What type of energy do you give off to your clients?

I’m not sure how I would have answered this question over 15 years ago. I don’t think I was even aware that I was giving off any sort of energy to my clients good or bad.

But in hindsight I recognize that I was.

Years and years ago, we had moved from New York to Phoenix and we were over confident that our photography business would be an instant success in our new city. Maybe we were super optimistic initially but quickly it was apparent that this transition was not going to be as easy as we had hoped.

It was scary. We relied solely on photography for our family’s income.

To establish ourselves in Phoenix, my first instinct was to take any job that came our way. Work with any budget just to book a session. Bend our pricing to work. Say yes to everything. All these thoughts were racing through my head constantly.

Put food on the table.

Desperation.

If we doubted ourselves then client’s would feel the same. Why would they value us if we didn’t value ourselves?

If we gave off negative energy we would repel clients not attract them.

If we raced to the bottom and tried to compete for business on low pricing, how would we ever be able to establish ourselves as anything but cheap photographers?

I know when you are needing to pay bills or put gas in the car it might seem like you can’t turn down a job. Or maybe you are a people pleaser and want to say yes to anyone who asks because you feel bad saying no. Or maybe you think if you say no to someone then that’s it, no one will ever hire or inquire with you again.

This is really hard. I had to remind myself that we had to think about our business for the long term. The photography work was excellent. There was a track record. So to try and compete by either slashing our pricing, discounting or giving in just seemed (I’m going to use this word again) DESPERATE.

Realizing this was incredibly helpful and changed our trajectory. And the more I reminded myself that it was ok to say no, the better our business did. The energy started to change. The positivity had immediate results.

I don’t want to say we became flippant, but in some ways we did. If someone doesn’t book us then they were meant to work with some other photographer. We weren’t the right fit for them anyway. And that is how it was meant to be.

Chasing after the wrong client, giving off the wrong energy usually does not have a happy ending.

Understanding that clients pick up on energy – good or bad – can revolutionize your business.

What you give off is what you get, plain and simple.