Podcast Ep 435 - The Proudly Disorganized Six-Figure Photographer

Do You Have to Be Organized to Build a Successful Photography Business?

What if the way you’re trying to build your photography business is making it harder than it needs to be?

I recently had a conversation with Sarah DeRemer, a successful dog photographer in Los Angeles who has been earning six figures for several years. And one of the things I loved most about our conversation was how unapologetically honest she was about the way she runs her business. 

You can explore Sarah’s incredible work on her website or connect with her on Instagram.

She called herself a “proudly disorganized creative.” She doesn't love bookkeeping. She doesn't naturally stay on top of every administrative task. She doesn't spend hours creating elaborate marketing plans or mapping out every move six months in advance. And yet, she has built a profitable photography business that gives her something she values even more than revenue: a life she enjoys living.

That got me thinking about how many photographers are quietly convinced they're doing business wrong simply because they don't operate like the person, they're comparing themselves to.

Maybe you're not the person who loves spreadsheets. Maybe you procrastinate on bookkeeping. Maybe you don't have a beautifully color-coded content calendar. Maybe you would rather be photographing people than sitting at your computer figuring out your CRM.

Does that mean you can't build a successful photography business?

I don't think so.

You Don't Have to Become a Different Person to Be Successful

There is a particular kind of pressure that comes with running a photography business because you're not only comparing your work to other photographers. You're comparing your business to theirs, too.

You see someone who has their workflows perfectly organized, posts consistently, has every email automated, knows exactly what they're going to launch next quarter and somehow seems to have their taxes done before you have remembered where you put last year's receipts. Then you look at your own business and think, Maybe I'm just not cut out for this.

I've heard versions of that fear over and over again. And I've seen it come up in photographer communities, too. Photographers talk about struggling with marketing, inconsistent bookings, pricing, social media, SEO, referrals and the sheer number of things they're expected to manage outside of taking pictures. One recent wedding photographer described feeling like there was always “that one thing” they needed to work tirelessly on that wasn't photography.

But here's the question I want you to sit with: Are you actually bad at business, or are you simply trying to build a business using someone else's operating system?

Sarah's story is a pretty good reminder that there isn't one personality type, one workflow or one perfect business model that produces success. Heather and Sarah talk about this directly in the episode: you don't have to have every system perfected, and you don't have to spend all your time behind a computer creating the perfect marketing strategy.

Stop Trying to Be Good at Everything

Here's something I wish more photographers gave themselves permission to do be good at the things that matter most to you and find another way to handle the rest.

Sarah doesn't love email, so she hired an assistant to manage it. She doesn't particularly enjoy the administrative side of her business, so she has an accountant who helps her with the financial pieces she needs to understand. She has also created reminders and simple systems around the things she knows she might otherwise overlook.

That's not failure.
That's business.

You don't get extra points for doing everything yourself.

In fact, one of the smartest questions you can ask as your photography business grows is, “Is this something I need to become better at, or is this something I eventually need to get off my plate?”

Those are two completely different decisions.

If you're struggling financially, yes, you need to understand your numbers. If your business is chaotic because clients aren't getting responses, yes, you need a functioning system for communication. If you're constantly missing deadlines, something needs to change.

But you don't necessarily need to become the person who loves those things.

You need your business to function well enough that you can spend more of your energy doing the work you're here to do. Sarah put it beautifully: she spends most of her time editing and photographing dogs because that's the part of the business that makes her happiest, and then she makes sure the other necessary pieces get done.

What if your job isn't to become good at everything? What if your job is to build a business that supports what you're already good at?

Maybe Your Marketing Problem Isn't a Marketing Problem

This is another place where I think photographers can overcomplicate things.

When bookings slow down, the instinct is often to sit down at the computer and figure out what new marketing strategy we need. Should I post more? Should I start Reels? Should I run ads? Should I improve my SEO? Should I start blogging? Should I be on TikTok? Should I finally figure out Pinterest?

And suddenly you're three hours into researching marketing strategies and haven't spoken to a single potential client.

I've seen similar conversations recently in photography communities. Photographers are trying to figure out why bookings have slowed down even when their work is strong, their websites are ranking, and they've been posting consistently. Others are questioning whether they need a different platform, a different strategy or simply more visibility.

But Sarah's answer to what she would do if she had to start her business over was surprisingly simple.

She'd go meet people.

Not create a 90-day content strategy. Not spend weeks perfecting her Instagram. Not wait until her website was perfect.

She'd get out into her community, meet people, tell them she was a photographer and make an offer. Those are the three principles Heather highlighted from Sarah's answer: meet people, tell them you're a photographer and make an offer.

Sometimes we think marketing has to happen online because that's where we're most comfortable thinking about marketing.

But people still hire people.

Sarah built much of her business by becoming known in the LA dog community. She went to events, worked with rescues, connected with brands, photographed dogs and simply kept showing up where her people were. Those relationships eventually led to word-of-mouth referrals, commercial work and private clients.

So, before you decide you need a completely new marketing strategy, ask yourself, “Have I actually spent enough time being a photographer in the world, or have I been spending all my time trying to market myself from behind a screen?”

Your Passion Is Not a Fluffy Business Strategy

I know “follow your passion” can sound like advice printed on a coffee mug. But in this conversation, it wasn't.

