Firebird
Senior Associate
Joined: Dec 29, 2010 12:55:06 GMT -5
Posts: 12,452
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Post by Firebird on Nov 13, 2014 18:01:09 GMT -5
How long were you in the biz before making the jump to having your own?
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Iggy aka IG
Senior Associate
Joined: Oct 25, 2012 12:23:23 GMT -5
Posts: 12,625
Location: Good ol' USA
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Post by Iggy aka IG on Nov 13, 2014 18:32:32 GMT -5
How long were you in the biz before making the jump to having your own? 9 months as a insurance CSR (customer service rep) with (at the time) 7 or so years sales experience and 16+ years customer service experience. When I first started working for him, the State Farm dude told me I had what it takes to become an agent. So I did, just not with them.
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aprilleigh
Junior Member
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 15:22:50 GMT -5
Posts: 214
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Post by aprilleigh on Nov 13, 2014 21:10:57 GMT -5
Haha! I wondered if photography was going to show up! My husband is a photographer. And he's really good and he loves it but neither of us are willing to make it a full-time thing (and he's a network engineer by day, so the earning potential is WAY higher with that one!). He started out with a Canon Rebel DSLR, and hacked the firmware to make it way better (or something). He just liked taking photos, and then yeah, people were like "hey, you should sell your stuff! Take photos of my family for way cheap!" He's a total nerd and loves technology, especially OLD technology. So he started getting into wet-plate photography and then film. And then that led to needing old cameras, and needing to fix old cameras. Now he's got an awesome thing going on Etsy, selling completely rehabbed and refurbished vintage / antique cameras. He shoots mostly film and develops it in our bathroom / kitchen. He's taught film photography classes at a local art studio, one to photography teachers!
Ok, so that was really rambly. Recap: started the "official business" in 2012, when we went to Europe. He was taking a ton of antique cameras and wanted to get professional insurance. Grossed $10k last year, mostly off camera sales! Thanks to cheap DSLRs, Facebook and Pinterest, lots of people now expect "professional" photo shoots for $25, with full print rights. So he declines most shoots now, except for modeling / magazine work. ANYWAY... this is firmly a SIDE business. If he had to make a living off of this, he'd hate it. This way, he gets to buy and play with all the awesome cameras he wants, then when he's done, sell them for a profit!
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