Marketing Essentials International

For me, it’s all about “art”, and the pursuit of the perfect image. I’m always on the hunt for some new tool that will be the answer to my problems.   Honestly, I’ve got a closet full of “problem solvers” that include a plethora of camera brackets, filters, broken stands, and lighting modifiers I’ve discarded. I have a personal land of misfit camera gear.

When I was in college my professor would make us shoot 10 rolls of film a week. Didn’t matter what it was, just had to blow through 10 rolls.   His point was,  if you don’t shoot, how do you get better?  It was a tough task, but 22 years later, I still try to keep that same mindset. Think about it, how do pro athletes get better at what they do? They practice. Do you think Derek Jeter enjoys fielding ground balls for months down in Florida during spring training? Seriously, does he need to do that? You bet!

So why are we any different?

During my downtime I have always tried to schedule shoots to keep the “wheels turning”. I’d bring my assistant Lindsey (now an associate too!) along, and it helped me teach her my lighting, so it was familiar when we were on the job. Each time I’d try to challenge myself by doing something different, whether it was using a California Sunbounce   or a new ringflash.   She enjoyed getting out of the studio (me too!) and we both learned something. This way, on the wedding day, I could say to her, “Hey, let’s do that lighting we did for so&so’s shoot”. We’d work quicker and more efficiently, sort of like fielding a routine ground ball.

While doing these shoots I would always be thinking, “wouldn’t it be nice to do these kind of shoots and make money doing it?” That’s when I came up with the idea of IHNY sessions:

I ♥ NY: Combines my passion for photography, the city I love, and the people who love it as much as I do.

 

Over the last few years there are some great new products that have come on the market and every now and then there’s something with a ton of style.  Like the bags from Jill-e Designs.   I am NOT being paid to promote Jill’s products – I simply like them!  I’ve been personally coveting her men’s line bags for a year now!

So, here’s the fun of this – follow me (http://twitter.com/skipcohen) on Twitter and next Monday we’ll give away the bag below to a random follower.    Then, we’ll follow up next Monday with a medium men’s bag from the “Jack” product line to give away.   Camera bags are a very personal thing, but the fun of Jill’s designs is simply they don’t look like camera bags – color, lots of style and functionally terrific!

So, sign up to follow me on Twitter and you might just find a new camera bag on its way to you!   We’ll find our first follower at random next Sunday night, February 14 – just in time for Valentine’s Day!

We spend so much time teaching within our industry that it’s easy to forget the benefit to our clients our expertise offers. Our recent “Workshops for the Glamorous Bride” event was a way to give back and create positive word of mouth marketing. The idea was simple; to teach brides and their friends how to slim and flatter their form and look great in pictures – something every bride desires.

The workshop was a free, no solicitation event and we had a great response. It also had the desired effect of creating a tremendous buzz for our studio. Regardless, if they already have a photographer or use or services, those brides and all their friends who attended left talking about us!

We plan to present these workshops twice a year, shortly after our two major summer and winter bridal shows.

Here is the link to our Pierre’s Presents… Workshops for the Glamorous Bride event page:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=277621207974&ref=mf

Thanks Pierre…first, for being a buddy even though I only see you a couple times a year at a show some place on the planet, second, for a great idea on how to look for new cheese and third, for being willing to share it with everybody!

I just started a new category on the blog, “Great Ideas”.  It’s only right yours should be the first one in the category!

I’ve never been a big fan of motivational books, but Sheila works in HR at Akron Children’s Hospital and she’s got the full set of just about everything www.walkthetalk.com publishes.  One of the books I was looking at is called, The Leadership Secrets of Santa Claus.   There are a group of great authors involved, but it’s written as if it’s from the big ho-ho-ho guy himself.

“Here’s a nugget of leadership wisdom that I’ve picked up over the decades…You can’t possibly focus on your mission without focusing on the folks that make your mission happen.  The two go hand in hand…And besides, since you manage things and lead people common sense suggests that it’s people who are at the core of all leadership activities.”  (The Leadership Secrets of Santa Claus, WalkTheTalk.com, page 14)

I’ve written a lot about the importance of the people who support you, and on this lazy Sunday morning, I’m thinking about how bizarre the first quarter of the year is for so many photographers.  You go nuts in the last quarter of the year and then BOOM it’s January and things just get quiet.   You’re trying to think about what to do in the new year or maybe you’re just avoiding thinking about what you should have done better in 2009.

But it’s the same for just about everybody.  If you’re in retail, seasonality is over.  If you’re in manufacturing, you’re struggling to get ready for the following year.  If you’re a consumer, there’s an underlying tone of quiet panic as you think about getting your taxes ready and wonder what the new year will bring.   

