These Lessons Learned posts are for a way for me to share the some of the valuable experiences that have taught me much. A while back I blogged about timeliness and consistency, and just putting those concepts out there have helped to reinforce those lessons learned in my business (aka I blog about consistency, I’m forced to practice what I preach). These posts will hopefully serve two purposes: to inform and to keep me accountable. (ps- these Lessons are my personal experience. No worries if you don’t agree with them 🙂 )

Most of the photographers I know are upbeat, bright-eyed and excited. I love hanging out with those kind of people- they invigorate me and push me to want to do a better job. I’ve found that most photographers I know fit this description, and I love working in a position where I’m surrounding by positive energy.

I’m a part of a couple DC/VA/MD photographer groups on Facebook. These groups have been a wealth of information for me- any time I have a question, dilemma or difficult situation, the photographers in those groups always offer solutions or different ways to approach the situation.

Every once in a while, though, we’ll get a few people that feel like they need to come in and stomp on someone’s inflated sense of happiness. You know those people- the Debbie Downers, the ones who always find the negative in something good., the ones who always have something to complain about.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Everyone needs to be able to vent every once in a while. It’s healthy. You get annoyed with a situation, and talking it over with someone helps you process it, plus the listener can often provide valuable insight. I’m all for doing that.

Where my problem lays is in the overarching snark, negativity and disregard for people’s feelings that I’ve seen on various social networking sites. Have you ever bought a pound of cherries without fully examining them, and then open the bag three days later to find that one moldy cherry has spoiled the rest of the fruit? That’s how bad attitudes spread. It’s actually a communication principle called emotional contagion, and I’ll bet every one of you has experienced it. You’re in a great mood, someone else isn’t, they say something rude, and your bubble of happiness bursts. Doesn’t that ruin your day?

I guess the point of this post is to say that if I, as an industry professional, don’t have something positive, informative or uplifting to say, I’ve learned to keep away from social media. I’m developing my brand with each and every Tweet, status update and blog post. Brides want a photographer that can approach their day with a glass half full mentality- if something goes wrong, it is still my responsibility to keep smiling and proceed with grace.

I won’t pretend that I don’t struggle with this. When someone hurts my feelings, offends me or undervalues my business, I’ve definitely considered posting to Twitter with a “you won’t believe what just happened to me” tag line. But I know that doing that will only cultivate a negative, biting perception of my brand. I want brides to know they can trust me to remain positive, because by remaining positive , I earn their faith that I will do everything in my power to give them beautiful, joy-filled images.

Again, this is what I’ve found works for me- I’m not trying to tell everyone else how to do their thing. This is just my experience so far.

Happy Friday!