I was chatting with my business partner today about how, in today’s business climate, it’s not enough to be exceptional.  Extraordinary, even.  You must be REVOLUTIONARY to succeed.

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?