Sarah's passion for dogs is almost impossible to miss. She talks about photographing them, meeting their owners, going to events, working with rescues, and even seeing a beautiful rock and immediately imagining a dog sitting on it. That enthusiasm isn't something she manufactured for her marketing. It's simply who she is.

And people feel that.

When someone meets you and can immediately tell that you genuinely love what you do, that's different from seeing another perfectly designed Instagram post.

Your clients don't care whether you're great at bookkeeping.

They care about what it feels like to work with you.
They care about whether you understand them. Whether you make them feel comfortable. Whether you get excited about their vision. Whether they trust you with something that matters to them.

Sarah said something I think photographers should remember: personal relationships are always going to be one of the strongest driving forces behind a photography business.

What would change if you stopped trying so hard to look like a photographer with a successful business and started becoming the photographer people genuinely want to work with?

Self-Trust Changes Everything

There was another part of this conversation that I really wanted to highlight because I see it constantly with photographers.

Self-doubt.

Sarah had built a six-figure business, had become well known in her market and had years of evidence that she knew what she was doing. And she still hesitated to raise her prices.

She had kept her private pricing low for years because she worried people wouldn't pay more. She heard one person say that nobody would pay a higher price and, as she admitted, she held onto that comment for no real reason. Eventually, she raised her prices dramatically—and people booked.

Does that sound familiar?

How many decisions in your photography business are being made based on evidence you actually have versus something your brain is afraid might happen?

That's a big difference.

You might think, nobody will pay that.
But have you tested it?

You might think, People in my area won't book me.
But have you given them the opportunity?

You might think, I need more clients before I can raise my prices.
But what if raising your prices is part of creating the business you actually want?

Sarah eventually realized she needed fewer clients and more time with each one. The fear didn't magically disappear. She simply trusted herself enough to move forward while the fear was still there.

Confidence doesn't always mean you believe you're going to succeed. Sometimes confidence is simply deciding you're willing to find out.

You Don't Need to Do Everything at Once

If you're somewhere around $25K or $50K and trying to grow your photography business, you may be looking at the entire mountain at once.

You need better marketing. Better systems. More inquiries. Higher prices. More referrals. Better SEO. A stronger website. More content. A better client experience. Maybe a new niche. Maybe a new offer.

No wonder you feel overwhelmed.

Sarah's advice was much simpler: keep going, keep putting yourself out there, and keep finding ways to share how much you love what you do. She mentioned referrals, brands, events and other ways of getting in front of people, but the underlying message wasn't “do all of these things immediately.” It was to keep experimenting, keep showing up and keep moving.

That's important because action gives you data.

You try something.
It works.
Great.
You try something else.

It doesn't work.
Great. Now you know.

Sarah described this beautifully when talking about another photographer who is constantly trying things, reaching out to brands, working with rescues and doing pop-ups. He's not waiting until he knows exactly what will work. He's taking action, getting information and adjusting.

What if figuring it out isn't a sign that you're behind? What if figuring it out is the strategy?

Build a Business That Gives You Your Life Back

This might be the part I care about most.

Sarah didn't build a six-figure photography business because she wanted to spend every waking hour working.

She specifically said that making a ton of money was never the goal. She wanted freedom. She wanted to be able to take a day off and go hiking. She wanted leisurely mornings. She wanted to create a business that fit around the life she actually wanted to live.

And I think photographers sometimes forget this.

We start the business because we want freedom, and then we accidentally build ourselves a job we can't escape.

We convince ourselves that successful photographers need to be constantly posting, constantly networking, constantly editing, constantly answering emails, constantly improving their systems and constantly doing more.

But more isn't automatically better.

What if the goal isn't to build the biggest photography business you can? What if the goal is to build the right photography business for you?

That might mean more money.

It might mean fewer clients.
It might mean working three days a week.
It might mean shooting more commercial work.
It might mean raising your prices.
It might mean outsourcing your inbox.

It might mean saying no to the events that exhaust you and putting your energy toward the people who are actually a good fit for your business.

Sarah has already started doing this. She stopped doing some events and pop-ups because they took a lot of energy without giving her the return she wanted. Instead, she's becoming more intentional about where she spends her time and getting into rooms with the people who are more likely to invest in the kind of photography she wants to create.

That's not laziness.
That's strategy.
You Are Allowed to Build It Your Way

If you take nothing else from this conversation, I hope you remember this, you don't have to become a different person to build a successful photography business.

You don't have to become an obsessive planner if you're naturally spontaneous. You don't have to love spreadsheets if you're a creative. You don't have to master every platform. You don't have to copy someone else's marketing strategy just because it worked for them. You do need to understand the pieces of your business that matter, make sure the business is functional, and then find ways to spend more of your time doing the work that makes you come alive.

And yes, you're probably going to doubt yourself sometimes.
Sarah still does.
I still do.
You probably will, too.

The goal isn't to eliminate doubt before you act. The goal is to develop enough self-trust that you can hear the doubt, acknowledge it, and still decide what you're going to do next. Sometimes the most confident thing you can say to yourself is, “Maybe you're right. Maybe this won't work. But we're doing it anyway.”

So, photographer, let me leave you with this, what if you stopped asking, “How do successful photographers do this?” and started asking, “How do I want to do this?”

Because there isn't just one way to build a successful photography business. There is your way, and maybe it's time you trusted yourself enough to build it.