Photographers! If not now, when?

I’ve pushed my book cover course again recently, only because I’ve seen since the first lockdown a few people buy the course and then email me with wonderful wonderful messages of success. Varying from someone being made redundant and they finally had time to focus on book cover photography - they have already seen sales happening and they are happier than they’ve been in a long time.

‘Even though I’m not making my old wage yet (YET), I’m making money through this lockdown with my photography, that’s insane! I’ve never been happier. Thank you!’

Yes she’s not making her old wage YET, but after being made redundant she wasn’t exactly making anything at that point! To see sales that quickly too is brilliant. Her persistence and investment in herself and her happiness is already paying off. What a feat during a worldwide pandemic right?

I’ve also had a few other students who finally took the plunge and did the course. All emailing me with varying degrees of success, all happy and wishing they’d done it earlier.

I’m asking this not just about my course of course (oh how I love how that sounds!) but to do with lot’s of things that cover photography! I realised I had been kind of avoiding a few things on my list. One being my finances. I’ve been scared of finances my entire life and just ignored them. I bobbled along with my taxes and did them myself (moron) paying way too much and just outright avoiding everything else to do with finances.

During the first lockdown I took more control. I arranged a SIPP, new accountant who is setting up another pension plan, savings accounts, hell I even have investment accounts now. I can’t tell you the relief of finally looking it straight on and tackling it. Realising the stress of not doing it was actually eating me more than the energy it took to tackle it and now I feel a thousand times better.

Also this idea we should be hoarding our money away at the moment is a bit of a hit and miss. I spend money if I know it’s going to make me money. An age old idea that i’ve only recently realised the value of.

So, photographers. If not now, when?

What stops you? What do you know you should be doing but are avoiding?