Getting Ready for Giving Back

Hello everyone,

As we start this month of August I just celebrated my 15th wedding anniversary, I got two weddings booked for this weekend and I am setting up an estimate to shoot some head shots for a law firm.

Now, please forgive me if you think I am bragging. This was not the case because just over 11 months ago I was in a completely different situation altogether. Back then I had just started my business. I was not sure how I was going to pay for my final year college and I had little to no money to keep my business moving forward. However, I had a plan. I had done my analysis (yes, you will doing a course like that as well, business plan included if you have not already completed it)  and I knew what was required of me. Roll up the sleeves and get to work.

I got started doing all the free Facebook postings and any free advertising that I could. I got my name out there, but nothing happened.... immediately. Yes, it takes time. I was in a place that was as far from my comfort zone as I could possibly get. I am sure that many of you have been or are in similar positions. Don't be stressful about that (if you can help it). I did my first giving back session a few years ago so I know what it feels like and that was the give start that I needed to get the momentum going.

As we all get ready for giving back this month of August, I know that there are quite a few of you out there that might be very hesitant or even unsure about approaching such an intimidating task.

We all want to be great leaders in our community by been able to give back. However, as I found out there was so much that I needed for myself and my business that I never thought about giving back. I was the person in need. Why should I be giving back when I am struggling so much?  I needed to pay my bills, I needed to get my business up and running, find money for marketing and where to find customers? These are daunting tasks as you try and get your business moving forward.

We all have life's challenges to overcome and I can honestly say that I was very intimidated whenever I had to do something that took me outside my comfort zone. This was the event that added the momentum to my business that I needed.

Last week I spoke about been prepared for your shoot. You made contact and now you are ready to get going. If you are just starting out and this is the first time that you have ever done something like this, then do not panic. We are here to help. Here are a few helpful pointers I think will keep you moving forward.

1. Don't be scared to get a NO. It only means you are moving closer to getting that YES!! 
2. Make a list. Make sure you have a time table of events and things that are needed to accomplish. As you move through your day keep checking that you got each point done. It is not so much about getting the points done, but rather, if it is your first time, it gives you a structure around which you can work. At the end of the day you can break it down and see what worked and what did not work.
3. Make sure you speak to someone about what you are doing. They can be a your best friend, father, mother or anybody that you trust. They will give you some sound advice and maybe even some personal experience stories. That is what it is all about. We are all going to be doing the same thing this month so don't be afraid to reach out to any of your peers. That is what we are here for. We would love to help if it is at all possible. I am in the Boston area. If you need my assistance then please reach out. 
4. Look at this session as an opportunity to grow your photographic EMPIRE!! I always think big. It makes me feel better and I know I can still dream. I know it will do the same for you. There are so many small things that go into running a great session. This is just a great platform for you to get the exposure in the marketplace as a photographer. 
5. Finally, have some fun. Make sure you use some of the tips I mentioned last week. to ensure that you have a great day. If you come away from the day making just one person happy then I can say with confidence that you have made an impact and accomplished what we intended from this August photo experience.

Now, don't forget to send us your photographs. We would love to see where you have gone and the photographs that you have taken. I know we will be creating a great compilation from all the best photographs and you will have the opportunity, in the coming months,  to get your hands on a copy of all the winning photographs. 

Stay tuned here to see what we have in store for you.

In closing I wanted to leave you with an article I found while reading the Success web site. It is all about starting your own photography business. Written by Kelsey Humphreys it is all about how Jeremy Cowart, some of his lessons that he doles out and insights into his photography empire. 

More on Jeremy Cowart

Have a great week and I am really looking forward to seeing all your photographs. #aipodvolunteer 

Denzil

Setting up for your Charity Event

Good morning everyone,

Well, you have done all the hard work. You secured a great community event that you are proud to stand behind. You arrive at the event with your camera and are ready to take some great photographs.

People come and go, you ask if they would like to have their photographs taken, but you only seem to get one or two people willing to have their photographs taken. What is wrong? Didn't you tell the organizer that you will be turning up? Why is everybody not so interested in having a photograph taken?

Well for starters let me tell you that just turning up for an event does not guarantee that you will have a successful event. You have to come prepared. Here are a few tips that I found helps build a great relationship with the event organizers and the customers or guests that will be attending your event.

