Today is tomorrow's resumé

Nikon D4, 28-300mm, ISO 2200, ƒ/5.6, 1/100

I was talking to my friend Gil Williams about how I look for photo assistants. Gil started his career in Atlanta doing photo assisting in the 1990's.

We were talking about the do's and don'ts of assisting.

Do's

• Show up early
• Always ask about how to dress for the job
• Keep track of all equipment during a job
• Always be a second set of eyes. Pay attention and see if lights are flashing for example.
• Have your own little emergency kit. Keep things like a leatherman, gaffers tape, spring clips, etc.
• Look for ways to be helpful. 
• Be first to grab all the bags and carry them.
• Keep positive attitude all the time

Don'ts

• Run late
• Dress inappropriate
• Forget where equipment goes when repacking
• Wait to be told what to do all the time
• Talk to the client. Always talk to the photographer unless they ask you to entertain the clients.
• Negative attitude and words are inappropriate

After talking about some war stories of our experiences Gil told me what he lived by on every job to the best of his ability. "Today is tomorrow's resumé," is what Gil told me. 

He even told me about how he was cleaning up around the studio with one photographer. Later that photographer asked him to help convert a bathroom into a closet for him. At first Gil was disappointed that the photographer hire him to do cleaning work. What he realized is that the photographer appreciated him and gave him extra work.

Nikon D4, 85mm, ISO 100, ƒ/1.4, 1/60

What I do to help today be my resumé tomorrow

The photos I posted here are ways that I tried to go above and beyond. In the first photo, I used lights outside on a rainy day to give a better color profile than an overcast sky and helped to increase the dynamic range.  

In the lower vertical shot I used the Nikon 85mm wide open at ƒ/1.4 and used off camera flash to help pop the subject out from the background.

I could have shot both with available light, but I used the off camera flash to help take the quality up a notch.

How to stretch your communication budget during budget cuts tip

Are you suffering from budget cuts? If you are like most you have been through some cuts. You cannot stop communicating with your audience or you will put the organization at risks for more cuts due to the lack of interest and support.

Here is a tip to help save yet still produce a quality marketing campaign.

You may be aware of the marketing funnel. When it comes to buget one of the most important parts of this funnel often gets overlooked. Repeat is the last thing in the funnel steps and is extremely critical to your success.

A one-off promotion just doesn't typically work. Research shows that 80% of sales are made after the fifth contact.

What is shocking to me in the research was that 10% of sales is made by the fourth contact.

Too many marketing campaigns I see are spending a lot of money on the first impression contact with a potential customer.

One of the most expensive communication tools is video. It is very effective in telling stories. Many 2 - 3 minute videos start in the price range of $15,000+. How would you like to cut this by half or more?

Due to how one gathers video clips it takes time to produce a video. Take a moment sometime this week and watch one of your videos. As you watch it look for all the content in the video that you can use in another medium.

Now take a look at this package I did for a client and see how many images that can be used for other mediums.



Videos that I am doing for clients that use stills as the b-roll are starting at $3,000 for my clients. The savings do not just stop at the video. Now all those images shot for the video are now usable for the web, print, billboards and more mediums.

When you shoot video you are most of the time on sticks (tripod) and letting the action happen around the camera. With still photography the photographer floats around the action. They are looking for a moment and not a segment. Due to the difference in how the images are aquired, a still shooter can move around the room more and get many different angles while the video must wait for the moment to develop.

Next week I am speaking to the Grady School of Journalism's photojournalism class. I will speak on the topic of business practices for photographers. One of the metaphors I use to help drive home this concept of marketing is to act like a freshman and not a senior. Here is a blog (Click Here) I wrote on the topic last year after speaking to the class.

Remember when doing your video projects to always get the still images of those projects. This is especially true when you are creating a new video of a major initiative for your organization. If it is that important using stills later in power points, PDFs, on websites, blogs and in printed material will be needed.

Give me a call or write if you would like me to help you stretch that budget with a multimedia project or if you just need some photography of your organization.

Most organizations need a stock photography library

This photo can be used in many ways for this college. It can be used to show some of the facilities, the idea of small campus (not many people in the photos) and other ways.

One of the best things any organization can do is to create a stock photo library. These  are photos people can use for a variety of uses.

If your organization has certain main themes or initiatives, then you need images to help illustrate the concept.  "Seeing is believing," is the old saying we all know to be true.

