![]() I know it's not the weekend, and we normally air new episodes on Saturdays. Sometimes life just gets in the way, so consider this either early or late, since it should have gone up last Saturday. Either way, if it bothers you, maybe the strength of the topic will make up for the dating. LOL Matthew and I are talking about special projects in this new episode. In this context, special projects can be just about anything you do with a camera in your hand. The benefits of projects like this are twofold. First, it helps you stay focused on your creativity. This is especially important when your bread and butter business isn't as glamorous as you had hoped. A special project allows you to be in complete control and can be virtually anything you decide to capture. Second, you never know when a special project can become something bigger than you planned. Special projects can turn into exhibits, gallery showing, books and even new business as Matthew talks about in the podcast. He once showed images from a project he was working on, and in the audience was a business manager from a company in China. He loved Matthew's work. The result was Matthew heading overseas for a month photographing a group of Chinese executives and picking up a new client. Matthew's spent the last three years working on his current project, Future American President. It's a remarkable book, and currently he's working on getting into a second printing with an opportunity for more people to have a customized cover with a photograph of their child. Future American President has a Kickstarter component scheduled to end this Sunday. He's put together a special offer for any photographer donating just $2.00 or more - a free download of two of his most popular instructional educational videos. Click the link below to find out how you can be part of the Future American President experience. In the mean time - if you don't have a special project, what are you waiting for? Pick a subject you're passionate about and then start to build a series of images. Projects can be as simple as a 365 or even once a week program, capturing a particular image each day or week, to a serious book project you hope to publish someday. Most important of all is finding an outlet just to be creative and have the choice of how you capture each image, completely under your control.
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I guess this post falls under the category of shameless self-promotion, but hopefully you'll join me next Friday and better understand my enthusiasm. To say I'm just excited to be doing this segment for SPTV would be a huge understatement.
Circle the date on your calendar and join me next Thursday, October 15 at noon EST. I'm going to be talking about some my favorite subjects - websites, blogs, self-promotion and who knows what else might come up in the process? I'm also going to be doing some live critiques of websites from some very special volunteers, a few brave souls from the Facebook ShutterFest forum. Your website is about what you sell, and your blog is about sharing what's in your heart. I'm convinced you'll see the most growth and brand development with both, but they've got to be done with some planning and most important of all consistency. I'm going to do my best to pack in the most information I can in this special program. So, forgive me for a little shameless promoting and join me on October 15th! Just click on the banner below for more information! ![]() My apologies for the quality of both these Throwback images, but the scratches on these old photographs are the result of them being tucked away in an album for a whole lot of years! I try hard to feature images from my past in the industry, but every now and then there's a classic family shot that deserves to be shared. The image on the right is of my Mom and Dad. On the back my mother wrote "March, 6 months pregnant." She's pregnant with me at this point. I also love the shadow of the photographer that shares part of the spotlight. Remember the one rule of thumb in those days was ALWAYS have your subject facing the sun. In addition to the images themselves, the way my mother cherished every photograph was wonderful. The album is an old wooden album with their names in raised black letters on the front. The pages are all black and she used those lick and stick corners to hold in the prints. She wrote on the back of every image with dates and descriptions. Things have changed so much, but remember how long ago this is. Every image, be it good or bad was saved. She never threw out a photograph, because each one was truly magical. Every image was captured on film and was special. In addition, every photograph is of family and friends. I have yet to find any early prints without people in them. It was essentially considered a waste of film to take pictures of anything but people. There's always a point to Throwback Thursday and in this case it's the never-ending reminder about the importance of photographs. My Mom passed away over two years ago and Dad is headed to 93 at the end of this month. These images bring back so many memories. They put an intense smile on his face that even today's technology could never truly capture.
So, it's Throwback Thursday. Take a few minutes to search through some of your old images. Note: The image of the camera was found on Pinterest from etsy.com. "People rarely buy what they need.They buy what they want" Seth Godin Seth Godin does it again, with an old quote that got me thinking about the biggest challenge for professional photographers today, creating the "want" for your images.
