Happy Holidays

It's that time of year. The few days right after Thanksgiving weekend and everyone is already out looking for Christmas trees and out shopping for gifts galore. The mad rush has begun.

So with Charlie Brown's Christmas album (everyone should own it) playing in the background throughout the month of December, I wish you all Happy Holidays!

The Company You Keep & The Friendships You Don't

Why do you keep the company you keep?

Humans are a strange bunch. We are motivated by so many good and bad things. There are people we already know and those that we want to know. Our goals are sometimes long term and sometimes short term. For each purpose, we end up utilizing people one way or another because we are smart enough to realize that who you choose to associate with can make the difference between failure and success in reaching a certain goal. At least that is what we would like to believe.

What people fail to realize is successful people had friendships before they reached the proverbial stage of success. There is a tight circle of bond and relationships that existed before wealth or notoriety discovered them, let alone other people. These can be childhood friends, cousins, sisters, brothers, or just about anyone. It is the real friendship unmotivated by greed or desire that helps them blaze their own trails. It is this friendship that lasts when the wealth and notoriety leaves them as well.

Either you are using people or people are using you. True friends don't do either, and there is dignity in knowing this in every relationship you choose to keep. If you couldn't be real friends with a person outside of your motive, the value of the relationship exponentially deteriorates over time, leaving you with truly much of nothing. It's like fighting a natural law; it just won't have the sustenance needed to maintain the connection nor leave you with much fulfillment. After a while, you'll lose interest and energy for trying to essentially 'force' a relationship, or worse, they will just tire of you.

So keep the following question in a back pocket and bring it out once in a while: Would you still be friends with someone if you weren't related by blood or driven by a motive?

My Thanks for 2009

As I take a break from helping mommy dearest in the kitchen, I want to take a moment to share with you, my friends, all that I am grateful for.

For 2009, I am thankful for:

-my family that loves me so much, they aren't shy about yelling at me for being away too long.

-my friends that look with their hearts and let me pick food off their plates.

-Nikon & Canon for taking all of my money but leaving me w/warm fuzzies.

-my ex-bosses for demotivating me and helping me realize cubicles are not natural.

-my nephew & nieces for reminding that I am addicted to my laptop and cameras.

-the new 2011 BMW 5-series facelift, which I'll still not buy because I'm abnormally too logical.

-all the couples who invited me to shoot their wedding, and consider me family oddly enough.

Most importantly, I am thankful for:

-all of the wonderful and inspirational friends I have made in 2009.

-every kind word and message of support I received for my work and passion.

-every couple that invited me to shoot their wedding and become a small part of their history.

-all of my friends on Facebook & Twitter that I hope to meet one day.

-my family, my nephew, my nieces, and my friends for making me smile.

I am truly humbled to have every single individual I know in my life. Every single one of you gives value to my life and I am forever grateful.

Sincerely, thank you.

Connecting With Your Clients in the Service Industry

How long do you spend with each client? When someone contacts you for your services, do you simply provide a quote and answer their questions, or do you leave a resounding impression of not only what you provide, but the client leaves knowing WHO is actually providing it?

Many in the service industry are sometimes bogged down the amount of inquiries they receive and at times forget how important it is to give each person the attention they deserve. Even the repetitive cycle itself sometimes gets old. At times, it is much easier to just answer the basic inquiry and wait for them to take the next step, but it doesn't create real value or even provide enough incentive for them to get back to you. Even if you're offering the hottest widget in town, you will have to back it up with great customer service.

In the service industry, such as wedding photography, the connection we establish with each client should encompass a personal one. You have to learn more about your clients in order to be able to know exactly what they need. Majority of the time, couples getting married are looking for a wedding photographer for the first time. With this situation, you have to educate and show real concern for each bride & groom. By showing you truly care, the basic 'trust seed' required to establish a working relationship can be planted.

