Tag: small business

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Getting Down to Business

Don’t be the Uncle Bob of Your Own Business…

So you’re a professional photographer, right? And if someone shows up to your wedding, portrait session, whatever and whips out the fancy camera they just bought at Best Buy or Amazon and starts firing away, you’re probably going to be thinking to your self something along the lines of, “Awww… how cute. But my photos will be much better because I’ve got mad skillz at photography, YO!”

(What? You don’t talk to yourself like some bad-ass photo rapper? Well, whatever. I do. Run with it.)

The point is, you know what you’re doing. You know your skill set, and the long hard hours that it took of practice to get to where you are at. And 99% of the time, your photos will be better because of it. Sure, there is always the one person that is just kind of a natural that will show you up, but they won’t know how to deal with a tricky lighting situation or how to balance flash with ambient light, so whatever. YOU are the SUPERSTAR!!!

So why the heck are you designing your own logo? Your own business material? Trying to create your own website or blog from the ground up from scratch?

How is that any different then the person that dropped $1500-3000 to have a camera as fancy as yours? They are not an expert.

Yes, you’re artistic and creative. But that doesn’t mean you know all the ins and outs of what makes a graphic design truly sing, or that you should spend hours and hours learning CSS and how to code HTML, PHP and smoosh it all into a awesome blog.

You’re a photographer (or a wedding planner, a cake artist, a caterer – whatever you are) — not a graphic designer or a website developer. Know what you’re good at. Hire someone else to do the rest. Leave it to the experts.

It is the same thing you expect of your clients every single day.

Oh, In case you were wondering – Uncle Bob: Definition, and what you usually get. Don’t do that to your business.

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Getting Down to Business Worth Keeping

The Problem Is 18 Months…

Jim Coudal of Coudal Partners was recently interviewed at Design Glut. You may not have heard of Jim, but if you’re a photographer that delivers DVDs or CDs as an end product to clients you have probably heard of JewelBoxing.com – and he is part of the team behind that. Matter of fact, you can read all about that and more in the article.

The part I really want to highlight is all the way at the end of the interview. In the last question, after sharing a lot of his story, Jim was asked “What’s your advice for people who want to set out on this path?” This was in reference to web & graphic designers, but it truly applies to any of us in a creative field, or even in a small business of any form.

You need to have the stomach for risk and you need to have good ideas. Let’s just assume that those are the givens, that without either one of those nothing else makes a difference.

I know a lot of people who are in our position, who used to work for The Man or whatever, and now are making records or making films or designing clothes or creating products or screening posters or any of a million other things. And all of them, without exception, all say exactly the same thing and they say it in exactly the same words: “I should have done it sooner.”

When you think to yourself, “In 18 months I’m going to start my crocheted beer coaster company,” the problem with that sentence is the 18 months. What you’re really saying is, “I’m afraid.” Do it now. If you bankrupt a company before you’re 25, that’s like a badge of honor! Get out there.

So often I hear people giving excuses about why they have to wait to do something. That is fear talking. Almost every single time, if you get to the bottom of it, it is fear.

Don’t let your fear stand in the way of your greatest success. Do it NOW.

Please vote for our SXSWi panel on copyright and creatives! I hope to be presenting with Katie Sunstrom, Jonathan of Plagiarism Today, and Charles Lee Mudd Jr. Whether you’re attending SXSWi or not, we need your vote!

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Getting Down to Business

Standing Out in a Crowd of Creatives…

I’ve spent the better part of the past two weeks traveling, first to New Orleans for a meetup with the Starting a Wedding Photography Business group from Flickr, and then to Las Vegas for Skip’s Summer School. Two very different events, both incredibly inspiring and motivating in different ways. My head is full of things I want to write about right now. One theme that kept coming up over and over again for me though is that when in business – especially a creative business like photography – it is essential that you value your work properly and you tap in to what makes YOU uniquely you.

