Blog into a Book

This is a wonderful marketing idea, blog-turned-into-book. The ultimate 2.0 self-promotion tool,http://344design.typepad.com/344_loves_you/

Click on the video ‘Daily Monster’,i think it’s up to #160. You gotta see this guy draw, wow! I am ordering his ‘Monster’ book today!

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Palm Springs Photo Festival 2008

Here is a great opportunity to learn, share and create with other photographers:

PALM SPRINGS PHOTO FESTIVAL 08
WORKSHOPS - SEMINARS - PORTFOLIO REVIEWS,
SYMPOSIUMS - EVENING PRESENTATIONS
MARCH 30 - APRIL 4
The Palm Springs Photo Festival is America's most talked-about photography event. Meet and network with today's important photographers, art directors, museum curators, art buyers, creative directors, industry leaders and visionaries in the spectacular environment of the Southern California Desert.
www.palmspringsphotofestival.com
1 800 928-8314

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How To Speak With A Client

This I learned in my 'Professional Selling' class. Certain words have a negative connotation. They trigger nefarious feelings in clients and can kill a presentation or a negotiation in an instant. Words/phrases either advance your sale or they don't. Some are highly effective. Choose them wisely.

Some words should be avoided at all costs and replaced with positive ones. Here are a few:

• cost/price ------- replace with ----total investment is/value

• contract -----------------------------letter of agreement/forms/paperwork

• down-payment -----------------------initial investment

• pitch/spiel---------------------------presentation/I'd like to talk to you a few minutes

• deal ---------------------------------opportunity/special offer/added value

• sign ---------------------------------authorization/could you ok that for me?

John Harrington has also put together a list.


I am starting to realize how crucial my choice of words is. It is a surefire way to increase my income. I'll let you know how that goes.

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How To Speak With A Client

This I learned in my 'Professional Selling' class. Certain words have a negative connotation. They trigger nefarious feelings in clients and can kill a presentation or a negotiation in an instant. Words/phrases either advance your sale or they don't. Some are highly effective. Choose ones with an emotional value.

Some words should be avoided at all costs and replaced with positive ones. Here are a few:

-cost/price replace with -total investment is/value
-contract -letter of agreement/forms/paperwork
-downpayment -initial investment
-pitch/spiel -presentation/i'd like to talk to you a few minutes
-deal -opportunity/special offer/added value
-sign -authorization/could you ok that for me?

John Harrington has put together a similar list.

I am starting to realize how crucial my choice of words are. Now that is a surefire way to increase my income. I'll let you know how that goes.

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Negotiating

I am taking a professional selling class at a local community college. Why? Because as a professional photographer, I am selling a service. How well I sell my service has a lot to do with how many $$ I have in my name. Learning how to turn a qualified lead into an appointment into a paid assignment into a satisfied client over the long term who gives me referrals, is a skill that goes way beyond how great your photos are.

Last year, I made hundreds of cold calls to architects and interior designers and got very few appointments. It was a lot easier back in the film days. If clients wanted to see your work, you had to meet them in person. Now they just ask for your website address and tell you they will call when they need you. Well, you could be waiting a while. So now I am learning, among other things, how expert salesmen handle these types of situations. It's invaluable information. Getting face to face with clients increases the number of assignments significantly. For more info on how to handle phone calls to clients, stay tuned.

Today I am going to talk about negotiating. I just finished a classic on the subject, 'You Can Negotiate Anything,' by Herb Cohen. It was written in 1980 because, as you may know, selling and negotiating is THE oldest profession. Negotiating is a universal skill that is applied by all of us in the bedroom, kitchen, office, school, playground, stores... It's how we get what we want, how we get our needs met. Some of us are better at it than others. The good news is these are skills that we can all learn, which will in turn dramatically improve the quality of our lives.

I'll just give a brief summary of a few important things I learned in this book. There are 3 crucial variables in any negotiation: power, time and information.

• Power: whoever needs the outcome to go his way the most has the least power in the negotiation. For example, if you are an average looking guy and you approach a sexy woman in a needy way. Will she be interested? It's likely she won't be. She has options. You're acting like you don't. You have no power. Game over. If you think you have no power, then you have none. If you think you have power, you have it, even if you don't. It's a mental game. When you truly believe it, your behavior, what you say... will give off power and give you a definite advantage in a negotiation.

