by successfulbob | Guest Post, Marketing Monday, photography marketing
Loose Ends – Marketing Monday by Skip Cohen
Okay, gang, we’re down the to the wire and the fourth quarter, complete with some substantial seasonality, kicks in next month! It doesn’t matter what kind of year you’ve had to date, great seasonality for most photographic specialties is about to start.
So, the question is, how many incomplete ideas, loose ends, are on your desk, or bouncing around in your head. Loose ends are all those projects you’ve procrastinated about, and they range from mending fences with your adversaries to cleaning up the back room of your studio. Relax, I’m not suggesting you need to clean it all up today, but what a kick to put all your loose ends down in a list and then start checking them off one at a time.
Remember, half the battle is beating procrastination, and we all do it. We put things off waiting for the shoemaker’s elves to come in the middle of the night and clean up the mess. Sadly the only elves who show up are the Keebler Cookie guys, and they only add to your belt line!
I found a great quote from Orison Swett Marden (spiritual leader from the 1800’s)
“A lobster, when left high and dry among the rocks, does not have sense enough to work his way back to the sea, but waits for the sea to come to him. If it does not come, he remains where he is and dies, although the slightest effort would enable him to reach the waves, which are perhaps within a yard of him. The world is full of human lobsters; people stranded on the rocks of indecision and procrastination, who, instead of putting forth their own energies, are waiting for some grand billow of good fortune to set them afloat.”
Okay, get out the pad of paper and make that list…I did mine a few minutes before writing this post, and while I’ve made no progress, it’s at least a start! I am however craving a bag of Keebler Cookies and a lobster…go figure.
Skip Cohen has been involved in the photographic industry his entire career and previously served as President of Rangefinder/WPPI and earlier, Hasselblad USA. He founded SkipCohenUniversity.com in 2013. Skip is a co-host for “Mind Your Own Business” and “Beyond Technique,” webcasts through Photofocus.com, writes for several publications including Shutter Magazine and is actively involved in several advisory boards for non-profit organizations.
by successfulbob | inspiration, Marketing Monday
Five Favorite Quotes – Marketing Monday by Skip Cohen
This is the perfect post to kick off a new week, and while I can take almost no credit for the material, that doesn’t change how much I enjoy sharing quotes that are relevant to so many different aspects of our lives.
For years, I pretty much stopped reading for pleasure or my own personal growth. I was so wrapped up in what I do every day that reading just seemed to be an extension of work. My wife Sheila helped me snap out of that and I read a lot more than I used to and doing my best to make it authors and topics outside of photography. It sounds so stupid to suggest the obvious, that reading can create inspiration, but so often it’s just a simple one-liner that hits home.
So, I thought it would be fun to share a few of my favorites here on Successful-Photographer. I don’t care how good a year you might be having or how positive a person you are, everybody has had to deal with their fair share of challenges.
- From Mary Kay Ash: We must have a theme, a goal, a purpose in our lives. If you don’t know where you’re aiming, you don’t have a goal. My goal is to live my life in such a way that when I die, someone can say, she cared.
- From Mark Twain: Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.
- From Ingvar Kamprad, the founder of IKEA: Only those who are asleep make no mistakes.
- From motivational author, Wayne Dyer: When you dance, your purpose is not to get to a certain place on the floor. It’s to enjoy each step along the way.
- And one of my favorites from Gandhi: Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.
No matter how tough a year you’ve had or what challenges in life have been thrown at you, you’ve got to make the time to focus on a little inspiration every day. Most of us take a daily vitamin – well, think of it as a vitamin for your soul. I’m hoping one of these five quotes might just get you thinking differently about some aspect of your business and your goals.
Skip Cohen has been involved in the photographic industry his entire career and previously served as President of Rangefinder/WPPI and earlier, Hasselblad USA. He founded SkipCohenUniversity.com in 2013. Skip is a co-host for “Mind Your Own Business” and “Beyond Technique,” webcasts through Photofocus.com, writes for several publications including Shutter Magazine and is actively involved in several advisory boards for non-profit organizations.
by successfulbob | Marketing Monday, photography education
Ever Think About the Good Old Days? They’re RIGHT NOW!
Marketing Monday by Skip Cohen
Looking for great quotes from Zig Ziglar, a typo in Google took me into Ziggy Marley! Sometimes we stumble on the greatest little gems when we least expect them! I love what I found:
“I don’t have to wait to realize the good old days.” Ziggy Marley
That says it all. The good old days are right now, and I can’t help but think we all spend too much time missing so many of the moments in our own lives. Photographers are hired to capture those spontaneous moments. A great wedding photographer has the responsibility to be the eyes and with video can even be the ears of the bride and groom. A great portrait photographer is hired to capture the personality of the subject. Landscape photographers stop a sunset, a fish mid-stream, again moments out of time that can never be repeated.