I'll recognize my grammar in that statement is a little weak and Mrs. Szabo, my high school English teacher, is cringing. However, I can't think of a better way to put it. The biggest part of the challenge is on your end as an artist. You've got to plant that seed with your target audience and then just like a garden, pay attention to the care and feeding of your plants. It's called marketing! So, let's look at some things you can be doing to create a stronger passion and value for your images. It's not just about advertising, but about building a strong brand. Do you make ever session an experience? You've got to make it fun and let your passion for imaging show with every client. Tim Walden in a Weekend Wisdom podcast talked about making it an experience. Remember what you're selling! You're not selling photographs, but memories. You're not selling prints but creating family heirlooms for future generations. A wedding album isn't a book of pictures, it's the story of the start of a brand new family. Only show "wow" prints in your galleries and your portfolio. If your images aren't any better than Uncle Harry's why is somebody going to be excited about your work? Smile on every phone call! Believe it or not, when you're smiling your voice is different. So, when you're talking to a potential client, they need to feel you're excited to be working with them. Make every client feel special and show your appreciation. Check out this post in the Marathon Center on making clients feel appreciated. Is your work exciting? Look, even what you perceive as the most boring portrait session has the potential to be fun and memorable. Mix things up and show the diversity of your skill set. Make it fun for your clients. Build your brand around community involvement. Be helpful and supportive on community projects. People like buying products and services from companies they perceive as giving something back. Don't just be a vendor who takes from the community. You're looking for the community to be good to you - so you've got to be good to your community. Everything you do falls under the umbrella of exceeding expectations. You've got to make yourself habit-forming and build a reputation for being the nicest photographer in town! Advertising and great publicity are important elements, but you've got to create excitement with every experience. There's a great quote from Roger Staubach the sums it all up: There are no traffic jams along the extra mile. ![]() Several times over the years I've shared gems of wisdom from one of my favorite authors, Melody Beattie. She's a remarkable, inspirational author, and now and then she writes something that just hits home! She wrote a piece I read recently that was so appropriate. We all fear or dread change to some degree. We get into a routine, and it gets so comfortable. Things become easy, but when things are too easy many of us tend to get complacent. Our enthusiasm for a variety of tasks starts to fade. Before you know it we're in a rut. It happens to everybody and this short piece from "Journey to the Heart" got me thinking about changes I've had to make in my life, often waiting longer than I should have. Every change doesn't have to be a monumental adjustment. Read what she wrote and think about how it applies to just mixing things up here and there. Leave When It's Time to Go It's time to pick up, pack up and leave. You knew you wouldn't be in the situation in this place with these people forever. Trust the rhythms and cycles of life. Take responsibility for yourself within each cycle. Take responsibility for yourself as each cycle ends and a new one begins. You don't have to hold onto messengers after they've delivered the message in your life, or escorts after they've taken you where you were trying to go. You don't have to stay in a classroom after you've learned the lessons and finished that course. Open your heart. Thank the people, places, and things that have helped create your world, shaped you, form your experiences. Then pick up pack up and leave. Day good-bye with love and gratitude in your heart. And go on down the road. I always step away from photography on Sunday mornings, which is as much for me as it is for you, my readers. Sometimes we become so obsessed in being defined by our work. Yesterday was one of those days where work was simply dragging me down. Ever had a day where you were just off a beat? There wasn't anything wrong, just that my mood swing was more on the "dark side" than I wanted it to be. With a whole lot of help from my wife, Sheila, I finally realized I was just on overload. I had too much I needed to do. Instead of just knocking things off the list one at a time, I let myself get overwhelmed by how much was on my plate. So, here's my point. I got out of my funk by realizing I hadn't smiled all morning. I sat down on the couch with Sheila and talked it out. Essentially I confided in my best friend instead of thinking I had to do it all myself. I used to think it was a guy thing, thinking we have to do everything ourselves and never asking for help. Well, it's universal, and it happens to everybody. Yes, we're each responsible for the paths we choose, but we don't have to go through every journey as a solo hiker. "You can't stay in your corner of the forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes." A.A. Milne Nothing all that brilliant this morning, just a reminder you don't have to do it all by yourself or, all in one day. Appreciate the journey you're on and make today a celebration of your life, the people you care about and as always, go for those eleven-second hugs. (If you're new to this blog, I read an article a few months back about hugs becoming therapeutic when they're at least eleven seconds.)
Wishing all of you a wonderful Sunday, loaded with smiles and peace. I found a quote recently from Marilyn Suttle that couldn't be more direct, "Truth builds trust". The more I've thought about it, the more it's become the perfect topic for a Saturday morning.
