Business Card Update

Well now I am about on my fourth (or is it fifth design) for my business card.  Luckily I discovered Avery put out a product that looks really professional so I can change my design any time I feel like it.  You never know when you  have that "better" photo that you wished you had used.

The Avery product is the glossy, not matte.  I find for some reason that matte looks cheaper by comparison.  For those who are not scared of computers, creating the cards was not hard at all (except for deciding what picture).  I really like handling this issue this way because I don't have to store 250-500 cards that I may not even like in two weeks.

The way I am currently handling this allows me to spotlight various photos as opposed to just having one on my cards.

Finding Time and Other Magic Tricks

Okay, I may sound somewhat sexist here but I think most women's clocks have less time then the guys.  Primarily because most of us with kids are the ones who are on the front line in regards to handling the children's schedule and corresponding transportation(ie. school, field trips, scouting, church activities, ballet lessons, karate, soccer, baseball, . . . you get the idea).  Please, I am not saying that there are no men in the same circumstances but it usually falls to the ladies to schedule and navigate work and the kids activities.

In my case, my spouse has very long work hours and because of the work he does I need to be the parent on call at least 95% of the time.  So where do I find the time to do the "business".  I discovered long ago a few things:
1)  Magic wands don't really work;
2)  I would not be able to hold not a conventional job because that meant choosing between being there for the kids and keeping my job.

What I do now is perfect combination of all worlds (even though I am still building the business).  I can work from almost any place as long as I have technology on my side.  A reliable laptop is number one.  My trusty camera is another.

Laptops can be your time machine.  In my case I have two: one of them has all the bells and whistles so if needed I can work on photos on the road.  The other is a simple, very small one that I can take with me to work on blogs, emails, and marketing ideas (but nothing with too much graphics).

So how are these my time machines?  Well there are those moments in life when we are just "hanging out" or waiting for an extended amount of time for something or someone.  Currently I am sitting in a bookstore that has free wi-fi, waiting for my daughter who is at a 2 hour class.  The class is too far away for me to drop her off and just come back so here I am, laptop in tow.  The nice thing is that I don't have to deal with any disturbances that may occur when I am working in the home office.  I can "hyper-focus" if need be.

What if you are at a place that doesn't have wi-fi?  Now adays most cell phone carriers have some sort of webconnect technology (though it may be pricey).  I have not tried any of these so I can't comment on their usefullness.  Personally I am a free wi-fi geek.

The other magic trick I use is developing task lists where I can get to them easily so if I do have time to kill, I can check my list to see if there is anything I can get rid of.  It doesn't matter if you have a small notebook in your pocket/purse or use electronics for this.  Just keep something handy to list those business details that have nothing to do with the photography part itself (ie. invoicing clients/developing new price list/ updating your business plan, etc.).

I actually have two lists (seems I do a lot of things in two's - hmm - but I digress).  My Google email has a task list that pops up when I am in my email and I have a secondary list on my I-Touch (I hate paper, primarily because I always lose it).  Play with different type of tasks lists (aka:  to-do's) until you find the one that is most effective for your situation.

I am sure as I progress in developing my business, I will discover other magic tricks (and then share them with you).

Professional Networking: Where to begin . . .

is not easy to decide.  There are more groups on the Internet, most of them requiring a fee.  But for those of use who are starting at ground zero (and in some cases even in the basement) any fee is an expensive fee.  One could use the usual groups found through sites such as Yahoo but that can get overwhelming with the volume of personal ads that seems to fill several discussion threads.

A friend of mine turned me onto a site called LinkedIn.  This is a professional networking site that has differnt levels of membership.  The nice thing is that there is a free membership.  This is the one that I currently have.  I enjoy this site because there are different groups you can join, depending on your networking needs, that provide  honest information from those working in the field.  Yes there is some self promotion going on but not to the extend that one find on other networking sites.

The secret of LinkedIn is that you have to work it.  Look for people you know (even if they are not in your field) and ask them to be on you network.  Join groups for photography and real estate.  Post your professional website and blog.  You never know if someone knows someone who knows someone (you get the idea).  Make sure that the professional website that you link to LinkedIn shows some up your best work.

I have a friend who started her account less than a year ago.  She is now networked with over 300 others.  And she also got a job after almost a year without one.  It never hurts to try and LinkedIn is free.

BUSINESS CARD, BUSINESS CARDS, BUSINESS CARDS

Here is my predicament - I have no budget.  Eventually things will pick up but currently I have do things with little or no money.  Business cards are an absolute necessity for me yet how do I decide what design I want before I pay major bucks (and could end up with something I hate or change info because the business is in major transition).

