Hey Girl, Nice Shot

National Association of Professional Child Photographers

This week a new association launched: The National Association of Professional Child Photographers, or NAPCP.  A new professional organization, it is designed to be a resource for photographers that specialize in children's photography.  In addition to providing a safe community for professionals to talk about their trade in a forum, there is also a directory for parents looking to hire a professional photographer. There is a listing of workshops, and coming soon - image competitions and vendors that will provide discounts to members.  Head on over to the site now.

The eight photographers featured in the photographer's area as industry leaders are a who's who of children's photography and I'm honored that I have met so many of them!  Head on over to check out their site and look for the feature area including the likes of Tamara Lackey, Cheryl Muhr, Laura Novak, Lena Hyde.  I can't wait to see what a great resource this will be as it continues to grow!  Oh, and FREE forum access until May first so what are you waiting for?

Learnfest Last Call

A friend of mine from another workshop has a ticket available for The Learnfest which is taking place in just a couple of weeks!!! If you missed the chance to sign up because it sold out so quickly, this might be your last chance to go to the workshop being held April 6-9 just outside of Atlanta Georgia.  I have talked about how much I loved this workshop and I would totally go again if it were in the cards for me (or bank account). 

Here are the details if you want to contact Jen to talk to her about her available seat:

The Learnfest Workshop
April 6-9
Chateau Elan outside of Atlanta
Cost: $2700 (includes room and meals)
contact: jen@cox.net

Are you on Facebook?

Well, of course you are, because EVERYONE is on Facebook including my mom and dad.  Seriously, it can be addictive to see what your old friends from high school are doing and it is a great way to reconnect with people you may have moved away from...or are just too busy to see as frequently as you would like.

But, is your BUSINESS on Facebook?  If not, maybe you should be.

A fan page on Facebook gives you another avenue to share information with your customers, or potential customers.  And in a place where they are probably going countless times a day, right?

To create a fan page, you would log into your Facebook account, and then you would go to the form to create a new fan page.  You can either use a photo or your logo as the main graphic on the page.  The layout is very similar to a personal profile page but it is information about your business.  So post your address, hours of operation, information about your style!

Then it gets interesting.  Invite your customers to be fans.  Invite your friends to be fans.  Post the page on your personal profile.  Put a link to your Facebook page on your blog so new visitors can go and fan you as well. 

But why would they?

Maybe they want to see updates about the business but definitely let them know that you will be offering FACEBOOK ONLY promotions that they will miss out on if they do not fan you!!

This is a great way to grow your network.  I think many people are nervous about sharing their email address with businesses because of the whole spam factor.  But if they fan you, they will see your updates on their homepage in Facebook.  What a great way to remind them that you are there waiting for when they need their next round of portraits.   Or to encourage them to sign up for that special promotion!

Also, their friends will see that they have fanned you and check you out.  So maybe they will fan you to.

See where this is going?

And to take it one step further....if you post some of your sneak peek pictures on facebook AND on your blog you have double the exposure.  You can tag your client in the pictures (assuming they are on facebook too) and then the pictures will display in their profile for their friends to see.  A great way for them to share without having to make any extra effort (or steal the pictures off your site) and you business gets full credit.

And remember yesterday when I was talking about how much I loved Animoto and creating those videos?  Well, if you download the low resolution version of your video from Animoto you can then upload it to your Facebook page.  I think no matter what type of portrait photographer you are...this is something that can help you grow your network of customers.

My fan page is pretty new so I haven't added much to it yet BUT I do have fans that are people I don't actually know AND are in my region which makes me think this thing might actually work.  I'm super excited about the possibilities.  If you have a fan page already, tell us how it is working out for you!  Share any tips you may have.

More Animoto...

You are at the grocery store and you mention to the mom behind you in line that you are photographer.  The next question is frequently...do you have a card?  Well, what if you could push it one step further?  After all, you probably have a few minutes in line to kill?    So why not fire up your iPhone and show off a few music videos of your work?  I strongly believe that the conversion rate of meeting a complete stranger goes up considerably when you have a chance to show off your work but hoping they make it to your website just isn't enough. 

Showing a video of your work gives that person a good idea of what your photography is like and gives you a better shot at having a new client.  Better yet, make sure that person knows how they can get their own video like the one you show!  I let all my clients know that they will get a music video included when they purchase one of my packages and with the high number of iPhones floating around that makes them happy, but it means they are also marketing on my behalf!

My new featured family session created using my Animoto commercial account: which is loading onto my iPhone as I publish this...



if you are viewing via RSS you can see the video here...

The Logo Process

I knew when I renamed my business I was going to need to work with a graphic designer to come up with my logo.  I had used more of a generalist when I had my last logo developed but now there are a number of graphic designers that specialize in logo development for photographers.  I thought this would be a better approach because they already understood our audience!

I met Jen Thompson at Learnfest after having read about her in Design Algow magazine-Issue 5.  I really liked her clean modern style and her use of color.  Her studio is to die for.  And at Learnfest she had some great "Communication Marsupials" which were beautifully put together client communication packets.   So when it was time to have my new logo developed I went to her first.

