Contemporary Expressions |

Hello photographers.  Just wanted to let you know that our marketing and design site – Chaotic Life Designs – is live!  We’re featuring temlates to help make your life less chaotic!  A new design will be added every week this year at 25% off so check it out!

So (do you notice that I seem to start a lot of my blog posts with this little word)…

Since teaching, mentoring, and sharing have  become more of a prominent part of my life in this last year (which makes me really HAPPY if you must know)…and since I answer a lot of e-mail and Facebook business questions offline…I’ve decided to start sharing some more “for Photographers” information on my blog as well.  And….don’t be shy….if there is a topic that you would love to have me touch on, comment below and I’ll put it on my running list.

I don’t know about you, but each new year (January in particular) you can find me tied to my desk, surrounded by stacks of papers, spreadsheets, sticky notes, and a large bottle of Tylenol.  This is my annual “change it up” routine where I re-evaluate the previous year, figure out what is working, what isn’t, and make the changes that I think are necessary to move into an even better year ahead.  I’m looking for new and exciting products to offer, running financials to see if my COGs are still in a good place, planning new artwork for the Loft, and figuring out fun ways to pamper my clients.   There is always one consistency in the chaos – before pulling out my colored markers (not joking, don’t laugh) and booting up my excel spreadsheets, I always get out 4 blank pieces of paper and do a current SWOT analysis for my business.

What the heck is a SWOT analysis some of you might be thinking as you scratch your heads…simply put, it is an exercise to list your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.  It helps you to identify both internal and external positives and negatives that will help you analyze where you stand in the market and with your competition.

From Wikepedia:

• Strengths: characteristics of the business that give it an advantage over others
• Weaknesses (or Limitations): are internal characteristics that place the business at a disadvantage relative to others
• Opportunities: external chances to improve performance (e.g. make greater profits) in the environment
• Threats: external elements in the environment that could cause trouble for the business or project

So start asking yourself those tough questions – or better yet, call a great client (or two, or three, or four) and really start brainstorming.  What is it that makes your business unique?  What do you do REALLY well?  Are you an Off-Camera-Flash guru?  Do you pose people better than anyone else in your market?  What makes you SHINE?  Conversely, where are you falling short?  Could you be better at customer service?  Do you need to hone your lighting skills?  Do you have a lot of debt to pay off?

What about EXTERNAL forces – are there opportunities you haven’t pursued to cross-market with local businesses?  Is there a charity in need of support that you could do a fundraiser for?  Have you pursued opportunities to network with local photographers?  And what do see as your imminent external threats – the economy?  the competition?

Here’s an example (non-photography related) from SmartDraw:

 Once you have completed your SWOT analysis, the work has just begun.  Now it is time to identify ways to CAPITALIZE on what you have identified.  What weaknesses did you identify internally that can be changed today?  Next week?  In the first quarter?  This year?  Can your strengths be even stronger with some tweaks?  What about opportunities?  Have you made that call to the business you’d love to crossmarket with?  Why not?

Taking that step back to look at your business with a critical eye might be a bit scary – or just may feel like a lot of work.  I promise it’s worth it.  And including insight from clients really ADDS to the value of the analysis if you are willing to do the work to get them involved.  Sure, this might not be “fun” or “sexy”… but try it – come on, you know you want to!

As many of you know, I LOVE to teach and share, so it was a great honor when I was asked to join the amazing crew of instructors on PPSOP.com this year.  The Picture Perfect School of Photography (PPSOP) is an online school for photographers from beginner to advance, from photography courses to marketing, to digital darkroom.   As the “About Us” section of the website states, everyone at PPSOP is driven by an intense passion for photographic excellence.  We eat, sleep, and dream photography. I’m absolutely thrilled to be joining the team and will be teaching my first class – Photographing Newborns and Maternity: It’s all about Expectations – starting on January 6th.

Course Outline:

Want to add newborns to your repertoire but don’t know where to start? Are you already photographing newborns but still struggling with the nuances of capturing this difficult subject? Want to increase your newborn sales and market more effectively? This class is for you.

Newborn photography can be among the most lucrative but also the most frustrating genres of photography. Tanja will share with you the challenging lessons she’s learned, the many exceptional tips and tricks she has discovered, and her posing and lighting techniques from her 10 years of experience photographing newborns and maternity sessions. She will also share what she considers to be the best marketing technique out there for this type of photography (and all types to be honest) – relationship building and managing client expectations. She has learned that nurturing relationships with her clients, and creating multiple “touch points” leads to higher sales and repeat clients (90% of her newborn clients move on her first year plan). Tanja’s goal is to share with you what she’s learned along the way and, hopefully, help you shorten the learning curve.

Throughout this course, we’ll cover all of the key topics to get you moving on newborn Photography:

Course Outline:

• Building relationships and managing expectations – it starts and ends with Mommy!
• Why the maternity session is SO important.
• Preparation and patience – both yours and the parents.
• Props and Posing (for both maternity and newborns)
• Baby Safety
• Gear and Lighting (for both maternity and newborns)
• Capturing the images that sell – from full body, to artistic compositions, to details.
• Processing and retouching (Making mom look good, Jaundice – removing yellows, Baby acne – smoothing the skin)
• When all else fails – convert to Black and White (when you simply can’t get skin tones to work together)
• Adding an artistic flair (texture and design)
• Products, packages, and pricing for profit
• Using slideshows to increase emotional impact
• Where to find your target market.

Would LOVE to “see” some familiar faces and am looking forward to sharing!