Your company maybe in the service industry where you want to emphasize good eye contact with the customers. You would benefit from having not just a few but a variety of photos to use for your website, PowerPoint presentations, training manuals and even use these to drop into videos.

This college wants to emphasize they have trees and lakes at their campus. Even tho they are only minutes from downtown Atlanta, this campus offers a piece of nature and relaxation to its students.

Plan your photo stock shoots

Take some time to plan those photo stock shoots and you will be amazed at how much of a resource this will become for the organization.

Start by making a list of your major initiatives. Maybe your company talks about a certain value added concept you do that distinguishes you from your competition.

Create a list of things your clients are looking for that you address. High school students looking for colleges look for a few things.  See which of these might apply to your organization.

This helps to communicate faculty to teacher ratio. It also shows they have the arts at this school and it shows off the facility.

Things schools typically show

• Teacher student ratio.  Most schools will try and have lots of photos of their faculty teaching one-on-one or in small seminar settings.
• Diversity.  Most schools not only want to show what they are, many will shoot stock photos to recruit for what they want to become.
• Technology. Schools want to show their state of art labs and classrooms. This communicates to a High School student they have an opportunity to work with different technology.
• Living Spaces. Students want to know where they will live and play. This is where you show dorm rooms, coffee shops, fitness centers and more to help entice students to your campus.
• Community. While many schools do not show the community they are apart of, most of the schools who want to show all available to a student would want to show things from skyline shots, professional sports teams near by, the arts and anything that helps recruit their ideal student.
• Extra curricular activities. Students want to know about flying clubs, sporting clubs or anything else that can compliment their time in the classroom.

This living space in a women's dorm is a little surprising to some folks.  Looks very much like a home atmosphere.

Getting ready for the shoot

• Recruit more models than you think you will need. The best reason to have more models than you need is many will have last minute reasons they cannot make it. another good reason is some models you picked just may not look all that good in photos. Rather than taking a lot of photos of students you will not use, switch people around. You not only get photos you can use, but more photos you can use.
• Ask models to bring a change of clothes. Two or more outfits can really help you when someone is wearing something inappropriate or that is so busy or loud that it draws to much attention in the photo.  You may want to have some solid colored polo shirts to offer as well.
• Ask models to wear solids. Also, avoid red and solid white. The red draws your eye to much and the white can sometimes be difficult for printing later.
• Plan locations and time to transition from one location to another.  It would be easier to use the same classroom and switch out teachers and students than to move from building to building. Unless their are some very specific features in a classroom you are showing off, showing a class is about showing the diversity of your students, the engaging faculty and them enjoying themselves.  Plan enough time for a photographer to pack up, move and then reset things like lights, tripods and light stands.
• Give time for the situation to work. Give enough time that once the photographer starts to shoot for people to get into it. This means the photographer can shoot a while look at the images and suggest some changes (like switching out people) to get you usable images.

School showing their TV studio facilities.

Your Stock Images are Old

Be very careful to plan stock shoots annually or every other year. Hair styles and clothing styles will quickly date your photos. If your audience is pretty much the same you will need to update more often. Years ago colleges updated their materials every other year.  They were mainly shooting for recruiting materials.

With today's internet, you need to have even a larger stock file that is replenished more often. One organization I work with puts a new photo on their home web page every day. By them rotating this every day the number of people going to the website has gone up.  They are creating excitement by having people wanting to see what is new.

One photographer is having about 175,000 hits a day on his blog and the draw is a photo a day.  Check out Trey Ratcliff's site Stuck in Customs. This is a good reason to have more stock images to help drive people to you.

Product shots 

Don't forget to have fresh images of your products as well. You will help create a mood and ambiance of your product line with images.

Use as graphic elements

When it comes to photos, they can be used as much for their graphics as for their content.

Some of your products can just look cool.  Be sure and get detail shots into your library.

Close-up images can really add impact to a presentation.  You can use them as a background as well.

Keep it Current

One of the best resources for your organization is a good photo library that is kept up to date.

These photo shoots will become your way of having visual images to compliment the initiatives and messaging you need to be doing daily for your organization.  Call me if you need help. I can not only help in shooting but help you create an on-line database for storage and searching.

Pro Golfers and Pro Photographers have a lot in common

Taylor Made Burner Driver

The Mechanics

The professional golfer started by learning the golf swing with one club. It was most likely the 5-iron that they started with.  When you hit a golf ball with the 5-iron the ball is in the middle of your feet and just out in front of your body at the comfortable distance where the club will meet it when your swing is proper.

