’s my solution for this issue? Once you’re experienced enough, there’s no way to significantly impact the amount of time it takes to shoot a subject or event. So the only other place time is spent is on post-processing. Having taken plenty of photos myself, I know a lot go un-processed on my drive, why? It takes a ton of time. We now live in a globally connected, gig economy. What does that mean? There is labor, in less expensive markets, that you can reach instantly. I’ve always thought that if I were to take another stab at making money from photography, I’d work on finding an offshore image processor. That would allow me to spend more time on the photography and less time on the tedious editing.

The second half is educating customers. Most people don’t understand all the intangibles that go into photography. So there’s a little marketing and education that has to go on here. I would look at taking the same picture in three ways: natural light with point and shoot, natural light with professional equipment, and studio lit with professional equipment.  With that, you could show five images on your website: natural light with point and shoot, natural light with professional equipment, natural light with professional equipment and post-processing, studio lit with professional equipment, and studio lit with professional equipment with post-processing. You could write a lot of words about the technical and artistic differences in the approaches, but I think just seeing the intangibles side by side would sell it best to those who valued the quality.

What Problem Can I Solve For You?

That’s the type of problem solving that I like to do and I’ve touched a lot of different knowledge areas. So, what’s your question? What problem can I help you solve?

Image Credits: airpix