Mentor Auction for Thirst Relief

Photographers spend thousands of dollars each year on workshops to help improve their business and to spend a little bit of one-on-one time with some of their favorite photographers. What if all of that money could be put toward creating clean water in areas where water-borne illness are the leading causes of death? That's where the annual Thirst Relief Mentor Auction comes in. You get to bid on the opportunity to pick the brain of a well known photographer, and all of your money goes toward helping those in need. Does it get any better than that? I think not.

If you bid on me, I'll be your mentor for an entire year to help you get through whatever tough stuff life throws your way. You're also welcome to spend a weeknight at my place in Lowell, MA (scheduled in advance) so that we can spend a little extended time together and so you can see my home office!

Hurry up and get your bid in- the auctions end in LESS than 24 hours!! Auctions End: Sunday February 1st, 2009 at 10pmEST/7pmPST.

::UPDATE:: 2/1/09 11:12pm
Thanks to everyone who participated in the Thirst Relief Auction! I have to give a special thanks to Lilia Photo who made the winning bid to Thirst Relief for my mentorship! I just checked out their work and they have a lot of great things going on already!! I also think I have a few great ideas about what is going to propel them forward over the next year! Keep your eye on them and see what happens!

Anne Ruthmann is a lifestyle & wedding photographer from Boston, MA. She spent 10 years practing marketing & management in corporate and non-profit businesses before pursuing her passion for photography as an independent small business. She loves helping others find creative and low-cost solutions to business problems. Follow her on Twitter to see her daily adventures and thoughts.

Personal Brands

In today's climate, it is very important to have a personal brand. For some of us, this is tied directly to our business brand, and for others it isn't. Either way, it is important. It will make you memorable to the people that meet you, and networking is very key no matter what you do for a living, but especially for photographers.

I was recently reminded again how important it is for us to step outside of the box, outside of our usual social circle. Do you really want to do what every other photographer is doing? At that point, what sets you apart?

Some great resources out there that can help you define your personal brand, and possibly even rebrand yourself if necessary:

• CC Chapman's Managing the Gray podcast on Origins and Self-Brands



• Really, ANYTHING that CC Chapman talks about on his Managing the Gray podcast. I'm putting several on my iPhone so I can catch up and listen to them whenever I have a chance



• Free eBook - The NXT Big Thing on Personal Branding for Technology Professionals (Don't let the title throw you off - it really applies to everyone.)



• When I'm all done with catching up on Managing the Gray, I'm also going to check out CC's other podcast, a group podcast with some really amazing people, Media Hacks

If you don't know CC Chapman, I suggest that you learn more about him. I've had the honor of knowing him for years thanks to my personal blog, and I regret that we haven't met in person on my trips to Boston or his trips to SXSW. I'm convinced 2009 is the year it will happen! If you like music, his Accident Hash podcast is fantastic, his day job is in the marketing and advertising world, he is (of course) on Twitter as cc_chapman, and he has been making independent films for Random Foo for over 10 years. On top of all that, he is a rather serious photography enthusiast! Like I said, a pretty amazing guy. Hopefully, some of his bits of wisdom will help you sort out your own personal brand!

Christine Tremoulet is a Houston, Texas Hot Mama Boudoir photographer and wants you to have a Business of Awesome. She also runs Wholly Matrimony, a destination wedding blog. She is a creative geek, having blogged since 2000 at BigPinkCookie. When she isn't taking photos or knitting, she is busy devouring all the info related to Marketing & Social Media and its powers that she can find online. Follow her on Twitter.

Talk Tweet To Me - In Words I Can Understand?

In the first part of this post, I covered a lot of the basics that you hear on Twitter - Follow, the mysterious @ thing, DMs, and why you see TinyURL and tr.im so often.

But what about those other things that pop up all the time? Especially the weird abbreviations? Lets talk about a few of them!

1. RT

RT, which stands for Retweet, is usually used in two different ways. The first is when people ask you to retweet what they have just posted, and the second is to announce that what they are posting came from someone else.

Examples? We had a chat the other night on Twitter, and we wanted to get the word out to everyone possible. When I wrote a post about it, at the end I included "please RT." On the other hand, when I see something someone else writes that I want to share, I'll post "RT @username ..." That way, everyone knows where it originated from. Since the @username part is after the RT, it will not display in that users Replies timeline.

2. OH

Nope, that doesn't mean "Oh" like the exclamation, and they aren't talking about Ohio. OH stands for overheard. Lets say you're at a party. (Yeah, I like the party example.) Someone says something really goofy that you think is funny. You don't want people to think that YOU would ever say anything that goofy when you put it on Twitter. So instead, you start your tweet off with OH and then write whatever the goofy thing was.

Maybe the party example comes to mind for this one because that is when I see it happening the most. I've also seen people claim that something was overheard when they actually said it themselves. Did I mention that you shouldn't post things you wouldn't want your clients or your mom to see?