Many who start playing begin with a starter set of clubs.  Instead of carrying the 14 club limit they do on the PGA tour they carry half as many clubs. The reason is simple, before you run you have to walk. You need to get down the mechanics of the golf swing and then learn to slow it down, change your stance for different club lengths and how to make the ball not just go straight but left or right.

Tour Edge Bazooka HT Max Irons

The professional photographer starts out with a simple camera and learns how to master the mechanics of camera. When I started many were told to get a simple 50mm lens and basic camera that was totally manual only. They don't make this type of camera anymore for the digital era.

I learned over time how to make my shots just like the professional golfer. If I wanted to do something different, just like the golfer, I learned how to manipulate the camera to get the results I was looking for in my shot.

My golf bag

The professional golfer who is leading a tournament is the one who is consistently playing. The difference between those at the top and the others is what goes on in their head. The leaders are calm and thinking level headed about their game. They may have a bad drive, but they are able to step up on the next shot and recover. The amateur golfer often is still thinking about what they did wrong and unable to concentrate on the shot at hand.

The professional photographer who makes their shots consistently is doing it with what goes on in their head.

Equipment

You can give an average set of clubs to a professional golfer and they will play better with them than most amateurs. A professional photographer can be given a point and shoot camera and most likely out perform the amateur for similar reasons. It isn't the equipment that determines the professional but the knowledge in their heads that they put to use that makes them perform at the highest level of the game.

The pros do look for the best equipment that is made for them to perform at their best.  While there are differences between golf clubs and cameras most at this level are very minuet and the major differences are more between the person using the equipment.

The Business Metaphor

The professional photographer is best served by having a niche. This makes it easier to market and brand themselves.  I like to think of this like starting to play golf, your niche is like learning the golf swing with the 5-iron.

It is much easier after establishing yourself in a market to add other services. Think of it like adding another club to the bag. You may start shooting weddings and a natural next step maybe portraits.

My camera bag I use most often for corporate work

After shooting portraits on location at weddings you may then add the studio portrait to your bag.  You get pretty confident with this and then step over to shooting executive portraits or maybe musical performers portraits for CDs and their promotional material.

Hopefully, you are starting to see its not the camera or the golf clubs that make you a pro, it is years of experience and perfecting the mechanics to make the shots you want to make. Over time you learn to remain calm, cool and collected in your thoughts, so you can make the shot. You know that it take all of your mind and heart to make great photos that keep the clients coming back for more.

Race Cars and Photography Subjects have a lot in common

Just a self portrait of me at the Atlanta Speedway

My last e.Newsletter sparked a reader's comment.  He shot motorsports and wanted to do even more and get paid to do so.  He was commenting on my blog post "How to photograph what you love for a living."

It was during the exchange of emails that I had a moment of clarity.  I had another example to help students learn how to understand marketing.

If you look you will notice not just a major sponsor, but many others with their logos on these cars.

The guy had sent me some of his photos of cars on a track and I immediately saw all the sponsor decals. I see every sticker as a potential client--most photographers just see it as decoration.

For example Goodyear might be interested in photos and an article for their internal newsletter.  Every single sticker on that car is a potential corporate outlet.  Two departments at each of these corporations one should contact.  Their PR office which often has two parts an internal and external focus.  The second group is Marketing/Advertising. 

Every time you talk to anyone on the driver's team you need to find out where they are from and what schools they went to.  Their hometown paper is interested and their college alumni publications are interested.

Don't forget to then look at everything on your list and then think of all the associations these folks are members of.  Each of those organizations has publications as well. 

Each and every sticker is another sponsor who would be interested in photos of this car.

Goodyear is most likely a member of TIA (Tire Industry Association).  They too have publications that need photos.  They run ads of their members in the publications.

While HomeDepot and Lowe's maybe competition, most likely they are both members of the NRHA, North American Retail Hardware Association. 

Even NASCAR driver Randy Baker has sponsor patches all over his driving suit.

You may not ever cover motorsports, but if you were to think of everything you photograph as having people interested in the photos the same reasons that sponsors put decals on race cars, then you have one of the biggest clues to know how to market your services.

Everyone has a story is based on another fact someone wants to know their story.  Learn to connect the dots between the story and the audience.

