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Competitive Advantage

Monday, November 21, 2011 Posted inALL,BUSINESS

I read a blog post by Seth Godin this morning entitled, “Your Competitive Advantage”. The truth is, as a photographer in an ever growingly competitive industry, you must take time to identify your competitive advantages. So it’s pretty important stuff. I was expecting to read something along the lines of, “You are your greatest competitive advantage” (something Jasmine Star has really promoted) – this is something I 100% agree with, but I’ve heard it ten million times, so honestly? Hearing it one more time from Seth Godin would have been a bit of a disappointment considering what a legend he is. Lucky for me, he came up with something so much more interesting. Read all about it here, but my favourite quote?

“More time on the problem isn’t the way. More guts is. When you expose yourself to the opportunities that scare you, you create something scarce, something others won’t do.” – Seth Godin, you are the man.

Wow. I’ve spent the past two days arranging my schedule, wishing I had more time to fit everything in, when I’ve completely forgotten to focus on the content of the work I produce, taking risks, and producing excellence. Why are these things so easy to forget?

So here I am, thanking Seth Godin for the inspiration, for waking me up to what it’s all about. I love him for it. I hope you take the time to read the post. Let me know what you think about it in the comments section! What is YOUR competitive advantage? Have you taken the time to really sit down and think about it? If not, I dare you to :).

Posted inALL,BUSINESS

  • http://www.almostdelightful.com Sarah

    Wonderful inspiration. I’m not sure what my competitive edge is but I’m going to try to find out now :). xo

  • http://starsandrainbows.wordpress.com Sarah

    I love it, thank you for posting this :)

  • steve

    I think competition really kills artistic creativity. You get caught up in what everyone else is doing and end up trying to alter your work and vision to suit the status quo – try and do something better than someone you perceive as a competitor. You end up letting someone else influence your work and direction in what I think is a negative way by competing.

    I feel as an artist you should never say you want to be better than anyone but yourself. I think some of the great photographers out there are great because they don’t compete on a playing field but create their own. I don’t think Tim Walker, Annie Liebowitz or Camilla Akrans are motivated by doing better than their peers but rather on pushing their own work and vision.

    Unfortunately with the internet and how close photographers are with social media it seems like it’s hard to escape competition because your work is on display essentially next to everybody else’s. I know I’ve felt a pressure to do better than certain photographers or seen images from other photographers and compared them with my own. I’m doing my best to try and avoid doing that now. But it is tough.

    Photography as a business – especially weddings and things like selling actions – is certainly competitive but I don’t think you need a competitive attitude but rather work on your own work and push yourself for your own sake rather than trying to win a race.

  • http://firstkisstime.blogspot.com Sarah

    Hey,
    So thanks for your comment on my little blog. I’m so happy to be able to stumble upon your gorgeous blog. I love your photography and your writing style, this post was very inspiration. Happy to find a good read :) xxx

  • http://vandemarkdesigns.blogspot.com Anna

    Your work is just stunning!!! The color, compositions, moods captured – all perfect! I’m looking forward to seeing more of your work and reading your insightful text.