• Time: a friend of mine got a call from a photographer to see about assisting him for that very afternoon. My friend accepted, but he doubled his assisting fee. The photographer was in a crunch and had to bite the bullet. The deadline meant he had no time and therefore, no options. Finding out your client's deadline is crucial.

• Information: how much do you know about your client? How much do you know about your competition? Does your client know more than you do? The actual presentation or meeting with a client is part of a long process. Research as much as possible on clients beforehand. Find out what they really need, what their deadlines are... before the actual negotiation because it is much easier that way. Skillful negotiators usually don't give out that info during a meeting. So the more prepared you are, the easier it will be to counter objections, the easier it will be to reassure him you can satisfy all his needs, and the easier it will be to close the deal.
  

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My New Livebooks Site

So I finally got my Livebooks site finished. Check it out here: www.gclarkephotography.com It took about two months to finish cause I'm so damn finicky :-)

The way it happened is I told my Livebooks designer (you get your own personal one) what I was looking for. She came up with a design mock-up and I didn't like at all. I was down about it and told a product designer friend of mine. He understood immediately what I was after, and in the next two hours, proceeded to make it a reality. It was amazing !

So I gave the mock-up to my Livebooks designer for her to make into my new Livebooks website. Well it wasn't that easy because there were a few things their platform could not do. Livebooks uses a program for its editsuite that has certain design parameters.

So after using up all my revisions and then some, my site was put online. There are still a few things I want to change, particularly the text on my contact page. But overall, I am happy with it. Yesterday I registered it with Google. So hopefully, it will appear on their search engine soon. Then I'll work on getting it on the first page yo !!

Am I happy with Livebooks? Yes. The designer I got wasn't the best as far as design went, but she faithfully executed what I gave her. She was also very helpful and forthcoming with all the changes I asked for. Now I must add, I have yet to see the true power of the Livebooks site with marketing, tracking and ease of use because I just got it, but I will let you guys know soon.

Tell me what you guys think of the site. I'm open to suggestions.

This shot was taken on the North Shore of Oahu. My friend John and this other guy had just come in from surfing Sunset. You can't tell but those waves were 20+ feet, gigantic. The guy is talking about getting thrashed by the outside set of waves that came in and broke half the surfers' boards out there (including John's in the foreground). That was my first day on the North Shore and I happily stayed on the beach for that one.

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Livebooks Site

So I finally got my Livebooks site finished. Check it out here: www.gclarkephotography.com It took about two months to finish cause I'm so damn finicky :-)

The way it happened is I told my Livebooks designer (you get your own personal one) what I was looking for. She came up with a design mock-up and I didn't like at all. I was down about it and told a product designer friend of mine. He understood immediately what I was after, and in the next two hours, proceeded to make it a reality. It was amazing !

So I gave the mock-up to my Livebooks designer for her to make into my new Livebooks website. Well it wasn't that easy because there were a few things their platform could not do. Livebooks uses a program for its editsuite that has certain design parameters.

So after using up all my revisions and then some, my site was put online. There are still a few things I want to change, particularly the text on my contact page. But overall, I am happy with it. Yesterday I registered it with Google. So hopefully, it will appear on their search engine soon. Then I'll work on getting it on the first page yo !!

Am I happy with Livebooks? Yes. The designer I got wasn't the best as far as design went, but she faithfully executed what I gave her. She was also very helpful and forthcoming with all the changes I asked for. Now I must add, I have yet to see the true power of the Livebooks site with marketing, tracking and ease of use because I just got it, but I will let you guys know soon.

Tell me what you guys think of the site. I'm open to suggestions.

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Search Engine Optimization

As the digital world is now upon us, it's crucial that we learn to tame it and use it effectively. Having a website is one way to do that. Along the same lines, we have to know a minimum of search engine optimization in order to make our site visible amongst the billions of others on the net.

Search engine optimization, or SEO for short, is not as scary as it sounds. It need not be solely understandable by computer geeks. There is a good amount of free well written info for people like me who cringe at the thought of doing anything remotely teckie on the web.

