In this video I break down my top five tips for turning your photography or filmmaking passion into real profit—without the “get rich quick” fantasy. The first thing I tell people is a no-brainer: you have to create more. A lot of us spend so much time on admin, pitching, briefs, and organizing that we’re doing a lot of talking and not enough shooting. If you want to make more money, you need to get better—and the fastest way to get better is to be behind the camera more often. I also talk about how perfectionism is killing your gains. I love high standards, but chasing perfection will keep you from saying yes to opportunities. When an opportunity comes, don’t live in “I’m not ready.” Live in “I’m not ready, but I’m going to get ready,” then jump in and learn from the failures. From there, I get practical: stop picking the wrong projects if your goal is stability. Sometimes the “cooler” the project, the “broker” the project, so you may need more stable industries (corporate, e-comm, lookbooks, weddings, medical) to fund the passion work. Finally, I cover building passive income (like renting gear or locations) and making more by valuing your worth and expanding your services—especially skills like retouching—so you can take home more on smaller budgets without burning out.