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,”
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Meeting Expectations You Didn’t Know Existed- Part 2
Part 2: Getting the First Exposure How do you react to clients who have expectations that you are not aware of or expectations that you feel are unreasonable? Where do clients get these expectations? In my last blog post, I addressed that these expectations come from 4 different sources: – The market norm – The first exposure to the type of product or service you offer – Confusion caused by your business’ complicated structures – Poor communication between you and the client In the last post, we took a look at Contending with The Market Norm. Today we will look at the second source: First Exposure. First Exposure: When a consumer has limited knowledge about a product, the first information they receive about that product
Monitor Calibration: Are Your Prints Too Dark?
Are Your Prints Too Dark? If your answer is yes, then improper monitor calibration is probably the reason. Have you ever wondered why when you get your WYSIWG (what you see is what you get) prints back from the lab they look darker than they do on your monitor? As professional photographers, we have a responsibility to make sure our monitor’s profile “matches” or is in “sync” with our primary print lab provider. Your computer, monitor and printer are all connected by cables tethering them to each other. This allows your printer to recognize your monitor profile. It should print accurately because of this. But what happens when a lab prints images for you, and the lab is thousands of miles away? In many cases
What is a Photogrepreneur?
Just about every photographer I know has their own business. Most get into it for the art and the love of photography, but there’s no denying that an entrepreneurial spirit is required as well. For the business to succeed, these two personas – the photographer and the entrepreneur – must come together into what I like to call a ”photogrepreneur.” Why is This Important? As a small business owner, your success depends on your ability to do more than capture and deliver beautiful images. There are a wide range of things that have to get done for any business to survive, and the smaller the business, the more the business owner must take on themselves. Photographers love their art – it is why they do what
Do’s and Don’ts of Copyright
David Esquire laughs when I call him a copyright evangelist. It’s a knowing, admitting laugh. “I am a big fan of not only protecting my work, but encouraging photographers and other artists to respect each other’s work and not steal it,” says the intense, passionate California-based wedding and portrait photographer. He knows there’s plenty of copyright violators outside the photo community. There are plenty of companies and clients that overstep licenses, assuming images posted online are free. But he’s looking inward, too, at what we photographers do. In fact, we weaken the moral high ground more than we should. Rather than running roughshod over fellow creatives’ copyright, we need to take a stand to protect copyright. Are we doing what’s right for copyright? Esquire’s Copyright
Five Ways to Engage Your Audience Using Marketing Emails
Some consider email an “old school” marketing tool, but it’s actually one of the most effective content marketing tools available because it delivers content easily. But once your emails are delivered, how do you get your audience to engage with your message further, viewing it and clicking on links? After all, inboxes are inundated. How do you make your emails stand out? Here are five ways to engage with your audience through marketing emails: 1. Start by letting your audience opt-in. An email list of hundreds of willing subscribers is more valuable than a list of thousands of unwilling recipients. Willing subscribers are more likely to take action than unwilling recipients who will probably report you for spam! To ensure that your email list consists
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
What ONE THING would you change in 2013?
Now that 2012 has come to a close, hopefully you had some much needed reflection and R&R and are ready to dive headfirst into 2013. 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? Here’s what photographer Kristi Odom said: About Kristi Odom Kristi Odom has a background in travel and nature photography that she brings into destination wedding photography. She has photographed
What ONE THING Will You Change?
Now that 2012 has come to a close, hopefully you had some much needed reflection and R&R and are ready to dive headfirst into 2013. 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? Here’s what wedding photographers Jen & Ashley said: About the Author Jen + Ashley are a two-woman wedding photographer team specializing in modern, fresh, and timeless wedding images. Ashley
Why You Should Sit-In on WPPI’s Print Competition Judging
A few days ago, Kristi Odom shared her wisdom about entering photo contests for self-growth. The benefits to your photo business are clear, but there’s still another benefit. It’s a hand-me-down tip from renowned wedding photographer David Beckstead, but its second-hand nature doesn’t diminish its value one iota! Here it is: many contests – and you should ask about this for any contest you enter – allow entrants to sit in on the judging process. So, if you entered WPPI’s print competiton this year, you should sit in on the judging process. It can be brutal, but it’s the kind of critique that can change your business forever. “I use it as a teaching lesson,” Kristi Odom says, “seeing hundreds of images submitted by people