So, here’s the challenge…how do you keep building your network and find ways to stay on top of the constant flow of new ideas, techniques and technology?  What’s cool is there’s an easy answer…get yourself to a Smug! Just in case you’re not familiar with the concept and stolen right from the SmugMug site:

A SMUG is a place where you can learn, teach and meet up with other photographers who share your passion. It’s also how we can tell you what’s happening in our world and discover what’s happening in yours. SMUGs are a great way to connect with other photographers and add a few weapons to your creative arsenal.

Actually, the challenge runs much deeper than just building your network, your education and staying on top of what’s going on – this is about recharging your battery. You know how to focus your camera, but do you know how to stay focused on your goals and dealing with the day-in day-out challenges of business today? None of us do it well and before long you start to realize you’re spending too much time worrying about business and not getting out enough in the photo community. You start to get stale. Your creativity is stifled by just the effort it takes to run a business.

Everybody has the same issue. We’re all too close to our own business, so you need to get out once in awhile. Smugs are free and only cost you the time to be there and get involved. Even more fun is the opportunity to meet not just photographers from your area, but all of the Smugs at one time or another bring in special guest speakers. Roberto Valenzuela spoke at a Smug in San Francisco not long ago. I did a marketing program at a Smug in Detroit last year and will be in Jacksonville, Florida on June 26. Scott Bourne has brought in special guests to the Las Vegas Smug.

It’s a big country, but check out how SmugMug has it covered!

If you’re not currently involved in your local Smug, here’s the link. I’ve written a lot about SmugMug over the last few months and even ran a couple of great videos they’ve produced, but out of everything they do, what I enjoy and appreciate the most is the ability they’ve given us to stay connected!

Get yourself involved in a Smug – being part of something bigger than just your own business in the photographic community is only a click away!

New photographers don’t realize how small the industry really is. While Michael and I share a whole bunch of mutual friends, we’ve never had any time to just sit and talk. In fact, the only real conversation we’ve ever had was on a couple of podcasts at GoingPro. What made the evening worthy of a post is the variety of topics we hit, the most fun for me, being some of the stories we exchanged and so many common paths and friends.

• When Michael was 14 he knocked on Richard Avedon’s door, literally. Interested in photography, he was able to meet one of his idols.  I was 50 when I met Avedon in Tucson when he turned over his archives to the Center for Creative Photography. We wound up that night in a little all-you-can-eat Mexican bar. Over the years that followed I’d catch up to Avedon every few months in New York.
• The late Dean Collins was an inspiration to Michael and he’s got Dean’s full series of DVDs. Dean and I met in 1987 and we were absolutely the best of friends. Tony Corbell was Dean’s right hand at the time and there’s another friendship started. Tony and I did the introductory video for Dean’s DVD collection.
• Michael “studies” two hours every day. He experiments with new techniques, reads about new ideas and finds himself obsessed with constantly learning. My good buddy, Don Blair, was still taking notes in other photographer’s programs right up to a few months before he passed away in his late 70’s. He was convinced that as a photographer he could never stop learning.
• Michael photographed Sal Cincotta’s wedding. Sal just agreed a week ago to be our closing speaker at Skip’s Summer School.
• Michael and I talked about couples in photography and two of his good friends are Byron and Wendy Roe. I met them for the first time at Photographer’s Ignite. They’re also friends of Kevin and Clare Kubota’s. Byron and Wendy are tomorrow’s guest post here at my blog.
• Michael was a professional chef and had his own business.  I love to cook and almost set the house on fire after a cooking class a few years ago.

Michael uses his own images on his stationery, a point I’ve been reminding photographers about in my marketing program for years.

Michael and I got going, talking about the industry. He got here at 3:30 and left after 11:00 and it seemed like only an hour. I’ve written a lot about the importance of industry friendship, but what makes them so special are the common denominators so many of us share.  The one topic we talked about the longest related to “good enough”.  The digital revolution has brought with it a lot of photographers willing to settle for mediocrity. Actually, they’re settling for crap!

