POINTS OF CONTACT

Posted by Prep To Post on Jul 31, 2011 in BUSINESS TALK | 3 comments

As freelancers, one of the most important characteristics to have is the ability for potential clients to contact you with the greatest ease possible. Freelance artists are absolutely dependent on having at least a cell phone with email functionality. Aside from word of mouth referrals, our web presence is our primary point of contact, because it is the most convenient way for clients to view our work.

FORMATTING THE EMAIL SIGNATURE

Posted by Prep To Post on Jun 8, 2011 in BUSINESS TALK | 0 comments

Times they are a-changing, especially with the technology packed into today’s smartphones. I receive less and less printed paper business cards because after all, I can request to be sent an email, and usually all the pertinent info I will need will be embedded into that person’s email signature.

Now, if you are not using a signature at the bottom of every email you send out, you are failing. At the very least, you should have some sort of contact information such as your website address or cell phone number. It’s just good networking practice.

Ever since I got my EVO which runs on the Android OS, importing

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

Posted by Prep To Post on May 16, 2011 in BUSINESS TALK | 2 comments

I think one of the best things you can do for your photography career or business is to use your own name.

As photographers, we are artists and we are creative people. It’s natural to want to set ourselves apart and be unique in a creative way. We want to show everyone how creative we can be through the brand we make for ourselves. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen photographers use the words CREATIVE, DIGITAL, AND IMAGERY as a way of branding their business. Trust me, there is nothing more unoriginal than seeing Creative Digital Photography, or Digital Imaging Creations, and every other combination of those words.

Clients, Art Buyers, Art Directors, and other artists such as makeup and hair people want to work with YOU. They want to work with someone they can identify with as one person to another. It makes it difficult to get a sense of who you are as an artist when they need to replace your name with a fictitious one.

As much as I hate to admit it, when I began my photography career, I used Eyecandy Studios as a name. Go ahead, feel free to laugh, because it’s pretty funny. I didn’t have a studio, let alone studios to speak of. Looking back, at least I didn’t go with iCandy Studioz. Anyway, I soon realized that if I wanted to make a mark on this world as a photographer, the last thing I would want to be remembered as is Eyecandy Studios! I want to go down in history as an Ansel Adams, a Richard Avedon, a Herb Ritts, or a Helmut Newton. I want people to know who I am, and attach the kind of work I do to my name.

A week or two ago, I met up with another photographer in my area for coffee, Jason Wallis. Now I have known who Jason was, because when I started my career, I researched who the other photographers were in my area. We had never actually met in person until now, but this industry being as small as it is, everyone’s name comes up at some point. Anyway, Jason and I got to talking, and it turns out there is another photographer in Alabama named Jason Wallis, which I thought was pretty funny. Even better, both Jasons get calls from clients looking for the wrong Jason! That’s pretty crazy. I guess I’m fairly lucky in that department because my name isn’t as common as say, John Smith, but what are the chances of two Jason Wallis’s being commercial photographers?

The point here is this: set yourself apart with the quality of your work, not how creative you can be with your business name. Photography as an art is an extension of ourselves — our true selves. Our work should be a reflection of who we are, and by using a fictitious name, the work becomes associated with that name instead of you. And when the work becomes disconnected with you, it becomes contrived.