But today’s post isn’t about cause-related marketing, but a creative way JP Elario decided to attack the challenge of helping his mother while she’s fighting cancer and unable to work.  This is about something very personal.  There are so many of you who are moved by different situations in your life and I’m often asked for ideas on how to help. Well, here’s one that couldn’t be more direct and easier to understand.

I thought a lot of how I could help my Mom out to keep her house up and running for a while. I’ve been thinking about this since 2009 but for a while she was doing well, working 4-5 days a week while getting a lot of chemo. Anyway I feel like its time for me to put what I do best to use. This is where the idea of the “Elario mini session” came about. I knew of mini sessions and thought this would be great! I often turn down a lot of children photographs simply because we’re so busy with weddings. So this would be a great opportunity for you to have me capture your kids.

Whats a mini session anyway?

It is going to be is me shooting, 1 day only, rain or shine for 10+ hours and every 15 minutes a new session will begin. This is great for the children sessions because I often have to turn away a lot of children photography simply because we’re just so busy with weddings. Plus with kids we always get our best stuff in the first 15 minutes because after that they are not interested anymore. This would be a great time to take advantage of that. That also being said I don’t see this as just children. Obviously this is a “wedding blog” and a lot of you engaged couples frequent the pages of my site. I see these sessions also being for you guys. Like come get a quick little engagement session with me and get a “bling shot” or a “configuration”! I also see this is as an opportunity to capture some of my past brides and grooms too who might want an updated couple shot. If you need a head shot you could take advantage of this. I’d also love to photograph your dog if you’d like!

You can read the rest of the specifics on JP’s blog, but here’s the short version. He picked the last Sunday in April, only did the one announcement on his blog, priced it at $175 per mini-session and the day sold out in just four hours.

I’ve know JP since he was a kid. His Dad, Joe and I have been friends going back to my early Hasselblad days. We’d catch up once a year in New York at the PhotoPlus Expo show and then JP starting coming along.  Then dinner became an annual event, more shows and more time together talking about the industry we all love so much.

This past year JP had his second standing-room-only program at WPPI.  He’s become an outstanding photographer, but that’s not the reason he sold-out this fund-raiser.

Yesterday I wrote about the importance of great customer service and building a relationship with your clients.  The Elario’s focus with so much more than just their camera gear – both JP and Joe have an incredible sense of service. They work to go well beyond their client’s expectations at every wedding and event.  So, when JP reached out to the community, the community reached back and in just 4 hours, forty three mini-sessions were filled.

I couldn’t be more proud of my “nephew” and the kind of photographer and person JP has become. There is no substitute for relationship building with your clients or for that matter, integrity and heart!

Yesterday there were some really nice comments to the blog and it made my day.  So the smile on my face this morning is in response to the gratitude I’m feeling for hearing these posts, both mine and all my guests over the last year, are helping to make a difference.  Feedback, good or bad, is incredibly important to all of us – it’s a huge reason why I believe you need to keep developing your network.  It’s all about your friends and associates being able to help you grow.

That growth will help you keep a positive attitude and even more important, growth makes life fun!  Remember “fun”? It’s one of those words too often lost in business today.  You’re allowed to play hard as well as work hard, which is exactly what we were doing in JP Elario’s photo booth at his wedding when this picture was taken.  That’s me and Sheila with good buddy and great photographer, Joe Elario and his wife Sheila.  (The blog that goes with it is at GoingPro and was posted yesterday.)

In my quest to find what to write about (and feeling incredible pressure because our good friend Melissa now reads my blog)  I found a great quote that says it all…surprsingly it’s from Charles Swindoll, who is often very criticized, but sometimes his thoughts are pretty remarkable:

The longer I live the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.  Attitude, to me, is more important than facts.  It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do.  It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill.  It will make or break a company, a church, a home.  The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.  We cannot change our past…we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way.  We cannot change the inevitable.  The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.  I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how how I react to it.  And so it is with you…we are in charge of our Attitudes.”

So, to all my friends, readers, associates and critics who help us all maintain our attitudes – I am grateful and sure do appreciate the feedback.  The genuine sharing of ideas, both old and new, continually help to make the photo industry an incredible career field!