I’m talking about those “professionals” out there who provide a client with images that aren’t any better than Uncle Harry produces.  Anybody can book their first client, but the key to success is booking your second client after word gets out about your work. It’s about that first client coming back again for more images or booking another event.

There is no substitute for quality and for knowing and understanding the craft! Each photographer has to decide if they’re building their house of bricks or cards…

“Quality is more important than quantity. One home run is much better than two doubles.” – Steve Jobs

“There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man’s lawful prey”. ~John Ruskin

Tomotaka is the son of Taka who used to be with Asukabook. Many of you met Taka over the years when he’d come over for the WPPI show or PhotoPlus Expo. Asukabook first introduced their product line at WPPI about ten years ago and over those years we became the very best of friends. Three trips to Japan, dozens of dinners in the U.S. along with meetings and programs they sponsored at WPPI brought us that much closer. In spite of the fact that we could only converse through an interpreter, the friendship just continued to grow.

Now, all these years later, Taka and I email all the time, but his son, in his twenties, wants to learn to speak English and he needs somebody to practice with.  Well, I can’t think of a better way to start the day a few times a week, but here’s the point this morning…

Technology has made the photographic industry incredibly small. I catch up to Paul MacManus in Spain now and then thanks to Skype. I “IM” with Aziz in Pakistan and keep up with what’s going on in the wedding market there. Patrik Mark, Hasselblad’s marketing manager back in the late 90’s and I talked a few weeks ago about his photographic book business in Sweden.  Sally Sargood tweets no matter where she is on the planet, including home in Australia.

The world just keeps getting smaller, but it’s not just technology that allows us to share time with friends around the world. It’s thanks to the common bond of photography that brought us all together in the first place. It’s like the six degrees of separation game with Kevin Bacon only for me, Bacon is replaced by photography!

It’s not a particularly earth-shaking concept, just another way to have some fun and enjoy your network!

This Year’s Programming:

Each attendee has their choice of two of seven different hands-on shooting programs, working with each instructor for an entire day in a maximum class size of just twenty people. Instructors include Clay Blackmore, Michele Celentano, Tony Corbell, Jerry Ghionis,  Kevin Kubota, Bobbi Lane and Roberto Valenzuela. Knowing each instructor like I do, I can promise you there won’t be anything “normal” about any of these classes. Each instructor is known for their uncompromising focus on quality and technique. Each one has in some way blazed their own path as an artist and set a standard for creative excellence. In short, they represent some of the most remarkable people in the photographic community.

An eighth special program will be all about film-making and storytelling. Video is one of today’s hottest products, not just something still photographers can offer their clients, but in mixed media and in self-promotional pieces for your own website. In this special intense two-day program attendees will be learning from two of the industry’s best, Jeff Medford and Ross Hockrow, founders of Cinestories. As part of the class project, you’ll actually be working on the techniques for creating your own self-promotional video.

In addition to these seven different hands-on shooting programs and the intense film-making workshop, we’ve got a terrific series of platform programs for 2012.

• Sunday, August 5 – Melissa Ghionis leads off Summer School with an outstanding program on Customer Service. Handling customer challenges is an art form. An upset consumer today, thanks to social media, has the ability to impact thousands of other potential clients.  I’ll kick off her program with my own ideas on things you can add to your sales tools.  Between the two of us we want to give you a series of ideas you can use to be proactive in developing an outstanding customer service program for your business.
• Monday, August 6 -Vendor Panel and lunch included: It’s a program we started last year and this year we want to expand it further. Your vendors need to be in your network. Think about it for just a second. They talk to hundreds of photographers every day. They know what’s going on in virtually every part of the country, not just with their products, but the challenges everybody is facing. They’re available to help, but you need to know who they are. In this lunch time panel, we’ll talk about the key challenges facing professional photographers today.

