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Newsie bits
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I'm in pain. Moved into our new home, started building the studio, fired up the new photography forum over at No Bs Photo Success, saw U2 last weekend (drove over 10 hours there and back) and found out the following Saturday that on the following Monday night I was going to be graded for my brown belt in karate. All this month so far. Plus many photography sessions and family life and all.

What a month it's been.

U2 is an awesome band and I am now a brown belt in Goju Rui traditional Japanes karate. And my body aches.

So why do I study and practise karate? I got into it almost on a whim. And I liked it, so I stuck around. The main issue is that fact that I love a challenge. And this challenges me. I was running out of new challenges so it came into my life at the right time. Besides the obvious health benefits I find it a great place to "relax". Empties my mind and allows me to focus on only one thing.

Listen, I am not a martial artist by any stretch. Nor am I the atheletic type. I never participated in any sports in high school or joined any hockey leagues as a boy. Why? I have no idea. All my buddies played organized hockey. Not me. I played and skated and climbed roofs and trees and ran around getting into all kinds of trouble. Yes, I ran a lot. Had a lot of energy but I guess I never "fit" with the norm.

Why should this matter to you or make any diference in how you run your photography business?

I am keen to look at success from all angles. Even the dark side. Yes, there is a dark side to success. We don't talk about it much or much want to admit it's there, but it is. Carl Jung said that within all neurosis there lies a gift.

Many of us succeed because we feel so inferior inside. Maybe because someone did us wrong, and we are out to prove a point. Maybe we were shown all the worst that life could bring and we decided that we didn't want to repeat those same mistakes that we witnessed so we somehow and miraculously escaped. Maybe we were angered and the best form of reveange was success. On and on....

Success isn't always driven by these influences, but more often than no there are the underlying energies that fuels many of us to achieve our dreams.

And there's nothing wrong with that. What is wrong is denying ourselves the opportunity to succeed and feeling guilty and letting that guilt ruin us. Especially if we feel we don't deserve it. Or if we feel that we don't have the right skills, talents, looks, or whatever.

We all have to face our demons. The solution is to move forward in spite of whatever demons, forces or circumstances are thrown our way. Destiny has a funny way of throwing all kinds of challenges our way, and, THEY ALWAYS COME AT THE WORST TIME. The solution is worth repeating. Ignore em. Move forward anyhow...

...AND, take massive action. Do whatever you can with whatever resources you have available. Make a list a mile long of all the things you can do with what you got, not the things you think you need or wished you had, and GET AT IT!

Ignore it all. Especially the critics and nay 'sayers. As if you let another person tell you what you can or cannot do or accomplish. Oddly enough for some of us their negativity drives us forward. That's the dark side of succeess again. Used effectively.

More ramblings......

Only five weeks left if you want to get together in beautiful St Lucia:

From Charles, the man in charge of this event: We GUARANTEE that you will get totally turbo-charged!!! The 7th Annual "A Week In Heaven" Jan 10-11-12 2006 on the beautiful island of St Lucia with Charles Vandersluys Master Photog., Cr., CPP and Jacqueline R Baldini Master Photog., Cr. Plus SPECIAL GUEST ROB PROVENCHER & JAMES HODGINS FORM NOBS Photo Success. They will be doing a half day program on digital photography and hanging around talking shop. It is a PPA Continuing Education course and you receive 1 merit for attending . For more information go to the photography seminar website here or call toll free at 1800 393-7270.

Here's a look at the latest and first of many newsletters from the No Bs Photo Success site. Check out what the current Inner Circle Members are getting for their membership. PLUS, note the planned full-day, possible two day workshop planned for Las Vegas while WPPI is on. Only for Inner Cirlce Members. Membership has it's perks. Read about our photography forum here in case you are not a member and want to learn more about photography, photography lighting, photoshop, photography marketing, and on and on and on....

Coaching Program is still in the works. But I can fill you in on some of the details for now. As soon as we get over the techie glitches, which never seem to end, and always pop up out of nowhere, we'll have the complete thing online. No date promises lest I jinx the whole thing. The coaching program will include everything I have in my photography marketing system, wedding marketing system and baby and child portrait system, all downloadable through a forum. There will be updated versions and ongoing updates as I see fit. The forum will be limited enrollment since I can't be everywhere at all times. It will inlcude strategies that reflect my marketing beliefs including sales letters, direct response marketing, affiliation promotions, postcards, newsletters, database management, some customization of pieces by me, etc etc etc all designed to grow a successful and long term photography business. I am planning to have webhosting included with basic packages and advanced packages, and all points in between, all designed for photography studios and will likely include webpage optimization, email strategies, database, and much more to do with web marketing your photography studio. The coaching program will also be a place for consultations and analyzing specific needs and ideas for the individual who wants to grow in a specific direction. I will be able to offer a lot of marketing input and fully expect others to participate since I am taking the mastermind approach. There is more and it will all be explained in the salesletter. Current owners of my marketing products will get first crack and a special discount offer.

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Courage is the first of human qualities, because it is the quality which guarantees all others.
- Winston Churchill -
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Success Corner
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When you have limited resources you are forced to be creative. Sometimes your worst enemy is having too much money. Ever notice how many success stories were started with very modest and humble beginnings? You get to be more focused on results and survival when you stop spending money looking for solutions and focusing instead on effective solutions that require you to draw on your inner most skills, talents, vision and courage. Capiche?

Pricing. When you go to a fine restaurant do you obsess about the price? No. It's all about the experience. And so it should be with your photography business.

What can you bring to add value to your photography services? A lot of the answer lies in innovation, communication, packaging, personality, courtesy, etc etc etc. Is it all about one or two or five things?