When you make contact

When you pitch a story you are pushing content.  Learn to pull content as well with each contact.  "…here is a story for you on …."  Always let them know your availability and what you are doing in case they want to piggy back an assignment for you.  "I am going to cover _____ race on____.  If you need any coverage of this let me know.  Also, I can take time on the way there and back to stop and get coverage for you along the way.  This will save you the travel expenses since I am already in the area."

Whenever you travel take time to stop by and visit some of these people you are contacting.  "Hey John I am in the area for a job tomorrow.  Do you mind I stop by and say hello.  Maybe we can get a cup of coffee."  This can lead to more jobs.

It is about networking.  The more contacts you make the more times you will get a job that pays.

How to photograph what you love for a living

Mark Johnson talks with his photojournalism class at the University of Georgia.

Yesterday I talked to Mark Johnson's Photojournalism class at The Grady College of Journalism and Multimedia on the campus of the University of Georgia.  I shared with them business practices and marketing concepts for the photographer.

If I had more time I would have told them to also about the importance of a personal project. If you ever hear a successful photojournalist speak about their work you will most likely hear about the “personal project.”

Today I want to talk about why I think this is a key to the success of the visual storyteller

Inner Drive

I have hit the delete key way too much here to capture how important having an “inner drive” is to the success of your career. You have to be excited about a project that it consumes you enough that you are excited about thinking about the possibilities that it motivates you to act.

You need to have a passion about something so that when you pick up the camera to capture the subject emotions are driving your compositions and not a formula.

Community

You need a support system, because going something all alone is difficult.

My faith community talks about the individual call and the corporate call. While a person may feel they are called to do something it is the corporate call of the community that must confirm the call.

By sharing your ideas with some close friends they can help encourage you and challenge you in the process.

Mark is more than just their teacher, he can serve as their coach or mentor, but they must make that decision

Coach/Mentor

You really need someone who has been where you want to go or at least has taken on a personal project and succeeded.

Your coach will talk to you before you start. They should ask questions and help you to articulate why you have chosen an approach.

As you shoot your project you should be taking it to them to review. This is when you will discover with their help you have some holes in the coverage. You then will reshoot and show the results again to your coach.

Sometimes you will discover that the project you tried to cover just doesn’t work for one reason or another. This is when your coach might suggest taking on something else that might be better match for your heart and abilities to capture.

Goal

 
When you are done with your project you will know it because you have achieved your goal.

Sometimes your long-term goal may take years to achieve, but due to your efforts people have hired you to shoot some of their projects. Sometimes you may have a very successful career and still not achieve your goal for a long time.

Surprise

Just the other night my wife Dorie helped me to see I had achieved some of my goal.

I had been asked to curate the art exhibit on missions for our church. It has been up now for a couple of weeks. Some people had come to tell me how much they loved the photos. “They are so real and we just love them.” Soon I had a couple folks talking to us. Then I overhead my wife telling a couple that this was not just Stanley’s profession this is the essence of what he is all about.

You see my goal was not to be published only, I have wanted to know that my photos were having impact on people’s lives. I hope that because of the art exhibit people feel called to give, go and/or pray for missions. If this happens then this personal project met the objective.

Students listen to Mark as he introduces me to the class

What is your personal project?

Is there room for another photographer in the room?

Stanley teaching photography at University of Nations in Kona, Hawaii.  Youth With a Mission runs the school.  (photo by: Dennis Fahringer)

At the Art Institute of Pittsburgh campus alone, there were reportedly about 600 photography students pursuing a bachelor of arts or associates degree as of last summer, says Kathleen A. Bittel, the whistleblower whose testimony before a US Senate committee last fall helped trigger the federal lawsuit against EDMC.

[…] “Where are 600 photography graduates going to go? You cannot absorb that many in one city. How are they going to make money?”

http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/news/The-Art-Institutes--3531.shtml

I believe there is room for another photographer in our industry.  To be successful a person must have the total package.

What are some of the things you need to be a successful photographer?

1.     Need a portfolio of professional quality images

a.     Well composed

b.     Good Exposure

c.      In Focus

d.     Great Light

e.     “Decisive Moment”

2.     Business Acumen

a.     Knows their home budget needs

b.     Knows the “Cost-of-doing-business”

c.      Knows their market place

d.     Has a consistent marketing plan

3.     Inner Drive

4.     Continuous Improvement

a.     Looking to improve their portfolio

b.     Looking to improve their efficiency

c.      Looking to improve their marketing

While I have been working as a photographer in some capacity for 30 years, it was in 2002 I became a full-time freelancer.  This is where I was responsible for the business side of photography if I were to be successful.

