The Key to Setting Effective Business Goals as a Photographer

New Year’s content is fulllllll of goal-setting ideas and tons of motivation, but let’s be honest — most of us need way more in the realm of goal-setting ideas and motivation around this time of year instead.  After all, the burnout tends to set in right around now… and the goals tend to go by the wayside.

I’ve been there, and it’s why I actually have a sit-down with myself every year around this time dedicated to setting business goals without the pressure of January 1st looming over my head.

See, building a photography business you love has to go hand in hand with setting business goals that you can work towards — and, the way I see it, you can set those goals at absolutely any point in the year.

So if you’ve been feeling a little blah about your New Year’s goals, I’ve got you covered! Let’s set effective business goals as photographers that actually make us feel excited and empowered about the rest of the year, yeah?!

First things first…

I’ve definitely been the person who just scrawls down a ton of goals in a notepad at random points in my life, only to forget about the goals I set (and, obviously, not reach them). That’s why learning how to set goals effectively has absolutely transformed the way I set, reach, and implement the business goals I want to achieve.

The key? Setting SMART goals, AKA: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound goals. By making sure each goal I create falls into at least one of those SMART acronym buckets, I’ve been able to create truly effective goals. Here’s what I mean:

S: When you’re setting goals, get really, really specific about them. Do you have a certain revenue number in mind? Is there an amount of bookings you know you want to capture? Are there a certain number of weddings or brands or portraits you want to shoot in any given month?

M: The only real way to achieve goals is to know whether or not you have, well… achieved them. Right?! Right. It’s why making sure your goals are measurable matters so much. So, with each goal you set, ask yourself: “how can I measure the progress and the success of this?” Whether it’s through data analytics, habit tracking, or bookings, make sure that you’re leaving room in your goals for them to be realized.

A: Okay, we’ve ALL set unrealistic goals to an extent — it’s just life, especially if you’re a dreamer. However, setting a bunch of unrealistic goals is exactly how you end up reaching absolutely zero of those goals. When you set goals that are achievable (even if that means working towards things in steps or chunks), your momentum is significantly higher and your goals have a heck of a lot bigger chance of being realized.

R: How often have you felt like you were setting a goal just to… set it?! Maybe it’s because you saw another photographer reach the same goal, maybe it’s because you felt like you were ‘supposed to’ set that goal, or maybe it’s because you didn’t put too much thought into it in the first place. I’ve done that, too — but I’ve also realized that the key to making goals work for myself comes down to making sure that they’re actually relevant to my business, to my dreams, and to my goals.

T: While I don’t think that every single goal you set needs to have a super-strict timeline behind it, it’s absolutely true that you won’t work as hard towards a goal if you don’t have a time frame in mind. So, as you start setting goals for yourself, give them a timeline! Maybe it’s a quarterly goal, maybe it’s a weekly goal, or maybe it’s something more long-term — think: the next year or even longer. Just add that time component to them anyways.