OH is also good to use whenever you hear anything random. You don't need to explain that you overheard it when you stick the OH in there. The general protocol is to *not* reveal who said the OH - if you were doing that, you would put an @username in the tweet instead and leave the OH out.

3. FTW

Ah, the always confusing FTW. Many people have made up guesses about what it means, but it actually means "For the Win" and is usually used to reference the awesomeness of something.

Example

@ModernPhotogs is sponsoring the WPPI Giveaway Gala FTW!!!

It come from the gamers online, but even after extensive research (read: 37 seconds with Google), I can't find a specific origin. I promise you though, that is what it means.

4. #this and #that, the #thing

Sometimes, you'll see tweets that either start or end with the pound symbol - # - followed by a word. These are called hashtags, and they actually serve a purpose. You can use them to quickly and easily search for something relating to an event using these tags. This could be a conference, a workshop, or really any newsworthy (and therefore tweetworthy) thing.

Sometimes, Twitter even uses hashtags to display what is popular on Twitter at the moment. During the elections in the USA last year (wow, we can say it was last year now...) there was a banner across the top with things like #elections #obama #mccain and #tinafey and all were links to quickly display tweets relating to those topics.

I'll be using it this year when I go to WPPI, so if you watch my stream you'll see #WPPI there at the end of things. We're also putting together PhotoCampHouston, and we use the tag #photocamphou for that.

Cool bonus feature? You can use things like TwitterChat.com to set up a chat that uses a chatroom created on the fly - solely based on the chosen #hashtag for the event. Pretty sweet!

After Hours Live Chat with Anne - Wednesday 9 pm EST

Thanks to all who tuned in for the Live Chat! Some great questions were asked, and I hope the information shared was valuable for you! Extra thanks to the wedding planners who participated in the discussion and shared their thoughts in the sidebar comments with the photographers! You ladies ROCK!!

If you're interested in being featured in a live chat and having it featured on photolovecat.com - just drop us a line and we'll try to set up a time for you!


Hi Friends!! I just got back from Mystic 4 and next I'm looking forward to seeing many of you soon at WPPI! While I won't be presenting at WPPI, I will be hosting the Giveaway Gala along with the other lovecats and our sponsors, as well as organizing the launch of the Vegas Wedding Project! So many exciting things happening!! I can't wait!! Since I've been so busy offline outside of the blogosphere lately, I thought rather than taking the time to write another lengthy blog post, I'd just use that time to have a live discussion with anyone who's interested in knowing what I think about... well.... anything! My specialty is definitely marketing and management, but I'm happy to address any other issues that might come up as well. I might even be lucky enough to have some of the other lovecats join in on the conversation!! ;-) This is open to anyone who runs a freelance business, with the knowledge that I obviously have a greater breadth of experience in the photography world. So if you've been dying to ask me a question - I'll be here for you!


Here's a brief bio based on my Mystic 4 presentation:
Anne Ruthmann


"How an Ugly, Fat Girl became a Popular International Photographer"
She didn't get lucky photographing celebrities. She isn't skinny enough to fit into designer clothing. She doesn't have a portfolio filled with lavish, over-the-top weddings. Yet, clients are willing to book her sight-unseen, fly her across the world, and even pay 5 figures for her work. Anne has learned what clients want most and why they will go out of their way and break their budget just to have it. She'll share her secrets to branding, pricing, and client care that have contributed to her rapid success in wedding photography. To view Anne's photography, visit her blog at Anne Ruthmann Photography.

Bio:
Anne is a self-taught photographer who started photographing weddings in 2005 while living in Detroit, MI, went full time in 2006 while moving to Terre Haute, IN (a rural farm city) and just recently moved to Lowell, MA in 2008. In those few short years she has gained an international following of wedding clients, won awards in AGWPJA and WPJA, been published in several different wedding magazines and was recognized as one of PDN's Top Knots for 2008. Before realizing her passion for wedding photography, Anne spent 10 years working in finance, marketing, and management for everything from large corporations to small non-profits. She regularly shares her extensive business knowledge and experiences on various forums, in private consultations, and on the business blog PhotoLoveCat.com.

Ask Jillian - How to charge friends and family?

For my first installation of "Ask Jillian" I have a question that constantly haunts most photographers! How to handle friends and family?

Since I don't like talking to myself (in public), I'll be giving made-up names to our friends who post anonymously. Today, our question is brought to us by "Muriel."

Muriel writes:

I am CONSTANTLY struggling with what to charge close friends/family for photo sessions. I just finished my first year of photography and it was a successful one (luckily!). But I'm still starting out and can't afford to do a lot of discounted sessions. Especially when right now, that's mostly who I'm doing sessions with. But I also want them to use me so that they'll tell other friends/family about me. What do I charge them??

