photography – Dark Beauty

“Empty Prayers” —
Photographer/Model: Topher Adam

What a fantastic day at WPPI @MGM Grand Las Vegas conference. One of the highlights was listening to Christopher Becker. His session was aptly named “Building A Lasting Brand;” filled with brilliant advices. My favorite advice was, “you only need a handful of clients each month. Don’t worry about trying to be overbooked … maintain your brand and take care of your clients. Don’t worry about what others are doing because they don’t matter. The only thing that matters is you, and your brand.” He also said half-jokingly, “you can’t please everyone, so stop trying.” — That rang true to me, the only thing that matters is you and your clients.

“Ignore the haters; you’re not the Jackass Whisper!” he said — isn’t that the truth? There will always be haters, let them hate; pay attention to what your goals are, not anyone else’s…don’t give them the time of day. A photographer should be authentic and approachable while staying true to their mission and brand. You should be confident, ambitious, kind, driven, unapologetic, and stress-free…and most importantly, always evolve; it keeps you in the eyes of your clients. Evolving is the key to your competitive edge.

Christopher has been speaking at WPPI for 20 years. When mentioning what has changed in his work, he laughs and says, “I’m consistent. You see my work isn’t the most creative, but it’s consistent. That’s all that matters, because that’s why I’m hired after all.” And his photographs delivers each time. To get an idea of his workflow, he offered this link — coachbecker.net/b-flow. Download it, learn from the best, especially those who are working and making money with a successful brand.

It was an amazing opportunity to listen to him. I’m not a wedding photographer, but I believe his philosophy applies to my type of work as well; be consistent yet flexible enough to evolve. Do what you love and keep getting better than your last shoot. He said “… freelancers tend to have ADD.” So to focus and do one thing at a time, he suggested an app called MarinaraTimer; it works in the same vein as the Pomodoro technique, to help you maintain a focused workflow and achieve your daily goals. For example, you set a timer for 20 minutes and work, then take a 5 minute break, followed by another 20 minutes of work and so on. Christopher feels that he was able to accomplish more in 4 hours using this method than he would have working 10 hours traditionally.

He closed his session by saying this, “when you get a call from a perspective client, use your video recorder and record yourself. Tell your client that you’re excited about the possibilities and that you are looking forward to meeting with them to discuss more about the job.” He continues,“… send the video. Most people don’t listen to this advice, but I always get a call back. Not always hired, but at least I am personalizing my relationships with my clients.”

I was completely engaged with Christopher’s session. I am truly inspired, not only because this man lost shit loads of weight himself, but that he also help others lose weight through his Lazy Man’s Life Changing Challenge. He weighed over 300 lbs, but is now down to 197 in a single year. I think it’s so important to listen to people who have accomplished transformations in life. It’s time we make the right choices to enjoy a lifelong opportunity to be successful, both physically and financially. I truly enjoyed this nice chap’s talk today. Look into his work!

I also attended a session from Ben Sasso named “Social Media | Facebook and Instagram.” Ben took time to share some basic and novel information on how to build a social media following, while still creating relative content that suits the clients you want to attract. One thing that Ben said stood out to me was that we should build our social network around the clients and fans we want; use all the necessary means to ensure that the audience you garner are the ones who want to follow you. He also stressed on make your online presence easy for busy and lazy people alike to follow; “pressing the like button is a huge commitment for most.” he said. Engaging with your clients and fans online are also important in ensuring you are constantly establishing new while maintaining older connections.

I find that there are so many amazing people in the world and in our field; we should partner with them rather than see them as competition. I am really excited to have been able to bring you a few of my favorite speakers of the day. Tomorrow, we’ll be on the showroom floor bringing you the latest news on technology, gear, and software. Stay tuned!

Topher Adam
Editor-in-Chief
Dark Beauty Magazine