While her quote applies to everything in life, I'm just looking at in perspective to the growth of your business. I've talked about "UnMarketing", a book by Scott Stratten in several posts. He writes about your greatest marketing tool today, relationship building. Relationships are built on trust. Success in business today is all about truth and the trust you build with your clients. It's about being yourself and always delivering what you promise. It's about creating experiences with each client that exceed their expectation and demonstrate your passion for the craft and your ability to make each subject feel they're unique. Here's a great example. An engagement session isn't about an additional service a wedding photographer offers a bride and groom. It's not about additional images or photographers being able to demonstrate their skill set. An engagement session is about building trust. It's about the clients getting to know their photographer and the photographer learning more about his/her client. On the wedding day when the photographer arrives, there's already a special bond that comes into play, all built on trust. In the middle of the chaos and stress of the wedding day, the photographer becomes a very special friend, a trusted member of the couple's "new" family. As a result, the couple is more relaxed and knows what to expect. The images are typically better, because they're more relaxed with more natural expressions as well. It's just one small example. No matter what your specialty in photography or business, truth and trust are the most important ingredients for your growth and survival. But remember, it's not just with your clients, but yourself. You can't create images that tug at people's heart strings if your own heart isn't in it. "To thine own self be true!" Last week for our trip to Cleveland, Frontier seemed to have the best deal out there. However, here's the first lesson for other businesses - Don't surprise your clients when it comes to add-on costs.
After paying for everything; Southwest would have been the same or cheaper and more reliable. So, here’s the lesson – when you put together your promotions: Make sure the value is clear to your target audience. Have components with true value and don’t create any surprises when it comes to the final cost for whatever you’re promoting. Have somebody else read the copy for your promotion before you go public. I’m sure some of this was explained on the front end by Frontier, but we both missed it. If somebody does miss the "fine print" do your best to work with them, unlike the gate agent from Frontier. Most people are honest. Try and find a compromise position on issues they missed or just don't understand. At this point, Sheila and I have a goal to simply not fly Frontier again. The last thing you want is to have any client feel the same way about your services and images. The goal for every business owner is to always exceed client expectations. Your goal is to create an incredible experience that brings them back to you for more images, over and over again! ![]() Over the years, I've repeatedly said, "The best thing about our industry has nothing to do with photography, but the friendships that come out of everyone's mutual love for the craft." Well, it's time to share some images thanks to my good pal, Elena Hernandez. I don't remember where or when I first met Elena, but I do remember a few years ago when I learned a valuable lesson, You can never say "No" to Elena. She's based out of Dallas and had me as a guest speaker one night at a Dallas PPA dinner meeting. She's one of those people who just makes you want to help with just about any request. Larry Peters did Elena's headshot on the right, which clearly captures her enthusiasm. It's one of my favorites, but here are a few more, and they're perfect for a Throwback Thursday theme. ![]() In 2010, she wrote an amazing post about the story of the photograph on the right. The story is as stunning as the image itself and well worth taking the time to read. I published it in what was then my first blog and shared it again in May of 2013 here on the SCU site. Elena doesn't do anything halfway. She's a perfectionist, but more important she's an artist with a vision. If you take the time to visit her website, you'll find one image after another that simply leaves you saying "Wow!" In fact, her work is the epitome of the "wow" print. A "wow" print is an image so good you could get hired by just showing that one single print. On a special project for Graphi Studio at WPPI, probably around 2010 Elena was one of the artists involved. She decided to do some unique portraits of several of us at the convention. In searching for some fun throwback images, I found three of my favorites: Matthew Jordan Smith, Jerry Ghionis and me and Sheila. The shot of Sheila and me was done in a doorway of the Signature Hotel and it's another one of my favorites. As you enter the building there were mirrors on either side of the entryway. That's all she needed to turn her vision into reality. We later printed it on metal, and it now sits on our bedroom dresser. There's always a point with Throwback Thursday and today is a little different than usual. It's important for you always to remember the responsibility you have to your subjects. Never compromise on an image. Take the time to be creative and most important of all, live life with an attitude of giving back, because nobody does it better than Elena! Interested in seeing more of Elena's work? Visit her website and follow her on Facebook. You'll never be disappointed in any images she shares. |
Our Partners"Why?"Check out "Why?" one of the most popular features on the SCU Blog. It's a very simple concept - one image, one artist and one short sound bite. Each artist shares what makes the image one of their most favorite. We're over 100 artists featured since the project started. Click on the link above and you can scroll through all of the episodes to date.
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