In athletics there is one thing that separates good athletes from great athletes and that is consistency. This is true in business as well.

In order to do this you must have defined what you're going to be about. What do you value and do the companies you partner with, the people you associate with, and the jobs you accept fit within your values?

Specifically one thing I've found is that photographers are tempted to adopt a "Nascar-like" approach. Taking any job they're offered or slapping any sponsorship they can onto their body and "partnering" with every company just to get a little publicity without thought or consideration of what they are about. I've certainly been tempted by this at times and have made mistakes even recently and that's ok. We all make mistakes but what's important is that we fix them asap.

Our reputation is the most valuable thing we have and the people we associate with and the ideas we spread certainly affect that. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Opensourcep...consistent.html

I totally agree with you! We just got back from a week with Beckstead in Idaho and we talked about this a lot. Gerald and I spent a lot of long, hard hours defining our passion, our style, our target clients and our approach to wedding photography. It was so valuable! I hope to post more soon, but just wanted to share my agreement that consistency is absolutely necessary (and it will make your life easier!).

agree with it all, especially that 3rd paragraph.

If you can afford to be selective.

Luke - you gonna be around PhotoPlus! I'll be out there all week so let's get a crew together for dinner or something!

I don't think we can ever afford NOT to be selective.

I agree as a photographer your reputation does proceed you. Happy Clients are the best marketing anyone can have.

I totally agree. I find that when I go against my better judgement, those clients are the ones that end up costing me the most (time, energy, loss of motivation). I do this for both money and fun, when it stops becoming fun....i'll probably stop shooting and go back to managing investments.