Plan Now to attend Strictly Business 3

The American Society of Media Photographers invites you to the Strictly Business 3 Conferences, the newest generation of this highly acclaimed series.

FULL CONFERENCE DETAILS

SB3 offers you a selection of topics to enhance your professionalism and build your business. From copyright registration to social media marketing, negotiating and sales, licensing and pricing, the business of video and much more — you can design the conference to fit your specific needs.

Your registration includes 4 meals, 2 receptions, 2 keynote presentations, 6 workshops and bonus evening sessions. This packed schedule will inspire you and direct your career!

REGISTER HERE

When and Where
January in Los Angeles
February in Philadelphia
April in Chicago

Conference Hotels
Take advantage of the excellent room rates and stay at a conference hotel. Book early as the room blocks are limited.

SB3 Roundtable Discussion
Have you embraced new business models successfully? Are you willing to candidly share details about your business? Apply now to be part of this Saturday late night session. 4 photographers per conference will be selected to participate. Winners will have their SB3 attendance fee waived. APPLY HERE

Head to a Museum

[by Susan Carr]

Last weekend I had the privilege of seeing the Henri Cartier Bresson retrospective at the Art Institute of Chicago. The Chicago stop closes October 3th, so if you are in the Midwest take note. It is a not to be missed show. The show travels on to the San Francisco Museum of Art (October 30 – January 30) with its final stop at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta (February 19-May15).

The exhibit is massive, but it is worth the time required to view it thoughtfully. Diversity in print styles are displayed from vintage prints to prints made for magazine reproduction and others made for exhibition. The tonality and paper varies based on the intended use and the exhibit identifies it all carefully. The show also shows magazine spreads, corporate assignments, a map of Cartier Bresson’s travels and the back of one print that looks like a well used passport showing all the stamps of credit and permissions applied as the image traversed the distribution channels of the day. As a professional, I found the attention to the details of this working photographer’s career fascinating.

As an artist, I found the beauty of Cartier Bresson’s vision inspiring. There were many images I had never seen before and others that felt like reconnecting with old friends. In particular, one image of an unmade bed is fixed in my mind. It is an exquisite abstract from a distance and a lovingly intimate still life close up. I am reminded of the emotional power a single still image can invoke, I am reminded why I love being a photographer.

Whether it is this show or another, head to a museum and energize your senses.

Susan Carr is a photographer and ASMP’s Education Director. Her book, “The Art and Business of Photography” is scheduled for publication in early 2011.

ASMP announces Strictly Business 3

The American Society of Media Photographers invites you to the Strictly Business 3 Conferences, the newest generation of this highly acclaimed series.

FULL CONFERENCE DETAILS

SB3 offers you a selection of topics to enhance your professionalism and build your business. From copyright registration to social media marketing, negotiating and sales, licensing and pricing, the business of video and much more — you can design the conference to fit your specific needs.

Your registration includes 4 meals, 2 receptions, 2 keynote presentations, 6 workshops and bonus evening sessions. This packed schedule will inspire you and direct your career!

REGISTER HERE

When and Where
January in Los Angeles
February in Philadelphia
April in Chicago

Conference Hotels
Take advantage of the excellent room rates and stay at a conference hotel. Book early as the room blocks are limited.

SB3 Roundtable Discussion
Have you embraced new business models successfully? Are you willing to candidly share details about your business? Apply now to be part of this Saturday late night session. 4 photographers per conference will be selected to participate. Winners will have their SB3 attendance fee waived. APPLY HERE

Help ASMP – Protest New 1099 Requirements!

Dear ASMP Members:

One of the provisions of the new healthcare reform legislation will significantly impact the administrative burdens of your business unless the IRS changes it. As of now, starting after next year, if you pay any person or corporation more than $600 in a year for goods or services, you must report that to both the IRS and the entity or person whom you paid. For example, if you bought a new camera or lens for $1,000, you would have to report that on your income tax returns and issue a 1099 to the company from which you made the purchase. Fortunately, there is now an exemption for credit card transactions, but that doesn’t apply if you paid by cash or check.

The good news is that the IRS has asked for comments from the public. Please copy and paste the sample letter below, edit it as you choose, and email it to Notice.Comments@irscounsel.treas.gov. Please be sure that the subject line of your email says Notice 2010-51. Please note that the emails must be sent by Sept. 29, 2010.

We understand the government’s desire to track cash transactions, but the current system would impose an unacceptable record-keeping and reporting burden on small businesses like yours.

Thank you for your support and your membership in ASMP,

Vic

Victor S. Perlman
General Counsel & Managing Director

(SAMPLE EMAIL)

TO: Notice.comments@irscounsel.treas.gov

RE: Notice 2010-51

Dear Sir or Madam:

I am a professional photographer and a small business person. I have virtually no administrative staff to handle my record-keeping and reporting responsibilities. The new requirement under Section 6041 of the Internal Revenue Code would place impossible burdens on me. The exemption for credit card transactions was a great step toward reducing the impact of this change in the tax code. Unfortunately, it does not go far enough.

I often pay for computer and camera equipment, studio and equipment rentals, catering services, and other items by check or cash. Those expenditures often total more than $600 per vendor in any given year. Having to keep separate track of each of these items — and then to issue Form 1099’s to each vendor — would simply take more time than I have as the owner of a very small business operation, and it would require back office support that I do not have and cannot afford.

Please change the requirements so that they apply only to larger business entities, such as persons or entities that employ more than 25 people.

Thank you for your time and understanding.

Here Comes Summer …

[by Susan Carr]

I hope you had an enjoyable Memorial Day weekend. We often think of summer as down time for marketing and sales, but in this tough economic climate, these areas of our business can’t really afford any time off. Yes, you can take a vacation, but do not take three months off from promoting your business. With this in mind over the next two weeks, the Strictly Business Blog is going to focus on practical marketing and sales ideas for these summer months. We hope they help you plan a productive period for business promotion.

In these lazy days of summer, most of us have fewer commissioned assignments, so my suggestion is to use some of your time to photograph for yourself. Whether you photograph in your studio or out in the world, create pictures that come completely out of your interests, passions or ideas. We all have things we have thought of pursuing photographically, a place or subject, well, dig those ideas out and go for it. How about dedicating a day a week or three consecutive days a month to this task? Whatever formula works best for you, make the time focused; if you are working in your studio, resist checking email or if your plan is wandering a park or neighborhood with your camera, consider turning your cell phone off. By setting aside time to create, when September rolls around, you will have new portfolio pieces or perhaps even the start of a significant personal project.

How is this promoting your business? We sell creative services, and if we do not nurture that part of our job, we will have little to offer the commissioning client. Our success depends on being distinctive and we cannot achieve that without actively engaging in creativity. My advice for the summer, grab your camera!

Susan Carr is a Chicago based photographer and ASMP’s Education Director. She is currently working on a book, “The Art and Business of Photography”, scheduled to release in early 2011.

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