When I first started this website/ blog in 2018 — ill and unable to work until I had proper treatment — the focus and goal was to look at topics being brought up by photographers in groups, and create content around the pressing questions or challenges that photographers encountered in the course of business. That was my compass. This was valuable, but in 2022, I had a “night epiphany.” When my mind is relaxed and getting sleepy, my intuition has room to send some inspiration for me that I will actually hear/ sense. That night, the idea came to me that I needed to go deeper on this business. I listened to my intuition and it took me through a journey that resulted in the current brand and a new, more proactive approach: ShineSparkL Marketing Education for Photographers.

Eastern Yogic philosophy refers to the concept of 5 Koshas: Body, Mind, Energy, Wisdom and Bliss (or Intuition). These are all layers of self and all of us humans embody them. The body is most tangible, and Intuition the least and when they work in unity then we optimize our human experience on this earth. It occurred to me that we can extrapolate these layers into our work as well and it hit me! Just like some of us are closed down to one or more of our 5 Koshas, it may be the same case with our photography. And it is this philosophy that may be able to explain why your marketing may be missing the mark.

If you reference the graphic above, it may make sense that these 5 elements work together for a strong and well-rounded business. While it may sound unbelievable, I have come to understand that the success of my marketing depends on achieving harmony with elements that I wouldn’t normally consider a part of marketing. I’ll explain the pillars now and that may illuminate things, and then I’ll bring it home at the end of this post. Stay with me!

Body

You need to be strong and have stamina and endurance to photograph; lugging and setting up studio lights, carrying heavy equipment and bags, being on your feet for a 10 hour wedding and sitting in front of a computer plugging away at business and marketing. If your body can’t keep up then it would be very hard to keep going in this profession!

Mind

Clients want service providers who are confident because it gives them assurance that their results are in good hands. They need that assurance to feel secure in booking you and handing over their hard-earned bucks. Confidence also infuses you positive energy which translates into great client experiences and boosts and encourages you - an upwards spiral. If you don’t keep your mind clean of trash-talk, it risks your client relations and your attitude of success or defeat.

Energy

I define it as “sparkling business presence.” A business only truly needs administrative, financial and logistic elements to run. Think of a cocktail. It’s a mix of alcoholic and non-alcoholic liquids - a recipe of some standard things. But pour that mix into fancy stemware and embellish with a tiny, colourful umbrella and all of a sudden - it’s a party in a glass! Our business is the basic cocktail of business plans, products, financials, marketing and shooting, and the brand energy is the equivalent of the embellishments that you uniquely layer on to that cocktail to make it a party that everyone wants an invitation for! If you don’t have a brand, then all you have is a cocktail mix that dozens of others have as well. And if they have layered their cocktail with some fancy brand details, your plain cocktail won’t stand out in comparison.

Wisdom (Business)

The wisdom pillar defines business, because wisdom is acquired knowledge not only through learning but experience - it matures as you go. Many photographers wing this part, but if you take a look around our society, the world and economy run on business and marketing. These fields are established and reputable and represent the backbone and lifeblood of commerce. They cannot be ignored and ideally shouldn’t be winged either. While you don’t need a degree, you must understand the basics. If you’re constantly losing track of clients (you don’t have some kind of client management system), or stabbing in the dark to try to find clients (you don’t have a plan), or not keeping proper financial records (you haven’t run your CODB), those things will interfere with your creativity and desire to be shooting and will rear their business head at the least opportune times. Think of it as a family analogy. How much work could you get done if your kids are running around and distracting you and you constantly have to stop what you’re doing to attend to them? The kids are the business elements. Put the kids to bed (set up your systems) and your night is free!

Intuition

While we may think we are all separate beings, some force or design placed us here. We are a world of smart phones, and we all need to plug back into a common power source to recharge our batteries. We were given a body and a brain, and the brain runs the show. It thinks us through each day like a supercomputer, or what I refer to now as NI - Natural versus Artificial Intelligence. Just as the smart phone goes to sleep but the phone is charging, we go to sleep and we recharge too. And just as the phone receives updates at this time from its designer, our Intuition is sending us updates from our designer. And this isn’t reserved for sleep either but when our brain loosens its hold on us during the course of the day. How many of us have ideas or solutions that come in the shower or when we cook or walk our dog?

The monopod versus the tripod and the myth of balance

When we think of the word balance, we might call upon a definition that means different elements are poised in equal weighting and we have a stable state. But typically we must work to achieve and maintain it, and there is an opposing force always acting upon and threatening our balance, which is imbalance. Think of a ballerina who goes up on pointe. She must work and even struggle to maintain balance. It’s impossible to rely on such a small point of contact with the floor to keep her entire body stable for very long. It’s beautiful when it’s achieved, but it certainly takes a toll and is short-lived.

Think of how we refer to work/ life balance - have you ever said you have it? The perfect point between the 2? Usually we say we are struggling to find it, because something always tips the scales and you are in imbalance. You are plugging along with work and life and your child gets sick. You can’t go to work but must stay home and care for them. Work obligations must be rescheduled, you might fall behind. Or, you must decline a family obligation because there is a work deadline. Balance is a fleeting state that requires great effort to juggle. Your time, energy and resources are poured into the maintenance of balance in addition to working and having a life. No wonder we are all exhausted. Can you imagine a ballerina continuously on pointe? Balance also implies that elements of our lives are equal - weight on either side of the scale must be the same for that perfect balance. I love having a photography career but my family comes first every time. Not equal for me. So I already can never achieve, nor want to, a balance of the 2. But I do want both in my life.

