Today’s episode of the Book More Clients Photography Podcast is a re-air with Stefanie Gass; we’re talking to the overwhelmed photographer dealing with comparison, distraction and imposter syndrome.
Dear overwhelmed photographer,
Today’s conversation is for you. We’re going to be tackling the importance of sticking to a plan, picking your niche and staying committed to it, what you should be focusing on, how to make sure your messaging is working, and why you’re probably suffering from the disease of distraction, which is shiny object syndrome.
Who is Stefanie Gass?
Stef: I help the faith fueled mama, who is also an entrepreneur get ultimate clarity. Ibelieve that each and every one of you and every single person that’s here on this planet has a spiritual gifting, something that we’ve all been created to impact the world with. And I think it’s always sitting right inside of us, but we can’t seem to get it out. We’re so overwhelmed with all the different things we can do that we miss the thing we were created to do.
I do clarity coaching around that area. Once we’ve identified your thing, you’re really so excited to bring to the world, I teach you how to create a brand out of it, using podcasting. Which is my favorite avenue to grow an organic audience when you’re an online entrepreneur and I know a lot of you have a photography business, but you still market online.
Lastly, I help those entrepreneurs figure out how to monetize it. Whether that be coaching or courses and things like that. So, while it’s a tiny bit different from what you guys do, the strategies I teach are going to be transformational for you because the mindset, the marketing, and the implementation of actually profiting in your business is really all the same.u
I’m also a mama, I’ve got two littles, six and a half in three and a half. I live in the country, I dress in pjs all day; running a business from my house in my PJs is my dream. And I’m doing it which is so cool. What else? I drink too much coffee and I love me some Jesus. So just prepare yourself for me today because I’ll probably bring it.
Shiny object syndrome: comparison, distraction and imposter syndrome
Brooke: My favorite thing about you, Stef, is how real and raw you are. And I know, that’s one thing that you really appreciate about your brand as well. And I’m ready for some real and raw today. So, I want today to really speak to those photographers that are in their business, they’re overwhelmed. They think there’s no time, they don’t know what to focus on. I mean, there’s multiple marketing techniques and strategies that I teach that they’re hearing others teach. And I’m sure they literally just feel like their head is spinning, because I know I’ve been in that exact same place in my business.
That’s why I wanted to bring it to all of them, and that is this whole idea of shiny object syndrome. So, I’m gonna let you have the floor and preach it to us today.
What is shiny object syndrome?
Stef: Most of you are probably mamas, if not, you’re in a relationship or you’re married. There are all these things that we have to manage in our lives, and we’re also trying to start profitable businesses. You’re out there trying to get clients; and, thinking, “how do I still profit in my business, do I need to go online, do I need to do the whole portrait thing, what do I do”? Then you’re struggling with, “how do I price myself, is there a better pricing model, how do I sell, do I do prints, do I do online things”? I know that you guys are faced with 101 different ways to grow your business.
To top it all off, you have a lot of pressure you’re putting on yourself. Why? Because you said you wanted to start this business, so, where’s the money? There’s this financial pressure that either you are putting on yourself, or maybe your spouse is putting on you. You likely feel like you’re gonna crumble.
Let’s debunk a common myth
What I want to debunk for you is something that you’ve been told and taught, which is, the more you do, the more successful you will be, the harder you push, the more profit you will make. What I believe is that all of us deal with something called shiny object syndrome, especially when we’re new in business and in a new set of thinking.
In other words, what y’all are doing is saying, “I’m looking around at what looks good, what looks better, what marketing strategy looks like it’s gonna make me the most money”, and you chase after it because you have FOMO, and you get diverted from what you started. And then you got to start over.
You’re constantly pivoting your attention from one thing to the next. So, what does that do? That keeps you from making any actual progress in your business at all, because you’re in a constant state of new and starting over?
Gross, don’t do it. So that’s what it is.
I want you guys raise your hand right now:
- Are you dealing with this?
- Wondering why you’re not profitable yet or making enough money?
If you guys have been doing your photography business for over a year, and you’re still stuck in this cycle of barely profiting, you’re probably dealing with shiny object syndrome.
Next level trust when getting rid of comparison, distraction and imposter syndrome
There’s a level of trust that goes into sticking with a plan, where the discomfort comes in that we can’t control an outcome. Nobody, none of you can control an outcome. We can’t say, “I’m going to meet with Brooke, she’s going to lay out a plan for me, and if I stick with the plan, I know it will happen”. So, because you feel discomfort and unrest, because you don’t know if the gold is at the end of the rainbow from Brooke’s plan, you divert to what you think you can control, which is a new and shiny plan.
The truth is no new and shiny plan has a promise at the end, the only thing that has a promise at the end is truly what God is calling you to do. If we look at a verse here, Proverbs 4:25, “let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you in Scripture”, it doesn’t say look to the left, look to the right, try that, it says literally don’t look up.
I have said those words to almost every client I’ve ever worked with. I’ve said that, to Brooke, I’ve set them to myself, “don’t look up”. Here’s the beauty when someone has walked the path before you like Brooke, for example. She can lay out a plan that has not only worked for her, but also worked for so many other people; we have the proof that plan works. Here’s what you guys don’t like, the plan is not sexy, it’s not shiny, that plan is not new.
Stop looking up
It’s a plan that means do the work, stop looking up. That means you show up consistently and do the proven strategies over and over and over in your business until it means conquering the fears that are keeping you stuck. It means better follow up, systems, differentiating yourself in your market with the type of photography and so on.
It’s nothing new that you guys haven’t heard, but it’s stop getting distracted. That’s the secret. My advice for all of you is that when you come up with a plan; one plan, if you want to excel at newborn photography, and that’s going to be your thing, stop looking up and looking around, stop trying different editing things, etc. Pick your thing and get to work and do the thing for like six months or a year without looking up. Get with Brooke for a specific marketing plan because that’s where her expertise is incredible. And get with Brooke on price and structuring.
Stop comparing yourself to everyone else and stop looking up. That’s where we trip up, we look up. You’re not doing it long enough for it to explode for you.
Now let me share one secret here.
One secret when you choose what you really want to do, your gifting is and what you are blessing the world with your gifts as photographers; having memories that we can cherish forever, that are beautiful. That’s art. It’s everything. But, you don’t have to do all the things, get known for your niche before you look up and pivot.
Brooke: I’m nodding my head because I know you have heard this before. This is nothing new. This, “pick the thing you want to be known for”, because the mistake so many people are making is constantly bouncing from one thing to the next over and over and over again.
If you want to dive deeper into the comparison, distraction and imposter syndrome that shiny object syndrome brings, tune into the Book More Clients Photography Podcast.
Thanks for tuning into another episode of the Book More Clients Photography Podcast. If you’re loving the content, can you take 2 minutes and do me the biggest favor? Share your love for the show by leaving a rating and review on Apple podcasts. Or take a screenshot and share the show to your social media. I’m on a mission to transform our photography industry, and the best way to reach others is to share with the show.
Connecting with Stefanie Gass
Female Christian Entrepreneurs – Start & Scale a God-Led Online Business Facebook community.