Never. It's about finding one hundred ways to bring a better photographic experience to your customer. So when you reveal the price, even though it may sting a bit, they still want it. Many will still appreciate the price. Gives em braggin 'rights.

The experience on all levels should be treated with top priority including the finished product hanging on the wall. Let's assume that the product itself is of good value. It all starts with the work. It's hard to sell crappy work. So be honest with yourself.

And look at YOU. Actually that's the first product in any business. YOU. The person at the helm. That's why I harp on that point first thing in my marketing success audio tapes. Every business is a reflection of the owner. There's no escaping it. Who you are screams out louder than anything else about your photography studio.

RAW vs JPEG

So why do we get caught up in this argument about RAW vs JPEG? For fear of making a few enemies and risking loosing a few friends ;), I will rant. My best argument is this:
A musician who plays any instrument has to play it well. Of course, they need to be in tune. Always. There's little room for error. Try playing a bad note and see how long you last.

It's the same with shooting JPEG. You need to be bang on with your exposure. There's no excuse otherwise. Shooting RAW because you need that "exposure latitude" is wimpy wimpy wimpy. For the life of me I don't get it. Probably because my time is SO VALUABLE and it means money, literally. So time is a big one. AND shooting RAW takes a big bite out of my time budget for no return on its investment.

Okay, there's the big old "you get to adjust your white balance" argument. Ditto above. If you're too lazy to create a good white balance you outta get a real job.

Okay, you say I get the benefits of 16 BIT files. Uh? Please explain that one. Never mind. Too much math. Fact is if RAW were the very best medium out there, and the very best medium was very important to us, we'd all be shooting 5"x7" or larger view cameras. If we shooting film we'd have Kodachrome 64 loaded. Pratical? Not! Same with RAW. I see no benefits.

Let me give you one final analogy before I give you the real reason why I rant on on this topic. Say you needed a new car. You shop around and research. You need many things to consider. You decide on a Corolla since it has one of the best prices and track records. Makes sense. But instead you buy a Formula 500 racer. Why? It looks good on you. Will it get you to the mall faster? Yea. But the mall's a mile away. Okay, so you dont get 850 horsepower of screaming muscle. But you get a suped up racer, with mags (like the old days) and a spoiler, and a jacked up rear.

Why? Ego. That's why. It looks good on us and feeds our ego.

Listen. If you want to take a step in the right direction don't focus on the wrong areas. Focus on the right areas that MAKE your photography business grow. Not the things the feed your ego. Photography is loaded with all kinds of whistles and bells and things that go whiz bang and bbbrriiiirrrrr. All designed to feed our egos unless we can find a practical and money or time saving way to use them.

Now that I've said my piece, here's a little vid for you from a recent shoot (click on image):

Note: I used one light. And while I was there I shot this same couple in a RAW file and compared it to a JPEG file. I applied the exact same workflow and sized em up to 36 inches. Here's a portioned selection from that same file:

Can you see the difference? Original file is 36 inches. Which one is RAW? Which one is not? You don't need to answer me or send me hate emails.

One of the points I am trying to make here is that this is bread and butter stuff. This is the stuff that brings home the bacon.

"It's kind of fun to do the impossible"
- Walt Disney -

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Spaced repetition learning. This is not a new idea. I've heard it before and am currently having it drilled into me by my current success coach, Merv. It's simple. Let me explain. If you have a new skill you need to master, practise it daily for 21 days straight. Everyday. many times a day. If it's an audio tape or CD, same thing. Listen to it over and over and over. The results will amaze you. It will burn into your subconscious and give you the ability to draw on it when you need to.

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Meet Peiying Guo Also known as Carrie, her North American name. Carrie works at our studio. She came to Canada about 2 years ago because her husband works in our city. They both stuggle with the English language and we have a few laughs in the studio when trying to communicate. Carrie is bar none the most incredible worker we've ever hired. She does all the digital workflow. When we interviewed her she "pitched" herself. We liked that. Most people do not try hard enough to truly sell themselves. She did. That quality landed her the job. Now get this. Because she knows she needs to learn the language, and she wants to learn more in general, she signed up for and is taking three full university courses at our local U. Amazing! But she's doing it. She getting it done! It blows me away when I see that kind of dedication and desire. We can all learn from her.

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Art is never safe
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. Here's a few samples from recent shoots:

"If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced."
Vincent Van Gogh

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Testimonials
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Here's a post from my digital photography forum

"I don't know if this will help or not but I read one of Rob's newsletters late last year I think, it changed my whole outlook on life AND what I was and wasn't doing with my business. His very powerful statement was simply "Do what you fear" I must have read it a hundred times - stewed over it for a few days and finally did what I feared. (GASP!) I raised all my prices by 50%!

Not only did I retain all of my clients - I gained more and more business. I found out later that in my customers' eyes I became more credible which made them even more comfortable doing business with me and my company.

Bottom line - don't let your fear hold you back from reaching your dreams or building your business. Remember.. do what you love and the money will come.

Oh one last thing... Please take Rob's advice and read his newsletters. I spent over 25 years in sales and his newsletters are some of the best inspiration and advice a photographer could ask for - the icing on the cake? - they're free!!

Go get 'em

Bo"

Thanks Bo Well said...Rob

GURU CORNER

Roy H. Williams. I love this guy. He's amazing. On eof the best and brightest minds in marketing and advertising. Buy his books.

Here's his website.
He has a free newsletter called the Monday Morning Memo. Great stuff.

"Businesses don't fail due to reaching the wrong people.Businesses fail when they say the wrong things.And they say the wrong things when they believe what the public tells them.Conduct a survey. Ask the public to describe in detail the kind of place they'd like to shop. Then build that place, exactly as described, and see if they ever show up.Experience tells us they won't."
Roy H. Williams