For everybody it’s the perfect time to think about all the people who support you every day.  If you’re a photographer and lucky enough to have a staff, it’s a great time to think about ways you can help them grow. The more they understand the business the bigger asset they’ll become.  But, if you’re like most photographers without a formal staff, then it’s still the perfect time to recognize all those people in your life who help you do your job – from your lab, album or frame company to the UPS guy and to “Santa’s” biggest helpers, your family!

So, it’s not a new theme this morning.  Nothing earth-shaking or filled with wisdom – just plain old common sense – hug your family, your friends and what the hell, hug the UPS guy!  You’re only as good as the people who support you and believe in you.  Trust them, keep them involved and they’ll come through for you every time – just as good as Donner and Blitzen!

Forty years ago today I started in the photo industry with an amazing group of guys in the emulsion development group at Polaroid.  I was just out of college, actually on academic suspension, after being every parent’s worse nightmare. (I went back to school at night years later.)  There were no jobs anywhere and Time Magazine that summer had a picture of a college grad in cap and gown pumping gas. 

It was my start in photography and involved some of the greatest people I’ve ever worked with.  I can’t help but wonder where they all are today…Charlie, Ron, Frank, Joe, Joey, Willy, Smitty, Big Gene, Ronnie – the list goes on and on.  Polaroid at that time had 23,000 employees world wide and Ali McGraw was the celebrity in their TV commercials for the Polaroid Swinger.    

• Polaroid was incredibly healthy.  They made a whole series of different films, all of them peel apart.
• Kodak was the only brand  of non-instant film anybody seriously considered.   In fact, their colors were so saturated, we used to say “Kodak makes your vacation look better than it really was!”
• Bell-bottoms, platform shoes and an Afro were all the look for yours truly.  I looked like I should have been in the cast of “Hair” – not working in a research lab.
• Photography was hot, but I was more excited about my Super 8 movie camera!
• Anybody really interested in photography dreamed about owning a Leica or a Hasselblad.
• When we got married we got an album of 25 8×10s and for $65 the photographer sold me the proofs.  The album is filled with special effects, especially the starburst filter in front of a candle or two.
• I remember a gas crisis in the early 70s and one of the guys I worked with waiting in line at the pump for over an hour before realizing he was in the line for a funeral procession – NOT the line for the gas station.

Times might have been different, but the enthusiasm we all had for life, our jobs, our families was the same.  While I’d like to think of them as the “good old days” I’m having too much fun right now.  That leads me to think that the “good old days” are whenever you take the time to appreciate them.  I know that years from now I’m going to look back and the “good old days” are going to be 2010 or maybe they haven’t happened yet.

It reminds me of Don Blair and I’ve used this quote before – when asked what the best photograph he’d ever taken was, answered, “I don’t know I haven’t taken it yet!”   So, in answer to somebody asking me, “So, when were the good old days?”  My answer has to be,  ”I don’t know, they’re still happening!”

Enjoy today – hug your family – appreciate the fact that no matter how tough your business is right now you have the power to make it whatever you want it to be – not without work and not without the risk of disappointment and change- but still within your power!   The good old days might just be this weekend!

Happy Saturday everybody!

The last year has been tough for everybody in professional photography.  However, there’s a growing group of photographers who have been working hard to find “new cheese”.   That statement won’t make an ounce of sense if you haven’t read “Who Moved My Cheese?’  The summary is simply the mouse who went out and looked for new [...]

I ran across a quote from Buddha yesterday: “The mind is everything, when you think you become.”  
It’s a heavy concept, but now take the same thought and listen to Chevy Chase from one my favorite movies, Caddyshack, “Be the ball!”

It’s pretty ironic that there’s a message here.   Chevy Chase refers to a force in the universe “that makes things happen and all you [...]

The economy, technology, changes in social media and the new wave of competitors all require your constant attention.  At times it can be overwhelming.  You’re not alone if you’re feeling frustrated.  We all feel it, but there’s a wealth of information and people out there to help you build your business and address virtually every challenge you might [...]

Yesterday I referenced a great site for wedding photographers, The Wedding Report.  There’s a ton of data to help you understand how to fine-tune your marketing efforts, but one of the side benefits is getting ideas on how to build your network. 
In a post a few months ago I wrote about Dawn Shields and a [...]

I’ve written in the past about things I’ve learned from Molly the Wonder Dog.  Well, here’s another new lesson that’s so basic, I’m just glad she never learned how to type!

We just moved into a new house last weekend.  As I was going through withdrawal, being without a computer for two days, Molly was busy [...]