Q&A..Business shop talk!

Happy Hump Day!!

Today is a accumulation of lots of folks questions…Daily I receive emails asking questions that deal with the business side of photography.  I thought since I receive lots of these emails, I figured there were more of you that are wondering and just haven’t asked…They have something to do with how I did my website..to what are the first steps to getting started…to my blog..to everything in between….

I have responded to every email and am happy to share the love and the knowledge..I am an open book…I know some photographers feel that they need to keep things to themselves..and I can understand that…but my thinking is totally opposite….with this said…It is beginning to go into a whole new level in regards to the amount of time I am spending on answering the emails…..What I have decided to do is answer your questions on my blog instead of responding in email…

so keep them coming in…and stay tuned to the blog for the answer…this will help me in responding to duplicate questions and also allow me to continue to help as many folks as possible without charging a fee…If you are interested in having shop talk one on one in person…let me know and we can work something out…you would have the oppurtunity to ask every question under the sun…learn about postprocessing etc..

Grab a cup of tea and get settled in…this is going to be a long one…

Photography has always been a hobby of mine…I studied black and white photography in college and played around with the darkroom…that was a blast and interesting to do the ENTIRE process by hand but thank goodness for digital!!

After encouragement and support from friends, family and strangers I decided to open my photography business.  The following is how I did things…and only talks about the business side of it…the actual photography stuff is a whole different world…it was a lot of work…a lot of work…have I said a lot of work…some of it easy..some of it hard but all of it time consuming…there were a lot of sleepless nights thinking of a to-do list that kept growing everyday…i figured everything out as i went along…i didnt know alot and there was a lot that i didnt know…

Try to find someone or lots of people that are willing to help you along in the process..someone that can serve as a mentor…I for one…did not have anyone like this….it would have been really really really nice to have someone like this from the beginning….I just figured things out as I went along…The WEB is a huge asset and resource…so many forums…so much information is on there….you just need to look for it…I spent a lot of time researching venders and merchants and comparing products and software…

I would considered the 1st step to be…surrounding yourself with those that support and encourage you.  You will have someone that tries to break your spirit and tear you down…Maybe even someone that will try to discredit everything that you are doing or have done..Or maybe even try to stand in your way….But that is ok…people see things from their perspective….It happens…Happens to a lot of people..not just to photographers…one day they may see things differenetly if they are open to it….You just keep focused and chugging along…

2nd step…figure out what type of photography inspires you…what is your style….what are your passions…mine used to be travel photography..now it is children and people and personalities and moments in time…life’s little moments that fade quickly…

3rd step…get right with the IRS and base or (your county, city and state if you are living in the states)..you need to get an EIN from the IRS and receive permission from base to have a home based business…

4th step…open up separate accounts for your business

5th step…branding branding branding…I strongly suggest hiring a professional to do this…Your brand is so important…I hired a cool cat out of LA to do all my stuff.

6th step…website and blog…you can go in different ways..templates or totally customize from the bottom up…there are lots of graphic designers on the web…find them and hire them immediately!! I know way more that I ever wanted to know about html…FTP…SSL…certificates…hosting…domains…gateways and on and on and on…midway through I smartened up and had someone do it all for me..i just said..how much and where do I sign! bottom line…get a website and blog….people need a place to see your images and connect with you as a person..I went with a blu domain website…they are templates that are customizable…and yes there will always be someone else with the same template…probably lots of someones…blu domain is very popular…and they only have so many templates…so as long as you are cool with that..i recommend them in the beginning atleast….

I think that is enough to get you started..and enough to bore you for one day! LOL!

see you tomorrow with more sneak peeks!

shelia