Photo Marketing Mentor

I know that it’s tough to run a business, especially in this challenging economy.

So if your business has been particularly challenging of late I can understand how you may tempted to throw in the towel. But instead of giving up I’d like to challenge you try something different and no, I’m not going to tell you to set up a Facebook fan page or Tweet about something or write a press release or anything like that. (That comes later:-)

No, I’m going to ask you to consider something totally different. I’m going to ask you to challenge your creativity. You see as creatives we tend to believe that the “thing” that we do is the only opportunity to express our creative impulses. But I want to show you how you can jump start your creativity with a few simple projects that will awaken your senses and open you to some new ideas and perhaps a few new income streams.

For example, I met a photographer at a conference who took on the challenge of photographing each letter of the alphabet while working on a wedding she was hired to shoot in Paris. Once she captured all 26 letters she decided to turn those images into a collage and turn that collage into a poster that she now sells very well.

While looking for ideas I came across a site recently called Photojojo.  Photojojo offers a myriad of products guaranteed jump start your creativity offering everything from the Fuji Instax Mini Camera (considered the Polaroid’s little brother) that will allow you create mini prints instantly. Remember that?

They also offer a lens that will turn your high-end digital SLR into a toy camera that creates dreamy soft focus special effects without the aid of Photoshop or expensive lens attachment.

How about shooting video footage of your most recently field outing, just you and the camera? But you don’t a have a camera man who can shoot the behind scenes video footage. No problem, the company produces a product called “You-Vision Video Glasses”, these are actual eye glasses that you wear that houses a small 1.3 megapixel video camera on the bridge. This allows you to literally be out and about just enjoying the day just you and your camera and while you’re wearing the glasses you can record what you’re seeing as you experience it, neat huh?

In addition the product even offers a small mic that allows you record audio as well. The audio quality is not professional grade mind you so will need to be careful of excessive background noise if you want to make sure you’re heard clearly.

After a day of recording you just plug the glasses into your USB port on your computer and download the days footage, then you can then share your video via your Facebook Fan Page, or twitter about it. You see, I told you you could use your projects to market yourself online.

Photojojo offers a variety of really cool products for photographers at any skill level available through their site, you’ll find just about everything from small pinhole camera kits, to lens attachments that will turn street photography projects into a secret adventure.

In addition there are many really cool and inventive framing ideas like special frames that will display your 4 by 6 digital prints to look like they were taken with a Poloroid. In actuality your photos are mounted into a Polaroid style frame that you can wall mount.

The bottom line for this exercise it to get out of your own way and bring some fun back into your craft. You never know what you may come up with a new body of work for potential exhibition or new way to showcase your images to clients. At the very least you’ll have something to share on your blog and via your various Social Media platforms.  

As for me this weekend I am taking a class on how to transfer my photos onto canvas and add paint and I’m very excited.  I’ll share the results with you soon. Good Luck:-)

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One of my favorite quotes by Howard Thurman reads. “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” So I ask you, what makes you come alive?

Perhaps you loved children so you decided to shoot portraits of babies and families. Perhaps you love being out in nature so landscapes makes your heart dance, or the physical body holds fascination for you so you photograph fine art nudes.  Whatever your passion when it comes to turning that into a viable business often times we become stumped and sometimes over time we start to lose interest.

So in this article I want to share with you 3 ways to reawaken your heart felt passion that you’ve might have placed on the back burner.

1. Find groups that share your interest. You can do a search on the internet, there you will find scores of blogs and websites what bring communities of like minded people together.  When you locate these sources spend some time there, find out what the conversation is and chime in.  Not from the prospective of “I have photos, please buy from me”, but from the prospective of sharing your passion for the same subject.  In your signature you can post your web address and how people can contact you for more information.

2.  Meet  1-on-1. The internet is great for initial connections but where you really get benefit is if you can meet and connect with like minded people face-to-face. Locate groups, committees, organizations, clubs, schools etc where people get together to share their mutual passion for the subject you love to photograph.  An ideal group will allow or be open to member presentations.  This is great way to share your passion for the subject and do some potentially profitable networking.

3.  Locate print publications where you can contribute.  On way to do this is to make a visit to your neighborhood bookstore and scour the magazine section.  But don’t just look at the magazine and jump straight to the mast head, get intimate with the publication, read the articles, get a feel for the layout, the style of writing, the type of imagery.  Also don’t overlook at the ads in the back,  perhaps you could promote your services there. For example, perhaps a cooking magazine may be interested in your food images or if you have a blog featuring your food images to advertise it there, finally you could send a query to the editor and pitch a story.

Bonus Tip: Look for collaborators. In the case of a food photographer, look for food writers, food bloggers, food trade shows, you get the idea.  A food writer need images to match their stories, same with a blogger.  Trade shows feature vendors who need work shot of their product.  Bottom line.  Think outside of the box!

If you have trouble finding appropriate titles at your local newsstands or you desire to see a complete listing of all titles in your category you can visit your local library and ask for a copy of Standard Rate and Data.  SRD is a directory similar to the encyclopedia for commercial print publications as well as other media outlets like radio, tv/cable and newspapers.  There will you not only find the names of publications not typically carried on commercial newsstands but should you choose to advertise you will have the rates as well current contact info of the principals of the company.

Of course as with many print publications you can also access this information on the internet.  So if the library is not accessible you can access this information online.

You can do so by visiting the website at SRDS Media Solutions and clicking on the department that you want to research or database you wish to access.

My final recommendation is to get outside of your four walls and go out to get some fresh air, being cooped up at your computer all day isn’t good for anyone.  Sometimes merely being around people and talking about what you love will give you an idea or spark that could be turned into a new project that arouses new interest in your passion.

We all need a pick me up from time to time and remember from the quote: “the world needs is people who have come alive”.  Energy is contagious, go create some.

