Comments on: Where the Work will be 2010: The End of the Middle, the Rise of the Middle http://www.wiseelephant.com/blog/2009/12/21/where-the-work-is-2010-the-end-of-the-middle-the-rise-of-the-middle/ Get your stuff together, amplify it, get it moving Thu, 09 Sep 2010 18:54:38 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Jason Moriber http://www.wiseelephant.com/blog/2009/12/21/where-the-work-is-2010-the-end-of-the-middle-the-rise-of-the-middle/comment-page-1/#comment-29940 Jason Moriber Wed, 27 Jan 2010 02:33:07 +0000 http://blog.wiseelephant.com/?p=3689#comment-29940 Thanks Nate! Let us know what else we could be writing about/researching that would help with your goals. Thanks Nate! Let us know what else we could be writing about/researching that would help with your goals.

]]> By: Nate Siggard http://www.wiseelephant.com/blog/2009/12/21/where-the-work-is-2010-the-end-of-the-middle-the-rise-of-the-middle/comment-page-1/#comment-29934 Nate Siggard Tue, 26 Jan 2010 19:35:33 +0000 http://blog.wiseelephant.com/?p=3689#comment-29934 This is exactly what I have been thinking about for the past few days described to the T. I love how well your illustrated it, thank you. This is exactly what I have been thinking about for the past few days described to the T. I love how well your illustrated it, thank you.

]]> By: Wise Elephant: Design and Influence » Blog Archive » Q: The questions for those working the middle are, what can go wrong and who gets left behind when the wave comes? http://www.wiseelephant.com/blog/2009/12/21/where-the-work-is-2010-the-end-of-the-middle-the-rise-of-the-middle/comment-page-1/#comment-29844 Wise Elephant: Design and Influence » Blog Archive » Q: The questions for those working the middle are, what can go wrong and who gets left behind when the wave comes? Mon, 11 Jan 2010 21:03:09 +0000 http://blog.wiseelephant.com/?p=3689#comment-29844 [...] (This Q/A comes from an earlier post: Where the Work will be 2010: The End of the Middle, the Rise of the Middle) [...] [...] (This Q/A comes from an earlier post: Where the Work will be 2010: The End of the Middle, the Rise of the Middle) [...]

]]> By: Jason Moriber http://www.wiseelephant.com/blog/2009/12/21/where-the-work-is-2010-the-end-of-the-middle-the-rise-of-the-middle/comment-page-1/#comment-29843 Jason Moriber Mon, 11 Jan 2010 20:59:08 +0000 http://blog.wiseelephant.com/?p=3689#comment-29843 Hi D.A., Thanks for your note! The middle shouldn’t be the default; it should be a choice, a hard one, and include a commitment to the long haul. Also, it’s not about waiting, you have to make a business there, not bring a business to there. Knowing that you are a photographer, in general, my suggestion is to keep marketing your work to the “high-end,” the agencies, the brands, etc. yes, it’s more competitive than ever before, but it’s still the most viable, current, market you have. The opposite, or low-market, would be stock photography, also a viable market, but not as lucrative as assignment work. Looking over your blog and reviewing the work you are passionate about I have brainstormed 3 ideas for potential new business-paths in the middle. 1. NYC Greenmarket, the org that manages most of the farmers markets in NYC (most famously the one in Union Square), is growing leaps and bounds. Maybe they need a staff photographer? Or would consider a cookbook or guidebook? Calendar? Photostream? What business could you build for them, and/or for their market of food buyers, farmers, and purveyors? You could be the Greenmarket photographer. 2. Staying with food, you could position yourself as the “Organic” photographer; better yet you could create an agency that specializes in shooting organic food. Maybe this business is a monthly/subscription model where you regularly shoot imagery for these types of brands so they can update their websites, Facebook pages, and blogs with custom, fresh imagery. You do content development. 3. Cooking Academies. Students could want portfolios of their works to help them gain positions. What if you had a service, aligned with the cooking academies, where you or your staff would document a student’s progress and take shots of their completed dishes? These could be bound in a self-published book with the recipes, notes from professors, recommendations. All students could graduate from school with a photographic record of their dishes and accomplishments. Maybe other verticals could use a similar service? What could go wrong? The error would be to remain stagnant. The plan should be to keep innovative with how your craft can be marketed and/or solidified into a business. And if one of the ideas sticks, great, but that doesn’t mean to stop the innovation. Keep moving. Who gets left behind? I’m a believer in the pendulum. If you stand still long enough the trends will come back around, but it might take decades. Better to blaze new paths, try new ideas, and keep working until one hits. Hi D.A.,

Thanks for your note!

The middle shouldn’t be the default; it should be a choice, a hard one, and include a commitment to the long haul. Also, it’s not about waiting, you have to make a business there, not bring a business to there.

Knowing that you are a photographer, in general, my suggestion is to keep marketing your work to the “high-end,” the agencies, the brands, etc. yes, it’s more competitive than ever before, but it’s still the most viable, current, market you have. The opposite, or low-market, would be stock photography, also a viable market, but not as lucrative as assignment work.

Looking over your blog and reviewing the work you are passionate about I have brainstormed 3 ideas for potential new business-paths in the middle.

1. NYC Greenmarket, the org that manages most of the farmers markets in NYC (most famously the one in Union Square), is growing leaps and bounds. Maybe they need a staff photographer? Or would consider a cookbook or guidebook? Calendar? Photostream? What business could you build for them, and/or for their market of food buyers, farmers, and purveyors? You could be the Greenmarket photographer.

2. Staying with food, you could position yourself as the “Organic” photographer; better yet you could create an agency that specializes in shooting organic food. Maybe this business is a monthly/subscription model where you regularly shoot imagery for these types of brands so they can update their websites, Facebook pages, and blogs with custom, fresh imagery. You do content development.

3. Cooking Academies. Students could want portfolios of their works to help them gain positions. What if you had a service, aligned with the cooking academies, where you or your staff would document a student’s progress and take shots of their completed dishes? These could be bound in a self-published book with the recipes, notes from professors, recommendations. All students could graduate from school with a photographic record of their dishes and accomplishments. Maybe other verticals could use a similar service?

What could go wrong? The error would be to remain stagnant. The plan should be to keep innovative with how your craft can be marketed and/or solidified into a business. And if one of the ideas sticks, great, but that doesn’t mean to stop the innovation. Keep moving.

Who gets left behind? I’m a believer in the pendulum. If you stand still long enough the trends will come back around, but it might take decades. Better to blaze new paths, try new ideas, and keep working until one hits.

]]> By: D.A.Wagner http://www.wiseelephant.com/blog/2009/12/21/where-the-work-is-2010-the-end-of-the-middle-the-rise-of-the-middle/comment-page-1/#comment-29836 D.A.Wagner Sat, 09 Jan 2010 14:37:32 +0000 http://blog.wiseelephant.com/?p=3689#comment-29836 With no desire to go for the largest possible market and the smaller, high end markets getting ever harder to reach, that leaves only the middle for many. We dive in to this gap and start building a business, reaching for the high,shunning the low (it dilutes our branding) , and working the middle and waiting. The questions for those working the middle are, what can go wrong and who gets left behind when the wave comes? With no desire to go for the largest possible market and the smaller, high end markets getting ever harder to reach, that leaves only the middle for many. We dive in to this gap and start building a business, reaching for the high,shunning the low (it dilutes our branding) , and working the middle and waiting. The questions for those working the middle are, what can go wrong and who gets left behind when the wave comes?

]]>