Free E-book - The Boutique Experience

Sarah Petty shared the below link to her new e-book, The Boutique Expereience. She and Erin Verbeck discuss what a boutique business is and how in this economy it's harder than ever to compete. I haven't read the e-book just yet, but knowing Sarah, there's probably tons of good info in it. To get the e-book, follow this link https://app.e2ma.net/app/view:Join/signupId:66977/acctId:11781 and fill out your info to download.

The New Year Is Almost Here!

I feel like I've been slacking lately with my posts. I'm looking forward to a very productive 2010 for my business. I plan on doing a lot of tweaking to my business model in January and February - finalizing my pricing based off of the Easy As Pie Guide, working in some new products and simplyfing the choices for my clients, making some small adjustments to my senior rep program. One of the most exciting things is working on an online client site - I'll be going paperless. I can't wait to share the online site with you guys once it's up and running!!

I'm counting down to February, I'll be attending the OneLight Workshop with Zack Arias. I am sooo excited that Zack is coming to Columbus, I won't even have to take a road trip for this workshop. I've heard many rave reviews of the OneLight Workshop and I'm pretty sure my mind will be exploding with information after spending the day with him. If you haven't heard of Zack, be sure to check out his OneLight website and also his website. He's an amazing photographer.

If you missed out on the Joy of Marketing Web Summit earlier this week, don't worry, for 8 hours on New Year's Day they'll be re-broadcasting for free!! Check it out over at www.thejoyofmarketing.com/websummitlive from noon till 8pm central time on January 1, 2010 to learn some great marketing ideas from Sarah Petty and her photography friends!

I hope everyone has had a safe and wonderful holiday season!! Check back to the blog often, I'll be keeping you all posted with the cool new products that I'm trying out again this year!!


Full Disclosure: commission on Joy of Marketing sold via my link.

Camera Bags That Make My Life Easy!

Wow - I didn't realize it had been over a month since I've last posted!! I wanted to share my two favorite camera bags with my readers.

First is the Shootsac by Jessica Claire — I just love this bag!! I got my first Shootsac about a year and a half ago. It stayed in my storage closet for a few weeks before I decided to brave it for a session. I must say this bag rocked it for me!! I can throw quite a bit in this handy bag - lenses, memory cards, keys, my blackberry, a flash and if I'm not carrying too much, a bottled water. This great bag conforms to me when I'm running and crawling around for a session. I typically leave on the entire time! Shootsacs are made of neoprene (the material used in making wetsuits) and is super light. I just throw my must have gear in and I'm good to go for a session. The bag offers 6 pockets that are pretty roomy, I can even fit my 70-200 lens in there easily. A nice, long adjustable strap that I wear across my chest like a messenger bag and I'm set! And to make it ultra customizable, you can order from a large selection of different replaceable covers that Velcro in. Different styles and colors help to make the Shootsac customizable to your brand and sense of style.

Jessica also recently came out with the HipSlip - it's a Shootsac for your laptop! I don't currently own one because I have yet to cave to buying my own laptop. I know, sometimes it's like I live in the stone ages!!

The other bag I just can't live without is from ThinkTank and it's the Airport AirStream. I initially purchased this bag for my trip to Chicago for the Unleashed Pet Photography Workshop. I was in search of a small carry-on bag that would safely and comfortably hold my gear, yet wasn't screaming photo bag. After a lot of searching and reading reviews I thought that the AirStream would work for me. It was just small enough to fit as a carry-on for a regional jet flight, yet would hold a body, 70-200 lens plus some additional lenses and flashes. When I first got my AirStream I couldn't believe the quality, in the last 2-3 years I've had over 5 different camera bags, but I definitely noticed the better quality in this bag. This bag includes TSA combination locks, cables & locks to secure to a fixed object, an area for that laptop I still don't own and sturdy wheels for when I'm running across the airport. This bag came with a ton of Velcro inserts to adjust the available space to fit the needs of my gear, which was definitely a bonus. After my trip to Chicago, I got rid of my previous camera bag and now the ThinkTank AirStream is my daily bag for carrying my equipment from session to session.

I love the combination of the AirSteam to carry everything and the Shootsac to carry just what I need on each session. Talk about the best of both worlds! These are definitely two highly recommended bags for your money!

Full Disclosure: Commission earned on sale of ShootSac via my link.

Pricing Your Photography — Easy As Pie? Well Yes, It Can Be!

I've been in business for one year and I'm on my third round of pricing. Yes, third. Guess what, for 2010, I'm revamping once again! I thought I was happy with my pricing, but I'm falling short on selling those specialty items like large like canvases and session albums. I do great in print sales, it just I struggle with those other item. And my sales are all over the place from low to high, and boy oh boy, who doesn't want most sales to be on the high side! I'm never sure if my prices are too high or too low. After talking with Bev Hollis at Unleashed |fine pet photography workshop, I knew that the most current version of my pricing still wasn't exactly right. Bev suggested I check out Easy As Pie Cookbook by Alicia Caine. I proceeded to do a bit of research to see if Easy As Pie would be worth it. So, I finally clicked the buy button.