(c) Rodney Washington, The Photo Marketing Mentor, If you need help implementing new strategies into your business including locating and contacting new prospects contact me, I can be your Strategic Partner. For more specialized assistance visit my blog to learn more about my Done 4 You Marketing services program. Also visit my website @ Photo-Marketing-Mentor.com and sign up for my client attraction starter kit.  It’s FREE and will give you plenty of resources to steer you in the right direction.

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I wanted to do a quick post today because I’m curious to hear what my readers have to say on the topic.

Today I attended my first BNI meeting and for those of you who aren’t aware of BNI, BNI stand for Business Networkers International.

It’s a global organization that connects business owners to network, share resources including getting and give referrals.

One of the things that you have to do as a attendee is give a “60″ second elevator speech describing your service, the solution you provide and who you’re looking to connect with.

Because of the size of the group I attended members were informed today that the time to deliver their message with be cut in half to “30″ seconds. So it gave me the idea that if you had to tell someone what you do and for whom in 30 seconds or less what would say?

Please share your “elevator” message or 30 second pitch in the comments below, and remember, you never know whose reading, you might attract a new opportunity.

Have a good weekend….

Oh and PS, to find out more about BNI check out their website to find a chapter nearest you.

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It is not uncommon to become overwhelmed especially in the current state of our society where we have more gadgets and commitments vying for our attention.

In today’s article I will share with you my 4 tips to help you get out of overwhelm and back to productivity. Remember, where productivity lives, profitability soon follows.
So lets get started with my 4 tips to take control back in your business.

1. Make a plan for where you want to go. Let’s say for example you want to get 3 new clients this week. Okay so let’s say to make that happen you need to have 20 points of contact to find those 3 new clients. I’m using 20 because it’s a nice round number you may need more, but let’s say it’s 20.

Okay, so the next question or series of questions becomes who, where and how am I going to contact 20 new people? Make a list, it can names with telephone numbers, email addresses, twitter addresses, Facebook profiles, Linked In profiles etc. Just get your list together of 20 points of contact and contact them. That’s your plan; okay this moves us on to tip #2.

2. Once you have your plan in place, follow it. I know this sounds obvious but I’ll tell you not following a plan is where most people trip up. Allow me to illustrate. Remember our 20 points of contact from tip #1? Okay, so you have your list and let’s say you get to about 10 of the names on your list but now you find that you’re not getting the results you hoped.

And to make matters worse you’re now distracted because the telephone rings with a non-business related call, or you get the sudden urge to go out for a latte (when you have coffee at home)? Or while twittering you get caught up in a lively debate about Tiger Woods character, do you get where I am going? So if you find yourself in this predicament how do you get control back? Simple, Focus!

Lack of focus is the bane of the self-employed. So once you make your plan, get into action immediately, and make a commitment to not do anything outside of the task you set for yourself (emergencies aside of course) Let’s move on to tip number #3.

3. Track your results. This is key and the reason why is because when you can see your results and track your progress in black and white you’re fueled to continue. This will motivate you when you get stuck or feel like giving up. Another benefit to tracking is it allows you to go back and look at what worked and what you should pass on in the future.

This exercise alone will save you scores of time while greatly increasing your productivity by 40 percent or more. Try it, it works. Okay let’s move on to tip #4.

4. Rinse and repeat, repeat, repeat. This is another area where you can become easily overwhelmed but you won’t experience this problem because you have tracking system in place from step #3, right? From this point moving forward with a results based workable plan in place there will be no need to reinvent the wheel. If it’s working just keep doing it until it doesn’t work anymore.

And there you have it, my four-point plan for over coming overwhelm and increasing productivity.

If you’re ready to delve even deeper into developing a customized marketing plan for your business that will help set clear goals and doable actions I believe I can be of help.

Visit my website today to learn more about my various programs designed for creative professionals.

Are you an entrepreneurial minded photographer? Would you like to learn how to Attract More Clients & GROW your business in the next 12 months? Guaranteed!

To find out how I’d like to offer you my Client Attraction Starter Kit that includes: a 5-part mini audio course, “5 Secrets To Attract More Clients & Grow Your Photography Business!” Plus a complimentary subscription to my bi-weekly ezine “Eye On Marketing”. You can claim your FREE Client Attraction Starter Kit by visiting:
Photo Marketing Mentor.com

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I heard someone say that beyond the annual grade school photo, the only time adults have their photos taken is when they’re getting married or being booked.

Aside from these two extremes as a professional portrait photographer I’m sure you have probably had experiences with a client or two who hated to have their photo taken.

So I decided to ask other photographers their techniques for putting a clients mind at ease before taking a portrait?

Feel free to leave comments below, all are appreciated.

PS: Be on the lookout for some exciting news coming shortly about a class I’m putting together with a surprise guest.

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I was introduced to these neat little cards recently at a seminar I attended. It was given to me by a novice photographer who taken shots of his young daughter and family dog. I was so impressed with the quality and the cleverness of design that I immediately decided to order a set of my own (featured below). For about $30 dollars you’ll get 100 cards custom printed “mini cards” plus a stylish card holder/presenter.

The features that stand out most for me is the fact that you can display a variety of images from your portfolio; (This allows you to easy update your cards as your portfolio changes). For example, every 18 cards or so in the pack will feature a different image, (while the text on the opposite side remains the same).

Also I love the “mini” size (that in of itself makes the cards a great conversation piece) I guarantee you’ll receive a intrigued reaction at your next networking event.

When you visit the website make sure you order the card holder, there are several colors and styles to pick from.

Another benefit I appreciate about MooCards is that they don’t require a huge investment of time or money to print new cards. I received mine in less than a week after placing my order. To learn more about Moo and order a set of your own visit their website.

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