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As a photography business owner, you are representing your studio and company at all times. So are your employees! And employees often send the message louder and clearer of who and what your company stands for because they are dealing with your clients more than you are.

As I was waiting for a plane last week, I witnessed an employee loading packages on to a plane. As they fell off the cart, he would kick them over and over again, trying to get them in to the plane with his foot. What image is this giving people who are watching him? I can tell you that as a client of that airline, I was grateful I carried on my luggage!

So how can you make sure that you and your employees give the appearance of a strong and vibrant photography company? First, establish what your studio’s values are. Every photography studio needs to establish its core beliefs, and then build their entire photography business principle around that belief. Employee manuals should be written in such a way as to provide the knowledge necessary to define the core values of the company, and what is acceptable behavior under all circumstances.

Consider the following ideas when establishing and setting up your studio’s policies.

· How do you want to appear to your client?
· Who is your target client, and what do they expect?
· How does your client dress? What stores do they frequent? What interests do they have?
· How do you want each client greeted? In person? On the phone?
· How are problems and customer complaints handled?
· What is exceptable behavior from your employees? Dress code?
· Provide each employee with a copy of the policy manual. Go over each section and provide follow up sessions as needed.

Remember that nothing is cast in stone, so continually make changes as needed. When you discover areas that are unclear, create clarification. When you discover areas that don’t exist, create them And when you discover areas that have too much control, don’t be afraid to loosen up, and allow room for creativity.

Helping your photography business, how to start a digital wedding photography business and wedding photography business visit virtualphotographystudio.com and keep up-to-date with all of the photography happenings via our free newsletter.

I sent out a postcard campaign a little while ago. Recently I had one returned with A LOT of comments on it - all with the basic message of “please take me off your list”. While I never let people like this bring me down, I happily took this person off of my mailing list and went about my day. But it got me to thinking about this poor business owner, and all of the knowledge he’ll never receive. You see, when you receive “junk mail”, don’t stand over the trash can and throw it all away.

Instead take a look at it, and see which pieces motivate you to take action. What’s good about each piece? What’s bad? Then keep a file and place the good and the bad each in its own folder. (Or if you’re like me, it’s own plastic tub.) Then when I’m in need for a new idea, I head to my tub and start sorting through my “good” file. I can always find a piece or two that motivates me to create my own campaign. In fact, that’s how I created the last campaign I sent!

Too bad one business owner will never be successful, and use the free tools that come his way every day.

Helping your photography business, how to start a digital wedding photography business and wedding photography business visit virtualphotographystudio.com and keep up-to-date with all of the photography happenings via our free newsletter. 

Your photography studio’s name can tell a lot about your business. Do you photograph weddings, photograph babies or capture high school senior photography market? Think about what message is relayed within your name.

What message are you sending out when you have a studio named “Say Cheez Photography”? Sounds cute at first, but imagine answering the phone for the hundredth time, “say cheez photography, how can I help you”. Does this name imply that you offer exquisite portraits or cheap prints? A photography studio with an imaginative name has the ability to obtain higher profit margins through prices fit for the produced art.

Or if your studio is “In Focus Photography” you better never create an out of focus image.

Your business name should become an important part of the marketing efforts. Would the diamond leader DeBeers have similar results if they called the business “Shiny Rocks”?

It’s all in they way your business is presented.

Helping your photography business, how to start a digital wedding photography business and wedding photography business visit virtualphotographystudio.com and keep up-to-date with all of the photography happenings via our free newsletter.

Producing quality lighting within your photography is key to increased sales. While it is not always advantageous to setup studio light and umbrellas or a softbox that would instantly gain better, softer light, searching for other solutions might help.

On camera flash allow an instant light source for your subject, but the results can be a less than appealing. Many images might provide acceptable results; the majority share the same results, dark background and flat lighting on the subject. While capturing events, I found that bounced flash provided excellent results by increasing light surrounding areas of the portrait and added softness between highlights and shadows. Using a straight bare bulb flash provided soft even light but distance to the subject was extraordinarily restricted. In researching alternative way to use on camera flash, I ran into some interesting attachments that Gary Fong offered. I have known Gary for well over a decade and he has continued to bring new and inventive products to market. His latest, called the Gary Fong WhaleTail, is an attachment to your on camera flash. This WhaleTale Diffuser  and WhaleTale Reporter are great accessories to use for more flattering light.

