Photography Mindset Your Way To Success

I’m a firm believer in using mentors to achieve success in your life. Why create the path yourself when you can follow in someone else’s footsteps?

So anytime you find me relaxing by the pool, driving to a meeting, or with spare minutes on the weekends, I’ll either have a book in hand or be listening to an audio file on my iPod. (And of course lots of training seminars!)

I was introduced to a man a few weeks ago, and decided to listen to his tape series. If you believe in laws of attraction, you may be interested as well.

So last night on my way home to and from my Mastermind group, I listened to part 4 in the series by David Neagle. I’ve learned a lot from the entire series, but one thing he said made me stop the program, and sit and think for awhile.

And of course restructure it for my photographers!

Think for a moment about what brings you satisfaction with your business (or your dreams of starting a photography business.) Chances are it’s the artwork itself. You love using your camera to take photographs. You love looking through the viewfinder, knowing you’re about to capture a perfect image. You love opening the digital file, enhancing it, printing it, and displaying it for your customer. Your pleasure comes from the entire process of creating a work of art. That’s where your passion lies.

Now let me ask you one question.

How do you feel about selling your photography?

Did you just tense up? Did you think of a used car salesman? Did you think high pressure? Did you think that’s the worst part about being in business for yourself?

In order to be in business – especially if you strive to be one of my Six Figure Photographers – you have to get just as much pleasure from selling your work as you do from creating your work.

I remember one wedding in particular that Andrew and I did. We flew several thousand miles to attend a weekend long event. We attended the rehearsal dinner, and a full day at the wedding itself. It was nothing short of phenomenal. The bride and groom were ecstatic to have us there – photographs meant the world to them.

We were the true professionals. And we knew each image we captured would be a treasure in their final album. We knew what to take, and how we would ultimately place it in each page layout. We let the bride and groom relax, and allowed them to enjoy the day without a lot of interruptions. We had guests tell us how beautiful the images were  – and they hadn’t even seen them yet! They just loved the entire process, and KNEW they would turn out perfectly.

Needless to say they did, and the bride and groom purchased a several volume set. Because selling was as important as the images themselves, and we sold constantly along the way with everything we did.

That’s being a Six Figure Photographer. Want to be one too?

Photography – Choosing An Album Company

Professional means not doing what the amateur can do.

I visited a “professional” photographer’s website today. She specializes in babies and children.

She photographs and provides the digital files for up to 50 images. Yours to keep.

If you choose, you have the option of purchasing a memory book that she produces from iPhoto – for an additional fee.

I doubt she sells very many of these. Why would she?

The person has already received a digital file with every image on it. She can very easily head over to iPhoto and design her own album.

I love the iPhoto concept. It’s fun and easy to throw together a quick album for a single event. Many other companies offer a similar product – Shutterfly has something similar, and also sells the kits out of Borders book stores.

Consumers love it. And retailers love it – it’s a way of increasing their profits.

But as a professional, you need to be supplying your customers with things they can’t get anywhere else. Even if they find it online, the company will only work with professionals.

When they see something magical that they can’t get anywhere else, it adds a sense of desire to your product line. And it sets you apart from your competition.

Professional album companies are also in business to help you grow your business. And because of it, many of their websites are designed to help send future clients your way. Many have special sections educating the bride on a professional album, and provide a way to connect the bride with you.

One of my favorite album companies, Zookbinders, has a special section just for brides. They educate them on the quality of professional albums, why hiring a professional is so important, and how to find a professional photographer.

Many companies will also work to get you your sample line. For half off, you can order sample albums to show your client. Clients buy what they see. This is a great way to show them your level of professionalism.

If you want to profit like a professional, you must build your business like a professional.

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 Contract

When we first started our business, we kept everything simple. Not because we chose to do it that way – we simply didn’t know.

Over the years you learn. A client holds you to a clause in your contract, you learn and change it.

When we first started with weddings, we had nothing in our contract about multiple photographers. After one wedding where there were dozens of family members trying to take pictures, we made a change. Because we couldn’t get one family photograph without someone staring at another photographer, and what usually took 30 minutes ended up well over 60 minutes, we added a posing fee if we were continually interrupted during posed images. We explained it to our bride’s and groom’s, and never had an issue from that point on.

