Put bluntly, if we creatives want to make a real livelihood with our work – we need to realize that the business end of the stick if we’re holding. And while you know I’m always up for the occasional rant on this topic, I today decided to save myself a few blood vessels and some hot air, and instead passed the baton over to my homie, best-selling business/finance author and master of psychology, Ramit Sethi. I’ve said this before in public – Ramit taught me more about the business side of art in 30 minutes than I’d learned in the previous 5 years. As such, if you listen to one person about this shiz, I suggest you listen to Ramit. – Chase
Thanks Chase.
Let me start by asking you a couple questions.
Do you need the latest camera or software? Will it help grow your business?
Or is it more likely that the latest shiny equipment is distracting you from finding clients who will pay what you’re worth?
Today, as in right now, creating a framework to think about whether buying the latest equipment will actually help you grow your creative business and earn more money. Here’s how this came up: I was in San Francisco, shooting a day of video, and on a break I overheard my crew talking about whether they should buy a $70,000 camera to grow their business.
My ears perked up. I asked them why they would buy it. Their answers were wishy-washy and vague: “Well…it’ll help us get exposure…” So on the spot I suggested a framework to use when deciding whether to purchase new equipment for your creative business.
You might be surprised to hear what I suggested.
1) There’s a time and a place when buying the right equipment will help grow your business
2) But surprisingly, most clients don’t care about your equipment
3) If you can figure out what they value, you can save tens of thousands of dollars on equipment and actually make your clients happier — at the same time.
Put another way: I’ve hired many photographers, videographers, writers, and designers in the last 3 years. Can you guess how many times I’ve asked what camera or software they use? Answer: Zero. I’ve spoken to Chase about this as well. How many times do you think he’s been asked about his equipment unless it’s a super elite, over the top shoot. His answer is the same: zero. Put simply… buyers simply don’t care about that. And usually that equipment won’t help you make the thing you need to make.
Now, there is a time and a place to invest in the right equipment. You can become the ‘specialty guy or gal’ at this or that, but I bet dollars to donuts that we’re not talking about what you need NOW. When you’re growing your creative business, here’s a little video to guidance how to know whether you should invest in new equipment…or decide to first focus on other areas of your business….
By the way, in the video I mention deeply understanding your clients to figure out what they value. (This is how you can find better clients, charge more, and work with the people you want to.) If you’re curious how I study my own clients, here’s the actual survey I’ve used to generate over $100,000. Feel free to use it for your own business.
I now return you to your regular programming. [Thanks Ramit! – chase]
I’ve also pared down my gear like Adam mentioned because carrying around a ton of lenses and extra bodies all day is not fun and not very practical, either.
I’m all about keeping it simple and using only what I need. I find that it’s way better to focus on honing my creative skills rather than on the gear I may want but don’t have.
I’m sorry, but Ramit’s website is incredibly shady and scam-ish looking. The “Sign up to get the latest content from my eBook” sounds like exactly the same stuff that gets thrown into my spam box.
@Nick, Ramit’s website and his info are far from shady/scam-ish. He gives out more useful info for free than anywhere else I’ve seen, paid or not. He’s even taken the time to reply to a couple of my emails in the past too. Besides that, his book ‘I Will Teach You To Be Rich’ has been unmeasurably helpful in both my personal and professional financial planning. I can’t recommend his material enough.
I think alot of people would agree with me..he needs a redesign then.
I believe Chip and think that I will give Ramit a chance on his advice…BUT I also think that Nick is accurate in saying that Ramit’s website screams gimmick. It’s unfortunate but it definitely creates that feeling of untrustworthy/shady.
It is definitely super shady. Sorry. but won’t click on that. It’s obviously a scam.
This is good information. I think we tend to focus on expanding and we lose site of what has been working and what got us to our current state. Keep the good info coming!
Zack Arias reinforces this same guidance, albeit from a different perspective. I think gear (and software) acquisition is a disease much like alcoholism which must be countered with a one step program. That step… focus on the work, not the tools.
Great post. This is so true. See a few people struggle after a few years in business because they go gear mad and think they need the latest and greatest to be competitive. I’m starting to streamline my gears and think what I don’t need to carry all day long.