Jen's process is simple yet thorough.   She sent me a multiple page survey to ask me everything from what kinds of fonts and colors I liked, to details about my target market.   I even sent her my mock-up of a logo idea I had.  We emailed back and forth, and even had chats via instant messaging.  Once she felt like she had enough information she was able to create the first round of designs.  Her process is to present you with three initial concepts, and up to two rounds of revisions to a selected design for a design fee of $500.

Here was the progression from my mock-up, to Jen's designs, to the final design.

It was with great anticipation that I opened the PDF file that contained my first round of designs.  I was excited and nervous.  I LOVED the designs.  They were all so different and yet they all "fit".  There was one though that really stood out.  I could picture it on my bags, on my website, on my business cards.  I surveyed a few close friends and they thought the same thing. 

I was able to choose the design I wanted and so it was time for revisions.  Not that it wouldn't have been perfect as it was, but there were just a few tweaks.  The original font was a little more futuristic than I wanted (Jen is probably cringing at my categorizations) so I asked for something more handwritten.  And the trunks on the trees were really long and while it looked great I was worried that it would cause problems later on down the line with how I USED the logo.  So those where the only changes I wanted.  I loved the polka dotted trees and the colors she used.  She totally nailed it.  And once I approved the design she sent me the illustrator file, a PSD, and a high res JPG of the logo so I was able to just hit the ground running with it.

If you are looking for a new look or are completely rebranding...check out Jen Thompson's website for more information on her design services and for some eye candy.  She was able to send me some beautiful samples of her Communication Marsupials to give you an idea of what she has created.

If you follow Jen on Twitter, or on Facebook, you'll notice that she has been doing a great deal of travel lately helping other photographers by providing some in-studio design consultation.    With tweets like "more paint. Need lots more paint" and "assembling endless amounts furniture & waiting to do coat #2 on the punch wall" I'm dying to see some before and after photos of some of these projects. 

And be sure to check back on her website later...it is in the process of a redesign and I'm sure the new site will be fantastic.

Introducing...Bubblegum Tree Photography

When I left Learnfest one of the things that really stuck with me was the portion on branding.  I kept coming back to it and feeling like there was a disconnect between my business name and brand, and my style.  I wanted fun and vibrant children's photography but my name, website, and marketing materials were too formal.

So, when I got home I started thinking about my name some more.  And more.  And more.  I storyboarded ideas for a new name.  I had one I liked but I went back and forth with it because I was worried that it would cause some confusion.  So I went back to the drawing board.  I wrote down words that were fun.  I wanted a name that was easy to spell and pronounce.  I wanted it to sound like an upscale children's boutique and many of them have nonsense names - at least here in Houston.

After I put together some possible names I next checked the availability of the domain names.  Seriously, if the domain is not available, it is not really an option.

I had one name in particular that I loved.  And that was Bubblegum Tree. 

BUT, the domain was unavailable.

So I did what any business owner does when they want a domain, I looked to see who had it.  And as it turns out, it wasn't really being used.  So I hired a broker to make an offer on my behalf to buy the domain and after many weeks was able to hash out a deal with the owner to purchase the domain and transfer it to me.  It was easier than I expected.

STILL, lots to do but at least I have the beginning of the transfer started.  And a fantastic new logo too!  More about that process soon.  But here it is....Bubblegum Tree Photography!

Tracking Client Communications

If you are like me, your inbox is overflowing with email from clients, friends, and every newsletter known to man.  Add in phone messages, reminders to contact clients, and conversations and it is easy to loose track of what was said, and when.  And if you have employees the whole thing is complicated even more!

When I hired a studio manager I knew I had to get all this information out of my head (which was totally not working for me anyway) and into some sort of system.  I originally started out trying to use the Outlook Business Contact Manager but it was overwhelming and not easy for me to share (well, not easy for me anyway).

So we decided to give Highrise a try and we LOVE it.  We recently started looking at various studio management systems but the systems we looked at were not nearly as robust for client communication tracking.  So we are sticking with Highrise!

We have all of our clients entered into Highrise with their contact information.  For most of our clients we also have the information on the names and ages of the children.  In cases were we know, we even have birthday reminders for the children so we can remember to wish them a happy birthday.  For customers in our baby plan reminders have been set for their milestones to let us know when to contact them for their next session.  And, I can add tasks to contact certain clients and assign them to my studio manager.

But the real strength, I think, is the ability to forward email from clients, and BCC email TO clients to a dropbox on the Highrise sight and it is automatically linked to their record.  This means, when my studio manager comes in, she can get completely caught up on what happened while she was out.  Or I can look up a client to see where we stand.  And when one of us speaks to a client on the phone we just add that information into their record as a note.

And I almost forgot, since it is a web based system I can connect from any of my computers at home or at work and so can my studio manager.  AND I have even connected with my iPhone!