Here is what I have done to ensure that I have the exposure and response that I want.

• Arrive at the event early. The reason you do this is to make sure you have the best location and you can also work out some logistics with the organizers or shop owners.
• Make sure you choose a location where you get the most feet passing through. You should also try and not interfere with regular business, but the location is good enough so that everyone can see you.  Now as a photographer it is not always about taking the photographs. Yes, it is important, but a lot of what you do as a photographer is marketing yourself. 
• You need to setup a table. Yes, bring along a folding table where you can display your promotional material. You will need some flyer's, business cards and other marketing material that is small and easy to grab. You want people to leave the event with some of your marketing material. It is a place to pull people in, so make it interesting and people can take that along with them when they either pass your table or when you are finished with your session. I found a great place for some customizable marketing material. Have a look at Designaglow 

You want to make a great impression and also let them know that you are a professional studio that could actually do more than what you are currently helping the community with.

• A great investment would also be creating a beautiful pop-up banner or posters of your work. This you can put up a strategic points throughout the event if it is allowed or even above the table. It gives the visual visitor a great 1st impression about some of the work that you can do. Vista Print offers some really great deals in getting pop-up banners where you can use your own photographs.
• Props. I don't know how many times these have made a photograph as well as made me some extra profit. People want to see something different and if they are holding a prop it also gives them something to do with their hands. Bring along large photograph frames, stuffed animals for the small children if that is who you are catering to. The props have to be related to your event so don't forget to add them to make your special day even more memorable.
• You need an assistant! As you can see from all the work that goes into a charity or community event. You will need someone to help carry and setup. Phone some friends or even extend your reach even further and approach other students doing photography in your area and discuss it as an "intern" or training event. It is a great way to get some help and it may lead to additional teaching classes where you can make some additional money. You never know.
• Don't forget to take some photographs of the sponsors venue, location or shop. Also take photographs of people involved in the event. These can be used for future advertising for the company and it can be another revenue stream. It is also a great way to stay in-touch. A framed photograph could also be a gift to them for letting you use their venue. A great framed photograph hanging in their offices or shop is a fantastic way to get some free advertising as employees talk about the great event that they had. Remember to leave some pamphlets and business cards with the owners when you leave.

So in closing, there is a lot of work that needs to be done before you even pick up a camera for your event.

Invest in your promotional material. They are items that can be used over and over again. You will need a great banner. WHCC also makes some great banners where you can create a collage instead of a single photograph. The stand alone banners are the best because you can put them around the event.

Finally, don't forget to carry business cards on your person. You are not going to be at the table all the time so make sure to have enough to hand out to everyone.

And let me leave you with one final tip. Have a way to capture peoples names and email addresses for future marketing purposes. I use Chimpmail.com 

In connection with this application I also have Chimpadeedoo which is available for IOS and Android.It captures peoples Names and Email addresses when setup on your device. I normally leave my IPad with my assistant at the table and they, my assistants,  encourage people to sign-up and we will send them some promotional material or we have additional incentives at the table, where we offer them mini-sessions in the comfort or their own homes or at our studio. 

You can use any incentive to encourage people to sign-up so that you can get some additional information for your marketing campaign.

So have a great month of photographing. Just remember that being a photographer is just as important as being a great marketer. People have to see that you can take great photographs before they trust you. That only comes from practice and experience.

So we look forward to seeing all your photographs in the month of August.

Giving Back Update

Good Morning everyone.

I am sure so many of you have already reached out to your community, thinking about something that you could do in giving back to the community.

Yes it is a great way to help a company that might not have the skills or even the budget to raise funds for their cause. They might just be starting out or the work they do might not be as glamorous or exciting as everyone would like them to be.

The reason we give back is first and foremost to help a cause that we believe in. Don't ask a company with the sole intention of you been the only beneficiary. How can you use your craft to better help the company that you are photographing increase their presence in the market place? How can you make their lives better? Are you able to raise additional funds for the business?

If you can help them answer just one of those questions then I am sure you are making a difference.

Now, if you have not found something to contribute to then may I suggest you send a message or post through Facebook. I sent such a post through Facebook just over a month ago and a client I just photographed forwarded the post to someone that they knew and that is how I found my first charity organization.

A director from the Schwartz Organization  sent me an email and wanted to know if I was available to photograph one of their gala evening presentations.