This year’s sponsors to date are Adorama, Cameras for Kids Foundation, The F.I.L.M. Project, GhostRighters, Marathon Press, Nik Software, Photofocus, Profoto, RETV, Resource Magazine, SmugMugPRo, SongFreedom, Tamron, WHCC and WPPI. Summer School becomes your chance to really get to know the people behind each company and their ability to help with so many of the day to day challenges.

• Monday evening, August 6 – Catherine Hall, Building Your Brand: Success is all about building top-of-mind awareness with your target audience. How do you get your message through all the noise out there? How do you make sure your potential client knows who you are?  Catherine will be helping you with solid ideas to expand your brand and make sure you’re on everybody’s radar!
• Tuesday, August 7 – Resource Magazine and lunch included: From the hottest new magazine on the photographic scene to two great websites, RETV and Resource Magazine, this is the crew setting the pace with great editorial,  but this isn’t about them, it’s about you.  They produced this year’s Summer School video shown below and they’ll be sharing ideas on what they look for in stories, images and new content.  Here’s your chance to get to know the team. Who knows, you just might find yourself published!

Skip’s Summer School 2011 from RETV from Resource Magazine on Vimeo.

Last on the list is the interaction summer school attendees always get with each other, the vendors and the instructors. Over the last three summers we’ve seen the community grow and the new network each attendee leaves with each year becomes an important part of their support and growth in the future. Year after year we see attendees staying in touch after Summer School and even getting together at WPPI, which is also one of the benefits with a $75 full registration fee to WPPI2013.

This year’s program has been moved to Oakbrook, Illinois, just ten miles from Ohare Airport, making it easily accessible and cost effective to attend. We’ve even managed to negotiate a $60 savings per day on the room rate.

Summer School started as a way for photographers to recharge their battery during mid-year when you need it most. This year’s program has been designed to go beyond that. There are no lines to wait in, no over-crowded seminars and nothing in your way to meet and get to know one of the finest groups of instructors we’ve ever had. You’ll leave with a series of new ideas on your technique, marketing and business.  And, oh yeah, you’ll have a lot of fun in the process!

See you at Summer School! Registration is just one click away. ]]> http://skipsphotonetwork.com/2012/03/skips-summer-school-2012-hands-on-intensive/feed/ 0 http://skipsphotonetwork.com/2012/03/jeremy-cowart-and-the-video-that-started-it-all/ http://skipsphotonetwork.com/2012/03/jeremy-cowart-and-the-video-that-started-it-all/#comments Thu, 08 Mar 2012 12:49:45 +0000 http://skipsphotonetwork.com/?p=8824 Here’s a great example of why you need to attend every convention and workshop you can find: you meet new people!  At WPPI I had a chance to meet and talk with Jeremy Cowart. I’ve admired him for a long time, but our paths just never crossed.

This morning I got an email from Yasmin Tajik a photographer from Las Vegas who I first met at Summer School a few years ago. She sent me a behind the scenes video of a photo-shoot that Jeremy had tweeted about.  Geni Bean, another Summer School alumni and friend of Yasmin’s was the Art Director and Producer of the shoot Jeremy did for FRS, featured in the video.

My first point this morning is all about networking – WPPI, Jeremy Cowart and Summer School. It’s like playing three degrees of separation with Kevin Bacon. You can’t build your network if you stay at home. You never know how somebody you meet and talk to at a convention is going to come into your life at some later date.

But there’s a much bigger point I want to share. This 2009 video is the one that started it all, Jeremy Cowart reaching out to the photographic community to establish Help-Portrait. Since the launch of this video thousands of photographers have joined the Help-Portrait movement and almost 200,000 portraits have been given.

Jeremy told us a quick story at WPPI about a portrait session he did of several prostitutes. It was the first time they’d ever had their portrait done and it became life-changing for them. Nobody had ever treated them with the level of respect Jeremy showed, working with them as subjects for their portrait.