I did buy some personalized business cards when I thought I was going in a certain direction with my business.  Major mistake and waste of money.  So what is a fledging photographer to do?  My first mistake was not planning this out, taking time to at least start a business plan to help me focus on what it is that a) I wanted to do; 2) Is there a need; 3) Do I have the equipment to get the business going.

Once I did the above (I have to admit though that the business plan is not totally complete - a continuous work in progress), I had some basics that I need for the business cards to be useful:

 1)  A stable business phone number (that doesn't cost me cent!)
 2)  A dedicated business web site  (same as above)
 3)  A dedicated email address that looks professional (okay, I had to pay for a domain name but the price was very reasonable).

So how do I decide what I want my card to look like.  As a photographer, I of course want to design my own and not take some stock style card.

What I did is I created my own - - - in four different styles.  I got some business card stock from Staples and printed out some cards.  Yes, I know they look a little cheap but I am trying to see which ones "grab" people's eye before having the professional ones done. I always have some on me no matter what.

Wall Street Journal Blog about Real Estate Photography . . .

I love LinkedIn.  I will talk about that in a latter blog.  However, one of the members found this great Wall Street Journal blog about Real Estate Photography.

In Real Estate, A Picture Is Worth $1,000 or More

Though the market they used for their research was in Boston and Long Island, the principal is the same for everywhere.  I personally believe the more our culture uses technology, the more people will be doing their initially house hunting on the internet.  Gone are the days of walking through 20+ properties to find "the one".

If you ever watched HGTV series like "House Hunters" and "Property Virgins", you will notice more than not the person looking for the home is also checking out property websites.

I know I use the internet for looking for out of area rentals for vacations.  I have to admit, if it doesn't have alot of photos for me to get an idea of the property, I don't investigate further no matter the price.

What is next . . .

I have my website up (had to go for a freebie for right now - https://sites.google.com/site/realphotosbyjbb/) and my blog going.  I have to create my business cards, which for me is always difficult.  By the time I am done designing one I end up not liking it and want to start over.  I am probably being too picky but I do want them to reflect both my business and my personality.

Hmm, maybe I should just have it reflect the business.  I think the personality part is what I keep wanting to change ;-).

Also I am working on one of the networking sites that an acquaintance recommended.  It is LinkedIn.  Currently I am trying to cultivate a network of Real Estate Agents, Virtual Assistants and Photographers.  Not an easy task because you actually have to know some of these people in hopes that they will give you a recommendation.  Right now I only have 15 in my network.  I am hoping by the end of October to add at least 10 more.  Anybody else want to join?

So what do you do at 2 a.m.?

I have been playing detective.  Yes, it is 2:17 a.m. and I am here in my chair, trying to figure out how to get my website to show up on the search engine.  Mind you I am not computer ignorant yet I am not a programmer either.  I have no budget so it is like do it yourself or die trying.   I had to create a .TXT document for a sitemap which had to have a specific format which reads like a foreign language.  Then I had to figure out how to get google to recognize this document after I uploaded it.  Still not sight of my site on the search engine (say that fast five times!)  We will see what tomorrow (or today) brings!

Setting Up a Website: Proof Read, Proof Read, Proof Read

So today I worked on my website.  It almost reads like my blog but will eventually have other items on it that the blog doesn't.  My problem today is I could use a proof reader.  The brain goes so fast that the fingers can't keep up.  I type and then read what I wrote.  Gads, missing words and misspellings beyond belief!!!  This is definitely a lesson to read everything twenty times before I publish.

Ten to one though, someone will find an error anyhow.  Here is the website address:  https://sites.google.com/site/realphotosbyjbb
Let me know what you think.  I am still working on it.  (Spell check is a very good thing for me right now!)

Why use a Real Estate Photographer?

I spent the last year and a half working with a local real estate agent.  The one thing that I noticed is that he doesn't have time to spend taking a lot of photos, looking through them all, make slight corrections if needed and getting them posted on the various sites needed for marketing in a timely manner.

This is where a photographer is needed.  They are focused on getting the right shots to enhance the property for marketing purposes.

I hope this blog will point out some of the positives that the real estate photographer brings to the table.  Agents and brokers have too much to do in trying to help their clients with their real estate needs in other areas (and the current recession isn't helping much).  With short sales and foreclosures practically everywhere you look, the agent needs some of the stress taken off of them and an experienced photographer can help with that.

Below is a slide show that shows just some of the photos I have taken, to give example of what a Real Estate Photographer is capable of doing for their clients.  If you want to go to the album with comments on the photos below, the link is http://picasaweb.google.com/116627888441750683938  (just copy and paste if the link doesn't work).
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