Well, if this is the first time that you are giving back to the community it might be the ideal way to see how everything works with regards to giving back. I asked them what they required? They wanted a few photographs of all the people attending and that is all that they required. It was a simple yet easy way to get myself some exposure.

Now the important question you need to ask when you are doing something for the community. The question is not "How can I benefit from something like this?" The question you need to ask is ,

"Is their a way I can leverage your event to let people know about me as a photographer?" You can always phrase the words a little better. (I know I am not the best with words.) But by asking this question you are ensuring that you get something from doing some photographs for the event.

The response that I got was, "There are going to be about 350 gift basket for all those that donated to the organization and you can add your promotional cards to that basket." That is just what I wanted. I got to add one of my professionally made postcards with some of my best photographs on it, into a gift basket of some of the more generous donors in the community.

I was getting access to a marketing list that is not often available to a local photographer. Don't you think that that is worth 2 hours of your time?

So, I recommend you try Facebook or any other form of social networking to find some contacts. You will never know what will come from it. It is a great place to start and the important part of this exercise is making contacts. You are building your database of contacts for the future.

So have fun out there and don't worry too much about find the perfect charity or organization, but rather find an organization where you know you can make the most impact no matter what it is.

Happy shooting and we will speak again soon.

Denzil

Giving Back - Videos

Good morning everyone.

This week we will continue in the theme of giving back. We want to build a great portfolio for community charity work so what can be better than giving back to the local community.

To add some great features and additional work to your resume', why not add some video to your work. The industry is starting to demand that photographers also add some video to their packages. This might be a really opportunity to improve upon your video skills.

Here is a short video on how to set your WB for your DSLR camera.

and this video as well..

They are easy to follow and getting your WB correct in camera will be a breeze.

If you have a few different cameras than were mentioned in the videos then you can also check out this link for additional camera WB settings.

Last week we had a online video training speaking about some of the sites you can visit to find out how you can contribute to the community.

Here are two of those links.

Volunteer Match

Shutter Mission

Have a great Wednesday and I will speak to you again next week.

Denzil

Giving Back to the Community

A Happy Wednesday morning to everyone.

This morning I want to talk about some interesting things that we will be having in the coming months. Well, why so early you would say? The reason is that normally it takes some organizing and we would like everyone to contribute if possible.

In August to are going to dedicate the entire month to "Giving Back to the Community" series. This is the pre-planning stages and we would like you to think about all the opportunities that you might be able to give back to the community.

Now, it has to be considered in conjunction with running your own business. How would you be able to benefit and sustain a project like this on a yearly basis? How are you going to cover your costs or maybe pick up residual income if you pay for your time and prints by donating your time?

To get you going in the right direction I am going to mention a few things that you may want to consider. There are thousands of businesses around the country that make a living by giving back to the community.

One example is building a package for a Charity Auction. You may give away a portrait package, that may cost you $250. Contact all the charities in your area and find out if you can contribute to their cause.

So how does this work?

1. Get some marketing material. Banner, postcards, flyers and pamphlets that tell people about your business. (You cost should not be more than $150) WHCC
2. At the auction you can have a vendor table and tell people about what you contributed to the auction.
3. Now, make sure to get a signup sheet or even use your IPad or mobile phone to capture Name and Emails. A good way to do this is use Chimpmail. Chimpadeedoo is an app that integrates with your IPad and mobile phone to capture email addresses so that you can build your marketing list. 
4. Remember that the goal of all your charity work is to build a community where people get to know who you are and what you can contribute. 
5. Always make sure that you have some marketing or promotional material that you can give away so that you can get the referral business and you may just be called back the following year or from other businesses that see what contribution you make to the community.

Anther great way to find ways to give back to the community is by joining PPA.com Besides being a great resource for photographers, they also have a yearly plan of charity work and giving back to the community.

One charitable project that I always do each year is the Operation Smile project. You can work directly with the organization or as I did, I went to my local dentist and we discussed how this charity giving opportunity could benefit both of us.

1. We did a family portrait month. 
2. Great smiles for a mini-shoot where 50% of the sitting fee goes to the charity and you get customers to pay for your print.
3. The dentist gets the foot traffic and you may even get to use the dentist mailing list to send out information about the charity event. 