It hit me again this morning as I caught up on Sean Low’s fantastic blog, The Business of Being Creative. (If you’re not reading Sean’s blog – start. He is brilliant.) One of his most recent posts on the value of your business really hit home as it is a topic I’ve struggled with in the past. It is so tempting to be a generalist sometimes; you don’t want to turn away what seems like easy income at first. But it costs you a lot more than you realize in the end. You lose your edge.

You can not be all things to everyone. You can’t please everyone. You can’t be a generalist and thrive in a creative business.

In a world full of photographers, you will never stand out to anyone unless you focus on what makes you unique.

What makes you unique, by its very definition, is different for everyone.

While I think it is absolutely essential to build on your education and learn new things, and to have an arsenal of tools at your disposal to make your work the best it can be – be careful. You should use these things to enhance your unique perspective.

This Education Reference Desk guide contains more information about ebooks and includes links to the Library’s collections of ebooks as well as listings of free or partially free collections available on the open web.

There is no single magic item that will make you an overnight success. Many times, if you fall repeatedly into the trap of the latest and greatest things you absolutely must have, you will only water down what makes you unique and your work will end up looking like everyone else’s. You will no longer have an advantage.

When you read Sean’s post, be sure to read Rachel’s comment about photographers and their portfolios as well. So insightful and inspiring!

What is it that makes you stand out? Why should someone want to work with you over the next person they meet with? What do you bring to the table that no one else can do?

Please vote for our SXSWi panel on copyright and creatives! I hope to be presenting with Katie Sunstrom, Jonathan of Plagiarism Today, and Charles Lee Mudd Jr. Whether you’re attending SXSWi or not, we need your vote!

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Getting Down to Business

The All New BigPinkCookie!

BigPinkCookie Business Card - BackToday is the day I put it all out there. The big plan. What I’m willing & available to do for you. Are you ready for it? (I am! I’m super excited!!!)

I’ve been blogging now since 2000. You have seen me talk about a lot of different things. And as you saw me post last week, I’ve been having a big debate about where this blog should go. I would say that it has been an internal debate, but to be honest I called in the experts on this one – from asking you to weigh in here, over on Twitter, to emailing Sean Low and calling Regina Holder, Dane Sanders and Anne-Marie the Soap Queen.

I thought I needed advice, but in the process of talking about it I knew exactly what I needed to do. It was solidified when Anne-Marie said it before I even finished my sentence. Dane & Sean both weighed in that it was time to put my experience to good use and to share it with the world. Regina let me talk through it all like she is so great at doing.

It is time to put some geek spice back into the BigPinkCookie.com. A dash of flavor and a lot of love. It is time to share what I know, from writing to helping you build a better blog.

I’ll still be writing on my wedding photography blog, and I’ll still be posting over at PhotoLoveCat and WhollyMatrimony!. But this site is officially changing … well, back to what it used to be. A hodge-podge of things, but mostly my thoughts on many different business related topics – especially where business and the internet collide. (Personal things might pop up from time to time, but those are still far more likely to appear on my Twitter account then they are here.)

I devour all I can all the time about marketing, branding, seo consulting company, blogging tips, and the whole online experience. Things we all need to make our creative businesses grow. Tips & tricks for small business owners. I am constantly answering questions on how to be a better blogger, how to improve your traffic, how to make potential clients take that next step to hiring you. I also often help people install and configure WordPress, set up themes, optimize their blog — and I’m ready to offer my help to a broader audience. (Pricelists coming soon, but for now I’m happy to provide you with a custom quote if you need anything.)

I am so excited about sharing all of this with you – again! I’m not sure what happened, and why I stopped. I do know a lot of it coincided with selling the blog hosting company and launching my photography business, but my love of the topic themselves never ended. I am officially getting my geek on again. My focus will definitely be photographers (because it is what I know), but what I have to share will apply to all different types of creative people, in the wedding industry and beyond.

That is the back of my new business cards for BigPinkCookie.com over there – what do you think? (I adore it, but I think that looking at a cookie for hours on end while designing makes me hungry!)

If there is one thing I’ve learned in the past year, it is to never set a limit to your dreams, because you will be amazed at where they can take you!

I have to say, it feels pretty good to be home. I’ve come full circle, and I couldn’t be happier.