Let’s use a photography analogy. A monopod is a useful tool when you have to move around a photography scene but get some help with stability. But you cannot let go of the monopod, because that spells disaster for your camera. You must constantly hold the monopod in balance. It is helpful in a way — there are always tradeoffs based on what you need to achieve at that moment — but it requires effort to hold it steady while you are also trying to shoot. Now contrast this with your tripod. You can set your camera onto a tripod and let go. The tripod doesn’t seek balance, because balance implies that there is an opposing force of imbalance always lurking. The tripod has stability through the setup of the legs and that design provides a permanent steadiness. A tripod won’t ever fall out of balance if set up properly; thus the struggle is eliminated.

Balance implies that there are competing priorities and they all must find an active state of equilibrium. In a world where every day can present a new opportunity, challenge or obstacle, we become more preoccupied with the act of balancing rather than living each of those priorities to their fullest and without creating competition among those priorities - they are all important to us. Our work and our “life: don’t have to compete. Really there is only one construct - life, and all other elements fit into it and become part of the journey. A harmony of things in our life that make us happy and successful. The Cambridge Dictionary says this of harmony: “a pleasing combination of different parts.” Let’s find a pleasing combination of elements in our own lives with the ultra-steadiness of a 5-legged tripod of the pillars!

How the ShineSparkL Approach helps your marketing

After all this, how can your marketing work better? It is a practice of checking in with all pillars as you build and maintain your business:

If you’re exhausted in Body, then you may throw an ineffective ad together just to get it out, instead of taking the time to consider how you can make it a powerhouse of attracting bookings. Find time in your schedule for proper sleep and rest and that only has positive effect when you sit down to actually do marketing activities.
You might be trying so hard posting 10 times weekly to each of Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc, etc and your brain so full of those activities that your Intuition cannot penetrate to give you its guidance or inspiration. Doing is not the only important part - it can feel like you’re a hamster on an eternal wheel. Knowing what to do and feeling that it’s right is just as important. Most of our marketing efforts are ineffective because we do external activities without checking in with Intuition or allowing it to guide us. We are often desperate for bookings that we feel creative downtime will put us behind, but in reality it can catapult us forward and infuse external activities with magic.
When you set in place some marketing strategies that don’t have embody your Brand Energy, you are marketing the cocktail mix and not the party in a glass. Going back to the previous point you may be doing a lot, but it is overlooked, scrolled by or falls flat because it just wasn’t compelling or eye-catching. People seeking a cleaning product may scroll by the boring cleaning sponge, but a Magic Eraser sounds intriguing, doesn’t it? Injection of brand energy is critical to every.single.piece of content and promotion you put out there.
If your Mind tells you that you are an impostor and you’ll never make it, your marketing efforts get hijacked. Subconsciously you might put in less effort because you feel no one will book you anyways - a horrible self-fulfilling prophecy. We are passionate artists who cannot separate ourselves easily from our craft. Thus, every feeling as an artist that we have, highly affects our ability to market and sell that art.
Wisdom or Business Pillar is the backbone. Learning principles of business and marketing is a necessity in order to optimize your efforts. Your business is the fuel to get that art out into the world and get paid for it. Lack of know-how is the biggest obstacle in marketing, because it usually propels us to look around and mimick what others are doing. But if you notice, A LOT of photographers are in the same boat of struggling with marketing - so mimicking is dangerous territory if you’re looking at someone who also doesn’t know what they’re doing!

You probably came to this blog post hoping for a magic marketing pill. I don’t have one for you but I’m not sorry for that. Building a profitable business is a long game and even more than that - it is our part of our life’s calling and journey. If you aim to live a life with harmonious pillars, you may find things getting a lot easier on the marketing front and the bookings start rolling in.

How I live my pillars - an example

I don’t seek perfection, but these are some things I strive for in my life and business approach that hit the 5 pillars:

I have set myself a rise time and a bed time that’s programmed into my Clock. Because I was diagnosed with an auto-immune illness, sleep and rest are no longer negotiable for me. I aim for 9 hours at night. I also don’t go out or plan any big events the night before a wedding - it’s all about rest and preparation for the big day ahead.
I write in my journal every morning, to get closer to my Intuition.
When I book a client, I write a Money Love Note to inspire my mindset. I start each day with some inspirational self-talk, and go to bed expressing gratitude. I read mindset books on the regular, and put up a big, red, stop sign if a garbage thought bubbles up.
My content goes through my brand filters to ensure consistency. If I’m not sure or tired or in the wrong mind-space, I won’t release. This is why sometimes my blogs here go out a day later - I’m not waiting for it to be perfect, but I might wait if I recognize that I’m out of harmony with my pillars and it would lead to compromising by brand.
I schedule fitness every week. I dance competitively, aim to have a walk daily no matter how vigorous (some days it’s just the dog walk) and try to incorporate some strength training. I go for a massage in the week following every wedding, and do regular Osteopathy appointments to work on problem areas of posture and to counter computer work.
I have business systems in place (17hats for CRM, Pic-Time for galleries) and have documented how I aim to do business in my business and marketing plans. I am always learning and refining. I have created an Excellence Statement that governs how I do business and how I aim to serve clients.

Success in marketing relies on knowledge, presence, and consistency. Harmony in your pillars helps to support that. Are you living and working and trying to balance? End the struggle and think harmony instead. Your life, and your business, may just thank you for it!

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Why your photography marketing may not be working and my 5-Pillar solution