Here’s a Cheap Trick to Sustain your Marketing Motivation: Fill ‘er up!

[by Carolyn Potts]

Place a clear jar on your desk. Put it right next your phone and computer so that it’s in plain sight.

Each time you make a marketing phone call, add a name to your mailing list, assemble an email promo or post card, or make a portfolio presentation, drop a quarter into the jar.

Each time you create a new image for your portfolio, drop in 4 quarters. Each time you update your website with new images, drop in 8 quarters.

Each time you find yourself on the “pity pot” trading stories with another photographer about  how “bad” things are and how clients no longer seem to value your work, remove 12 quarters.

Each time you help someone else, drop in 20 quarters.

At the end of the month, send your accountability partner two images of your jar: one you made at the beginning and one from the end-of-the month. Then brainstorm with them how to best re-circulate your “deposited earnings.”

Carolyn Potts, perpetual photo evangelist; international consultant & speaker; and former rep, shows seasoned & proactive photographers how to get more work.Find her at www.cpotts.com , http://bit.ly/FaceBookPottsConsulting and http://carolynpotts.net

How to Get Rock-Hard Marketing Abs

[by Carolyn Potts]

When your body is out-of-shape, eating a healthy diet, along with properly and consistently lifting weights (at least 3 times a week for several months) will produce visible and palpable results.

When your business is feeling flabby and weak, regularly lifting the phone to make positive and targeted calls (at least 3 times a week for several months) can also produce real and visible results.

Until you discover what motivates you to consistently do what you know you MUST do–especially when you’re “not in the mood”– you’ll never get the measurable results you want. Ever.
When you find what your strongest motivator is , then it’s so much easier to  ”Just………………………”

Carolyn Potts, photo marketing consultant & former rep, uses both carrots and sticks when coaching clients how to get more work–and to get herself away from her Mac and over to the gym. www.cpotts.com , http://bit.ly/FaceBookPottsConsulting and http://carolynpotts.net

Why Continuing Ed Matters: beyond camera gear and PhotoShop tutorials

[by Carolyn Potts]

Last week was filled with the energy of students returning to classrooms across the country. It was only for a couple of hours, but, I, too, got a taste of the September excitement when I dropped in at Columbia College and attended the Columbia/ASMP Midwest co-hosted event: PDN’s 30 – Strategies for Young Working Photographers

Photography students filled the CC lecture hall to capacity and were studiously taking notes–especially when the evening’s panel of working photographers and a local art buyer, was asked the perennial question ”How do I get work?”

One answer that the pro photographers, art buyer, and the panel’s moderator, all agreed on was: “Create a portfolio of images that show your unique vision or voice.”

When then asked “How can I best develop my unique vision or voice?” the panelists again agreed: They all acknowledged that to create interesting and unique imagery, you have to BE an interesting and unique person. And becoming an interesting person is most often the result of being interested in, and curious about, the world around you–not just the world of photography.

While technical skill and business smarts are essential for success, your unique vision is still your most valuable business asset. Time spent in the exploration of the world outside photography can add real fuel to developing your vision. Think of outside exploration as your CEU’s (continuing education units) that other professions, such as health care and accounting, require for their members to maintain licensed status.

My personal “CEU courses” are chosen to feed both the analytical/business and the intuitive/creative sides of my brain. I like to mix it up with books, magazines, and podcasts. Here are some of my personal favorites.

For re-charging your creativity, a book I always recommend is The Artists Way by Julia Cameron. On the audio front, one of my fave inspirational shows is “How beauty will save the world” from CBC Radio’s intriguing series called, IDEAS.

For left-brain inspiration, I like listening to NPR’s On the Media which covers all things media-related. I like the FCC and Media law segments as many of the issues they cover effect me as a U.S. citizen and will also eventually affect the photography business.

I also like to read what our clients are reading. E.g. here’s a book that many members on the account teams at ad agencies have read. Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies

And finally, since so many photographers already have iTunes–either on their desktop or in their pockets–my newest continuing education fave resource is: Apple iTunes U. Amazingly, over 600 institutions of higher learning such as SVA, Harvard, Yale, MIT, and UC Berkeley have posted free content for your downloading pleasure and further education. Additionally, you can download free content from MoMA, Public Radio International, PBS, the Library Of Congress, and so many others.

Be Cool. Stay in school.

Carolyn Potts, perpetual photo evangelist; international consultant & speaker; and former rep, shows seasoned & proactive photographers how to get more work. Find her at www.cpotts.com , http://bit.ly/FaceBookPottsConsulting and http://carolynpotts.net

Need a Creative Jolt?

[by Carolyn Potts]

Stuck for ideas for new portfolio images?
Try this cool tool to come at a concept from a different angle.

www.visualthesaurus.com

Carolyn Potts, international photo consultant & speaker; and former photo rep, shows seasoned & proactive photographers how to get more work. Find her at www.cpotts.com , http://bit.ly/FaceBookPottsConsulting and http://carolynpotts.net

Quick Tip Week

[by Carolyn Potts]

Do some research about what you’re being asked to photograph.

If you take the time to read up on the product, company or event you’re being asked to shoot (you know you can Google ANYTHING) you appear to be someone who will be a partner in problem-solving. Demonstrating that you’ve actually taken your own time to learn about the client’s product can be a powerful way to show that you’re truly interested in their needs–and everyone finds that attractive and very compelling.

Carolyn Potts, perpetual photo evangelist; international consultant & speaker; and former rep, shows seasoned & proactive photographers how to get more work. Find her at www.cpotts.com , http://bit.ly/FaceBookPottsConsulting and http://carolynpotts.net.

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