Many thanks to Jonathan Canlas for putting this video in front of my face.

Impatience is easy.  You don’t have the right clients.  The right branding.  The right website, blog, blog-site, mobile site, Facebook page, or social media connectivity.

Impatience is easy.  You need to learn more, and faster.  You should be further along by now.  You should know how to baby-whisper newborns, make acne-ridden Seniors looks like fashion models, and fool the eye into thinking the size 24 bride is a size 4. You should be able to work magic.  And land magazine covers in your sleep.

Except…you’re doing the best you can.  You’re learning and growing.  You’re adapting to the needs of the market, honing your craft, and navigating the sometimes-terrifying world of being an entrepreneur the best way you know how.

So cut yourself some slack.

When you find yourself in the middle of nowhere, with miles to go…enjoy the view.

The Fire Starter Sessions is: an e-book meets video transmission of acumen and love. You: are likely sitting on an empire of content, product, services, and prosperity that needs a spark — or blow torch — to take you to the next level. You: want to rock your revenue streams and do meaningful things in the world.

Worksheets that help you draw conclusions, quick videos with motivational punch, connections to current thinkers, practical smarts, and frank wisdom — The Fire Starter Sessions is packed with inspiration that you will put to use.

Danielle has worked with 462+ entrepreneurs in her 1-on-1 Fire Starter consults (which are $500 and booked six weeks in advance.) For CEOs, coaches, artists, retailers, bestselling authors — from site design to big dreams — Danielle’s strategies combine passion with pragmatism to get to fulfillment and cash.

Each chapter is it’s own “Fire Starter Session” that includes: e-book components, video inspiration or interviews, and worksheets.

Some of the sessions are: True Strengths & The Metrics of Ease; Branding: Clarifying the Diamond of You; Products & Services: Making Stuff That Feels Good to Make; Money: More is More, Enough is Plenty; Web Design & SEO: Your Virtual Real-Estate…and dozens of tips and motivating perspectives.

In addition to getting Danielle’s deep and detailed knowledge, this book brings you contributions from some A-league marketing strategists, pro-bloggers, branding experts, and creativity coaches.

Whether you’re in the early idea phase or a well-established rut, Danielle’s thorough, witty, and experience-based advice will most certainly light a fire under your…aspirations.

The book releases on May 12, and I can assure you that I’ll be curled up in a coffee shop reading it from beginning to end, completing worksheets, soul-searching, and getting my business on.

Just click the banner or right here to purchase for $150 and get the rockin’ bonus chapter this very minute.

As an artist, you’ve spent countless hours honing your craft, learning to blog, to update your website, to hand out your business card, to get more clients, to…you name it.  You’ve done a lot of learning. You’re getting stronger.  Your brain is on overload.

But have you taken the time to make a list of your weaknesses?  I’ll share mine, in the hopes of illustrating my point.

Design your business around your WEAKNESSES to maximize success.

I prefer the company of children to adults.

My business partner, Haunani, is crucial for dealing with adults.  She books clients, makes phone calls, handles e-mails, and generally creates a barrier between myself and the client until I show up at their shoot and get to meet their children.  This is all by design, not because I hate adults, but because I’m better with kids.  Knowing this and acknowledging this in business practice  means that everyone is happier.

I hate accounting.

I hired an accountant.  Being self-employed means that, under no circumstances, EVER, will I do my own taxes.

I’m a bit of a shy hermit, unless I’m being paid to travel to exotic locations.

Again, Haunani helps with marketing trips and talking to grownups!  We introduce ourselves to businesses together — which isn’t nearly as scary as meeting a stranger SOLO.  She does the negotiating of display details, brochure placement, cross promotion, and the like.

I hate handing out my business card.

I blog.  A lot.  Blogging beats handing out my business card, has more reach, makes the most of my writing skills, and keeps me from feeling like a pushy salesman.

Shooting film without a working light meter = weakness.

How can you grow your business by acknowledging your weaknesses?

Being self-aware can help you to eliminate dreaded tasks (and face it, dreaded tasks always fall to the bottom of the priority list) and keep clients happy.  Make that list of weaknesses, and then figure out just one way to deal with a single weakness.  I guarantee you’ll see a change for the better in your biz.

