How to find your PS/As

[andiebfreeman]

Okay ladies,
So I know a lot of you probably have never looked a photography quite in this way before.  So here is how to find your Photographic Strengths/Areas or PS/As. 

First you are going to break your photo-marketing potential down into two categories.  Category one will be called Track A and category two will be called Track B.  Break out a ruled piece of paper and make two columns.  At the top of column one right Track A and at the top of column two right Track B.  Now, you are going to answer several questions.  Write all of the answers to the following questions in the Track B column. 

1.  What is the general subject matter of each periodical that you subscribe, would like to subcribe to, or receive for free?  If it's Iron Horse then you would write down motorcycles and so forth.  Do you welcome catalogues in the mail?  What are the subject matters?

2.  What is your occupation?  If you have several then include them all.  What are careers that you would like to pursue?

3.  When you're out taking photos, what subjects do you photograph the most?  Write down as many as you wish!

4.  List your hobbies and pastimes that do not include photography.

5.  If you were to examine all of your photograph would you find any trends running throught hte images?  (i.e. horses, motorcycles, etc.)

6.  What are your favorite arm chair interests?  (i.e. solar energy, history, astronomy, etc.)

7.  What is the city nearest you will a population of more than $500,000?

8.  What state or province do you live in?

9.  List any nearby (within half a day's drive) geographical features or human made interests.

10.  What specialized subject areas do you already have access to?  (For example, my husband is a motorcycle technician so I have lots of access to the motorcycle industry.)

Okay now you have your Track B list.  If it includes any of the following, draw a line through tem and add them to Track A:  landscapes, birds, scenics, insects, plants, wildflowers, major pro sports, silhouettes, experimental photography, artistic subjects (such as art photography in photography magazines), abstracts, popular travel spots, monuments, landmarks, historic site, cute animals. 

Okay so now we have our Track A and Track B lists.  Track A is where the competition is going to be the most fierce and the chances of making money are significantly lowered.  Track B is where the competition is manageable and chances are you can make some money (even if you're an amateur). 

Okay, let's start to narrow down your Track B list. 

1.  Which entries on your Track B list don't appeal to you photographically?  In other words, you wouldn't enjoy photographing this area.  Mark them off your list. 

2.  Which areas on you Track B list would be impractical for you to photograph?  Be practical.  It's hard to photograph China when you've never been there or can't go!!
Other considerations:  Would any of the markets listed require a heavy investment in new photographic equipment?  Does the magazine require model releases?  Is it an uncopyrighted publication?  Is it a low- or no- pay publication?  Mark these off of your list.

3.  Which areas of your Track B list don't lend themselves widely to publishing?  Mark these off of your list.

4.  Okay so now you have your PS/As.  What we want to do is narrow them down to your top four.  Here are the questions you need to answer.  Some you may just have to make educated guesses at.  Rank these at high, medium, and low.
     a.  Your knowledge or expertise in the field.
     b.  Your personal interest in the field.
     c.  Your existing supply of pictures.
     d.  The payment range for pictures in this field.
     e.  The competition factor -- is high, medium, or low?
     f.   Your access to the field or information about it.
     g.  The size of the audience (number of readers).


Using any other criteria you can think of, narrow down your PS/A to four.  Decide which one of the four offers the best marketing potential for you.  Then list the second best, and so on.  Note your four strongest areas.