The next time you think you, your camera and your skill set can’t make a difference, watch this video and just think about Jeremy’s vision. Oh yeah, and I had never seen the video before, but found it on YouTube when it came up after the first video link Yasmin sent me.  In fact, I had no idea what I was going to write about this morning – so thank you Yasmin for starting things off today!

I’ve said it a few hundred times in my career…

With the exception of modern medicine, nobody has given the world more than photographers! You’re part of an incredible industry and if you don’t appreciate the magic you’re capable of bringing into people’s lives then it’s time to take a break and get back on the right path!

Well, today is March 2 and for most of you March is the last opportunity to get some very specific projects in place before business really picks up. So here’s a list of things to consider:

• Have you put together a promotional calendar for the rest of the year? For example, schedule one consumer promotion a quarter.  Remember, you don’t have to do this alone. Florists, limo companies, travel agencies etc. make great partners.
• What do you have in the pipeline for publicity about you and your business?
• How about a letter to all your past clients reminding them of your skill set? Maybe it’s time for a letter reminding them a family portrait is a terrific Mother’s Day or Father’s Day gift. Your best potential clients are those already in your data base.
• Prom time is fast approaching and in May just about every junior and senior is going to be heading to their high school prom. How about planting the seed for a prom portrait and working together with a dress shop, tux shop or limo company?
• Here’s one that’s just about house-cleaning: Are you using your own images in your stationery, for example, your note cards? It’s the perfect way to promote your own work.
• What programs e.g. workshops and seminars are you going to register for between now and the end of the year? It’s great you went to WPPI, IUSA, PMA@CES or your state convention, but what are you going to do to recharge your battery mid-year when you need it the most?  I’m involved in at least two programs, Skip’s Summer School and I’ll be on the road with JB Sallee in the fall. Kevin Kubota’s bootcamp is coming up in April. Sal Cincotta will be on the road. Check out your favorite photographers and see who’s on the road. This isn’t just about continuing to expand your skill set – this is about keeping your focus and networking!
• There are some terrific free seminars on line and you need to get yourself signed up. Nik is hosting a full series for the month of March. Creative Live always has something new coming up. Kelby Training has an ongoing series, along with programs from Xrite, Marathon Press and Adorama TV just to name a few.  But here’s the issue, you snooze, you lose! You’ve got to follow-up and participate.
• What are you doing to meet other photographers in your community? Personally I’m a big fan of SmugMug’s meetups, AKA Smugs. There are also local guilds and PPA chapters. Get involved and start building your local network.
• What are doing to be involved in your community? There are always things going on in photography and you need to be involved. You want your community to be good to you, so you’ve got to be good to your community.
• Is there new gear on the list you need, but don’t have the cash? Relax, it’s not the end of the world, start out by renting it and experimenting with that new lens NOW, while you have some time. Make sure you really need it, before you stress yourself out worrying about the cash! And don’t forget about leasing equipment instead of buying it outright! Here’s your chance to tie up somebody else’s assets without depleting yours.
• Have you met with your accountant? Your taxes are due soon, but don’t do this on your own! There are so many aspects of your business that are deductible and money spent with an expert is going to be coming back to you as you learn all the things you forgot that cost you money.
• Is your website all it should be? It’s too long a topic to go into it here, but there are six different posts over on GoingPro that talk about nothing but your website. March is a great time for cleaning up all your messes! I have yet to see a website that couldn’t be improved and here’s another plug for SmugMug! Yes, they’re a sponsor of some of my projects, but long before I started working with me I fell in love with what they do, the quality of their staff and their finished product. This is all about making your work look good, often better than you deserve! LOL

Okay, there are dozen different things to think about and any one of them could take you a few days to really address. You’ve got the passion for photography. Don’t let that passion get lost by missing all the opportunities to keep your battery charged, build your network, expand your skill set or just have fun!