It explained everything about Brand Camp to me in a way that made sense.  Why has the blog become popular, why do I write twice a week, why do I coach photographers to become their best selves, why do I love this endeavor so much?  Because it’s easy.  (Easy, the way Danielle defines it.  Not easy like eating ice cream for breakfast.) It’s the most natural thing in the world for me to write, since it is my first love.  It’s second nature to me to be able to view things objectively, be a straight-shooter, and to listen with my whole heart to what people aren’t saying.  It’s fun to have an outlet for my thoughts about this industry, and it’s even more fun to make crazy analogies about strip clubs that become 10% of my blog traffic over time.  (Thanks, guys.)

Danielle LaPorte’s Metrics of Ease video (remember, I haven’t read the book yet — it isn’t available!) was worth the $150 USD price of admission.  It may or may not be the same for you.

I encourage you to watch the video and explore your newest candidate for girl-crush-hood.  You can pre-purchase The FireStarter Sessions here.

Oh, and $5 from each purchase is donated to charity.  (See?  Crushing!)

One lucky winner will receive a business therapy session with me.  You’ll fill out a branding questionnaire, I’ll come up with a list of improvements that could help your biz, and we’ll chat for thirty(ish) minutes.

Win a $149 business therapy session by signing up for the Brand Camp Merit Badge mail list below.

That’s it!  If you’ve already signed up, you’re already eligible!  The winner will be picked next Tuesday, the 30th.  For brownie points, tell me WHY you should win in the comments below.

To earn an extra chance at winning, just follow Brand Camp on Twitter then tweet this:

Win a business therapy session with @brandcampblog here: http://bit.ly/1Fa45Y

Oh, and if you’re in a super-lucky mood, enter the My Branding Sucks giveaway over on the Totally Rad Actions blog, too.

You, my friend, need a bouncer.

In the online world, prices are often your bouncer.

Listing your session fee, base package price, and/or basic wedding collection price can be effective in wedding out your less-than-ideal clients.  (Listing no price leaves too much room for assumptions about how ‘cheap’ or ‘expensive’ you are!)

Text can be your bouncer, too.

Using adjectives to describe your work as ‘classic’ will deter those who are looking for modern images.  ‘Upscale’ or ‘elegant’ can trigger the dollar-signs that keep clients with a Craigslist budget from looking any further into your work.  ‘Alternative,’ or ‘rock’n'roll’ text can attract the indy crowd, while clothing guidelines touting the wonders of smocking on children’s clothing will please the traditional consumer.

Let your images do some bouncing, too. Show only what you want to sell, one hundred percent of the time.

If you don’t want to sell a single image of a couple looking at the camera, don’t post one.  If you’ll puke before shooting a couple on the beach at sunset, avoid showing those images to anyone.  Ever.  Teach your clients how to dress though the images you place in your portfolio, and help them choose locations and portrait scenarios the same way.

Oh, and take a tip from Crystal: call security when a client sets off alarm bells.

If an evil client happens to slip past the bouncers, deal with ‘em efficiently and break ties if at all possible.  That pain-in-the-ass client only gets worse when you ignore him, give her bad customer service, or try to appease her with freebies.  End the relationship as soon as humanly possible.

If you have any other tried-and-true bouncer methods, I’d love to hear ‘em!

Get out there and meet business owners with access to your target market.

Last week, I asked a lovely business owner to meet with me about marketing and cross-promoting one another’s businesses.  Turns out she had already picked a marketing meeting time and place with another local business owner, so she just invited me along.  Two hours and $12 worth of lattes later, I walked away with not one, not two, but THREE new displays for my photography.

I suggested putting displays in the dressing rooms of the boutique Liz owns, but she says no one would pay attention to those — why not put an album in her lounge area where those waiting for their friends to change often sit?

Brilliant!

I mentioned my pet promotion to raise money for Haiti, and Amanda piped up that she also owns a BMW dealership, and would I like to photograph her dog in a BMW or two?  How about a display in her other business, a gift boutique?

Brilliant x 2!

While we were talking, Liz recommended the salon across the street, and said the hairdresser is both amazing AND she’s a new Mom.  Guess where I made my appointment for this Saturday?  And guess where I’m aiming to get my next business display?

You guessed it.  The salon.

