As a photographer, I often seek to continue my education, and one of the ways I choose to do that is through reading. There are a ton of great business and photography books out there, so today I thought I’d share a few books that have been incredibly beneficial to me and my business.
purple cow
Seth Godin, author of Purple Cow, is considered by many to be THE business guru. This book was one of my first business book purchases. It was a great starting point when I first opened my business because it got me started thinking about different ways to run my business and differentiate myself from my peers. I highly recommend this book to any new business owner, although I’m not sure it would be as beneficial to an old business owner.
The path of the complete artist
A few years ago I felt stifled… uninspired. I was looking for something to help me reconnect with my inner creativity, which led me to buy this book. It makes you think about yourself, who you are and who you want to be. There are journal writing and all kinds of things to encourage and stimulate your creative process.
fast track photographer
This book was my first purchase of a photography book. Dane Sanders is a wonderful teacher, photographer, and man. I have a lot of respect for him and his book was very useful to me. This book really got me thinking about the big picture. Not just my business but my whole life. I realized that as a woman who wants to be a mother I want to know that she runs my business and my business doesn’t run me. This book helped me assess exactly what I want to do with my photography and how I want to run my business. I have found it to be an incredibly useful resource.
luminous portrait
I love this book! Elizabeth Messina is easily one of my photography idols. I love her style, spirit and her shooting methods. Elizabeth is also a lifestyle and natural light photographer who believes in capturing the light within her subjects, which is also my method of photography. I loved reading about her philosophies, her methods and techniques for photographing and creating beautiful and emotional images.
word of mouth marketing
As a small business owner, one of your biggest forms of business is through word of mouth. Andy Sernovitz talks about companies like Apple and TiVo, companies that are incredibly well-known and get most of their business off of feedback and praise from their consumer base. The author discusses the reasons people are talking about you, as well as ways to get the kind of word-of-mouth marketing you need to help your business thrive.
The art of children’s portrait photography
Tamara Lackey is not only one of my favorite photographers, she is also one of my favorite people. I had the incredible pleasure of meeting Tamara in person and she is truly a wonderful person and incredibly skilled at child and family portraiture. When Tamara has books or courses for sale, I tend to buy them because I always find something beneficial to learn from her. The art of child portrait photography was incredibly eye opening for me as she was learning how to interact with children to get the types of portraits she wanted to create. This book really helped me understand the different personality types in children and how to work with them in my work.
worth every penny
I was a member of The Joy of Marketing for several years, and as a member I was lucky enough to first see this book by Sarah Petty and Erin Verbeck. Worth Every Penny is great for any boutique business owner. He provides excellent insights into building a strong brand and marketing campaign, as well as pricing structures that would best benefit a boutique business model. There is a variety of information in this book that has helped me grow my business into what it is today.
I hope you’ve found some books here that you want to add to your reading list. Education is key to staying on your A-game and moving your business forward. Each of these books has played a huge role in building my business to what it is today, and I recommend each one to any entrepreneur.