I reached out to a very successful Ken Touchton.  He called almost daily those first few weeks giving advice and calling to see if I was following through. 

When I teach I give similar advice given to me.  What I have discovered is very few ever follow through.  One day I shared how frustrated I was with students not following through with Ken.  He then let me know I was one of the very few that ever listened to him.

I had a few other friends who lost their staff jobs and also reached out to Ken and me.  After a few weeks Ken stopped following up with most all of them.  They were not following through and so he stopped wasting his time if they were not going to take his advice.

Most all of those photographers continue to struggle today.

This year Greg Thompson, director of corporate communications for Chick-fil-A, was talking with his team about their role.  “When a ship misses the harbor it isn’t the harbor’s fault.”

This metaphor helped me see how so many photographers businesses were going under.  They were spending their time working on websites and portfolios.  They were creating a harbor and not a ship.   It is a common mistake of businesses.  The “Field of Dreams” concept doesn’t work for the photographer.  You just don’t take a photo and people line up to buy it. 

Is there room for another photographer in this industry? If you want to be paid to shoot for yourself then there is no room for you.  If you want to shoot for others and help them achieve their goals with your photos—then you can make it.

How much should I charge? Part 3

You need to understand what you need for each of these categories over a year

This is step two of knowing how to quote a price to someone when they ask you, "How much do you charge?"

In step one you should have come up with an annual figure of what your annual living expenses are for you.  If you live in a gated community and drive a premium vehicle then you can already see that what you have to charge to pay your bills will impact your prices for your clients.

The other extreme which I often encounter when teaching folks how to figure their prices is they are in college or live at home.  If they use their actual expenses for their annual salary they will have to remain living with Mommy and Daddy for the rest of their lives.  If you are one of these folks, then take some time and research what it would cost you to be out on your own.  There are a few things that will greatly change for those under the age of 25 if they are on their own and not with their parents.

1. Housing costs
2. Car Insurance
3. Health Insurance

These three items will be much more expensive if you are to do this on your own.  

NPPA put this on their website to help you

I highly suggest going to the NPPA website and plugging in your figures.  However there is a better reason to go to the website than just using it as a calculator.  Beside each item there is an i-button.

These are coaching tips that give you some idea of how to figure this annual expense.  As you can see from this box I have copied the one for the "Office or Studio" item and you can see it gives you an explanation about this item.

Your "Desired Salary" will change

At some point you will need to sit down with an accountant to help you know what you can do that will make a big difference on what you pay in taxes. 

What happens when you run your own business is that some of your expenses for your home can be moved to your business and especially if you work out of your home.

While not all of these expenses will move over to your business at 100% these are some items that could be transferred that are usually part of your home budget.

1. Telephone
2. Utilities
3. Internet Connection
4. Auto expenses
5. Computer

Adjust your home budget

You will need to revisit your "Annual Salary" and most likely realize you can now take home less for your home budget, because some of this shifted to your "Business Expenses."  This will slightly affect your rates that you must charge.

A little guessing

You will need to figure out what an average type of job or assignment you will be doing with your business.  This is the most difficult thing to approximate for a number of reasons.  Here are some types of photo shoots I might do in a year.

• Headshots
• College recruiting
• Corporate events
• NGO editorial coverage
• Magazine features
• News coverage for wire service

The prices for each of these is different for various reasons.  First of all they don't all take the same amount of time.  More importantly some of these I am an expert in and my competition cannot compete head to head with me with all my clients.

The basic idea is once you have figured out how many of each of these types of assignments you will do a year you will guess as to what is an average assignment look like.  Take the same list and give it some numbers as to how many you will do in a year. Put beside that how long on average it takes you to complete the work.

• Headshots (100) x [2 hours] = 200
• College recruiting (15) x [20 hours] = 300
• Corporate events (12) x [20 hours] = 240
• NGO editorial coverage (10) x [30 hours] = 300
• Magazine features (15) x [8 hours] = 120
• News coverage for wire service (20) x [3 hours] = 60

Total "billable" hours a year 1220 divided by 8 hours a day gives you 152.5 days of "billable" time.

Now this is figure when you are starting out my just be 30 days that you can find work in a year.  RED ALERT!!!

You will need to assume that you either 1) have saved enough money up to offset your lack of jobs until you get enough jobs, or 2) have another job.

