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Over and over again we are approached by photographers who are in a stage of their career that they consider a failure. We speak to each and every one of them and we have found some common behaviors. If you’re just starting out or if your career isn’t yet in a state of failure, we’re happy to share these ten sure-fire strategies to run your photography business into the ground.

1.  Listen to your self-doubt. Everyone has a sense of intuition or a “gut feeling” especially when it comes to being a photographer (or any kind of artist). If your gut is telling you to quit or that you’re no good, it’s best to just sell your gear and focus on your 9-5 job because your gut and self-doubt are almost always correct.

2.  Tell the people what they want. Your clients are typically pretty dumb. They need to be educated as to what they want. Any feedback or suggestions from your clients should be dismissed (as arrogantly as possible) and ignored. Continue with your vision of the project.

3.  The customer is rarely right. You didn’t quit your 9 to 5 job to take orders from people, right? Don’t let some uppity client tell you what to do.

4.  Wait for the work to come to you. As annoying as they are, clients are the ones ultimately paying the bills. A real pro never takes photos unless they’re getting paid. Remember, this is a job so don’t bother getting out of bed for anything less than your normal day rate. Personal projects are for hacks.

5.  This is a job and should be treated as such. Only amateurs actually enjoy taking photos. As a serious photographer, you should have sucked the joy out of the process long ago.

6.  Ignore the current trends. Trends are so, well, trendy. Who wants to do what everyone else is doing? Ignore that garbage and stick to what you know. Don’t look through current fashion or glamour magazines, they will only frustrate you.

7.  Social Networking is for kids so don’t waste your time. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. are fantastic ways for kids these days to burn time. No one of any importance looks at this malarkey so don’t bother yourself with it.

8.  Reinvent your wheel. It’s always a good idea to completely change your vision including your core values every six months to a year. If you don’t keep up, you will be left behind so it’s best to abandon who you are and adopt whatever is happening at the moment. Look around and begin copying everything all the other photographers around you do.

9.  Buy a lot of books and attend a lot of workshops and then forget about it. The more books you have on a subject, the more you know about it. In addition, the more workshops you attend, the better you will get at photography.

10.  Start a lot of projects. Hey, life is short. You’re a creative person just overflowing with ideas. Start as many of these projects as you can. Deadlines are for desk jockeys. Who needs ‘em? Finishing all these projects (or any of them) is inconsequential since you will always be busy and that, in turn, makes you look more important.

Of course, we are just kidding around and would never endorse any of these techniques unless, of course, you are determined to fall flat on your face. We post these exaggerations because, as funny as they may seem, we see photographers doing these exact things every day. And some of them choose from more than one from the list! If you are not where you wish to be in your photography career, you should take a hard look at this list and do a very honest self-assessment to see if you are following one of these strategies. It may be the barrier you’re encountering. Remember, most of the time, the only thing that stands in the way of your success is you.