Happy Friday everybody – make it a great weekend.  Shoot the very best work you’ve ever created and hug somebody you love in the process!

I promise you there’s a point here.   While it might seem a little far fetched to link research for what at the time was an expensive instant camera to the buying habits of your customers, is it really that far out there?  A client is about to hire you to photograph their kids, their family or a wedding and you’re just going to offer them one 8×10?  Okay, that’s an extreme that nobody would do, but  I absolutely believe there are too many photographers not taking advantage of all the incredible products out there.

1) Albums:  There’s everything on the planet available, giving photographers the ability to virtually customize a client’s order.  In fact, I received the Albums Inc. catalog yesterday and it’s just about the same thickness of a phone book for any major US city.  If I was dealing with a client I could offer them anything and it’s all on line!   And, when you’re thinking about their album, think plural.  Everybody thinks multiple albums for weddings, but what about everything else you photograph?  Why would you only plant the seed for them to think about one album?  Doesn’t Grandma deserve one too?  Isn’t it the perfect holiday gift following a “Day in the Life” shoot of the kids?

2) Frames: Here’s one I’ve never understood, photographers who don’t take advantage of framing the print for the customer.  Everybody procrastinates and your clients are in the “everybody” category.  So, why wouldn’t you offer them a custom frame for that print they’re going to want of the family sitting?   And it’s not like you’ve got a hard time finding a supplier…again, they were right in the Albums Inc catalog!

3) BIG prints:  It’s another point I must be missing.  I realize that big prints aren’t for everybody.  In fact, I never liked them – that was until Helen Yancy gave me a gift of an over-sized watercolor print of my grandson and me (shown below).  And, it was matted and framed, ready to go on the wall the minute I got it home.

4) Canvas prints:  Again, like big prints, it’s not for every photograph or client, but it represents one more exciting element in the process of added value and enhancement to the consumer experience of working with you.  My buddy Joe Elario’s canvas print hangs over the fireplace in our living room.

5) Multiple prints:  It seems like an obvious choice, but if you don’t remind your customers of the various print sizes you have available they won’t figure it out themselves.  Make it easy for them with pre-selected packages.

6) Tech-stops:  I’ve heard some great stories about photographers finding ways to tie in a free iPod loaded with the wedding images, for example, to their clients.   It’s another product that can help make you different, but why stop there?  Digital picture frames are so affordable they’ve become “no-brainers”.  Sheila’s got a picture frame in our family room that runs non-stop with over 600 images selected at random of family, friends and vacations.

7)Slide shows:   Here’s another one, gaining popularity, but still too often missed.  We’re in a visual industry, so why wouldn’t you want to put together a little music with their images?   You’ve got some great companies out there like Photodex and Animoto to work with.   I love the fact that everyone is talking about “mixed media” when I’ve been doing it for years using Photodex technology.  And seriously, I should be a poster child for the technically challenged – if I can do it, anybody can!

 8) Novelty items:  From watches to mugs to mouse pads and calendars – while you might think they’re hokey, think about the impact of a surprise gift from you to a client you’ve loved working with.  How’s this for a scenario – you just shot a terrific engagement session and the couple loves their dog.   You’re working on building the relationship with them, both before the wedding and because we’re a word-of-mouth business and the bride has 8 bridesmaids ALL in their 20’s and all single!  Can you imagine the word of mouth advertising you’re going to create if you sent them something as simple as a watch with the pup’s face on it?  Or a coffee mug?   This isn’t about classic imaging, this is about being able to take something most people would think of as cheesy and make your clients laugh!

9) Websites and web pages:  Yes, I’m suggesting you really go high tech and utilize a template to give them their own custom page.  It’s minimal work and again, represents something you can offer to further enhance the experience.

I started this half an hour ago and just got carried away, but the reality is, everyone is always complaining about Uncle Harry!  One of the differences, in addition to Uncle Harry not being able to capture an image the way you can, is all of the things you can offer a client that Uncle Harry doesn’t even know about.  He’s got no vendor list, no relationship with a great album company, frame company or lab.  All Uncle Harry has in common with you is his wallet or credit card when he bought the same gear you did.

