Blogtober! Day 30 of 31 · Fri, Oct 30, 2026
It's the night before Halloween, which makes it the perfect time for a few scary stories. The ones that scare me most are phrases I hear in my work, and every time one comes up, I feel a chill.
So grab a flashlight and pull the blanket up a little higher. None of this is meant to call anyone out. Most of us have said at least one of these at some point, and the good news is that every one of them has a fix.
1. The Ghost Town: "I'll wait until I get more clients to think about my marketing."
Picture it. The doors are open, the lights are on, and no one's coming in. You're waiting for business to pick up before you start marketing, but marketing is how people find you in the first place, so waiting can leave you standing in an empty room for a long time.
Start small instead. Give your marketing a set place on your calendar now, even if it's only an hour a week, and build from there. I wrote more about this earlier in the month in why successful businesses make marketing a priority.
2. The Abandoned House: "Let's run ads."
Someone sees your ad, gets curious and clicks through. The website hasn't been touched in years, the last post on your socials is from a season ago, and the whole place is covered in cobwebs. They take one look and back away slowly.
Ads work like a glowing porch light that draws people up the walkway. They amplify whatever's waiting inside, so if your message isn't clear and your content isn't doing its job, you're paying to lure more people to a house they'll run from. Before you turn on that light, make sure there's somewhere worth landing, with a website and content that show people who you are and what to do next. Then let your ads help more of the right people find their way to your door.
3. The Vanishing: "I'm trying to go viral."
One post takes off. The views climb, the notifications won't stop, and for a few days it feels like everyone knows your name. Then, as fast as it came, it's gone.
Viral attention is a lot like a ghost sighting. Everyone's talking about it for a moment, but it rarely sticks around, and it doesn't always bring the right people to your door. If there's nothing for new visitors to find once they arrive, they drift off into the night as quickly as they showed up. Instead of chasing a sighting, build content that brings in the people you want to work with and gives them a reason to stay.
4. The Folder of Forgotten Photos: "I gave you everything, but I never see it posted..."
This one's from my side of the camera, and it haunts me. I deliver a full set of photos and video, along with a guide showing where each piece can go. Then weeks pass, and none of it shows up anywhere. Somewhere out there is a folder full of work that's been buried alive.
Usually it gets buried because people are waiting for the perfect moment to share it, or they never find the time to sit down and post. Your content can't do anything for your business from inside a folder. If you know time will be tight after a shoot, plan for that before it happens, whether that's blocking off an hour a week to post or getting help from someone who can share it for you. And don't wait for a perfect moment that may never come. Dig it up and share it while it's still fresh.
5. The Haunting of Every Platform: "I post every day on every platform."
You're on Instagram in the morning, LinkedIn at lunch, TikTok by dinner and Threads before bed, every single day. You're everywhere at once, like a ghost trying to haunt every house on the block, and you're exhausted.
When I hear this, what I often hear underneath it is "I don't know where my people are." So you show up everywhere, hoping to reach them somewhere.
Now imagine it works, and every one of those channels starts to grow, bringing more comments, DMs and people wanting to connect. Would you have the capacity to engage with your community on all of them? Showing up is only half of it. The other half is being there for the people who show up for you.
Start by figuring out where your people spend their time. Look at where your best clients found you, where your conversations happen and which platforms bring in inquiries. Then focus on showing up well in those places, so you have room to build a community instead of keeping up with a schedule.
6. The Invoice That Never Gets Paid: "You mean I need to pay before I see the final result?"
Every creative knows this ghost story. The work is done, and the client loved it. Then the invoice sits. You send a friendly reminder, then another, and another, and the silence on the other end gets louder each time.
That's why this question sends a chill down every creative's spine. Paying upfront is normal almost everywhere else. When you place an order, you pay for it and expect it to be done well by the people you chose. Hiring a photographer or videographer works the same way. You're placing an order with someone you trust to deliver.
The scariest part from my side is how much of the creative industry involves chasing payment, like chasing a ghost that keeps slipping around the corner. A lot of people don't see the physical and mental work that goes into a shoot, from the planning and setup to the hours of editing afterward, even though every business needs that work. Paying upfront secures someone's time, gear and creative energy, and it shows you value what goes into it. That way, the only thing anyone's chasing is a great final result.
7. The Nightmare in the Edit Bay: "We'll fix it in post."
I saved the scariest for last. This one goes back to my filmmaking days, and it still gives me nightmares. On set, someone notices a problem. The light's a little off, there's a hum in the audio or a stray cup is sitting in the background. Fixing it would take a few minutes. Instead, someone says the five words that send me running: "We'll fix it in post."
Then it's 2 a.m., I'm hours into an edit, and I'm trying to fix something that could have been handled with a quick adjustment on set. Editing can do a lot, but every problem left for post turns into hours of work and frustration later, and some of them never fully go away. If you can fix it in person, fix it in person. Those few extra minutes on the day save hours in the edit bay.
If any of these sounded familiar, don't worry. You don't need a ghost hunter. Every one of them can be fixed.
Happy Halloween!
Which one gave you a little chill?
Share it in the comments if you'd like. I'd love to hear it.
This post is part of the Ultimate Blog Challenge, where bloggers publish a new post every day this month. It's not too late to join in, and you can catch up on my last post here.
Day 30, done. One to go.
