news0704

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Newsie bits
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In a few minutes it will be April 1, 2005.....no kidding. At least this newsletter got out whilst still March. Between traveling to Phoenix, a crashing laptop and my oldest uncle on my dad's side passing away recently it's been crazy. Unfortunatley I won't be able to attend my uncle's funeral this Saturday. I'll be in Calgary at the PPOC National Convention.(My uncle was 84, the oldest of 13 children. He was a WW2 vet)

I will not be attending as a delegate but spending all my time at the Custom Color Imaging booth in the trade show. James (the other guy at my the digital photography siteand I will be giving live digital workflow demos, giving away awesome prizes, and selling our DVD's and photoshop actions at great limited time offers.

If you happen to be there you might be one of the first 25 who show up at the booth and receive a free special CD we've created with some of our best selling photoshop actions and a few tutorials. If not, hope to see you there anyhoo. James has graciously donated his lucky fishing lure (you have no idea what a big deal this is for him....) plus over $500.00 worth of prizes to our main prize basket that will be drawn at the end of the show. We've even added a No Bs Photo Success T-shirt, hat, a roll of duct tape and a can of sardines. Go figure. We get a little loopy at conventions. James is even bringing his juggling balls and will be giving live demos between digital workflows.....

Speaking of conventions, were you at WPPI last week? I was. My first time. Didn't do any seminars but did enter 5 prints in the convention and spent many hours and many dollars at the trade show. Actually all the money I spent at the trade show was education based...audio tapes, CD's, DVD's and such....I am a big believer in self-education.

I grabbed a quick shot with Gary Fong. Not that I know him or anything. He wasn't impressed by the fact that I pulled out my little Canon A75 point & shoot camera...something that you will see me with all the time. M&M store just outside the casino (hey, I was bored standing around waiting for my girls to finish their shopping...). One of my prints with a ribbon. A couple of hot looking ladies that were at the Phoenix, October 04 all day live model shoot that James and I spoke at. As soon as I got to WPPI I happened upon them, and KC (below) and some fellow Canadians I bumped into as soon as I arrived. It was overwhelming but great!!!

KC, the moderator of our digital photography forum, was at the DWF (Digital Weddiing Forum) conventionand at the WPPI trade show when I met him. As soon as I arrived at WPPI, with thousands of people everywhere, there he was. What luck! I brought him a NoBs Hat and shirt. There I am again with a print. And my daughter Danielle, beside another print of mine (she's the fairy) and us at the Blue Man Group.....(you gotta see these guys!!)

Marketing lesson for Bahai Fresh: Like I mentioned, I bring my Canon A75 point & shoot camera everywhere I go. I am always looking for cool shots and whenever I see cool marketing ideas I shoot it. This sign is what I call a pre-emptive message. Or managing customers expectations. It means educating them and answering any questions or concerns going on in the "conversation in their heads". In this case it's "why's is the food taking so long?".
Next is Nacho Man.....don't ask.

A few weeks ago I shot a winter wedding. Whilst at the studio, just finishing up a few sessions in the morning and starting to pack for my wedding, Steve shows up and starts to yammer away at me with his usual barrage of photographic related left-brained somewhat retentive queries as to what makes or doesn't make a successful studio and all that goes into the day-to-day running of said studio. Sometimes I tell Steve to stop thinking. He's an engineer, you know.

Anyhoo, since I was off to a shoot, and he was there taking up space, I asked if he wanted to join me. He took me up on my offer....aaaaa, smart guy. He wants to learn. Most don't.

After a few weeks Steve drops in again. So I show him the slide show of the finals form the wedding he tagged along with me at and hopefully picked up a tip or two. Now here's the thing. This is very important. It says a lot about what it takes when creating images. It speaks volumes about the ability we need to hone in our minds when we are shooting weddings. We must be able to "see" and "interpret". Watch the video I shot of Steve right after he watched the final slide show. He made a comment that the images he just saw didn't look like the ones he saw when he was at the wedding. He was amazed. So I grabbed my little point and shoot and vidoe'd him. Here's the video (sorry about the quality. I screwed up the rendering but you will get the idea).

Steve also makes reference to the fact that he also was at a wedding with me last summer.Which he was. He tagged along then but took video of me at that wedding. It's the DVD bonus in the wedding marketing system.

