(Via Pro Photo Life)

It‘s Wednesday already, a day when we usually talk business. A couple weeks ago I mentioned possibly “downsizing“ my photo studio, Daylight Photo. Since then I‘ve received some wonderful input on the subject. Faithful readers Jan Klier and Juan Bonilla have suggested the benefits of possibly renting out part of Daylight Photo to other photographers, either full-time or on a “time share” basis in order to cut expenses. This kind of system is working well for Jan, he is currently part of such an arrangement. Juan (another Cincinnati photographer) pointed to how a local photo studio has just recently revamped and rebranded themselves as River Imaging.

River Imaging is a photo co-op consisting of three commercial photographers and a professional post-production provider. They’ve assembled a great deal of talent under one roof and have a beautiful, large (very large) studio space to offer clients. There are two primary goals of the co-op:

1. To cut expenses for the individual photographers. As they point out in this article in the Cincinnati Enquirer, local clients are actively cutting advertising budgets so reducing overhead only makes sense. They’re going about it by splitting up expenses among several photographers.
2. Forming a team of this sort will give them the ability to handle larger jobs than they could land individually, creating new marketing possibilities.

I was just down at River Imaging last week (it’s only five minutes from my house) talking to Randy Hoover, the food specialist, about the new venture. Randy is really excited about their potential and this concept appears to be a great fit for him (he explains the benefits in the aforementioned Enquirer article). He was getting ready for their grand opening party to be held the following night (the same night I’d be hosting 35 of my fellow area  ASMP photographers at Daylight Photo for our every other month Pints ‘n’ Pixels get-together…great turnout, sorry you missed it, Ryan!).

The whole venture has been pulled together by Al Lang,  a well-established, well-respected Cincinnati photographer and all around nice guy. My business partner, Bob, and I met with Al over a year ago regarding the concept but didn’t feel it was quite the right fit for us. Our overhead atDaylight Photo is already low enough that it wouldn’t be a huge financial savings by partnering and we’re tending toward simplification. Much of our business is based on being nimble and reacting quickly so we weren’t sure how it would work scheduling around additional photographers. While it can be exciting to grow a business, our recent experiences have us tending toward becoming “leaner and meaner”.

There’s a lot to be said for the potential benefits of partnering with other photographers and creating a larger entity. I wish them the best and would love to see this become a successful business model. Most photographers are downsizing so they may be on to something by providing services above and beyond what most studios are capable of. One of the keys is finding the right combination of photographers and it appears they’ve accomplished that. Now it’s up to the marketplace to decide if it’s the path to photo business success.

Sometimes it’s nice to just “change gears“. So many of the great photographers have distinctive stages to their careers…Richard Avedon, Annie Liebovitz and Gordon Parks. Just as River Imaging has chosen growth as the path to their collective success, I’m getting more and more excited about the thought of reinventing. More than anything I’d like to get back to my first love of photography and begin exploring more documentary and editorial work. Editorial photography doesn’t go very far toward paying the overhead of a studio so we only accept a few such jobs a year, eschewing it for work that goes toward paying the bills. Without the commitment to a large studio I’d be free to go after much more of that type of work.

A large part of that appeal has been inspired by you, the readers of prophotolife. I’m seeing so much wonderful photography that you’ve created just for the love of photography, not because you‘re getting paid to do it. It’s inspiring me to really dig down to rediscover my photo roots.

Shoot, now we‘re right back to “the grass is always greener“!  Regardless of what I’m shooting 3-6 months from now, I hope to have you all still along for the ride, learning together as we go. 

Related Posts of Interest…

• Using Delicious To Show Expertise
• Know What You Are Talking About, Because Your Readership Sure Will.

My uncle taught me a valuable marketing lesson a few years back that I try to incorporate into most of my marketing efforts today. When you teach someone, they tend to trust you. Think about that. A few people you probably trust, right off the top of my head are, your parents, school teachers, pastor, and coaches. What do they all have in common? They each taught you something! When you teach someone, you are automatically an expert in their eyes, because you know more than they do about that particular thing.

Another lesson I learned from my boss at KCFit. Always, be the connector. Even if you do not know anything about a subject, if you connect someone to a person that does, they will forever remember that you introduced them. Think about a few of the people you interact with on a professional level. Do you remember how you met them? I know I sure do. And beyond that, when I associate with those people, I usually bring the person who connected us in on the conversation.

Take those lessons and apply it to social bookmarking, I personally use Delicious. I read articles to show that I am in touch with what I talk about. I can produce material to back up what I say. Everything I bookmark can become a tool to teach. Weather it be an informative article or a great website with a collection of resources. Even if the website does not teach them, they will always remember that I showed it to them. I connected them to something they find useful. I am now a part of something that the person does often. Social bookmarking does not have to be used in this way, but it can be. It is a powerful tool that I feel is often overlooked in the world of social media. I consistently send out emails to other professionals in my field with a link to my delicious page which leads to being a connector and/or a teacher.

Do you think those lessons are true? Do you think they apply to the uses of social bookmarking? What other social media outlets can benefit from these lessons? I have a few in mind and will blog about them at a later date. I would love to hear from you all to see if these are good lessons to market by and if we are on the same page for how social media can be applied with these lessons in mind…

Related Posts of Interest…

• Collaboration Is The New Productivity
• Know What You Are Talking About, Because Your Readership Sure Will.

When you write about something, and often, people assume you know what you are talking about and see you as some sort of expert. When you slip up, you lose all credibility. It is like the marriage counselor that come to find out, is cheating on their spouse. Once credibility is lost, you are no longer going to be a hub for any network regarding said topic. And the ultimate goal of a social media strategy is to create a great network where you are the connector.

Everyone always remembers the connector. Seriously, think about it. Who is one of your best friends? How did you meet them? Was it through another friend? Can you name the person that introduced you? Exactly. Connectors are the people that lead. And leading is what you do as an expert. It goes full circle. Do not let it slip away by one careless blog post in which your readers know more than you and discredit any of your expertise. I am not saying that you have to be the smartest person in the room, but be able to hold your own. If you comment section turns into people correcting you, kiss your readership goodbye. They will gladly read the blog of the person that is able to correct you. So know what you are talking about before you talk about it factually. Because if you do not, the blogging community is too savvy to not recognize it and crush your credibility, thus crushing your social media platform. Social media is about community and sharing information. The information is expected to be correct information.

Related Posts of Interest…

• The Importance of Being Genuine While Blogging
• You Are An Expert (No Really You Are!) Part # 1
• Collaboration Is The New Productivity
• September Bloggers Meeting