Successful Thinker Jan. 18 {Meetings}

So last week I was asked to kinda be the photographer in the room (although these shots were taken with my iPhone since I didn't have my Canon with me).

This meeting we had one of the members talking about a business plan and how to go about starting up a new business.

I have a few shots from each person who got up to the podium.

Here is Kate who announced Jerame as the speaker for the day.


Jerame during his presentation.
Here are the notes written by Mary Kay consultant Sandie Gilbert during his presentation. This is more like his outline on the presentation.

Jerame Ayers

Business Plan
What do you want to do when you grow up?
Ask who, what, when, where, why, and how?
Write ideas, research, check competition, rates of return on investment
Business plan

Legal and Tax Plan
Decide whether sole proprietor or incorporation is best for your business model
Consult attorney specializing in business law
Create entity - sole proprietorship, LLC, partnership, etc

Marketing & Business Plan
Establish presence
Represent business as a business not a hobby
Visit plan daily, weekly, quarterly to review, change and/or modify
Services versus products
Social media representation
Online presence

Operations
Tasks need to be organized
Establish plan for 1-10 employees
Track and implement proper profit and loss statement
Budget for all aspects of business

Recommendations
Easy template versus word press
Outsource may be worth money in exchange for your time
Domain creation - should be something easy to spell and/or remember (keep in mind people's short term memory limitations)
Separate email for personal and business-stable business card
Marketing - keep it simple
2 direct phone numbers - land line & cell
Consider answering service or "Magic Jack"
Expectations of yourself - "Jack of all Trades is Master of None"
What makes you an expert in your industry?
Distinguish your business' uniqueness among competitors

Here are some of the members giving some annoucements of events coming up.

And finally Suzy talking about how one would approach another person in reference to talking about their business or just to introduce themselves.

More to come: Couples (2); Children; Successful Thinkers; Babies and a wedding in FEB.

Sneak Peek {Children}

Just a little tease from the Valentine shoot with Jewels.


More to come: Successful Thinkers; Children; Couples; Sweetheart session; A wedding and babies in FEB.

Successful Thinkers - Dec. 30 {Meetings}

My second meeting with Successful Thinkers was about how to communicate with clients and so on.

Here are some of the notes from the day from fellow ST member Sandie Gilbert, of Mary Kay.

-email communication - your customer is anybody in the office in or outside the company
-70% buying decisions based upon positive interactions
-people buy from people not companies-pick words carefully so they are not offensive
-remember email communication is lacking any personality, voice intonation, gestures, etc.

Here are some of the shots from the meeting via iPhone.

Bob giving on how NOT to approach a future client -- then he explained how one should approach new clients. This is demonstrated each week by a different member.

This is was NOT to do.

More to come: Children; Weddings; Successful Thinkers; Baby in Feb.

Introducing Baby G {Newborns}

I had the opportunity to take photography of this 11-day old baby.

We were shooting for her sleepy time, but she decided to sleep all day and was wide awake for the entire session and tuckered out after the shoot was over.

Still got some good shots with a wide-awake little one, can't wait for the parents to see some more shots other than the few I posted on my facebook page.

This blanket was made by her great-grandmother a few years back and means a lot to her mother. We used this blanket a few times under Baby G and as a back drop.

I love the idea of using the heart in different places -- this was a new one for me and I have more ideas to use in the future.

With daddy.

More to come: Children; Successful Thinkers; weddings; couples; And more babies in late Feb.

Sneak Peek {Babies}

I had the pleasure of photographing a new addition into the world Baby G.

Here are just two shots from the session of this 11-day-old baby with more to come.

More to come: Weddings; babies; children; Successful Thinkers

Travis & Angie {Family}

The cute couple and their cute little baby boy.

Some of just Travis.

More to come: Children; babies; weddings; Successful Thinkers

Val and Daniel {Couples}

During the the family shoot I took couple shots of the Smiths.

Some of just Val

More to come: Travis & Angie; babies; Weddings; Successful Thinkers

Heather W {Family}

This family will be split into three different blogs

1. Heather and her family
2. Val & Daniel
3. Travis, Angie & their child

This is a new location for me as I went to the park across the street from the clients home.

More to come: Couple sessions; weddings; Successful Thinkers; Children