Just click the banner above to listen to this new podcast! Thanks to SproutingPhotographer.com, a new episode of Weekend Wisdom just went live this morning and the topic is one of my favorites, relationship building. Building relationships should be your number one tool in your marketing plans for the year ahead. As Scott Stratten says in his book, UnMarketing, "Stop Marketing - Start Engaging". His book is one of the best I've read in a long time about the challenges in marketing today and well worth reading. Just click on the book if you want to read more. Not only is the topic of this episode fun for me, but it's with my good buddy, Matthew Jordan Smith. Matthew is all about relationship building and talks about how significant building relationships have been throughout his career. His new book is about to be released any day now. Future American President is destined to be an incredibly inspirational book for kids and parents everywhere. Interested in checking out more about what Matthew's up to? All the links for Matthew are on the Sprouting Photographer Weekend Wisdom page when you click on the banner above. As always, a big thanks to Bryan Caporicci and Rob Nowell for building Sprouting Photographer and creating the concept for Weekend Wisdom.
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We're through the first week of the new year and for most photographers the "slow season" is officially underway. It's the perfect time to stop procrastinating and do some clean up of your site, your blog, even your desk or office. But it's also a great time to establish a few priorities for the year ahead... "If you don't get what you want, it's a sign either that you did not seriously want it, or that you tried to bargain over the price." Rudyard Kipling I keep finding great quotes and the more I read them, the more they morph into a business application.
I've heard so many great ideas from so many of you and then later heard, "It just didn't work out!" Almost all the time it's because you started out aggressive, loaded with energy and direction and then lost your patience. You didn't "seriously want it" bad enough or you compromised on your approach, "bargained over the price." It's just a short post this morning, but I hope it makes the point. Surround yourself with positive people who help you believe in yourself. Don't compromise on anything your heart tells you is right. Pay attention to your mind's eye and when you visualize something, don't rest until you've got it. How's all that apply to the business of being a photographer? Don't slow down on your education. Keep building your skill set to be the best. Stop listening to negative people who take up space and use up oxygen. Believe in that face looking back at you in the mirror every morning. Photo Credit: Finger © momius - Fotolia There are a lot of mornings when whatever I decide to write about is based on something I've read. While it's the start of the new year, that doesn't mean a fresh start just magically happens. In fact, I'm hearing about a lot of photographers who are taking a serious look at 2014 and fine tuning for a better new year. Looking through one of my favorite books (click on the cover to find out more about it) of quotes, " Don't forget to sing in the Lifeboats", this one by Albert Camus really hit home. "In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me lay an invincible summer." Albert Camus Most of the country is feeling the "depth of winter" this week with a national cold snap. Mother Nature obviously didn't get the message about global warming. But, let's take the depth of winter analogy and think about it in business terms. For many of you 2014 wasn't as good a year as you wanted it to be. You worked hard, but maybe not as smart as you could have. You wanted to raise your prices, but were afraid of the negative impact they might have on sales. A few of you have even thought about getting out of photography, but something keeps pulling you back. Sound familiar? Let's see if we can come up with a few things to consider with one universal goal - to make 2015 the best year yet, in growing your business, your skills and your relationships. If you're thinking about giving up, consider what's kept you in the game this long... "Most people give up just when they're about to achieve success. They quit on the one yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game, one foot from a winning touchdown." Ross Perot So, it's Friday, closing out the first week of the new year. For just about everybody, this is officially the slow season. How about kicking back for a couple of hours and let's come up with some areas to analyze and work on to make 2015 a stronger year?
Let's start by buying yourself a small spiral notebook - anything will work, as long as you can write down your thoughts. You don't need to be at your computer - just find that one spot at home, maybe your favorite chair, and just be comfortable without interruptions. What's your goal for each of the next three years? Let's start with this year and write them down. Most of you started your business, but never really thought about what you wanted it to look like. Many of you are trying to hit too broad a target with clients in weddings, family, children, seniors, boudoir etc. You've got to build each business element one step at a time and make sure you have the skill set to meet the demands of each group. Who is your target audience? Women make 98% of the purchase decisions to hire a professional photographer. Does your website have feminine appeal? Are you hitting the right points in your marketing to appeal to Mom? Do you really have the skill set? Okay, this is the toughest...you know when you look at an image if it truly represents professional talent or could anybody's Uncle Harry have gotten the same shot? Look at your galleries and then dump those images that aren't spectacular. Are you signed up for every convention and workshop you can hit in the next few months? The benefit is not in what you'll learn in workshops or walking the trade show floor - it's in the networking. Nothing can help you more than spending time with other photographers and building a network of associates who are dealing with the same challenges. When you look at the past year, if you're a little disappointed is the problem in revenue or what you're shooting? So often I've met photographers who hate what they're shooting, because it's so far from the passion and glamour of what they wanted to originally spend their time photographing. Look, the challenge is to build your revenue stream with whatever is going to pay the bills - but here's the best part of being an artist. Special projects can help you stay focused on the passion and give you a way to vent a little of that frustration when you're shooting subjects you're not crazy about. Whatever pays the bills can often feel like the "depth of winter", but that's why I love that first quote. It's that "invincible summer" we all have inside us that gets us through the challenges. This week's Throwback Thursday image is like going through a high school yearbook, because it brings back so many memories and stories.