First off though, it should be noted that when people search for anything on the web, 80% of the time they will not look past the first page, or even the first ten listings. They won't even look at the ads on the right hand-side or the top. If they don't find what they are looking for on that first page, they'll search with different words or another search engine. So if your site is not listed on the first page when people search, then you are invisible.

The good news is there are many different easy ways to tweak websites to get them better rankings. You will have to do some reading though.

A good place to start might be here. There you will learn the basics of how search engines work.

Then you could go over to the google site, and let those friendly people explain to you themselves how to get ranked high on their search engine.

After that, it's a bit of a free-for-all. You can read as much as you possibly want on these sites. They are some of the very best resources on SEO out there:

-High Rankings Forum
-Search Engine Watch
-Keyword Research Tool

Those sites are keeping me plenty busy. Great stuff, check it out.

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Strobist Meetup Feb.24th

We'll be holding a meetup again this Sunday Feb. 24th at 2pm in Huntington Beach. We'll be going forward in our Strobist L102 seminar. This week, we're taking on the 'Cooking Light' assignment featured here: http://strobist.blogspot.com/2007/07/lighting-102-assignment-cooking-light.html

It's a ton of fun and a great way to learn and share your knowledge. Come join our group here: http://flickr.com/groups/ocstrobists/

Contact me for further information at cemoaquoi@yahoo.com





The image is entitled 'Life Seen Through A Whiskey Bottle.'

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Establishing Trust

I had a great learning experience the other day with a client. I had an portfolio appointment with an architect. He needed some shots done of a building he'd had built.

Well first off, the meeting was only to last 10-15min. so I was not able to do a full presentation as I had planned. I quickly showed him my portfolio and he quickly told me about this project he needed photographed.

All he needed were two shots of a fairly plain building. He knew exactly what camera angles he wanted. He just wanted a professional to do some 'quality' shots of it. This architect runs a one-man operation. He has no employees. I'm not sure he has ever hired photographers. I didn't think to ask. Anyhow, my gut feeling was he had no idea how much this was going to cost and it would probably be way above his budget.

I got the specs, taking into account the travel time to the shoot, the production costs, the per-shot fee... and I emailed him my estimate. As expected, he could not afford it. I had lowered my prices as much as I could and still didn't hook the client. I had a feeling that would happen.

So a much better to handle this potential client would have been to be straight-up with him from the beginning by saying something like:

"I understand you want some great shots of your building, and that it is really important to you. However, I feel that hiring me for this job is not in your best interest. You only need 2 shots and you know exactly what angles they should be. These are exteriors, so no special lighting equipment is needed.

"You could take fantastic photographs of this building yourself, with a decent digital camera and the sun in a good position. That would save you a lot of money. I don't think you need a professional photographer for this job. If I were you, I would wait for a more complex assignment to hire me."

You see, I knew this client would reject my estimate. It was obvious. Being honest with him and taking into account his best interest would have won him over. I am in the business of customer service. That is about building trust. Had I done that, there would have been a much greater chance he would hire me in the future or recommend me to his architect friends.

So now, I will consider if clients really do need my services. I am not going to go after every sale. That is foolish and bad business etiquette. I will be honest like the mechanic a few months back who told me my engine light was on just because I didn't close my gas cap all the way, and my oil leak was only due to a few screws not being tightened correctly. Well guess what? Now I trust that mechanic completely. He could have charged me a lot of money and I would not have known any better. Now he will have my business when something happens to my car again, big or small. That is building trust through honesty. That was the lesson I learned with that last client.

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Epic Day

So my last day in Hawaii was magical. The waves were huge everywhere, so I decided to go out surfing anyway. After all, it was my last day. Up till then, I had surfed the breaks with the smaller waves, nothing too crazy.

I was nervous, even a bit scared. I was with my friend, Regina. We are about the same skill level in surfing, but she surfs these breaks everyday and has been out in 20ft+ waves many times. Without her knowledge and experience, I would never have dared paddle out in those conditions.

That day, I decided Sunset Beach was the best place for me. The waves had 12-15ft faces. The conditions were clean, no wind, a bit crowded, but that is always the case on the North Shore. I paddled out using the channel, which allows you to get to the take off point without getting crushed by any waves.

