Hey Girl, Nice Shot

Couldn't have said it better myself...

My friend Brandy Anderson just posted this great post on her Two Photogs blog:

My 25 Biggest Mistakes

I've fallen into so many of the same traps...except that tax one.  I've had quickbooks and an accountant since day one..and a hubs that kept me on the straight and narrow!  :)

I'd say my number one mistake is giving too much away.  I've said no a lot more this year, and already feeling positive about it.

What are some of your biggest mistakes in your business?

Now On: The Savvy Photographer

 
 What a fun morning....I returned from my photo shoot at a Christmas tree farm and found my guest post for The Savvy Photographer had been posted.  The article "Blogging the Business of Photography" is a reflection on my reasons for starting this blog...and encouragement to find your passion and blog about it too!  Check it out!

A Gown Give-a-way

So, I came across a post to this Grosgrain website (thanks CL) and couldn't believe my eyes.

This woman made a Marie Antoinette style gown that is sized to fit 3T-5T and is giving it away.    Her inspiration was the daughter of Marie Antoinette from the movie.  Imagine the pictures!!!!

I cannot imagine making this dress then giving it away. 

You can see the dress and how to enter to win it at her website: Grosgrain: Marie-Therese Gown Giveaway

I know lots of other photographers would love to have that dress for their own little one or perhaps to use as a prop so I thought I would include it.  Not for you...feel free to ignore this post.  I have another one coming soon.  :)

Are You Blogging?

Are you a portrait photographer?  Are you blogging?

Yes and No?

Um, what are you waiting for!???

If you are a portrait photographer and you are not currently blogging and posting sneak peeks to your customers you are losing out on a major marketing opportunity.  This is probably doubly true if you are a children's portrait photographer.  Parents LOVE to share pictures of their kids and you get the credit - what could be better?!

I'll give you an example.  Earlier this week I had a great session with an adorable little 1 year old girl.  We had fun, she was cute, and the light was nice.  I posted her sneak peek on my blog and sent the link to mom.

Mom posted the link on an online community that she is a member of and here's the resulting traffic spike:

So while I normally have about 50 visitors a day to my photography blog I had almost 200 that day!  This is 100 extra people looking at my work and because it is a local community they are possible customers.  I also had a spike in new members signing up for my mailing list on that day so I'm sure it is not a coincidence.  And, this particular mom found me through another mom that posted on the same community board HER daughter's pictures.

There is nothing as valuable as word of mouth advertising.  Think about what it would cost you to market to 100 new people through traditional means.  And not just 100 new people, but 100 targeted people that are similar to others in your client base?  Blogging is so inexpensive and yes, there is the time factor but you are going to proof those pictures anyway so why not take a few of them while they are fresh in your mind and jot down a few thoughts about the session on a blog post.  ADVERTISING!  And, it will wet your clients appetite to see the rest of their pictures.

Not sure how to get started?  Here are some of my previous posts to lead you on:

• Blogger vs Typepad (for your blogging platform)
• Setting up Feedburner (for subscriber stats on your blog)
• Setting up Google Analytics (for traffic stats on your blog)
• Creating Your Blog: Step 1
• Creating Your Blog: Step 2

My business blog is actually due for a MAJOR overhaul.  I'd like to go to a blogsite where I just have one website instead of a website and a blog.  And, I'm looking for a fresh look and a blog designed for the wider pictures.  So that is something on my plate for the new year. 

There are some companies out there that are offering custom blog designs too if you are not a do-it-yourself kind of person (or don't have the time):

• Flosites (they created Lena Hyde's blog)
• Into the Darkroom (which, by the way, did the awesome blog design for Chenin Boutwell)
• Infinet Design (who did Audrey Woulard, Laura Novak, and Tamara Lackey's blogs)

And in case you are wondering how it compares....I get about 200-300 visitors a day to THIS blog and I also have 1200 subscribers that read it through an RSS feed.  So, I get WAY more traffic but that makes sense to me since I'm not a big name photographer, just a big name sharer. LOL

Totally Rad Deal

So, I have not been shy about my love and adoration for the Totally Rad Actions by Boutwell Studio.  Well, they are running a special right now for $20 off the regular price AND if you download the 3 action sample set you'll also get entered in a drawing for $500 worth of stuff from Apple.  How cool is that?