The year is 1988, about a year after I started as the new president of Hasselblad USA. The sales force was in town for a meeting and I wanted a group shot of the entire team. It might look like just another company shot of employees, but this group was my introduction into professional photography and they were amazing to work with. As sappy as it sounds, it really was a family, with some very big personalities and the stories to go with each one.
I was with Hasselblad for twelve wonderful years, leaving for an Internet offer that at the time I couldn't refuse. It was an amazing group of people and I'll close with one more memory-maker.
My point is the same with every Throwback Thursday post. Take the time to track down your old photographs, take good care of them and on a regular basis, pull one out and just enjoy the memories. When you're done, think about what you do for a living and what it means for your clients. You guys are the true magicians of the world, helping people every day capture and preserve moments out of time and cherish them for the rest of their lives and future generations. It's a big responsibility and deserves the very best images you can capture. Happy Throwback Thursday - time to help create some new Throwback Thursday images for the future! The fun of this industry and especially social media is about the passion we all share for the craft. With that passion comes a whole bunch of good friends who are constantly giving back to the photo community. I'm ecstatic to be able to share my good pal, Lori Nordstrom's gift to the industry this morning. Here's a freebie video and some fun downloads from Lori to help you set your 2015 goals...it's her New Year's Gift to all of you. A gift that's going to keep on giving all year long!
I was just on line today with a good friend who's trying to decide which shows she can attend in 2015. She asked my advice about ShutterFest. (By the way, it's an amazing convention!) She made her choice and opted out of the other convention she was originally going to attend. I'm not questioning her decision, but I am going to challenge all of you and your process of elimination when it's based purely on cost.
I wrote about this a few years ago and it's that time of year to bring back the topic. "When cost is number one in importance, you’ve already lost!” Jim Rembach Whether things are really better or we're just excited about gas being at $2.00 a gallon, most of us are in a better state of mind than we were a year or two ago. Professional photographers around the world are finding new ways to diversify, expand their skill set and develop new revenue streams. Business is better. However, I still hear the same comment in reference to so many different topics: “It’s too expensive!" "We can’t afford the change!" "We have to monitor our costs better!” I’m not saying you shouldn’t be on top of your costs. Being a professional photographer is a business just like any other. The difference is remembering you’re an artist. There are certain tools you’ve got to have and then there are those tools you’d like to have. There’s a huge difference and so often photographers hit the panic button and become penny-wise and dollar foolish. Nothing is more important than your ongoing education! The same applies to your marketing budget. You’ve got to advertise and promote yourself. You need to publish press releases to the local paper and community. Here and there you’ve got to make an investment in time and sometimes money. That means you might need to spend money and hire a publicist or a marketing assistant. You don’t need to completely disregard the cost, just pay attention and make sure you’re investing in the right activities. The same applies to your role as a consumer. In the next two months you’re going to be attending the various conventions and trade shows. You might need a new lab or album company. One lab might be higher priced than another, but what’s their quality, delivery time and other services they offer? One album company might have a better line than another and be more expensive, but you’re looking to be unique. Cost shouldn’t be the issue, but what you can offer your clients. What products will make your life easier and your business more efficient? Most important of all pay attention to every company's sense of customer service. I've written a lot about Scott Stratten's book, UnMarketing. Pay attention to companies who want to build a relationship with you and ignore those who just want to sell you something and walk away. It’s an easy point to remember – it’s not the cost, but the impact on your business that matters. Cost is short term, but your education is an investment. Better efficiency, a stronger skill set, improved quality and expanded diversification lead to stronger revenue streams and that’s long term! A few years ago my wife, Sheila, got me into some writers who normally I would never have followed. It's typically a short read to feed my brain at the start of each day. Dealing with a few family challenges at the time, Melody Beattie became a favorite. Her spirituality and message towards staying positive was the perfect combination to work in with some of my favorite contemporary writers like Seth Godin, Guy Kawasaki, Scott Stratten and even some good old Tom Peters, for example. I want to share her message from December 31, because it hit home for me and might for many of you. I'm hoping it'll do the same for you. I hope you'll read it and if her touch on spirituality and God bothers you, just move on. We don't all have to agree on everything. Just take whatever resonates with you. We all spend so much time anticipating the negative. In business especially, when you don't hear back from somebody quickly, you assume the negative. Leaving a message in any company's customer service department probably means you're lost in the system. Over and over again we draw negative assumptions, when lately I'm learning they're often unfounded...at least with any company except Comcast! (Hey, it might be a new year, but my resentment for what they call "service" runs deep!) I hope this excerpt from Melody Beattie does as much for you as it did for me...it's a new year and we've all got a chance to really make a difference - not just in other people's lives, but in our own! Affirming the Good"Fun becomes fun, love becomes love, life becomes worth living. And we become grateful. - Beyond Codependency
