Whats your "get rich" or "create freedom" plan ?

In all seriousness though these are great questions to be asking. Early on I found myself asking much different questions all wrapped up in providing immediate income and seeking security and comfort from my job. Once I got past that need for security I was able to seek out freedom.

BTW - Congrats on your news article and great shots on your blog!

DAVIDJAY wrote in post #3467558
I hope to marry a rich woman!

hand over that iphone and i'll hook ya up!

LOL - Deal!

Hey, I'll be in London in from the 13th - 16th of July and I'd love to meet up with some of you guys if you are around!

Rock on!
DJ

DAVIDJAY wrote in post #3469252
LOL - Deal!

Hey, I'll be in London in from the 13th - 16th of July and I'd love to meet up with some of you guys if you are around!

Rock on!
DJ

your supposed to send me details - remember????? OSP - the 'shootsac' thread .......

I believe there is a big difference between "get rich" and "Get freedom".

I decided to first take care of my "Security" and only then worry about true freedom.
I joind the army, went through officer's course & am now come out of the army with many years of experience at software engineering - which basicaly means I have a sure income for the rest of my life (people with my experince are grabbed left and right).

Now, that I have financial security, I am chasing freedom. I've started learning photography (I'm a photography student now ).
And I'm hoping to succeed in this buisiness - which has always been a loved hobby and a dream - and thats my freedom.

DAVIDJAY wrote in post #3469252
LOL - Deal!

Hey, I'll be in London in from the 13th - 16th of July and I'd love to meet up with some of you guys if you are around!

Rock on!
DJ

I'm not in London but David, if your ever in Israel, drop me a line - I'd absolutly love to meet you and learn a bit from you

If the stock market stays strong like it is now, I will be able to retire in about 4 yrs (at 45), buuuuuuttt that is a huge IF !!! I work a high stress job and make a pretty fair amount oif money, but I really don't like what I do. So I agree that there is a difference between being financialy set and being free... Maybe I can have eonugh money to not worry about it and be able to travel, shoot full time and enjoy my career for the second half of my life... That is freedom to me...

tim wrote in post #3459469
https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=308444

Yep, that or provide the services + PP outsourced.

There's nothing around, people just hack away at it.

Potential for basic business consulting as well -- So many people can shoot but never want to set up a biz.

I'm lucky that husband makes enough to support us. My personal bills (I like a little financial independence) are currently paid largely by my website design business. If I get strapped for cash I do some freelance writing to fill in the gaps. I could probably write full-time if I wanted to with very little effort, but I'm loving this photography thing too much.

I always say my next husband is going to be a millionaire. Current husband isn't fond of that saying. LOL!

Buy real estate that has made plenty of people millions

sblais wrote in post #3462651
For now, I just hope I can be in the black with my photography business. THEN, I'll think about becoming rich!

Me too! Think black, think black!

I just have a quick, naive question: can you not make a decent living as a wedding photographer? What are people charging and how many weddings do you do per year where you're not able to earn a living doing what you love?

snooc wrote in post #3607788
I just have a quick, naive question: can you not make a decent living as a wedding photographer? What are people charging and how many weddings do you do per year where you're not able to earn a living doing what you love?

Too open a question to answer, because there are all sorts of budget levels for wedding photography and people have different standards about what is an acceptable amount of kit and all the other paraphernalia you need to do the job. You can work the sums backwards yourself, starting from what you consider a decent living, then add on the costs of everything you need to deliver the service, divide that total by how much you think you should be charging and that gives you the number of weddings you need to shoot ...all you need then is people booking you.

This is our second year doing weddings, we might just break even, and we were a pre-existing business with all the infrastructure, experience and processes in place for paying tax, sorting accounts, accepting payment already in place. I hope that next year we'll be in the black - but there are no guarantees ...however, Ann and I are in our 50's and really enjoying what we do - and how do you put a price on that?

[must go - I have a VAT return beckoning me!]

Rob

snooc wrote in post #3607788
I just have a quick, naive question: can you not make a decent living as a wedding photographer? What are people charging and how many weddings do you do per year where you're not able to earn a living doing what you love?

You can look up national income stats and the photog profession doesn't look very promising.

Our latest company expasion involved buying a bridal shop. We are starting to streamline things together - photography, consulting, gowns, tuxes, while avoiding the bridal mill feel. I can't do everything... with the bridal shop, Im not sure if I can do anything! But my wife is rather versitile and seems to know a lot about the industry in general. She'll be great to have in the shop and rocks at selling. That puts me and the shooters off shooting and teaching workshops. It seemed like a good move. Utilize the skills you've got.

do everything Dave Ramsey says. as in: pay cash for everything except your house, pay your debts down smallest to largest (this not only goes faster, but gives you a sense of accomplishment), do NOT buy new cars...they might be shiny, but think of it this way...would you buy a house if you KNEW the value of it would go down 50% over 5 years? NO, then why buy a car? If you buy a car, pay cash for a used one, or lease.

his philosophy is, "if it is not making you money, then it is negative equity"...i.e. financed cars, boats, etc...(all things that are guaranteed to go down in value) unlike positive equity (houses, land, etc...)

people get into debt because they are living someone else's life, and not their own! all you have to do is eat beans and rice for 3-4 years (max) to get rid of all your debt, THEN you can live like nobody else.

::: connor

p.s. - oh yeah...the main question - well we make money by provigind a one stop shop for brides...music, video and photo. can easily make $5,000-$8,000 in a weekend. you guys should look into it. although video is MUCH harder than photography, it pays well because there are so much fewer photographers and the market is VERY undersaturated. and music...well find a good DJ and the rest is just manual labor. if you can handle that, you can make fistfulls of cash.

As with eveyone else, I too plan on expanding my service to Portraits and even Special Events. I have a buddy in videography that makes a nice chunk of change freelancing for radio stations, tv stations, etc. Along with doing weddings and other stuff he is able to stay busy enough to do it full time. It won't be asy, and I remember reading something on a bathroom wall saying,"if it was easy everyone would be a professional!!"