I will tell you that some of what I've read in the Easy As Pie Cookbook isn't brand new news to me. It's similar to other pricing information I've read on forums while re-working my pricing. But, what Alicia does is explains exactly how to determine your costs for you to increase those sales. She offers a step-by-step process on how to find those prices that will work for your business. She even suggests a different pricing for those just starting out vs. more seasoned professionals. I especially love the sections on pricing those specialty items including storyboards, session albums and those dreaded digital files. Once you get all of your a la carte pricing figured out, then you get to jump into pricing your collections to drive your customers to purchasing what you want to sell them.

While I have not signed up for The Pantry from Alicia, it's next on my list. I'm so excited to start working on my 2010 pricing!! Be sure to check out Easy As Pie if you have your own pricing issues and just don't know where to start!

Want to hear from Alicia before you buy? Check out her interview with Totally Rad from July 2009 here!

UPDATE! Thanks to Alicia - she just sent me a discount code for $20 off cookbook+pastry school purchase!! Be sure to use code NCBlog20 for your discount!!

More New Stuff from WordSmith!

Darn that Joyce, she's done it again. Yesterday I got the {what to wear} seniors guide and also the WordSmith's senior pricing menu (template). As usual, these are both stellar guides!! I had been using a mix of stuff to make up my current senior what to wear. While it was slightly informative, I've still had issues with a few of my seniors this year just not getting it when I tried to tell them how to dress for their sessions. The WordSmith guide is a total life saver for me!! There are two versions, one for the guys and one for the girls. Joyce hits all the key points with dressing for your figure, adding accessories and a clean face instead of clumpy make-up. Super easy to read and to customize for your business, this guide is a total winner!! I can't wait to combine this with my other senior pieces for 2010 and get my seniors dressing their best. Don't forget when their clothes are a bust it really does hurt the end result.

I haven't had the change to dive into the senior pricing menu (template) from WordSmith, but at a quick glance of it, it's exactly what I need. I'm currently re-working my pricing for 2010, and this template gives me a clean, easy to read and informative way to convey all the pricing info to my clients. I'll probably also use it for my non-senior session. I tend to overkill with my pricing lists, so this will keep me in-check with not over doing it!

Head on over to WordSmith asap to get a great deal on both these products. Joyce is running a sale on both through Tuesday, October 20th. After that these pieces won't be on sale again till 2010.

Full Disclosure: Samples received from WordSmith

Are You Tweeting?

I recently signed up for a Twitter account. Not that it's helping tons with finding new clients, but I love it for connecting with other photographers and various vendors that I use. I've been painfully trying to find my clients on it, but no such luck. Maybe Ohio folks aren't as hip to Twitter as some other areas. I did put my Twitter badge on my photography blog, for my clients that stop by the blog who want to find me on Twitter. If you're on there - be sure to follow me - @DanielleNeil. If you're not on there, you should be! It's a great way to get updates from vendors, follow your favorite photographers and of course chat with current friends. See you on Twitter!

Speed Up Your Lightroom Workflow!

I've had Adobe Lightroom since it came out but never really knew how to use it. I typically just made some minor Raw adjustments and then worked on my images in Photoshop. I recently purchased the Kubota Raw Workflow for Lightroom V2. This video had been SO helpful!! I downloaded the video and immediately started watching. I've already cut my working time in almost half after learning Kevin Kubota's tips and tricks. I know have all my images organized and easy to find. I've learned tons of new tips to edit my images in Lightroom without even taking the images into Photoshop unless I want to add some artistic effects. If you're struggling on how to use Lightroom I highly suggest watching the video!

MCP Actions Blog It Boards Giveaway!

What a great giveaway! Awhile back Scarlett Lillian was interviewed on the MCP Actions blog. Jodi of MCP Actions decided to do a giveaway for Scarlett's readers (which, I'm a HUGE Scarlett follower). So head over to Scarlett's blog for more info on how to win yourself the Magic Blog It Board actions! And while you're there, be sure to check out Scarlett's work, if you're not familiar with her she is an AMAZING photographer!!

Scarlett Lillian Photo Journal // Jacksonville, FL Wedding & Fashion Photographer: Contest contest contest! Win free MCP Photoshop Actions!

Copyright Protection - Please sign this letter!

This pertains to any photographer, designers, painter, or other artist reading. Please follow this link http://www.copyrightalliance.org/letter/ and sign the letter. The Copyright Alliance will be gathering signatures and delivering it to President Obama to help protect artists' rights!

Unleashed Workshop

I just got back from the Unleashed | Fine Art Pet Photography Workshop and it was SO much fun! I met a ton of great photographers and learned a lot about pet photography. If you have the chance to attend the Dallas (April 2010) or the D.C./Virginia (September 2010) workshops I highly suggest it! Bev, Barbara and Teresa have a wealth of information to share and love sharing it with the attendees. They send you off with tons of information to help you get the pet side of your photography business up and running. Not only did we have time to learn about how they each run their businesses (all very differently) but we also had the chance to work both in-studio and on-location with adorable, furry, four-legged models!

Definitely check out the Unleashed website to learn more about taking your business to the next level with custom pet photography! And for those of you who are PPA members - Bev, Barabara and Teresa are featured in the current issue of the magazine!