In episode #121 of Oh Shoot! podcast, Cassidy Lynne and Jai Long talk about 5 practical things to focus on to build a successful photo business.
Listen to the full podcast on Spotify or watch the episode on YouTube!
Jai is an Australian business coach and business is what changed his life completely. He’s able to make his own rules and forge his own path. It’s a vehicle to bring what he loves to create to the world and it’s a way he’s able to serve people. He’s able to design a life he loves. He’s been running his own business for 17 years and the fact that he doesn’t have to set an alarm still feels amazing.
Business is a Game
Business is a game and you get to make the rules. Jai explains that if you’re playing a game you gotta fall in love with losing. Losing is just as fun as winning. But everyone is afraid of losing in business. Instead, we’re so afraid of losing that we don’t even try to win. For some people, we don’t even play the game. We just sit on the side and judge others that are playing the game. That’s the worst place to be. We have to get in the game and just have fun with it.
You Have More Time Than You Think
Jai says that you have more time than you think and it takes less time than you think to make a huge impact. It would take roughly 20 hours for you to fundamentally change your business. For example, if you don’t have any leads, you take 20 hours of your week to obsess over just learning Facebook ads. You start running Facebook ads yourself and that could change your business.
Same if you spent 20 hours obsessing over Instagram Reels. You analyze other people’s Reels and pay attention to their hook, their story, the sounds they use, etc. You obsess over that instead of thinking about all the things you’re not doing. Implement and test out different Instagram Reels and it could change the game.
No one multitasks themselves to greatness. That’s why Jai recommends choosing one thing and obsessing over that for the month. Give yourself 20 hours a week and you can change your business. So many of us get stuck in the not knowing and not knowing creates overwhelm and burnout. Doing the actual work doesn’t create burnout.
5 Things To Focus on in Business
If you’re early in your business, here are 5 things you should be focusing on.
#1 Mindset
Keep upgrading your mindset as much as you upgrade your phone. It’s really important to keep having humility that you don’t know everything. You’re not as good as you think you are and there’s a lot to learn. It’s important to keep learning and there are so many amazing resources right now to help you.
#2 Take Action
If you’re just starting your business, look around and identify where there are problems. For example, right now people are overwhelmed by social media and aren’t showing up or posting. So there’s a golden opportunity for you to be on social media. While everyone is confused, you can be winning the game. Start taking action on things.
#3 Create
There are plenty of wrong things you don’t need straight away. You don’t need a perfect brand, website, or anything. You need clients and regardless if they pay you or not, showing you have clients will get you so much further. To get busy start creating shoots and showing behind the scenes. Do shoots for free and collaborate with others. Just be creating. Get a second job if you need to, but keep creating. The more you can create, the more hype and buzz you’re creating. Once you start charging it gets really hard if you don’t have that foundational base of this is who I am and this is my style.
80/20 Business Rule
Start working out what has worked in your business and what hasn’t. There’s the 80/20 rule of business. 80% of your results come from 20% of the work you’ve done. Think about what are the 20% of things that get you the biggest results in your business. What are the high-value tasks that make the most impact? Go through your business and see what tasks you can remove that aren’t having an impact or bringing you value. Are there things on your list that you can stop doing or can outsource? That’s how you start building a business.
#4 Get Deep on Your Why
This one gets talked about a lot, but you need to get deep on your why. If you’re not deep on your why then the second something gets hard you’ll give up. The second you only get 10 views on Instagram, you’ll give up. It’s hard to keep showing up if you don’t have a massive why. If you have a deep why, you’re going to show up regardless if someone sees you as a failure or if you have no views. You’re going to show up because it means something to you.
#5 Don’t Take Yourself So Seriously
Business is really fun and creative. You get to make the rules and break the rules. There’s so much freedom in it. If that’s really hard for you, it’s probably because you’re playing by an employee mindset and rules. They’re completely different. You might be confined to the wrong rule book for the game you’re playing so it’s making it hard for you. Find the right rule book and you’re going to get in the flow and it’s really easy and rewarding.
Thanks Jai for coming on the podcast!
Follow Jai
You can follow Jai on Instagram @jailong.co!
Show Notes
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