Making money as a professional photographer is hard. Or at least, a lot harder than it used to be. Unfortunately, I still see too many photographers still posting rants on social media about organizations sourcing free photos from social media users, or via photo contests. These rants are almost always focused on these external factors that creatives have little control over. What we can control is our own actions, how we are changing in this new digital era, and how we are adapting. Everything from whom we target as potential clients, to what we create, and how we market ourselves has changed. It's not 1984 anymore.