its hard to "get better" $400 bucks at a time. to get better you need to spend more time at the shoot, more time learning professional pp'ing, more time learning professional lighting techniques, more time with clients eg 'eshoots,' more time finding the next client
and then you'll get to the point where you're pulling in $400 for a week while trying to get better = financial ruin. not gonna work. but weekend warriors will never understand this. its why so many aspiring photogs fail, no business sense.
take it easy