We recently connected with Joseph Buchoff and have shared our conversation below.

Joseph, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?

I decided one day I wouldn’t do the job thing. I had too much passion for creating art inside my soul, so I dropped out of Rutgers with 1 year left where I was studying Computer Science and travelled the world trying to build a graphic design business.

My father was only paying my rent and bills to help me focus on school, so he understandably pulled his support. I ended up being homeless for 2 years, sleeping in my car, then on friends’ couches, and even 3 nights on the streets – two of them on the streets of Medellín, Colombia.

The whole time I worked hard on my laptop, designing logos trying to make a buck. I took out loans to pay business mentors, even travelled to Eastern Europe to meet with a group of successful entrepreneurs to learn from them.

I failed at a dozen businesses, and my travelling made me quite lonely, so I moved to Austin, where I thought there would be more opportunity to make money through my art. I picked up a camera and a lens because I wanted to find girls on dating apps. I was lonely and I knew that dating profile photos made the most difference on Tinder, Hinge and Bumble. So I went out with the friends I did have and we took photos of each other.

I sucked at first, but quickly got better and better and eventually had a workable dating life! One day someone came up to us as we were taking photos and asked me how much I charged… a lightbulb went off in my head! This could be the path to making a living creating art!

I dove in headfirst and applied all the business knowledge and lessons from previous attempts. It’s been 2 and a half years since that day, and I’ve worked with over 130 clients in over 25 cities – in multiple countries! I just returned from my first international trip yesterday.

A few lessons I can share from this experience:

“Luck is where preparation meets opportunity.” – a perfect quote by Seneca. I accidentally stumbled upon the answer to how to make money by creating art, but the only reason I was able to take advantage of this opportunity was the dozens of business books I read, the several online business courses I took, the mentors I paid to teach me, and learning from my previous failed attempts.

Business is just giving people what they want and asking them for something in return. I accidentally found something people want, that was also something I liked to do. I love photos, and I also know the pain of not being noticed by women. Solving this problem has given me much fulfillment – without an abundant dating life (whether that’s one special someone, or more casual flings,) you can only be so happy. People are more than happy to give me their money so I can solve their problem. Find a problem people need solved, that you are able to solve – and that you’re happy to solve. Then ask them for money and they’ll gladly hand it over.

Most artists are artists first, and businesspeople second. I suggest flipping that around – even if you sell art for art’s sake, you can use your business intuition to position yourself as a premium artist, to know where and how to advertise yourself, and to create a brand/persona that attracts the right customers to you.

Joseph, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

When I was going to college at Rutgers I decided a corporate job wasn’t for me. I dropped out and travelled the world instead.

My dad was only paying my rent and expenses to help me focus on schoolwork, so I had no support, no job, and ended up being homeless for 2 years. In the middle of it I sat in my hotel room in Colombia, getting down to the core of why I was doing what I was doing.

I needed a guiding light if I was to push through the hardship and come out the other side.

I realized I housed a deep desire to help people unchain their passion and build a life on their own terms. This is at the core of everything I do.

I have three guiding beliefs behind this:
1) Life is meant to be enjoyed not just survived.
2) As long as you’re not direcly harming others, there is no “right” way to life live.
3) Any lifestyle is possible and available to anyone with enough resourcefulness and time.

Dating Unchained, my dating profile photography business, operates on this mission and these beliefs to help guys build a love life on their own terms. It’s a very important pillar in life – without a great love life, there’s a ceiling on how happy you can be.

I hope to tick that box for as many people as I can, build my business to run well more automatically without much input from me, then help people with other pillars in life.

My next step (which I’ve already begun work on) is to help creative professionals build a business around their passions – fulfilling the financial pillar in life, and help them build a fulfilling creative outlet.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

When I decided I was going to make money from my creative pursuits, I first thought like an artist first, and a businessman second.

I made what I wanted to make, and tried to get people to buy it. This included handknit hats, handbound journals, laser etched keychains, and much more.

Some of these ventures made a little money, but I was coming at it from the wrong direction. It wasn’t the type of art that was the problem, it was my approach to what I was doing.

The thing is, people want to buy for THEM, not for YOU. Even successful artists who make whatever art they want and sell their art – they’ve learned how to speak to people who buy art, and market their name and story as the solution to their problem. They still put business first, and carve out their own creative freedom within that space.

I had to learn the basics of business before I made a single cent… People don’t buy your art for you, they buy it for them. The moment I learned how to figure out what other people truly wanted (which isn’t always what they say they want) and then how to communicate that to them, I started making money.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

When I first picked up my camera it was because I was a horndog in my mid-20s. I was an Austin artist and I wanted more matches on dating apps, I have no shame.

I got better and better at it, taking photos with friends out and about. Eventually someone asked me how much I charged and a business was born!

That’s the official story, and it’s 100% true. But what I don’t always say is that after that moment, I was still very unsure of myself, and I had no idea how to attract clients.

So I did a lot of different kinds of photography. I thought if I did a few kinds of things, then I’d have more clients. I marketed myself as an event photographer, a couples photographer, a headshot photographer and, yes, a dating profile photographer.

But business was slow. I was about to give up, and I went on a trip to Mexico to clear my head and take a break. I sat down and went through the options… I realized I was spreading myself very thin. Dating profile photography fit directly into my core mission – to help people unchain their passion and build a life on their own terms. Plus it was fun and fulfilling for me. I know what it likes to feel lonely, unappreciated and unnoticed by the opposite sex, and I love how it feels to help guys get over that.

So I decided to go all-in. I changed all the bios on my social medias, and deleted all the other kinds of photography from my website and instagram.

And business picked up! I learned what almost all successful business owners will tell you – when you add more options to your service, it only dilutes your offer. If you try to appeal to everyone you will appeal to noone. Lead with one product and you will attract your perfect clients.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.DatingUnchained.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/passionunchainedphotos
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/passionunchained

Image Credits
Tracy D. Lazaro Rohan Mutalik Fable Avalon