Helping your photography business, how to start a digital wedding photography business and wedding photography business visit virtualphotographystudio.com and keep up-to-date with all of the photography happenings via our free newsletter.

After an entire day of hiking through the glorious Colorado mountains, you’ll feel energized and revitalized. It’s an amazing journey, one that can never be repeated.

You’ll be traveling with new friends; friends that will become a permanent part of your Rolodex. I first made my journey over 12 years ago, and I still keep in touch regularly with each and every member of that first trek. The funny thing about sharing a weekend like this with peoople you never knew up until this point - it’s impossible to leave as anything but friends.

You’ll take away memories, photographs - and a whole lot more. Isn’t this the trip you’ve always dreamed of?

Creating bids for photography jobs has always been challenging. What will all of the expenditure associated with a particular situation total? If changes are made, how easy will adjusting the quote be? Blinkbid has taken care of all of this. With an straightforward to use interface, Blinkbid quickly modify changes and relays a new pricing arrangement. “A key feature built into Blinkbid is the ability to calculate the potential profit on a job.

Information is one of the most important aspects of estimating for creative professionals, yet it has been one mostly ignored by existing programs. Blinkbid calculates the expected profit at the estimate level, allowing users to make an informed decision before accepting a job.” – listed information from their site.

Calculate fees, crew, rentals, cameras, prints and much more. Blinkbid allows you to flow your estimate straight into invoice format for quick, precise billing.
Helping your photography business, how to start a digital wedding photography business and wedding photography business visit virtualphotographystudio.com and keep up-to-date with all of the photography happenings via our free newsletter.

Photography business sales for tomorrow’s customers.

Are you running your photography business into the ground by creating a quick sale for your work or are you planting seeds for future growth? Just like in the spring, you need to nurture the seeds planted with water, fertilizer and sunshine to see the fruit of your labors.

How does this affect your photography business? Well pretty simple. If you are in the new wedding trend of “churn and burn” photography and only care about shooting the event and handing over your original files and images on a dvd, then you are just planting the seed. You will never see any additional sales from this event. Albums, frames, large wall prints…additional sales are removed. When the client has the original image files, they will share them, print small meaning-less prints and your studio becomes separated from the art.

This trend is eroding your photography studio’s bottom line!

By adding a little fertilizer and sunshine we can add growth. Photography is an art and should be sold as such. Add your style and design! Frame the print or create a collage of images that tell a story. We are not meant to hold the image hostage but want to allow our professional reputation to stand for quality. Think about it the next time a potential client asks you to capture an event and sell the original files. Your sales will suffer and your extended marketing will be lost. I can remember countless times that I received calls from potential clients that viewed an image displayed at a past client’ home.

Don’t sell yourself short…think future…think growth!

Helping your photography business, how to start a digital wedding photography business and wedding photography business visit virtualphotographystudio.com and keep up-to-date with all of the photography happenings via our free newsletter.

Adobe shipped the new CS3 today! This great software package includes Dreamweaver, Flash, InDesign, Photoshop Extended and Illustrator.

These packages are an amazing value for the creative professional.

Check out the Adobe website for all the latest information.

Helping your photography business, how to start a digital wedding photography business and wedding photography business visit virtualphotographystudio.com and keep up-to-date with all of the photography happenings via our free newsletter.

Your website is an important piece of your business should have a very professional appearance.  Many photographers are tech savvy with their ability to produce well-designed, well-navigated photography studio websites. 

If you don’t have the capability or time for doing a website design for your own studio, looking at website templates may be an option for you.  Website templates are ready-made professionally designed websites for the Internet that provide a high-quality web presence and easy to modify with your content.  Templates are available in standard HTML language of design, as well as popular flash format to display your web content and photography portfolio.  Templates will have the some limitations of the expansion, but for the cost, offer a great solution to many studios.  These templates are fully customizable, and available for immediate download. 

Designs usually have layered Photoshop files for easy customization, as well as HTML layouts, so that you can open them in your favorite Web program like Dreamweaver or FrontPage. You don’t have to wait for your web designer to start from scratch on your design. 

As studio owners, we have many responsibilities to worry about and our specialty should be our photography.  Here’s a resource that you can check out the latest in photography website designs and see the catalogue of professionally designed templates.

Helping your photography business, how to start a digital wedding photography business and wedding photography business visit virtualphotographystudio.com and keep up-to-date with all of the photography happenings via our free newsletter.

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