“Fun” there’s that word again. It’s one of the most important aspects of being in business and it’s the first thing lost and buried when the flood gates open and the challenges with the economy and technology come rolling in.  It takes work to stay focused on fun and not let life get in the way!

Dale Carnegie is quoted as saying,

People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.

Okay gang, time to go have some fun!

There were a whole bunch of great moments in the 2012 schedule this year.  So, for those of you who might have been on similar journeys over the first two months of the year, see if these highlights make any sense…

• Networking is a kick, especially when you’re catching up to old friends and associates. While there were a lot of people I missed, I was able to connect with a lot of great photographers, teachers and vendors. So much so, that after each trip I found myself re-energized. 
• New friends add new dimensions to your network. New ideas help you stay focused and help you reaccess your approach to business, marketing and for that matter your life.
• Social time, especially with friends, creates an aura of what I call Thanksgiving syndrome. Ever notice how somebody always asks, “Why don’t we ever have turkey and stuffing at other times during the year?” Getting out with friends on this last trip was a kick and just reminded me we don’t have to always wait until we’re together at a convention or workshop to have fun!

Roberto Valenzuela, Kim Valenzuela, my wife Sheila and Michele Celentano in the front row with me and Gustavo Fernandez in the back. Ever had time with friends where you laughed so hard it hurt?

• Then there were the events themselves.
  • PMA, now in conjunction with CES gave the imaging side of the industry greater exposure to the world of electronics and DIMA brought some terrific classes to their venue.
  • IUSA, sadly wasn’t PPA’s best ever convention, but it’s still a great place to network and a slow show means there’s time to talk to key vendors. 
  • PhotoProExpo was the ”sleeper” and one of the best state conventions I’ve been to in years. David Ziser and his team blew the numbers out of the water, breaking 1000 attendees and already on their way to a sold out trade show for 2013. 
  • GoingPro Bootcamp was incredible. Scott Bourne was on a roll opening with a reminder that people don’t buy what you do, but why you do it! He set the tone and stage for the day! Michele Celentano brought an amazing energy to the program, but more impressive was her honesty in talking about her own challenges in her career. My favorite moment was noticing the looks on the faces of some of the attendees as she talked about being in the same place they were in twenty years ago. “Will there ever be a time when my work doesn’t suck?” she used to ask herself. Sound familiar?
  • WPPI was one of the best shows ever for me personally. Lots of new projects, sponsors for upcoming events and some great new ideas on things I love doing, but the show itself didn’t seem to have quite the kick it’s had in the past.  And to those of you who still don’t getit, I haven’t worked for WPPI for three years, give it a rest – I can’t help you with programs you didn’t like, your hotel room or crowded seminars. LOL

So, now the challenge for all of us, me included, is taking all that momentum from the last few weeks and applying it to the reality of business.  We all do the same thing – we come home energized and ready to take on the world, then life gets in the way…but that’s tomorrow’s post!

• Make a list of new people you met. Sort out the business cards of those that are great fits and those people who you just want to casually keep track of.
• Do the same with literature you collected from vendors, isolating those with the services and products you need most.
• With the active list of both groups, start sending out a few emails. This is your first volley.  Subject line doesn’t need to be any more than – “great meeting you this week”.
• If you met with somebody, especially a vendor who really spent a lot of time with you, then a hand-written note is a really nice touch to start building the bond.
• Out of everybody you met or heard speak there will be an isolated group of people who are outstanding and at the top of the food chain. These are the people and companies you want to stay in touch with most…find their blogs, follow them on Twitter and load in their RSS feeds.

Seriously, it’s not rocket science. This is about staying focused on the enthusiasm you had as you were leaving Las Vegas. It’s the key ingredient to your recipe for success and vital to helping you keep the momentum going.

