Good Afternoon Everybody,

Hope everybody got a chance to view yesterday’s video.  Heck, it took me most of the day to get it together, hence yesterday’s and today’s late post. But it was still fun putting it together and I hoped you enjoyed it. 

I visited with Kent and Sarah late yesterday evening and they have agreed to present their entire program “LIVE” - all 90 minutes of it - right here on DigitalProTalk.  Folks, that's like a BIG WOW!!! We are working on scheduling it right now.  It looking like early March might fit our schedules - I will definitely keep you posted.

More good news - I spoke with Peachpit two days ago about the latest on my wedding book, "Captured by the Light: The Essential Guide to Creating Extraordinary Wedding Photography."  Here's the latest folks.  They tell me it should be on the bookshelves - Barnes and Noble and Amazon by the second week in February - YAAAAH!!!

You can also pre-order a personally signed copy of the book at the Digital Resource Center right here.

OK, time to get on with today's post.

Announce New Products And Spread The World

Two weeks ago I asked you to think about developing new products

Good afternoon everybody,

We got in late last night from our road trip arriving to 4 inches of snow on the ground - a winter wonderland everywhere. I happen to be a guy that loves the snow and seeing it all around was a sight to see this morning.

We took one final breeze through the Imaging USA convention trying to find that one last great deal and then headed to our good friends, Kent and Sarah Smith's program.

The room was packed with about 900 cheering people ready to here these two marketing geniuses share their secrets.  Kent asked me to take a few pictures for blogs and such.  I did more that that.  I shot video clips as well.  This morning I began reviewing what I had shot to see if I had anything worth viewing.

The more I viewed the clips, the more I liked what I saw.  I've spent a good part of the day putting them together into a short synopsis of Kent and Sarah's 90 minute program.  What resulted was a peek into some great ideas that you can easily use to bump up your bottom line for 2010.

A Few Minutes With Two Marketing Masters, Kent And Sarah Smith

All the footage was shot with my Canon 7D camera, mostly handheld, using only the microphone built into the camera. Hey, this video is not

Good Morning Everybody,

How about one more Top Ten list today.  Everyone makes their New Year's resolutions and we all have the best intentions of keeping them.  The same thing should be true about our businesses.

On New Year's Day I posted 10 initiatives to get you started on the new year. Thanks to all for the very nice comments that you posted.  By the way, here is the link again to the New Year's Day "Make It A Perfect 10" right here. Over the New Year's weekend break, I took some time to go back and review all my Business Day Thursday posts.  I grabbed the ones that I thought were most pertinent to "business building."

Hit the "Read More..." link below to see my Top 10 Business Building Tips.

Happy New Year Everybody,

We made it - a brand new fresh year lies before us.  A new canvas yet unspoiled upon which we will paint our future.  How are you going to approach your new year?  What are your goals and your plans for success for 2010?  Too early to think about it you say. No, today is the day to begin. Start on Monday and you've already wasted 1% of the year!  Start NOW!

Don't know where to start, well, let me give you a kick start in the right direction.  Then you add to it, fine tune it to fit your business plan, make it yours, but MOST IMPORTANTLY, start today!

Ten Ways To Go From Good To Great in 2010

1. Design 10 new products for your studio.  This isn't just your job - ask your staff, ask your clients, ask fellow professionals.  But be sure you come up with 10 new, original products that will "turn your clients on" for 2010.

2. Come up with 10 ways to promote your business for 2010.  For instance, promise yourself to keep your blog up to date at least three times a week. Promise yourself to obtain a better understanding of the capabilities of Facebook and Twitter so that you can more easily spread

Good Afternoon Everybody,

It's New Year's Eve, a time to think about what we've accomplished, what we've experienced, and what we've learned.  It's also a time to think about whether we "stay the course for 2010 or make a few "course corrections."

OK, that sounded kind of deep and serious, but my BIG concern for tomorrow is whether we call it 0-10 or just ten?  I'm so confused just like I was for that "00" year ten years ago. I mean, think about it.  For the past nine years, we all got comfortable saying "01, 02, 03...08, and 09" - so, what about next year?  What's more troublesome is that next year is like TOMORROW! 

Is this the kind of stuff they thought about at the turn of the last century? I’m guessing they did.  I've been thinking about it, pondering about it, allmmming about it and have made my decision.  I'm sticking with calling next year "0-10". Think what this decision does for me - now I'm safe till the year 2100.  This decision to stick with the 0's puts my life in harmony for the next 90 years. Once more, I can be one with the "cosmic resonance" as I "transition" from one New Years Day to the next for those next 90 years. 

I hope this solves the dilemma for you too and you too can live in "cosmic

Good Afternoon Everybody,

I hope you stockings are hung by the chimney with care, for tonight is the night we hope Saint Nick will soon be there. Hey gang, I hope you are finding a little time to relax over this Holiday Season.  For the past several years, once we got our Christmas delivery schedule better organized, we have always closed the studio between Christmas and New Years. 

The staff spends time with family and friends that week and we run a very light schedule around here checking the phone messages twice a day, tidying up after the rush, and just mostly "just "playing with our toys" after Christmas ;~)  Hope you get to do a bit of the same.

I'm wrapping this week with a Business Day Thursday that you might be able to use for next year.  Here we go...

Business Day Thursday: Still Delivering Family Portraits Right Up To Christmas - Even Though You Haven't Shot Them Yet

OK, what am I talking about here?  So many times photogs shoot themselves in the foot when it comes to sales.  Count me in that number years ago.  We know how long it takes to shoot a portrait, have the client see the results and choose a favorite.  Now we have to get it printed, framed, and delivered before Christmas. 

As we get closer

Good Afternoon Everybody,

Wow!  I can't believe the week is about over already. We've got things pretty much under control here at the studio THANKS to my great team that makes me look good.  Also, I hoped everyone enjoyed yesterday's post - whew, it just kept getting longer and longer.  I'll try to keep the future posting to a more readable length.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I completed another  "GoToMeeting" appointment with one of my out of town clients Tuesday evening.  Things went great and the client loved it.

Really, it was just like we were in the same room together, just that we couldn’t see each other.  The phone connect was perfect though - we SOUNDED like we were in the same room together.  That's why the meeting went so well.  It was a real wedding presentation to my clients where I could easily add my perspective to the image selection process. 

The bottom line is this - they added 78 additional images to the original 100 image coverage.  The added images really told a complete story and I can't wait to see the finished album designed for them. Don't you love technology:~)

Today I've got planned a short and sweet post (because yesterday's went so long). I need to have completed and ready for print my new lighting program that I’m presenting at Photoshop

Good Afternoon Everybody,

Wow! What a stay we had in San Jose del Cabo. But, you know what, there’s still no place like home – even though it took us 17 hours to make the “round robin” trip.  The weather was brisk and refreshing 22 degrees with fluffy white clouds and rich blue skies. Heck, a lot like Cabo with only a 60+ degree temperature difference ;~)

We lifted off from the Cabo airport yesterday about 5:15 p.m.  The weather, as usual, was perfect.  I opted for a window seat on the right side of the plane hoping that some of the sunset would wash over the mountains to my right.

It seemed like a good plan at the time, but the cloud cover changed the sights I was to behold at 32,000 feet.  What happened instead was that as the sun was setting, there was a beautiful wash of warm colors on the clouds at the bottom part of the scene.  Higher in the frame, the rich blue colors were preserved and that combination of colors and textures presented an image of ethereal beauty.

About a half an hour later, the evening light made it’s final plunge below the horizon bearing it’s final remnants of rich saturated colors.  LaDawn grabbed that last image of the beautiful evening rainbow of colors.