On average a very successful photographer will most likely have around 100 "billable days" of work in a year.

Using the 152.5 days of work a year will give you $589.18 day rate if you use the default numbers in the NPPA calculator--DON'T DO THIS--use your numbers.  For illustration this would give you then a $73.65 per "AVERAGE" hour rate that you "MUST" charge at the minimum or your business model will be upside down.

The reason I say average is on some jobs you will be able to charge more since you might have no competition or very little competition or the going rates in the market allow for the higher rate.

Don't Quote Hourly Rates

This exercise is to help you know your costs, not to give you the rate to quote. 

Combine it all

Now that you know your "Cost-of-doing-business" you will combine this with actual expenses associated with a job.  Here are some of those expenses you will add to your base:

1. Travel Expenses
2. Prints/CDs/Online Fees
3. Shipping Costs
4. Photo assistants
5. Makeup artists
6. Food costs (snacks for day long shoots for example)

This is not an exhaustive list, but this will go on top of your $589.18 if it is a day long shoot.

Usage Fees

I talked about how to calculate these earlier and this will go on top of the $589.18 + Expenses that will give you some idea of what to quote.

Trade-outs

While you have everything now to quote a job and are ready there are some things that are now negotiable.   For example, if a client gives you 50 copies of the coffee table book you did for their organization you could trade this out for a lower price, because you now can offset some of the costs of advertising.  You can then give these books out to potential customers helping you land a new client.

I know some photographers who trade out retail value of their services say with a restaurant.  They give them $2,000 worth of photography for $2,000 worth of food.  It is a win win for both.  The actual cost of doing the business maybe $1,000 for the photographer and only $1,000 for the restaurant.  The photographer takes potential clients out for dinner at the fine dining restaurant and it helps them seal the deal.  The photographer just saved $1,000 in expenses for overhead. 

Summary

If you know these figures you will feel confident when you are quoting prices that you can pay your bills doing the job.  You also will feel that you did the right thing when they offer you less than your rates for a job and you turn them down.  Realize once you have the numbers you can still be creative to come up with solutions that make you the right fit for a job.  

How much should I charge? Part 2

Here are monthly expenses and income based on minimum wage for a household of two children and two working adults in metro Atlanta. These numbers come from Fairness for Georgia Families.

Last blog I talked about usage fees.  This is part 2 of 3 on pricing.

Your first step in know what to charge for photography projects would be the first step in any business you decide to start.  How much does it cost for you to live?  What is your home budget to pay the bills?

The table above is from research done in Atlanta, Georgia on the cost of living for a family.

What is scary is the actual take home salary of the two adults working at minimum wages is easily $12,500 less than their actual bills.  The expenses are the average lowest rates. 

Do you know what your monthly or annual budget is for you to live?  Even if you do not go into business for yourself, you need to know this.  Too many folks and most likely those working at Capitol Hill have the same problem.  They have more going out than coming in.

If you are not upside down and have money in the bank and still don't know your budget, just start tracking your spending.  By knowing this number it will empower you later when you have someone ask your price and you know that if you don't charge X amount that you will in reality be paying them to take your work.

Believe it or not this is one of the biggest reasons business will fail.  Not knowing what they need to take home can impact what the business needs to succeed.

If you want to do photography full-time then you need to take this first step.  My next post will help you with the cost of doing business, but you need to know what you have to take home to pay the bills before you can go to the second step, so take some time and get those numbers on paper.

Emotional Intelligence

I really enjoy picking up books and reading from all aspects of life. The latest book I read was Emotional Intelligence 2.0 by Travis Bradberry & Jean Greaves.

Here is a link to it on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Emotional-Intelligence-2-0-Travis-Bradberry/dp/097432...

What strikes me as a photographer is how my experiences with other photographers seems to support the notion that emotional intelligence does predict your success as a photographer better than your IQ does.

There are 4 areas the book covers:

1) Self-Awareness
2) Self-Management
3) Social Awareness
4) Relationship Management

I personally feel that this is a great book to read for the photographer who wants to grow. People skills are extremely important and I believe can make or break your career. 

Emotional Intelligence is the dimension of intelligence responsible for our ability to manage ourselves and our relationships with others. The culture you grow up in can help give you an advantage here.  What was amazing in the book was how China's managers from business tested higher than Americans.  The book attributes this to their culture.