I left myself with a half dozen new people I want to follow and blogs I want to read, one of them Jeremy Cowart, founder of Help-Portrait.  Another was Sue Bryce.  Like you, I found myself inspired by some photographers I hadn’t met before.

It’s the best part of a great trade show, but if you don’t stay focused and tackle the job now, that bundle of new information in the goodie bag from the show as well as in your brain will slowly disappear and the greatest benefit of being at WPPI, new friends and the expansion of your network, will evaporate!

A trip to Las Vegas in February isn’t just about WPPI anymore. It’s about adding new building blocks to your business and some of them are outside WPPI programming. For two years I’ve started every marketing presentation with the same statement.

Just because the media says it’s going to be a bad year, doesn’t mean it has to be!

That’s a big part of the GoingPro theme and Bootcamp. We started the project because there are so many aspiring photographers interested in going pro and missing the boat on the right way to get started. Frustrated, they jump into the market with lousy quality and low-ball pricing. Instead of building a business on a solid foundation, they try and build it on the word “professional”, having no understanding of the importance of how to sustain a business.

Well, it’s been two years since we started the GoingPro, which originally was just a book with Random House. Now it’s a blog with an estimated 50,000 followers and sixty-four podcasts, resulting in 120-150,000 downloads a month. Last but not least, it’s our second Bootcamp, an all day event helping you with everything, but photography.

George missed the last GoingPro Bootcamp, but we didn’t and neither did a 100+ aspiring and working professional photographers. He’s got another chance and so do you! With the combination of Michele Celentano, Scott Bourne and me we’ll help you with ideas on marketing, pricing, building your business, insurance, social media, community involvement and local networking, just to name a few. Most important of all, we’ll help you figure out how to promote yourself and your work so you can get your second customer.

Anybody can get their first customer. The trick of building a solid business is getting your second customer and even better, getting the first customer to come back a second time. You know how to focus your camera. Well, we’re going to help you focus on concepts like quality, value, integrity and the ability to exceed customer expectations. Those are the key attributes of any business that brings customers back!

And speaking of exceeding expectations – that’s just what we intend to do on February 18. It’s only $99 for the day. So, whether you’re just getting ready to take the plunge into the pro side of the business or you’ve been out there for a few years and need some help – we intend to exceed your expectations. 

See you in Vegas! Signing up for GoingPro Bootcamp is just a click away!

There are so many photographers, both new and old, who just don’t realize all the support possibilities right around them. Levi and I were talking about the strength in networking and it’s so apparent with the Skip’s Summer School crew. They’re just a 103 strong and every time somebody asks a question, everyone jumps in to help answer the challenge and it all started thanks to Brent Watkins, who after Summer School wanted to keep the momentum going and started a Facebook page.

Just over the last few weeks, “Jennifer” had a question about a photo shoot she went to, that wasn’t what she thought it would be. “Jim” had a question about insurance, looking for feedback on what’s out there for photographers, “Yusuf” had a great reminder for everybody on a limited time offer from AnimotoPro and “Gretchen” had a question about making a 16×20 canvas (There were 69 responses to her question!).

So, the bottom line is to remember there’s help out here all the time! Build your network with people who share your interests, integrity and goals. Feed your network by participating and being generous with your time. Stay in touch with new friends and old ones and above all, don’t be afraid to ask questions.

With DIMA, PMA, IUSA and WPPI coming up, along with some great state and regional shows like Photo Pro Expo coming up in early February, you’re going to have some great opportunities to expand your network. It’s not about collecting business cards, but building friendships!

My Dad gave me a book a short time ago called Wisdom from the Ancients. I found two great quotes for this Friday morning:

Two are better than one; a three-plied rope will not easily break.  Bible: Ecclesiastes

Wood burns brighter when joined with other wood. Saadi, a 13th century Persian poet

There are so many different opportunities out there for you to get help. And like both quotes, there’s no question you’ve got the potential to be so much stronger working together on the challenges than struggling by yourself.