Wait, and expect good things - for yourself and your loved ones. When you wonder what is coming, tell yourself the best is coming, the very best life and love have to offer, the best God and His universe have to send. Then open your hands to receive it. Claim it, and it is yours. See the best in your mind; envision what it will look like, what it will feel like. Focus, until you can see it clearly. Let your whole being, body and soul, enter into and hold onto the image for a moment. Then, let it go. Come back into today, the present moment. Do not obsess. Do not become fearful. Become excited. Live today fully, expressing gratitude for all you have been, all you are, and all you will become. Wait and expect good things. Today, when I think about the year ahead, I will focus on the good that is coming."* *The Language of Letting Go" by Melody Beattie, page 379 for December 31. We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give. Winston Churchill Getting involved in charities in your community isn't just about passing the hat and raising cash. Often, it's about you making the effort and establishing a reputation for giving back. There's nothing that will help build your reputation faster than to be involved in charitable events in your community. This isn’t rocket science and it's hardly revolutionary, but in all honesty, for most photographers, especially those new to the industry, the concept hasn’t been in their thought process. I get it - you're buried and just trying to get your business off the ground is taking up all your time, but think about this... You're looking for your community to be good to you. So, what are you going to do to be good to your community? People like buying products and services from companies they perceive as giving back. You can’t just sit on the sidelines and watch life go by. You need to be directly involved and that doesn't necessarily mean with your camera. As we start out this new year think about things you can do to give back:
Remember too...There's no such thing as a gift of giving back that's too small. What's important is simply doing something. “If you wait until you can do everything for everybody,
instead of something for somebody, you’ll end up not doing nothing for nobody.” Malcom Bane I can't deny for a second I'm a little prejudiced in favor of the new Shutter Magazine. I've been writing for Shutter since it started and with this new issue, Sal Cincotta has essentially achieved what most people thought couldn't be done. After building a substantial readership for the online version, approximately 90,000, he's launched a hard copy, the complete reverse of what's been happening in magazine publishing. Quality editorial, and great "how to" content, have already made this magazine one of the leaders in supportive publishing for the aspiring and working professional photographer. Sal's additional new feature, starting with the premiere's cover image, "How I Got The Shot," is a great example of the quality of information you can expect in the future. At a time when many of the other professional photographic magazines look like they're trapped in a scene from Stephen King's "Thinner", Sal, Taylor and their team stayed true to their dedication to education. This first issue is loaded with great "how to" content and weighs in at 180 pages. It even feels great, an expression not usually used in talking about a magazine. They've chosen a great paper stock for the cover along with the rest of the pages. Besides great content and staying true to standards of color reproduction and printing quality, it's a new size, just about 8x10. Perfect to travel with. In fact, mine, right now, is in the sleeve with my Mac Air. But let's put all the points on great cosmetics aside. They only prove that you can judge a book by its cover, because inside it's loaded with articles by some of the industry's most dedicated instructors and artists. I picked two at random, just to grab a shot to share with you...Blair Phillips and Lori Nordstrom's. Blair's article this month is all about "Senior Glam Sessions". Over the last ten years, senior photography has become one of the fastest growing specialties. Blair's helping you take it one step further, adding glamour to the mix and going into plenty of detail to help you consider the concept for your own business. Lori's article this month is called, "Making Clients Feel Beautiful with Photography". It's such an important aspect to building your client relationships. On several podcasts and videos, noted beauty and fashion photographer, Matthew Jordan Smith has talked about the importance of clients feeling beautiful. In fact, one example he's talked about came out of a session with Vanessa Williams, who, even though she's one of the most beautiful women in the world, doesn't always feel beautiful. Well, Lori has taken the time to give you plenty to think about. Making a client feel beautiful isn't as much about your technical skills as it is about your communication skills. It's about building a relationship with each subject and as Lori points out, making each person feel special. She's even given you ideas of conversation starters you might use during a family portrait session. Articles by other industry notables include Laurin Theines, Joe Switzer, Justen Hong, Sal Cincotta, Craig Lamer, Alissa Zimmerman, Vanessa Joy, Moshe Zusman, Michael Corsentino, Dustin Lucas and yours truly. I couldn't be more proud to be working with this crew of dedicated professionals. In one of the first few pages of the new magazine you'll find Sal's "Launch Point" message in his role as Editor-in-Chief. This pretty much says it all... "Innovate or Die. I teach it. We live it. SHUTTER MAGAZINE goes to print!!" A big congrats to the whole team at Shutter Magazine. As an old buddy of mine from Polaroid used to say,