Speaking about tagging along to learn, what about Robert Yardborough,

(nice hat Rob!!) who drove 14 hours from Colorado Springs to Phoenix, with his wife, mom and three kids. Listen, this guys a LT Col in the air force. Flown virtually every plane out there since he was 19. What's he want with little old me? He's only 43 and retiring next year. So what's he gonna do with all that time?? Pursue his passion.....photography. Robert tells me he never wanted to shoot weddings....until he saw my work. And he really, really, realy, really wants to learn, and learn fast. I don't blame him. I would to. Whenever I want to master something I gobble up every bit of info I can get my hands on. So he tagged along and hopefully he did learn something.

Here's a few samples from that wedding a few weeks ago in Phoenix. First person to guess which three are Robert's will win a free prize. This is tough, so the prize is nice. I will ship you a Big Kahuna Digital Success DVD system and manuals. A prize worth over $200.00. And to make it even tougher and totally not fair, Rob gets to guess too! Here they are:

Send me an email with your answers to "Guess which three shots Rob took" contest.

While in Phoenix I asked Rob and his family to pose for a family portrait, and I asked if he'd do a few of my family. Here I am taking his family:

See my wife there?? She's just ahead of me. I am using her as a tripod. Whoa!! Where's I see that?? Minutes earlier when Rob was taking our portrait. He had his wife stand at tripod. Cool....

Image Explorations- Five Day Intensive James Hodgins (the othe NO Bs digital photography guy) and I are part of the week long courses being taught next August 21-25, 2005 at Brock University, St Catherines Ontario. We anticipate a sell out as class room size is limited and demand is big. If you are serious about learning and taking your digital photography for portraits and weddings up a notch or two you should really consider this program. It is your best bang for your buck..... Tuition $615.00 Cdn. plus 7%GST ($CDN 43.05) (US residents are entitled to claim the GST back at the border).

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Photography Marketing Strategies
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Here's a letter that I received from my good friend and fellow photographer Kevin Doble, and my made-over version follows.

Have your family’s portraits taken at a professional photography studio, and take your photographs home with you the VERY SAME DAY.

Enter your children in the “Smiling Faces” contest for a chance to win
$100.00 main prize.

You have a very busy week ahead of you. Between going to the arenas and running around town you will have very little time to stop and rest.

Since time is a premium to you I have put together the following packages for you to choose from should you decide to have your family’s portrait taken, or photographs of your children.
A
$95.00 B
$70.00 C
$57.50 D
$50.00
1-10x13 2-8x10 1-8x10 1-8x10
1-8x10 2-5x7 2-5x7 2-5x7
2-5x7 4-3x5 4-3x5 4-3x5
4-3x5 8 wallets 8 wallets
8-wallets

Win $100.00 in the children’s portrait contest,
“Those Smiling Faces.”
This is a children’s contest open to children ages 3 to 12.
Prizes will be offered in the 3-5, 6-9, and 10-12 age groups.
The entry fee for this contest is only $25.00 with $20.00 of that going to a local Children’s Charity.
This is a quick 15min head and shoulder session with all contest entries being finished in black and white.
You will receive a complimentary sheet of wallets as our thanks for entering the contest.

How To Find Us. 253-1036
Located in the Cambrian Mall next to “Winners” on Great Northern Road.
Open mall hours, 9:30am to 9:00pm Monday to Friday. Saturday 9:30 to 5:30, Sunday 11:00am to 5:00pm.
About Us.
The Self Portrait Center is a portrait studio dedicated to taking fast professional photographs and delivering them to you RIGHT after your portrait session is finished. Our studio can hold up to 24 people so we can photograph those large extended families right down to photography of newborns. Besides basic photography we also carry a beautiful line of photo frames.

The staff of the Self Portrait Center and myself wish you an enjoyable week in Sault Ste. Marie, and good luck in the upcoming games. We look forward to meeting you and your families.

One final note. While appointments are preferred, walk in appointments are more than welcome.

Self Portrait Center
44 Great Northern Road, Sault Ste Marie, ON P6B 4Y5
Phone: 253-1036 Fax: 949-5323, info@selfportraitcenter.com, www.selfportraitcenter.com

Here's my quickie make over. He emails me and says it's going to print in like an hour. So I came up with:

An exciting limited time offer for the entire family while you are in
Sault Ste. Marie from the Self Portrait Center...

Have your family’s portraits taken at a professional photography studio at half our regular price, and take your photographs home with you the VERY SAME DAY. You will love your portraits and our great selection of packages. We guarantee it!!