Far too many established photographers tend to have the attitude 'here are my prices, call me if you want to setup an appointment,' but this is not evolving your methods, and for some client impressions, is a step backwards for your brand and the services you provide. Just because you've been doing it for a while, doesn't mean your client has.

You could pay a lot of money to an outside consulting firm to come in, analyze your business practices, and give you a written report concluding your clients just wanted to get to know who you are and feel more connected to you. Or you could be proactive by sticking to the basics of personal attention and good old fashioned etiquette. Give each clients the treatment you would for a guest invited into your home. After all, you want to get 'invited' into their home eventually. Take care of your clients, or someone else will.

Of course, as a client this is a great litmus test. If you don't get a warm fuzzy from the person who you may be working with, walk the other way no matter what. Go beyond just asking the boiler plate questions of how much, etc. Make the effort to connect and see how much they want to connect with you. If they don't care about you now, how much do you think they'll care about the service they provide you later?

Keep it simple my friends.

The Chain Photo Studio Experiment

If you followed my updates on Twitter/Facebook on 11/13, you heard the play by play. Here are the end results just for you!

OBJECTIVE:
To experience the value and quality of service consumers receive when using chain type portrait studios or value-priced portrait centers.

BACKSTORY:
It began with a visit to a Starbucks for coffee. Located next door was a portrait studio with hordes of families going in and out wearing matching outfits. As a photographer, you're always curious when you see a place with words like 'portrait' or 'photography' and you always investigate. I was intrigued by a huge sale sign in the window for $9.95 portraits with like 35 something prints. I thought, wow, what a bargain! So for the sake of education and to get the inside scoop on what you actually get, I went in and decided to get a session.

Turns out the special was applicable only to a family with kids and not a poor single guy like me. I did think about borrowing one of the loud screaming children to get the deal, but squashed that idea quickly. Instead, they told me I could have as many poses as I wanted for $15. I thought, that sounds pretty good. Let's do it.

I needed a holiday looking outfit so I had an hour before my appointment to run to a department store. I was fortunate enough to find the beautiful red sweater you see in the photos.

GUIDELINE STANDARDS:
-Pretend to be ignorant of photography and any methods.
-Follow all instructions of 'employee/shooter' (i can't in good faith refer to them as photographers due to lack of evidence at this time)
-Do all poses the 'shooter' requests without objection or reservation
-Comment to shooter "Wow, that's a big camera!"
-Tell shooter at another point during the shoot "That camera must take great photos!"
-Agree enthusiastically to every 'pro' opinion when reviewing horrible shots, i.e. Shooter: "Oh, you look great!" Undercover Agent: "Aww..Thanks!!"
-Last but not least, smile like a cheese-ball the entire time

RESULTS:

You can see all the photo results at the following link http://bit.ly/4BBcn4. You may have to add me on Facebook in order to view the album. I don't want these photos floating around just anywhere!

CONCLUSION:
So what do you get for not going with a professional photographer and instead with one of these chain type portrait studios? Heard the saying, "You get what you pay for?" Of course, you are more than welcome to draw your own conclusions.

TIPS:
-Resist the charm of bait-priced, uncreative photography services.
-Share the above images with family & friends for education & fun.
-If you are looking for a photographer, do an online search for photographers in your local area on Google or better yet, ask your friends & family. Referrals are sometimes the best way to find someone that is already trusted and known. Either way, check out the work and see if it really speaks to you. If the style of images will be enjoyed 50+ years from now by your family, you know you've found the right photographer.

DONATE & HELP A CHARITY!

If you're really cool and want to help, you can win an autographed print from this AWESOME portrait session. Donate $10 bucks and you'll get signed photo with a special holiday message in either a wallet, a 4x6, a 5x7, or a 8x10 mailed to you. If you learned something from this ultra valuable experience or you just found this very entertaining, you can still show your luv $1.00 and $5.00 donations.

Proceeds will be donated to one of the 4 charities I support (visit my website and click on the CHARITY link to see the full list)

$1.00 - Liked It $5.00 - Luv'd It $10.00 - Gotta Have It