Y'all done good!" If you're a regular reader then you're used to me headed off in directions other than photography on Sunday mornings. The SCU blog is coming up on it's second anniversary this month and it just seems like a perfect time to share one of my most favorite videos that always makes me smile. Ben Aaron is an NBC reporter with a flair for creativity and hitting on topics near and dear to all of us. One of them relates to the challenge of aging. I found this video early last year when writing for BeAwareBetterCare.com, the blog for the Friendship Centers here in Sarasota. Having spent some quality time with my 92 year old Dad over the holidays, this video is something I can see him and a few of his friends doing. Just two fun points this morning. First, even for a video like this that's on YouTube, I did contact Ben for permission to share it. That's something I wish a few more artists would do in 2015. Just a couple days ago a member of one of the forums I'm involved in was nailed, and deserved it, for stealing somebody else's images. Honestly, I don't get it...we're not a career field where you can steal another artist's work and then build your business on a skill set you don't have! My second point is more personal...we're all aging and while there are days when I recognize I'm not in the same shape I was twenty years ago, age is just a number. You're only as old as you think you are. The senior citizens in this video couldn't be having more fun and that's really my second point! Let's put that too often forgotten word, "fun" back into our lives and business. Let's get back to taking the time to have more fun. In the months ahead most of us are going to be together at the various conventions...it's the most fun time in photography because we'll be meeting each other in person...no email, no texts, no blog posts or arguments over an image somebody posted in a forum...just good old fashioned FUN! So, I'm wishing all of you this morning a day filled with fun...a day filled with a focus on what's truly important in your lives - your family, your friends and your own heart. Make it a good one because today will be yesterday in fifteen hours. Happy Sunday everybody! I've been MIA for the last couple days, doing something I never do...just take time off. We've had some wonderful time with family and friends and walking away from the business was the perfect thing to do. I've written a lot over the last few years about stepping away from your business. I've had guests on podcasts, like good friend, Tamara Lackey, talking about the importance of prioritizing between business, family and friends. Yet, when it comes to really being able to walk the talk, it's difficult. I'm looking at today, January 3, as my first day of the new year and it seems right to share why I post every day and what drives so many of the projects I'm involved with. Although there are a lot of contributing factors, the most current change goes back to 2009... I lived vicariously through so many of you for so many years, but never had the nerve to go out on my own, because I was afraid of failing. Sound just a little familiar? I always worked for other companies and although I loved the job at Rangefinder/WPPI, I grew tired of fighting for things I believed in. It was time to get out on my own. I had finally learned that it accomplishes nothing to keep looking back and mumbling "You know what I should have done?" This is where my wife, Sheila, starting saying, "Don't should on yourself!" When I started my own company, members of my own family questioned my sanity. I discovered this quote in several places on the Internet... I do it because I can. I can because I want to. I want to because you said I couldn't ! So, why do I love this blog and trying to help so many of you? Because I love what photographers give the world! Because, you're all too close to your own business to recognize the mistakes you're making and the opportunities you miss to grow your business...Because there honestly is no industry like photography and lastly, because so many amazing people have helped me so much on my own journey.
More specifically, I post because I want to help you raise the bar on your business. I post because I love this industry and it's the only career field I've ever known. I post because, together we can all make the industry more successful, stronger and inspire the next generation of artists to start the journey. This morning in Facebook Wedding Photographers I posted a request, based on an idea that seems like fun...I'm looking for stories about how you got started. What was your first camera? Who's been your inspiration? Who planted that first seed about photography? It's 200-400 words, a head shot of you, a link to your website and 1-2 images you're most proud of. Images only need to be 5x7 equivalent at 72 dpi...and obviously YOURS! Send it all to my email, skip@mei500.com and let's start a new series on the SCU blog. Check out this guest post by J.B. Sallee two months ago, if you need a little inspiration. Meanwhile, welcome to 2015...it's going to be an amazing year and one wild ride! Thanks for coming along on the journey! Photo Credit: © arselumaco - Fotolia.com It's January 1, 2015 and I'm doing something I rarely do...I'm giving myself the day off and just wishing you a Happy and Healthy New Year. I'm simply tired this morning, having been up until 2:00 am catching up to some outstanding time with family. In fact, I wish I could go back to sleep for a couple of hours, before we start the next round. So, however your New Years went, remember that whatever you do on the first day of the year sets the standard for the new year. For us it's going to be a houseful of friends, a little football and plenty of laughs...it doesn't get any better. Happy New Year - make it a day to remember, even if you do absolutely nothing but unwind, kick back and cherish everybody around you! |
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