Another addition – an Internet option. Having a model release that also includes the option of placing a clients images online was a big necessity – especially because we would put up to 100 images from every wedding into our gallery. In all our years of wedding photography, we only had one couple opt out of putting their images online. We never had an issue because we covered it during the contract.

Other things to include:

• Clients information, names, addresses, phone numbers, email
• Description of service, inclusions, time
• Place for signature and date – if it’s a multi page document, sign/initial all pages
• Payment policies, including how long prices will remain the same. If you book a wedding a year in advance, you don’t want to have to hold your prices steady for several years. 90 days after the first viewing of the images is sufficient.
• Copyrights and usage rights. What do you release to your client? What do they have rights to do with your images? Make it clear. 

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 – Flickr Account; What Can You Do With It?

Maybe you’ve been adding your photos to Flickr for awhile now, and you’re wondering what else you can do. Check out these Flickr tools – and have fun adding them to your blog, website, or just using it to make your Flickr experience better.

Travelr A tool that allows you to display your Flickr photos geographically on a world map. Perfect for the destination photographer.

Flickr Slideshow Generator Choose your favorite photos, put them into the slideshow generator, and copy the HTML into your blog or on your website.

Big Huge Labs An amazing resource area giving you a ton of things to do with your photographs.

Bubblr Turn your photos into comic strips, and then publish them.

flickr and webimager Allows you to screen capture images and upload them easily to your flickr

PicMarkr Allows you to create a custom watermark and place it on your Flickr images

Want to know what’s the most popular camera on Flickr?

Looks like by a fairly wide margin it’s the Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi

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.

Digital Photography Directory

Listing your digital photography studios’ website in a directory will help you get noticed. We have a directory that lists thousands of photography studio across the world.  Here a few samples:

Photography Studios in Alabama
Photographers in Alaska
Photography Studios in Arizona
Arkansas Wedding Photography
California Digital Photography
Colorado Wedding Photography
Photographers in Connecticut
Photographers in Florida
Georgia Wedding Photography
Hawaii Wedding Photography
Illinois Digital Wedding Photography
Photographers in Indiana

Add yours to the list here (its provided at no charge):

New Projector For Portable Sales

If you are one of my Six Figure Photographers or are in my Photography Money Club, you’ve discovered the best way to increase your sales – Projection.

If you go on location, and sell to your clients in their homes, you may want to check out the newest addition to the projector world.

The Mint V10 Projector is small in size, 125×55×23mm, yet projects up to a 50 inch image size. Perfect for tucking into your laptop case, and bringing it with you into the field.

Photography – Planning Out A Portrait

As a professional photographer, it’s your job to tell your clients what to wear, and what background to use. Clothing does make the portrait. And the more professional the portrait, the more money you can make.

Decide What Portraits To Sell
As a marketer, you can only sell what you show. If you want to sell dramatic 30×40 portraits with a lot of style, you can’t show people close-up portraits in small sizes. Your clients simply won’t m ake the connection.

Start By Creating Samples
Let’s say you have an idea for creating romantic beach portraits. Ask friends or relatives if you can “borrow” them for a couple hours. Choose your ideal location. Go out and buy the props you need. Get everything set up, and have your friends be your models. All you need is a few great images to show future clients what you can do.

Image by George Pollard

Coach Your Clients on What To Wear
What mood are they trying to create? Spend some time planning out the perfect image, and talk with your client about what will be needed. We once had a client that loved her convertible, and wanted powerful black & white images with it. We met her in a warehouse district on a Sunday, and added some incredible architecture to the background. She went out and bought the perfect jeans/jacket combo, and had some amazing images to hang as artwork on her walls.

Sell With The End In Mind
You and your client have to want the same thing at the beginning of the portrait to both be satisfied in the end. If you want to sell portrait packages in the 4 to 5 figure range, present those packages to prospective clients. Don’t hide or cover up your ultimate price. It will leave you and your client frustrated.

Earn money today with you photography – Photography Money Club. Providing new ideas to your photography business and information on how to start a photography business. Stay up to date with our photography newsletter which provides tips on your photography studio.