Getting Published Is Only The First Step To Getting Paid

“My goal is to be published in a magazine.”

This is a statement I receive several times a week from fitness talents who unfortunately have the misperception that being published in a magazine is the ultimate objective for a successful career.

- James Patrick

The idea they have is that if they get published, then everything will immediately change for the better as unlimited opportunities will instantly materialise to support the remainder of their careers.

As a photographer, I’ve shot more than 300 printed magazine covers in the last decade alone. Not taking into account the fair share of professional athletes, actors and celebrities I have worked with, the significant portion of those covers were of fitness talents, models and entrepreneurs. This is in addition to innumerable magazine features I’ve photographed, which total in the thousands. That is literally hundreds and hundreds of fitness personalities who I’ve had the opportunity to work with in getting published.

Missed opportunities

However, what may surprise you is how many careers never grew after the published feature, and how many others simply faded away altogether. One example in particular is a fitness model that I worked with to secure two cover profiles and a handful of features inside magazines. After a short two years they were no longer in the industry because they could not get enough business to sustain their career.

The mistake that they, and many others, make is to assume that being published is the golden ticket to growing a career or, even worse, that it is the end goal that one should strive to achieve. It is neither.

Part of the marketing mix