The list goes on and on, yet so many photographers, miss the most significant moments in their own lives with their families and friends. They’re so caught up in worrying about the business they fail to enjoy the most important part of their lives, the reason they’re working in the first place – to enjoy life!
Ziggy’s right, why wait to realize the good old days?
Skip Cohen has been involved in the photographic industry his entire career and previously served as President of Rangefinder/WPPI and earlier, Hasselblad USA. He founded SkipCohenUniversity.com in 2013. Skip is a co-host for “Mind Your Own Business” and “Beyond Technique,” webcasts through Photofocus.com, writes for several publications including Shutter Magazine and is actively involved in several advisory boards for non-profit organizations.
by successfulbob | Guest Post, inspiration, Marketing Monday
Learning to Take a Break!
Monday Morning Marketing by Skip Cohen
“I’m an optimist. I’ve always believed the future is going to be better than the past. And I also believe I have a role in that. The great thing about human beings, myself in particular, is that I can change. I can do better. If you can get up every day, stay optimistic, and believe the future is better than the past, those few things get you through a lot of tough times.” – Jeffrey Immelt
It’s one of my favorite quotes, because I’m often criticized for being overly optimistic. I love this industry and while being a small business owner keeps getting tougher, there’s business out there, but it takes creativity, diversification and focus to find it.
Above Bob Coates taking a break in the studio getting ready for some ‘Chill Time’.
I don’t know anybody who’s afraid of working hard, but the tough part is patience and recognizing when you need to take a break. You can’t be creative if you’re tired or missing time with family and friends because you’re working so hard.
For example, now and then something comes along that totally lights your fire. You’re driven by the passion for some aspect of this business you love. Before you realize it you’ve become completely consumed. You’re totally focused, never noticing that very thin line between your obsession for your business and that of a crack addict!
You’ve got to recognize what they meant when they coined the phrase, “Rome wasn’t built in a day!” That means it’s up to you recognize when you’re approaching burnout and take a break. It takes work to find balance between all the hats you wear, and it’s just as constructive to step away from the business as it is to keep working.
Remember, you can’t create images that tug at people’s heartstrings if your own heart isn’t in it! Recognize when you’re tired, creativity is declining and you need a break. Then, like the Nike tagline: JUST DO IT!
Skip Cohen has been involved in the photographic industry his entire career and previously served as President of Rangefinder/WPPI and earlier, Hasselblad USA. He founded SkipCohenUniversity.com in 2013. Skip is a co-host for “Mind Your Own Business” and “Beyond Technique,” webcasts through Photofocus.com, writes for several publications including Shutter Magazine and is actively involved in several advisory boards for non-profit organizations.
by successfulbob | Guest Post, Marketing Monday, photography education, photography marketing
Just Say No – Marketing Monday Post
by Skip Cohen
Bringing Back Nancy Regan’s “Just Say No” Campaign
No graphic by Bob Coates Photography
Many of you aren’t old enough to remember Nancy Regan’s “Just Say No” campaign, but I ran across a reference to her recently and started thinking about the simplicity of that statement. Well, it seems like the perfect way to have some fun thinking about a few new ground rules for professional photographers:
Just say no to thinking, “I’ll fix it in the computer later!”
Just say no to companies who make promises to deliver on time and then don’t come through.
Just say no to lowering your pricing before you’ve exhausted every idea you have available to add value!
From an old post from Cliff Mautner: “In order to combat the apprehension of my wedding clients, I felt the need to add a bit of value to their collection in lieu of reducing my pricing – which I was dead set against. An added hour here, a flexible payment plan there, and things fell into place nicely.”
Just say no to putting off that mailing you need to do to all your previous brides who are now starting families.
Just say no to those “trolls” in your life who drain energy instead of creating it!
Just say no to giving up the fight to be creative in attacking the market and developing a program of diversification in your business.
Just say no to negative people in your life. They don’t have to love your dreams, just respect them!
Okay, who wants to add a few more?
Skip Cohen has been involved in the photographic industry his entire career and previously served as President of Rangefinder/WPPI and earlier, Hasselblad USA. He founded SkipCohenUniversity.com in 2013. Skip is a co-host for “Mind Your Own Business” and “Beyond Technique,” webcasts through Photofocus.com, writes for several publications including Shutter Magazine and is actively involved in several advisory boards for non-profit organizations.