The good news that the book gives us is that while our IQ doesn't change all that much, because it is more about your capacity to learn the emotional intelligence is more about how you choose to react to situations and events and that over time you can change this.  


The research showed how over many years American's tested higher each year than before until 2008 when the economy affected us in so many ways.  It is difficult for all of us to know how to respond when your career choice no longer exists and you have to remake yourself overnight to survive.  


If you are a person who likes to follow the rules and when following the rules hasn't always led to success then this is a great book for you.  It will help you to see how logic isn't the only way to problem solve.

Why are you here?

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

— Ephesians 2:10

Fellowship Of Christians United in Service, Hamilton, GA

“Stanley, why were you created?” is a question I remember being asked by my grandfather Rev. Knolan Benfield. 

My grandfather then quoted Ephesians 2:10 to me and let me know I was created to do good works. 

I believe one of the greatest movements in my lifetime has been volunteerism.  I saw this movement start in the late 60’s for me.

As a child I remember professional missionaries speaking to churches where they helped raise support. Most of the missionaries were all college graduates who often had masters and doctorate degrees in things like theology, law, agriculture and medicine.

Student marks the board to be cut as part of a roof repair for an elderly woman's house in Hamilton, Ga.

These missionaries felt called to give of their lives in service around the world.  They prepared through education so they would be well qualified to do the work in a different culture.  They would go to language school and learn to speak a foreign language.

Students clean the landscaping of Fellowship Of Christians United in Service offices in Hamilton, Ga.

Loren Cunningham started Youth With A Mission in the 60s when the mainline church thought that unskilled youth should not be encouraged to do short term mission’s projects.  It took a while to grow the concept to today.  YWAM currently has over 16,049 full-time volunteer workers in nearly 1,100 operating locations in 171 nations and trains 25,000 short-term missions volunteers annually.  It is a movement still growing and thriving today.

Former U. S. President Jimmy Carter got involved with Habitat for Humanity in 1984.  Habitat for Humanity is devoted to building "simple, decent, and affordable" housing using primarily volunteers.

IMPACT 360 student cuts board for roof repair in Hamilton, Ga.

Pay it Forward is a movie produced in 2000 about a 11 ½ boy’s response to school assignment to devise and put into action a plan that will change the world for the better.  Most folks feel like they need to give back to those who help them, but this boy’s concept is to Pay it Forward and creates a movement.

This past weekend I photographed college students who are in a gap year program in Pine Mountain, GA doing a service project. One of the appealing things about this college program is the service component and students are seeking ways to Pay it Forward in their communities.

John and Trudy White founded the college gap year program called IMPACT 360.  Trudy is the daughter of Truett Cathy, the founder of Chick-fil-A. One of the cornerstones of Chick-fil-A is based on biblical principle of service.

It's the same way with the Son of Man. He didn't come so that others could serve him. He came to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many people.

— Matthew 20:28

Elderly woman watches as the IMPACT 360 students and alumni put in stairs to her home in Hamilton, Ga.

The students each year enjoy their time of service and after they graduate they come back for alumni weekends to work alongside the current students in service projects.

Are you living up to your purpose—doing good works?

See the Big Picture

This is a clip of Carrie Underwood playing the youth minister to Bethany Hamilton in the movie Soul Surfer.

Our family just saw the movie. in another scene Carrie Underwood showed a close-up photo of an insect’s eye to the youth group asking the kids to identify what they were seeing. She then would zoom out and show the bigger perspective. 

Throughout the movie we see the theme of there are bigger perspectives that we need sometimes. Carrie quotes the scripture Jeremiah 29:11:

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Early in my career I covered a similar story.  I got to be with the Newberry family, as they had to deal with their two year old son Philip’s loss of hands and feet due to spiral meningitis. Here is that story.

Often we can get too focused on a project and not see how it fits into the “bigger picture.”

One of the ways I try to help my clients is to see the photos I am shooting for their project can be used for other projects. What I encourage now more than ever is to get a big perspective early.

If the project you are working on maybe part of something bigger for the company for example, you may want to consider pulling the stops out to make an more upfront investment that over the course of the company initiative will be used over and over which brings down the cost per use over time.

One thing is that if you think something is really big and decide it should be a video and don’t assign a writer you then will have to have someone go back and spend more time backtracking to get text to use for other parts of the project through the year. Another downside of video alone is that it doesn’t work in print very well.