Think outside of the traditional display locations — children’s boutiques, wedding gown shops, etc — and make contact with business owners who have access to your target market.  Your next clients need to know about your business to buy anything from you – and it makes no difference if they find out about your work while buying pet food, pashminas, or posh cars.

Tips for finding the right businesses to partner with:

Brick and mortar store owners are more motivated than those with no overhead to cover.

The person who teaches yoga 2x a week at the YMCA to make an extra $50 is not as effective a business partner as the woman who has to cover $2,500 per month in rent and additional thousands to meet employee payroll.

Think locally.  Target locally.

I’m targeting businesses on the same block as my portrait loft — and then I’ll spread to a few blocks, and finally the whole zip code.  Legitimacy is established for your brand each time a consumer comes into contact with it — and if that’s three times while they’re walking the dog through the neighborhood, you’re going to be legitimate rather quickly in their brain.

Ask business owners what works best for their clients.

I had an idea for each business I was meeting with, but the business owners’ ideas for their respective stores were much better than my plans.  Listen to the people who know the business best.

Be willing to tell the truth. Expect the same in return.

Finding people who are willing to tell you whether business is up or down, whether they’re having trouble finding new clients or whether they love the local business association will do you a lot of good.  Honesty and good karma go a long way in business partnerships.

Walk away from those people who aren’t right for your business.

You have to be willing to throw up your hands and say it just isn’t going to work.  Whether a business owner is disrespecting your time, talking down to you, lying, or generally acting shady, walk when your guts tell you to.

Most importantly, make sure you outline the benefits of working with your business.

Agree to buy gift certificates for each referral a business gives, straight up pay cash as a finder’s fee, or provide free/reduced-cost services to the business owner in exchange for display privileges. Make sure the business owner can see the clear benefits of promoting your business.

Do a bit of work in the public relations department for the other business, too!  Hold an event that features the other business, blog about the business and its unique assets, or send an e-mail newsletter dedicated to touting the other business’ merchandise. Make it work!

I practice photography in a super-saturated market — think 100 child photographers within 50 miles of my location — and to keep my edge, I can’t simply deliver excellent photographs.  I can’t simply make my clients giggle, wow them with artistry, and make sure they’re happy from start to finish.  That’s par for the course around here!

To succeed in my market, I can’t be anything less than revolutionary to grow.  What do I mean by revolutionary?

• Revolutionaries make a path where there isn’t one.
• Revolutionaries risk the future of their livelihood on implementing a new business model, choosing to go for broke again and again.
• Revolutionaries seek to do what hasn’t been done by anyone else, ever. (Revolutionaries refuse to believe the cynics who say ‘there’s nothing new under the sun.’)
• Revolutionaries leave room for the element of delight, refusing to create so many systems and processes that moments of serendipity have no place in their businesses.
• Revolutionaries are never, ever satisfied with being merely excellent  — they’re too busy blazing ahead to rest on their laurels.
• Finally, revolutionaries would rather abandon their business than lose their love of artistry.  A desk job is 30 times less soul-crushing than losing your passion to the daily grind.

How can you, as an artist, be revolutionary?  How can you blaze a trail, rethink your income stream, or reorganize your systems to allow for the element of delight?  How can you rework your business to create a truly unique & highly-specialized experience for each and every client you come across?  How can you best let your talents shine?

Now that you’re in business time mode, there’s just one question to ask: are you scared yet?

That’s it, and it’s the premise that will help to build an exceptional brand: are you scared yet?

Are you copying the marketing promotion of a prominent businessperson or coming up with your own, utterly brilliant concept?  Are you actively seeking media coverage for your brand?  Are you involved in social media in some way?  Have you tackled a ground-up web design (with the help of a professional, of course)?  Are you taking risks — or do you know how things are going to turn out?

Likewise, are you producing the products recommended by x artists on x forums and websites?  What if you created a product that didn’t exist before you, and that can only be created by you? What if you took an active interest in bettering the lives of others in your profession by releasing the product to the general public? What if you made your idea into a company, KNOWING FULL WELL YOU MAY FALL FLAT ON YOUR FACE? Again, I would argue…you’d be scared out of your wits.

…and in being scared, you would be on the road to being exceptional.  Try, fail, try harder, fail brilliantly, and then get down to business.