There are so many ways that we can give back to the community. A celebration of smiles mini session in your local hospital or clinic. A shoot your pet session at the local veterinary clinic if you love photographing animals. Giving back to the troops is also a personal favorite of mine.

We would love to know what you have planned? So get out there and start thinking about what impact you are going to be taking on your your community! Send your tweets to @dgephotos or please just leave me a comment on what you have planned. 

We look forward to seeing your projects and now is the time to start planning. 

I know it is early, but my dentist Photographs for smiles took almost 2 months of pre-planning to get a great day organized.

Have a great day and we will speak again next week.

Denzil

5 Ways to Honor Veterans with Your Photography

There are special times of the year in which we can challenge ourselves to go out and do some good with our photography; this Veteran's Day is a great opportunity to shoot with some extra purpose.  With over 23 million veterans in the United States, there is a very good chance that you might know a veteran, have one living on your street, or have a Veteran's Day celebration of some sort in your town.  Below are five ways to give back to the brave men and women who served, fought, and sacrificed for our freedoms.

1.  Document a Veteran's Ceremony.

Documentary-style photography doesn't have to be your niche to take good photos for a good cause.  Towns big and small will have concerts, flag ceremonies, speeches, and parades from veterans that beg to be documented.  Consider attending an event with your camera and capturing those special moments, then offer the photos to the organizations or people you meet as a way of showing your support and/or appreciation.

2.  Shoot family photos for a veteran's family.

If you know a veteran or someone who is currently serving in any branch of the military, ask if you can shoot a free family session as a promo for Veterans Day.  Family photos are precious items for most people, especially those who are far from home, who may be deploying soon, or perhaps those with a long lineage of military service.  You don't have to schedule the shoot for November 11th, but you can introduce the promo and schedule a shoot when it is convenient for all parties.

3. Visit an army hospital, convalescent home or homeless shelter.

There’s a good chance you’ll meet at least one veteran in a recovery home with a military buildup around WWII and the Korean war.  Arrange to visit one of these places that take care of veterans and take your camera.  Listen to veteran’s stories and take their portraits to remember their stories.  It is unfortunate that many of our veterans end up in places like this without family and your company and attentive ear has the power to make a huge difference in their day of celebration.











4. Take photos of your hometown.

Take landscape photos of notable spots in your hometown and make them into cards to send to a veteran serving from your area.  There’s a good chance that with so many people currently in the military, some of them are bound to be from your hometown and having a photo of home could hold a lot of sentimental value to someone who is serving far away from home.  If you don't know of anyone to send these to you find an organization that pairs up service members with people who want to send encouraging notes such as USO's, VFW's, American Legions, and MWR's.

5. Volunteer with an organization.

Many non-profit organizations serve veterans and their families and often these organizations often need or could greatly benefit from photography to help further their mission and raise awareness for the people that they are serving.  Consider reaching out to an organization in your area to volunteer your services for a good cause.  It doesn't even have to be photography-related but will look good as a donation of your time that you can promote on your business site.


Do you have any other suggestions for honoring our veterans with photography?  Post a comment below or if you get the chance to try out one of these five suggestions I would love to see the resulting images!  Here is one of my own:

Works Cited

Donner, Nicholas. "5 Ways to Honor Veterans with Your Photography." craftsy. Craftsy and Sympoz Inc., 10 Nov. 2014. Web. 10 Nov. 2014. <http://www.craftsy.com/blog/?p=126291&ext=FB_PC_PP_Registrations_20141108_blog_26&utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=Social%20Engagement&utm_campaign=Photography%20Club-Registrations&initialPage=true>

"Flags and Tombstones." Photograph. Encyclopædia Britannica ImageQuest. Web. 10 Nov 2014.
<http://quest.eb.com/#/search/139_1992968/1/139_1992968/cite>

"Florida, Miami, Biscayne Boulevard, Bayfront Park, Veterans Day PARADE." Photograph. Encyclopædia Britannica ImageQuest. Web. 10 Nov 2014.
<http://quest.eb.com/#/search/300_1821366/1/300_1821366/cite>

"Memorial Day Ceremony In Coconut Grove, Florida." Photographer. Encyclopædia Britannica ImageQuest. Web. 10 Nov 2014.
<http://quest.eb.com/#/search/115_2720589/1/115_2720589/cite>