Once out there, I just got my bearings, trying to stay out of everyone's way and making sure I didn't get annihilated by any of these mountains of water heading my way. It was so exhilirating and scary at the same time. You'll see these this giant masses of water in the distance hurtling towards you and you have to paddle for your life before it crashes on top of you.

There were a few stand-up paddlers out there. These tall, and muscular guys are standing on their enormous surfboards at all times. They have a long paddle which they use to move forward and catch waves. They look like sea gods out there. These particular guys happened to be world famous. They would stand way out there and catch the most enormous waves hurtling down the face of waves, bottom turning, and zip along inside of massive barrels. Best stay out of their way.

I got a bit adventurous and tried to catch a few waves, but my board was a bit short for the conditions. I placed myself farther inside in the impact zone, determined to catch one. Soon I saw this giant wall of water coming towards me. I ditched my board and swam for the bottom of the ocean. The wave still grabbed me, spinning me around, washing-machine style as they say. I held my breath as best I could, not fighting it too much.

After a while, I climbed up my leash (which attaches my board to my foot) to the surface, not knowing which way was up or down. I came up, out of breath, and shocked at what happened, just in time to see another 15ft wave crash in front of me. I made my way to the bottom and got worked again. I came up, got back on my board and paddled back out to the line up, a big grin on my face.

Surviving these kinds of conditions makes you feel so alive. The guys around me for the most part were probably accustomed to these kinds of extreme conditions, but I wasn't. This was truly a test for me, and I was loving it. However, I still hadn't caught a wave. I was not heading back to california without catching one of these. There was just no way.

I looked over at Regina and shared how much fun I was having. It was truly a great day. She hadn't caught any waves yet, but we were both determined. A bit later, we paddled for the same wave, but I was better positioned. I was not going to give up on this one. I paddled into it with every ounce of strength I could muster. I felt the wave surge under me. I hopped to my feet and stared down at the vertical drop in front of me.

Without thinking, I dropped in and raced straight down the face of the wave. I thought my board would do a nose plant and I would be destroyed by the lip. Somehow I made the drop, and I looked to my right at the lip pitching forward into a huge barrel. There was no way I was pulling into the barrel. I had no tube time and I was not about to learn out here at Sunset.

Regina got the next wave and we were both soooo stocked ! I ended up catching another wave that day to cap off an amazing surf session. I paddled in to the beach, a huge smile on my face. It was such an exhilirating experience, 3 hours of my life I will always remember. What a way to end my trip.

The experience has changed my whole perspective on surfing. Now I have way more confidence. Southern California surf spots with their sand bottoms and soft waves compared to Hawaii are just not intimidating like they used to be. Now I understand how taking calculated risks, not allowing my fears to stop or even slow me down, and pushing myself past my 'limits' can truly change my life. Now that is something I can apply to my photography business.

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Communication Arts Photo Competition

Just got back from Hawaii on the red-eye flight. Still in a haze from a lack of sleep and vivid memories swarming through my mind. Here's a quick post for a great competition... until I can get situated here. Reality sometimes takes a while to set in for me.

Communication Arts magazine announces the deadline for their 49th Photography Competition--March 11, 2008

Enter the most prestigious competition for creativity in photography, the 49th annual Communication Arts Photography Competition. Any photograph first printed or produced between March 14, 2007 and March 11, 2008 is eligible.

Selected by a nationally representative jury of distinguished designers, art directors and photographers, the winning entries will be published in the August 2008 Photography Annual. Over 70,000 copies of the Photography Annual will be distributed worldwide, assuring important exposure to the creators of this outstanding work.

As a service to art directors, designers and art buyers, a comprehensive index will include addresses, email and telephone numbers of the photographers represented.

For submission guidelines and FAQs, visit:
http://www.commarts.com/Competitions/photography

To download an entry form go to:
http://www.commarts.com/download/entryForm_photo.pdf

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Valuing My Time

I am learning to value my time. After all, life is short. Why waste any of it? That hour that just went by will never be replaced. It's gone forever. Yeah we've all heard it, Carpe Diem and all that. But how can that be applied in my life?

Well I choose who I spend my time with. I have a busy life, meaning I have a lot on my plate. So when I hang out with people, I do it with people I really care about. It's important to me. I share my time with positive, motivated, caring friends. I want to live in an environment that I can learn from and contribute to.

