Chances are you've never been to Marfa, but as it happens we have. It's a tiny town set in the vastness of West Texas (population 2000+) and obviously thriving. Halfway between El Paso and the awesome Big Bend Park, Marfa is surrounded by towns in decline. It used to be a water stop on the railway, and a massive army base, but the trains went diesel and the army left town. So why isn't the town dying, like most of its neighbours seem to be? A minimalist artist called Donald Judd came to town in search of a spectacular landscape to display his massive artworks. An interesting guy ... and other interesting people followed. Now it has excellent bookshops, art and craft galleries, a cool hotel, thriving real estate, a charismatic woman running our B&B and the best food we ate in the States. On this trip anyway. Why do people come? Because there's no place like Marfa. Marfa has critical mass: a reputation that's self-sustaining. It's not easy being Marfa, and most towns fail. It's not easy being a high-end studio either, and most of your competitors will fail. What prompted this post was a mention in a book by Pat O'Bryan. He talks about sitting in a coffee shop in this little town in West Texas, and looking out to see a film-star getting out of her new Jeep, the sun sparkling off her "rich-girl hair". She could live in LA, she could live in New York, but "because Marfa is so very Marfa, she's in Marfa. And so is her money." Move to Marfa and your chances of business success improve, but even there (especially there) you need to look the best, and be the best. Take Cochineal and The Food Shark. Cochineal is run by an expatriate New Yorker who moved there after 9/11 and loves Texas. It was recommended by our landlady, but if we'd seen the sign we would have gone straight in. It was perfect. The menu changes daily and the only mistake we made was deciding to share dessert – blueberry pie baked in the best pastry we've ever tasted. Unfortunately we didn't think to photograph it until it was gone! After this little rave from me, imagine if you went and they offered you microwave lasagne and defrosted Keyline Pie? If you've made your reputation, as I said yesterday, don't throw it away. Come lunch next day, we realised how small a town Marfa is. We couldn't find anywhere to eat except The Food Shark, which we drove past several times looking for something better. Eventually we stopped out of desperation and ate the tastiest of lunches. According to The Chowhound, everyone knew about it but us: "cowboys, truckers, ranchers, smartypants New Yorkers". I'll bet they do well, but it's tough to do the same thing in the photography business (sell great cheap stuff) because your time isn't scalable. Which I'll talk about next. Cheers, Ian PS Sorry that was such a long post, but I wanted to make the point that money hasn't disappeared, it's just got picky. To attract it you need to look the best, and be the best. Or drop your prices.