SPECIAL OFFER ONLY TO LITTLE NHL FAMILIES STAYING IN S.S. MARIE
Since time is at a premium to you we've dropped our portrait sitting fee from $25.00 to half price,
and we will throw in your first 8"x10" FREE, (a $24.95 value) but you must call before ____

You have a very busy week ahead of you. Between going to the arenas and running around town you will have very little time to stop and rest. Your family session includes:

How To Find Us.
Call us by phone 253-1036 and a friendly voice will answer
Drop in and see us. We are located in the Cambrian Mall next to “Winners” on Great Northern Road.
Open mall hours, 9:30am to 9:00pm Monday to Friday. Saturday 9:30 to 5:30, Sunday 11:00am to 5:00pm.
About Us.
The Self Portrait Center is a portrait studio dedicated to taking fast professional photographs and delivering them to you RIGHT after your portrait session is finished. Our studio can hold up to 24 people so we can photograph those large extended families right down to photography of newborns. Besides basic photography we also carry a beautiful line of photo frames.

The staff of the Self Portrait Center and myself wish you an enjoyable week in Sault Ste. Marie, and good luck in the upcoming games. We look forward to meeting you and your families.

One final note. While appointments are preferred, walk in appointments are more than welcome.

PS Remember, this half price offer is good only until _____. After that it's too late. Do not pass up this chance to take home some once-in-a-lifetime portrait at a great price. Don't forget, we're throwing in your FREE BRIBE of one 8"x10". Absolutely FREE.

Self Portrait Center
44 Great Northern Road, Sault Ste Marie, ON P6B 4Y5
Phone: 253-1036 Fax: 949-5323, info@selfportraitcenter.com, www.selfportraitcenter.com

My comments: I fined tuned the sales letter. It had several offers. The session, the package and the contest. Too much confusion. I added more punch to the opeining headlines with guarantees and an focused offer. Beefed up the "bribe" in the offer

This type of media works. It's a sales letter. What may not work is the market. These were stuffers in the bag the registrants recieved at a big hockey tourney in his city. All the folks who where there were from smaller twons and likely have little or no access to a portrait studio. However, straight offers are tough to make work. Why? People are simply not motivated. The best system is any portrait offer that is tied in with an event..ie weddings, reunions, babies, anniversaries etcetcetc and can be marketing with innovative packaging and offers.

Do you have a dream? A big dream? A really, really, really big dream? Something that would fill your life with passion, purpose, zest and enthusiasm? What is it? Can you feel it? See it? Taste it? If you do not know excatly what it is you are after you won't be able to fill your life with it. Think about it. Know what you want, get what you want. When you go to the grocery store to buy food, you bring a list...right? When you pack for holidays or travel you plan for everything you will need when you are abroad, right? Why not plan, prepare and make a list of what your most passionate dream and passion is. Why not? What else is there? Are you working , living and taking up space till you retire? Is that your dream? Your dream, your vision mus be something take you can describe with certainty and fortitude. You must crave, desire and hunger for it. Does anyone feel that way about retirement? Retirement is a vague, nondescript and nebulous state.

GURU CORNER:

Getting confidence and keeping confidence – emotional muscle – is like getting and keeping any other muscle; it just requires daily exercise.

But where does confidence come from? Is it merely a feeling – the product of an optimistic attitude gained through positive thinking rituals learned at motivational seminars – or is it something more substantial?

According to Baltasar Gracian, confidence comes from authority, "…and the highest authority is that which rests on an adequate knowledge of things and long experience in different occupations. Master the subject matter and you will come and go with grace and ease and speak with the force of a teacher; for it is easy to master one's listeners if one first masters knowledge. No sort of abstract speculation can give you this authority; only continual practice in one occupation or another. Mastery arrives from an action done often and well... Authority originates in nature and is perfected by art. Those who attain this quality find things already done for them. Superiority itself lends them ease and nothing holds them back: they shine, both in words and deeds, in every situation. Even mediocrity, helped out by authority, has a certain eminence, and a little showiness can make everything come out right."

If you want to succeed at photography marketing, I mean really take it serious,
invest in the right information and direction for your future.

And, if you want to take your wedding photography marketing up a notch or two, do the same.

That's it for now folks! hope you enjoyed my monthly rant.
Thank You
Robert Provencher

Hold on to your hats and take names! I will tell all! Muchos gracias!