Every minute counts. I strive to live life to the fullest. I was talking to a good friend tonight who said: "I want to be sitting in my rocking chair when I'm 80 and not have any regrets. I want to have given this thing called life my best shot. I want to be able to cherish amazing memories. I'm in the business of creating great memories." That sounds amazing to me.

I feel like I am living that way to a certain extent now. For example, I have no cable in my house. TV is a waste of time I feel. I get that it is a great escape and enjoyed by millions, but I don't feel it adds anything to my life. I would rather watch a good movie on occasion.

Some of my friends have made a list of 100 things they want to do before they die. Now they are going through it and checking them off one by one. I am going to make that list. That way, I'll have no regrets. I want to live with intention and I think I do to a great extent. However, it's time for me to step it up.

Every minutes counts. What positive, powerful thing can I do today to contribute to life?

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A Typical Day On The North Shore

A huge west swell came through today and pumped some huge waves into Pipeline (you figure out why it's called that) and Sunset. Hundreds of people packed the beach watching the world's top surfers taking on the best of what the ocean has to offer. Photographers with super long lenses lined the edge of the water.

Shouts erupted from the crowd every time a surfer got spit out of an insane barrel, hands lifted to the sky! Occasionally someone got pitched over the falls. fell down 20 ft faces head first into razor sharp coral reef and everyone just cringed. We only saw one guy get taken away on a stretcher.

My friends went out and made it back to the beach in one piece, though one board didn't. I hung out on the safe sand, witnessing the mecca going off !

Another good day !

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Waikiki Circus Act

Wow, what an amazing 24 hours in Hawaii ! Last night was Mardi Gras craziness in the streets of Honolulu with the trading of beads for favors. Why they do this in Hawaii, I have no idea. But hey, I'm not complaining.

This afternoon, it was off to Waikiki Beach. The air was hot and humid, just the way I like it. It reminded me of Georgia. And best of all, the water was warm. The waves were small and fun, perfect for the 10ft and a 12ft boards we rented, massive ones I tell ya.

My friend Regina and I tandem surfed the big board. It wasn't as hard as I imagined and we rode a bunch of waves all the way in huge grins on our faces. Then we decided to step it up a notch being the kids that we are. So Jordan caught the same wave, rode his board along side ours and then jumped on. Haha, all 3 of us rode the same board, laughing hysterically.

We're staying up on the North Shore for the rest of our trip. The waves along this shore are the playground for the top surfers on the planet. Kelly Slater has a house down the street. Needless to say I am way out of my league. Tomorrow, the surf will reach over 10ft. Yeah, and did I mention that hawaiian waves are way more powerful than what I am used to in southern california. I may just sit this one out folks and take photos from the beach lol.

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Time For A Vacation

I'm off to Hawaii today for a week of surfing and photography. I'll be staying on the north shore of Oahu, home of Pipeline, Sunset and other little breaks lol.

I'm looking forward to shooting everyday. There is nothing quite like the feeling of being in that creative mode. When I think about it, it is the pursuit of that precise feeling that has me creating this business.

I feel best when I am shooting on a regular basis. I am inspired by those photographers that carry their camera around wherever they go. They stay in that creative flow and shoot amazing work. They are not so motivated by making money at it. Photography becomes more like breathing to them, natural. Their work shows it.

In art school, I was mostly taking photos for my classes. A select few were always shooting no matter what. They did not need any outside motivation. It was simply a way of life for them. That is what I consider an artist in the purest form. That is what I strive to be. Shooting everyday in Hawaii will be easy. What is more challenging is shooting in your everyday life, being creative with the mundane.

I believe my everyday life is amazing though. So why not photograph it ?

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Online Photo Extravaganza

Nowadays most print magazines have an online version. There are also a host of strictly online photography magazines. You could spend weeks reading all the content available. How do you sift through it all? Here is a list of online mags. Check them out briefly and look at your favorites periodically.

A quick sample of what's available:

• Good business related info (Professional Photographer).

• Sharpening in Photoshop simplified (Shutterbug).

• A few cool podcasts (Popular Photography).

• Unique car photography (Photo Arts).

• Great video tutorials (Digital Photo).
  

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