So go here to find out the coupon code for the discount if you still need to buy the actions:  BlougBloug -  Save $20 on TRA.

And here is a somewhat extreme example of my use of the actions.

I took pictures of this sweet girl but had to move fast because she wasn't quite sitting up yet.  So I didn't use my reflector and her eyes were dark pits.  Poor girl.

I used several of the actions with layer masks:

And the final result which was ordered at a 16x20 gallery wrap canvas and looked awesome (except for some yellow ink that spilled on it so they are reprinting but the rest of the color was awesome).

Pay It Forward Interview: Part Two

The second part of my Pay It Forward interview is up and running so head on over to check it out. 

I know some folks have had problems downloading the textures from the PIF site but I just tried it out and it seems to be working now.

Pay It Forward Photographer Interview

The sweet folks at the Pay It Forward blog were kind enough to feature me this week as their photographer of the week.  Head on over to check out part one of their interview with moi!  I put together a whole new batch of texture files just for them to include with my interview (which will be shared in part two of the interview).

The Cost of Business

In a world of mall studios and $2 one hour photo 8x10s, it can be hard for a boutique professional photographer to justify to a client why an 8x10 cost $40 or more.  There is definitely a level of educating the client that is required to help the client understand where the cost comes from and why there is the extra value in hiring a professional photographer.   Children's Photographer Marianne Drenthe/Marmalade Photography has started up a blog which has well worded explanations as to why to hire a custom photographer and why it cost more.  Give her post: Why Does Custom Photography Cost More a once over...it is a great read.  And if you give her the credit she gives full permission to copy some or parts of her text which you can use to create a similar style page for your own website.

Back in July I wrote a post "How Do You Slice Your Pie" which talked about how I came up with my formula for pricing.  If you are still at a point where you are trying to determine how you will price for your business, both of these are good reads.

Scariest Article I've Ever Read...

I came across this article yesterday by photographer Mike Colon.  Honestly, it would have kept me up at night if the baby wasn't already doing a good job of that!  He was selected for a Sales Tax Audit and the whole thing sounded pretty horrific.  Considering it sounded like he had great documentation it has caused me to pause and reconsider how I enter data into quickbooks and how I record some of the sales.  After reading it I went back and re-read some of the information on sales tax in Texas and realized that I didn't know that I had to show proof of SHIPMENT for sales that were out of state and hence not charged sales tax. 

I'm lucky in that I hardly ever deal in cash so at least I have a good paper trail but still, Ick! 

Seriously, give it a read then give your accountant a hug!

Sales Tax Audit!  A Word to the wise...

Check out: 7 Bad Habits of Digital Photographers

Over on Epic Edit, Brian has a guest post about the 7 bad habits of Digital Photographers.  How many of these bad habits do you have?

Bad habit #1, not checking your gear bag.  I can tell you I actually forgot my camera bag completely once when I raced out of my house.  Luckily it wasn't for a paying client - just my sister.  Now I'm extra vigilent to make sure have my bag and that it includes, at the minimum, a camera with lens, a battery, and a cf card.  And now my nanny asks me if I have my camera when I'm heading out the door for a shoot.  How embarassing.

Bad Habit #2, not checking ISO settings.  I've done this one too.  One time I jacked up my ISO to take some night time pictures, and then when I took pictures at my next shoot I was like "what's up with this - why are they so blown out" and then I remembered the last use of my camera and quickly adjusted.  At least I check the back of the camera often to see how things look so I didn't go through an entire portrait session at ISO 1600.  Ick!

Bad Habit #5, deleting pictures too fast. I have the opposite problem.  I don't delete anything and therefore my hard drive is now as cluttered as my home office (I don't throw anything away either).  However, I'm deep into a two week life reorganizational effort that includes getting both my hard drive and office cleaned up and ready for a busy 2008!