Professional photographers love having a camera in their hands. They also love the idea that they can make a living doing what they love. But most professional photographers do not have an accounting or law degree. That’s why photographers need a business pro on their team. Being a great photographer is challenging, but being a great photographer who’s running a profitable, healthy business can be daunting! And here’s how a business pro can help photographers: What’s the Best Business Structure? There are many items to consider when growing a business. The first to consider is what type of business entity should be set up. Should you be a sole-proprietor? What is a Limited Liability Company (LLC)? What are the advantages and disadvantages of incorporating? If
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The Pro Photographer’s Guide to WPPI
Headed to WPPI this week and next? Like 15,000 wedding and portrait photographers, you are headed to one of the biggest gatherings of people from our industry, that you’re ever likely to encounter. Whether you’ve been a dozen times, or are headed out for your first time, the entire experience can be a bit overwhelming (to say the least). Between the platform classes, master classes, impromptu classes, shooting experiences, mentoring, and of course – the parties – there’s a lot happening. Want to come back in one piece? Here are my WPPI Survival Tips: 1. Don’t try to do everything. You’ll hear this a lot from many people who have been there, but seriously – DON’T try to see everything. You can’t. It’s too big,
Tips for Staying Organized and Staying Sane
I caught Jared Platt on his cell phone, hopping into a rental car at the Miami airport and preparing to drive to Key West for an engagement portrait shoot in the Dry Tortuga islands, 70 miles from Florida’s southernmost town. How does he handle his two-pronged photography-lecturing business on the road, balancing being the breadwinner for a family of five with constant creativity? The answer? He’s a really organized guy. Here are his tips for staying organized and staying sane. What he suggests will help you, whether you’re a road warrior or a homebody! Know your mantra. “The first and great commandment for my business is ‘Outsource everything,’” Platt says. “I’ve never had enough work to warrant having someone there full-time doing something for me,”
Write a Great Subject Line to Increase Your Open Rate
The goal of subject lines is to encourage readers to open your email and take action. Don’t let the pressure of writing the perfect subject line get to you. Finding the right words isn’t as difficult as it seems. Open rates depend on multiple factors like collection practices, list age and the industry. Average rate ranges from 10% to 25% (at the high end of the spectrum). The team at Mad Mimi analyzed thousands of subject lines to find those with the highest open rates and the most impact. Here’s what we learned: 1. Be Specific The subject line should tell readers what they’re going to find inside. Here’s an example that garnered an open rate of 37%: Only Three Days Left for this Great Offer for
Learning How To Make Your New Year’s Resolutions Stick
Running a small business is hard. When you hear people talk about a “work life balance,” you probably laugh. As small business owners it seems there is a lot more work than life! Over 11 years in business, I have been there too. New Year’s resolutions are great but too often they are left behind to die. Learning how to make your New Year’s Resolutions stick is the real challenge. Have you ever been to a seminar and left with pages and pages of ideas just waiting to be implemented? You’re fired up, inspired, and then you get home. Back to life and back to work and your inspiration list dies. It’s okay to say “yes,” we have all been there. Here are a Few Goals that I’ve
3 Steps to a New Year’s Resolution That Sticks
It’s New Year’s Resolution time. Yes, that time of year where we set epic plans for the year to come, only to give up on most or all of them by February 1. The problem is not coming up with goals but actually accomplishing them. Maybe last year this time you were snuggled up in your chair by the fire, your mind wandering through the possibilities for 2012? Maybe a few of these were on your list: Right now you may be in that same chair snuggled by the fire. You have new goals, and let’s face it a bunch from last year. Get a pen and paper, (switching apps on the ipad to take notes sucks,) and follow the three steps below. You’ll be
Meeting Millennials: 5 Characteristics that Define Your Newest Customers
Whether you criticize millennials for being entitled, fickle and high-maintenance or praise them for their ability to think outside-the-box and make big ideas happen, the fact is that all business owners need them as either employees or customers. Don’t want your business to die with the boomers? Then, get to know Generation Y, a generation of spenders and change-makers! 5 Important Characteristics of Generation Y, the “Millennials” Understanding the characteristics and the consumer DNA that make Generation Y unique will help you identify ways that your business can provide value to them through products, services and of course, CONTENT! After all, providing value is the first step to gaining customers. TIP: Use this information to help you get to know your target audience! 1. Tech
The Art of the Partnership: Clearly Defined Roles
Today we’re talking about something that we quite frankly didn’t do well for a long time. When we started, we didn’t have mentors, or anyone in our position to approach for advice, so we pretty much forged ahead the best way we knew how, which meant that we made a lot of mistakes. One of the biggest mistakes we made was never sitting down to clearly define our roles within the business. We both were trying to be and do a little of everything, which led to neither of us being able to: A) do anything to the best of our ability, or B) really learn what we were GOOD at and exploit that. That also led to confusion and frustration because depending on the
Simplicity is the Nature of Great Emails
The modern email inbox is a perpetual promotion machine of colors, styles, and sales pitches all fighting to be seen. In an attempt to break from the herd, many email marketers ironically adopt a herd mentality of more clutter, more content, more, more, more. This misguided pursuit of increased visibility merely leads to increased invisibility. Before joining the invisible ranks of the “clutter cult” of email marketers, consider that a huge body of marketing research demonstrates that the human mind is a sucker for simplicity and focus. The eye embraces that which can be easily digested. Less is more. Unless you’re emailing something of personal relevance or urgency to your client, you have only three and a half seconds to be interesting. Fail, and you’re
What ONE THING would YOU change?
Well, whether we’re ready or not, 2012 is coming to a close. As the year winds down, it’s time for reflection and some R&R. When you think about your successes and mistakes over the past year, are there things you wish you’d done differently? Probably. But that’s the beauty of a new year – it’s a fresh start! To get you started, we asked YOU to share ONE THING you’ll do differently in 2013. Every week, we’ll be spotlighting one photographer and the ONE THING that they’re doing differently this coming year. What will you change? About Erin Oveis Brant Erin Oveis Brant lives with her husband and 2 energetic sons in San Diego, CA. When she’s not chasing kids or playing at the