I think when you have big stories to cover you should consider always using text and think of still images next. The stills can be used in slide show with audio, used on website, used in print and have shelf life to be used later in PowerPoint, poster, display booth, billboards and more.

Sometimes video alone is sufficient because the story will not have many facets.

Think big picture right away. Ask this question: Will this be part of a larger initiative? If the answer is yes take a little more time involving a team to be sure you have explored the possibilities.

Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now.

-- Alan Lakein

Struggling and being successful both bring stress

Stress from taxes

Early in my full-time freelance career I would have sleepless nights.  No jobs on the calendar yet I could see the bills on my calendar.

Every April the IRS helps me to evaluate my year and help me to project earnings into the New Year.

The good news is every year I have watched my business grow.  I credit the stress as the major factor of growth.  I feared failure so much and how it would impact my family that it motivated me to take on cold calling and other aspects of business not so exciting.

The first couple of years I had so many expenses as compared to income that my taxes were not that much.  As the years went by the taxes increased each year with the income.  Some folks will be upset about all the money going out to the government, but for me I was excited that I was finally paying taxes.  Early in my career it was pretty common as a newspaper photographer to make so little that I got most all my taxes back.

The hard part in recent years is being successful in a terrible economy.  I am aware that every job I get is really a blessing.  However, the IRS expects those who are self employed to pay quarterly taxes based on their last year's earnings.

I am having a good year and doing OK, but I have to admit it the stress of knowing the economy is so fragile and my clients may not have work really makes me worry about something I have really no control over.

A different perspective on taxes

What is common for every business just starting to large corporations is your present business may disappear not because of you, but for reasons beyond your control. You need to always looking for new business not just so you can grow your business, but also to make up for the inevitable loss of business from customers who can no longer use your services.

What are you doing to stay a float and get new business?

Measuring your efforts of marketing

Do you know your ROI—Return On Investment?  While often we can use this to measure a financial purchase for your work—like a new camera or lens you need to also look at your time.

Let me talk about four things I do to connect with customers and potential customers.

Front of my latest postcard

Postcards

First of all this is one of my first things I used to get my images into people’s hands outside of sitting down and showing my portfolio.  My friend Tony Messano helped me with a template to use.  Tony also gave me some great insight into using postcards.

back of the postcard

“Everyone has one good photo in them,” Tony would say, “so put some other photos on the backside of the same shoot to show how much variety you deliver—it will help set you apart.”  

I have purchased and created a database of names that at one point was close to 6,500 names.  With the poor economy this has shrunk to 4,700 names.  I need to work on this as well.

I mail the postcards quarterly and sometime have gotten behind.  The advantage of these verses using email is the person has to touch the card before it goes into the wastebasket.  

My hope is that it gets pinned on the wall with other examples the art directors keep. 

My latest e.Newsletter

e.Newsletter

I have been sending this out for many years now on a monthly basis.  Sometimes I was excited about a new topic and sent out more than one a month.  This has proven very helpful.  I give away photography advice and tips I am picking up.  I am no longer just a photographer but considered an expert, because of my sharing of my knowledge.

This does pretty good and I can track it to see who looked at the email, whereas the postcard I just put out there.

My Website

Website

This to me is my online portfolio and more.  The main reason I have it is for those folks looking for a photographer can maybe find me and see my work and based on what they see hire me. 

This is a very static way to market.  I use my postcards, emails, Facebook, Find a Photographer links on National Press Photographers Association and American Society of Media Photographers to drive people to my website.

Besides the photos it also has all my e.Newsletters, videos, bio and links to make it more of a resource tool for folks that visit. 

I can track the number of visitors to the website using Google Analytics.  Here is a sample of the last month of visitors.

Google Analytics

Blog

The largest traffic I get daily is my blog.  I am posting 3 or more times a week similar things that I used to only send as an e.Newsletter.  Blogs are not like spam in the people chooses to revisit and often will subscribe to get emails so they know when I have posted new material.

The number of folks coming to my blog each day and month are 10 to 20 times that of any other thing I do. 

Here you can see the analytics showing the past month.

Blog Analytics

Summary

You cannot pick just one of these to do.  All of them help each other and build my brand.  I ask folks when they call to book me where they found me and believe it or not all of them are getting me jobs.  But the one thing I hear the most often is after they discover me and go to my website they are impressed with the depth of material there that can help them.

Use Google Analytics or something similar to track visitors to your website, blog and e.Newsletters and you will know your ROI score.