Something just hit me when it comes to getting peoples attention in the modern age. That is, play to your strengths. I’m a photographer and I would like to think I’m good at my job and hobby. Now in this day and age, as a freelancer, being great at our job isn’t good enough. We have to promote our work, company, workshop or service. We need to somehow get the word out there. Digitally putting our hand up and saying “Hey look at me, over here.”
Over the past month or so I’ve been trying different things apart from photography to promote myself. Using trial and error to get the good word out there. My goal is to teach people about what I’ve learned and to share ideas, philosophy and the creative process when creating photography. I’ve tried writing a blog post every week for a year. I’ve posted a photo almost daily on Instagram for the past few years, I’ve tried ads & youtube (once or twice), I have yet to try audio. I’ve found that my strength, is the thing that I’ve already got the most traction from, writing. It comes naturally to me, is how I think. In short, my strengths are taking pictures and writing.
Now I’m not the best writer, I’m not the best photographer. What I am saying is, photos and writing come to me like second nature. They are the things I do the most, its what I default to all the time. To put this into a bit of context, I’m an introvert, I hardly ever talk and I don’t like being the centre of attention. I’m not charismatic so I don’t come across interesting or appealing when talking to a camera. I’m a man of very few words when speaking, I mainly stay in my head. So I know my weaknesses. I do write down notes and ideas a lot, that’s something I’ve taken notice of. Because of this, I’ve realised writing could be my strength, not because I’m great at it, but because it’s something I do all the time.
Ask yourself “What are your strengths?” What are you natural at, maybe its talking or ranting on about something you’re passionate about (Youtube). Maybe you really good at asking people questions and listening (Podcast). Or perhaps your like me, and take notes and express your thoughts with the written word (Blog post). Or maybe don’t ask yourself what are you good at, but rather what comes naturally to you? When it comes to getting your word out there, be it your work or what you’ve been up to, remember, play to your strengths.
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