Well, Muriel, congratulations on a great first year! Let me start off by saying that the answer to this question will be different for every photographer. The only "wrong" policy is not having one. In the end, it's all about making decisions and communicating them clearly. Here are some steps to guide you (and everyone else) through creating a policy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Delineate your audience into clear-cut groups.

(Caution, "best friends" is not clear-cut and it's hard to tell someone "I'm sorry, you're only a 7 on the friend scale, and my discount is for 8+ people." )

For example, these are mine:
-Immediate family (my parents, siblings, and their spouses).
-3AM Friends. Friends who I would feel comfortable calling at 3am if I had a nightmare and vice verse. These are my closest friends. I don't have many and they respect my time.
-Everyone else. That's right, everyone else with whom I have a relationship is in this group.

You will need a different policy for each group. You might choose "cousins" or "vendors" or "my kids' friends' moms", but try to keep it as simple as possible.

2. Know your worth, and communicate it with everyone.

Never give anyone a free or discounted shoot without telling them what you would normally charge for that shoot. Make sure they know the value of the session that they are getting.

For my friends, I let them know what the full cost of the session is whenever the subject is first approached. "Sure, normally my sessions are $xxx, but I like to offer one at-cost session to good friends." Now when they go off and tell others about me, they know exactly what I charge, even if they received a free session.

3. Set boundaries on your generosity, and communicate those too.

In my policy, which I don't mind making public, my immediate family gets as much of my photographic talent as I can force them to take. Of course, we live 2000 miles apart, and I'm only home twice a year. My time is always free to them and products are at-cost.

For my 3AM friends, my wedding and portrait photography services are free, and products are just above cost. Again, we are only talking about a handful of people whom I seldom see. I have done one wedding for a 3AM friend; I stayed in her bedroom the night before her wedding, and we stayed up giggling and talking in the dark.

Everyone else - this is the group where the policy really comes into play. Everyone else gets one at-cost portrait session. This just covers the cost of my editor; my time is free. Products are full-price, but I do provide them the high-resolution images. Weddings are full price.

Also, I only do a limited number of these sessions a month and only if I have the available "free" time. So if they want a "right now" session and my calendar is looking full, I give them the option of paying full price and booking sooner or doing "at-cost" when I have more free time. You need to keep openings in your calendar for paying clients and for "you" time. It's okay to be protective of your time, and those who are deserving of your generosity will understand this.

4. Set expectations for delivery times.

This applies to regular clients too, but it is increasingly important for friends and family. Let them know that since your regular clients need to come first, it will take X weeks to get their photos back to them (probably 2x your normal delivery time). Since you aren't being paid for your time, you need to make sure it fits into your leisurely time. It's best to communicate this before their shoot. If they need more expedited handling, offer them a full-price session or refer them to a friend.

5. Sign all the normal contracts.

I'll be honest, I don't do this with immediate family, but then again I have a really incredible family. With friends and coworkers, I do still have model releases or portrait contracts signed. For the 3AM friend's wedding, they signed a normal wedding contract. (Except the final cost came to $0.) This not only protects both parties, but also helps you communicate to them that you are a professional...not someone with a hobby.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So, Muriel, one idea would be a "Friends Of Muriel February Special"...invite your friends to book a session in February for a special price. Let them know that all sessions will go back to normal price of $XYZ in March. If it generates a lot of interest and makes your friends happy, you can do it again next year during a slow month.

Alternatively, you could decide that your policy is to always give a percentage off for friends and family. Or to never discount at all, and only do full session prices. Another approach with many benefits would be to offer free upgrades to friends and family who purchase sessions at full-cost session.

For exactly "what" to charge...only you will be able to select a price, because only you know your friends' income level and interest level. Choose a few price points between "free" and "full price." At each level, how many friends do you think would book? Do you think those bookings would generate adequate future business? Do you think those friends/family have networking connections with people who are your target client base? Try to think more long term rather than the just short term income they would generate. But if, long term, the discounts won't help your business, you should not feel bad about charging full price if that is what you want your policy to be.

For another point of view, try this previous post: "Leaping from Hobby to Profession"
Another good read from the blog, on pricing in general, is at "The Psychology of Pricing"

I encourage everyone to chime in with other opinions and personal experiences!! I, quite frequently, do not have the best ideas, but our conversation can generate brilliant thoughts!

If you have an "Ask Jillian" question, please email Jillian at jillian@jilliankay.com


JILLIAN

Jillian Kay is a wedding & portrait photographer from San Jose, CA. By weekday, she is a mild mannered software engineer. By weekend, she is a joyful and energetic force behind a camera! Jillian enjoys tackling the tough questions about client relationships and helping others see win/win solutions. When not working, she loves taking walks, blog-stalking, visiting with friends, and enjoying life!.

And here are a few photos I took (at no cost except that I wanted to get to hold her) of my 5 week old niece, Eden. :)