In the hierarchy of reasons why consumers hire photographers it goes Brides, Babies and Pets – in that order.  There’s no faster way to shut Uncle Harry down than to put together a complete imaging experience for every client.   If we’ve learned nothing else from McDonalds, we’ve got to ask every customer, “You want fries with that?”

“What’s your favorite place?” Mike once asked him.  The priest being a resident of New England told Mike about a couple of places, one of them in New Hampshire.  A few days later a framed print was delivered to the priest.  The picture of his “favorite place” hangs on his wall today.  Sharing favorite images with people became Mike’s trademark.

Back in February I wrote a blog about the value of a photograph and talked about a gift from good buddy, Joe Elario.  I even included a shot of the finished print hanging over the fire place.  It was a very special gift and means that much more to me, because it was created by a friend.

I wonder how many of you realize the potential your images have to create a very special bond with family, friends and clients.  Sure, if they hired you then they’re paying for you to capture the images, but what if you were to do something extra and surprise them?

Joe Buissink, in his new book, Wedding Photography from the Heart, talks about how he prints up a few large images of the bride and groom and has them framed on the wall of his studio when they come in to pick up their proofs. 

“While most of the images for the album are printed in the lab.  I also create 20×24 prints of some of my favorite shots in the studio…Imagine this:  You’re the bride and groom and you come to the studio to pick up your proofs.  Before you’ve seen one single image, there’s a matted 20×24 print from your wedding – my favorite photo of the event on the wall.  The impact is phenomenal“….

So, from a priest in Massachusetts cherishing a memory from a member of his congregation, to Joe Elario sending me a wonderful gift to Joe Buissink creating a special surprise for his clients - the common denominators are all about emotion and memories.   I’m willing to bet that many of you forget about this very best calling card, or maybe I should refer to it as a “recalling card”, you have at your disposal every day, your photographs!

Don’t under estimate your ability to create goodwill that goes far beyond business arrangements – use your skill set to create images your friends and clients cherish and keep your role as a photographer not just in their minds but in their hearts!  Yeah, it sounds kind of hokey, but it works!

And speaking of special photographs – here’s one that has absolutely nothing to do with today’s blog, except it’s near and dear to my heart.  Years ago, probably around 1995 we did a Hasselblad sales meeting in Tucson.  Being in the “old west”, I decided it would be great to get an authentic wild west photograph with all of us looking the part!   It’s almost perfect, but like a puzzle in Highlights for Children – see if you can find what’s wrong in the shot!

First, and you could never tell this looking at the image – the photographer used a Bronica, at that time one of our competitors!  None of us realized it until afterwards.  But the most fun is in the second mistake – we all looked the part, except my buddy Mike.  Yup, that’s Mike Bowen in the front row wearing his Nikes!  Not sure how many cowboys wore boots in the old days with the big Nike logo!  (PS That’s cowboy Tony Corbell in the first spot on the horse, next to me in the ten gallon hat!)

Here’s the newest addition to the collection.  Joe Elario, sent me a small canvas print for Christmas and we loved it, but here’s the background.  Joe and I met a long long (notice the use of double “longs”) time ago at PhotoPlus Expo in New York.  Every year he’d come by the Hasselblad booth and we’d talk.  A great friendship came out of those annual visits and pretty soon we started catching up at other shows, getting out to dinner and coming up in March I’ll be there to watch his son, JP, also an outstanding photographer, get married.

Meanwhile, back to the print – it’s beautiful small, but I wanted it large.  Only in photography can you not insult somebody by saying, “I love your gift, but would you mind sending the file to me so I can redo it!”   We sent the file over to Drew at Simply Canvas and took it to 24×48 for over the fireplace. 

The quality is outstanding.   For those of you who love prints on canvas, rather than the black edging that Joe’s original print had, Drew mirrored the image around the edges.   He added so much more to the impact by taking away the distraction of a black border.

The next time you’re working with a client and looking for that one image worthy to enlarge, first think about your options and consider a canvas print.  Second, think about the value of that photograph to your client.  The value can’t be measured in dollars, but the emotions and the memories it brings back.  Stay focused on how to sell the “heart” of your work and you’ll close the sale every time!