In less than a week we head out to San Diego for the 2011 Pictage Partner Conference – Can’t Wait!!!  I haven’t missed a single one since they started in 2005 and have been honored to speak/teach at every single one of them.  I’m thrilled it’s in San Diego this year as I’ve missed the California trips and I’ve not been to visit San Diego since I was 3 years old!

This year I will be speaking on a panel and also teaching a 4-Hour Intensive workshop.  Spots are extremely limited for this workshop and you MUST sign up ahead of time for it, so go grab your spot now if you haven’t already!!

In a nutshell, you’re getting Day 1 of my $1,000 workshop for only $25!!! That’s right, I’m not making any $ off of this and neither is Pictage!!!  It’s about the best deal you can get on SOLID, actually-walk-away-with-something-accomplished, hands-on Education on running a Photography Business!  I guarantee you will walk out with a better understanding of your personal and business finances, pricing, cash-flow, and a plan for 2012.

Since the description on the website is limited, here is a more detailed description of the workshop below….

Make More Money (aka “All About the Numbers”)
Four Hour Intensive
for Photographers at ALL Levels
with Liana Lehman Hall

As a small business owner, it’s not always easy knowing the best way to manage finances, plan for sales, and know how to price for profit.  Liana has over ten years experience consulting with small businesses in the US and abroad, and specializes in teaching managerial accounting and finance for creative entrepreneurs.  Simply put, she’ll get you up speed on the “not-fun-stuff” you need to know in order to be successful in business!  You will be learning the same great business principals taught at top business schools throughout the nation and the same principals taught by PPA.

We will cover:
- determining how much money you need to make personally and in business
- understanding and budgeting for the different types of expenses
- cost of sales analysis
- making sessions and sales goals
- business “housekeeping” items such as taxes, formation, banking, and cash flow management
- three different ways to price for profit

This is a nuts-and-bolts, hands-on class with plenty of time for questions.  You will work with Liana’s Number Cruncher Tool (a copy is included complimentary with your registration).  You will create a personal budget and determine your salary, create budgets for your different business expenses, determine your income, and take a look at your sales goals and overall financial outlook for 2012.

Bring to Class: Laptop with spreadsheet program loaded (ie Microsoft Excel, iWork Numbers, Open Office), calculator, an idea of how much you spend on what each year (both business and personal).

Registration Link: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/2159918374/30by30

We’ve finally opened up registration for our one and only Photo Biz Boot Camp I’ll be teaching this winter!!

It will be held Tuesday through Thursday as usual.  January 10-12, 2012.  Right here in Atlanta!

I’ll be a little bit too pregnant to travel much this winter, which is why we’re only scheduling one Boot Camp versus the normal 3-4.  I’m really looking forward to this class in January though!

Boot Camp is a GREAT way to start of the New Year on the right foot.  We do a lot of planning and forecasting in this class so it’s the perfect time to take a break from the rat-race, and focus on your business health and profitability for a few days.

***CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO & TO REGISTER***

In January this year, while forming my 2011 goals, I decided that 2011 would be a year to focus primarily on OUR OWN growing business and take a break from teaching and speaking.  I taught 3 Photo Biz Boot Camps in January, taught an intensive business class to a mixed group of wedding vendors/entrepreneurs in March, Spoke at the NAPCP Retreat in Vail this summer, and will be speaking & teaching next month at the Pictage Partner Conference in San Diego.  Believe it or not, that’s “cutting back” for me!

One of the things I’ll be speaking about at “PartnerCon” next month is Diversifying your Business.  I’ll be on a panel with three other photographers/entrepreneurs and will discuss why we’re adding on Cinema and Letterpress to my already existing photography business.  It’s been a fun and interesting adventure this past year learning SO much about these other two art forms & businesses.  But it IS essentially like starting two brand new businesses.  It’s a LOT of work!!

It turns out this “break” from teaching came at the perfect time as we’re also expanding our family, expecting our first-born soon!!  We’re due March 21 with a baby boy.   I’m scaling down from the usual 3-4 classes planned each winter and will only be teaching one class here in Atlanta this coming January.

If you have any topics of interest you’d like me to write about going forward, would love to hear your ideas!!

While the masses of holiday shoppers fight the traffic and crowds to pick up a sale on this Black Friday, I contemplate what this day means for our own business.  Every year there comes a “break even” point when we have all of our expenses, salary, cost of sales covered and are moving from the “red” to the “black.”   For portrait photographers this usually comes in the fall when the influx of holiday portrait sessions occur.  For wedding photographers, if we balance our payments coming in and expenses coming out, our “in the black” day comes much sooner.

One of the most difficult things to do in any small business is to manage cash flow and “the numbers” so to speak.  It’s the reason most businesses go OUT of business.  It’s the reason I teach.  I think it’s SO important to know your numbers, inside and out.  Two weeks ago I had the pleasure of running into two of the entrepreneurs who’d attended Boot Camp back in 2007.  They recalled confidently that it had been a turning point in their lives and businesses (knowing their numbers) and tracking/forecasting them ever since then.

This is the PERFECT time of year to be taking a good look at your numbers again.  Every year, at this time, I check into what future spending I have and determine if it’s best to do the spending BEFORE the new year, or after.  Your accountant can help you make these decisions too if you’ve been keeping up with your books throughout the year.  Often, we find it’s best for us to spend in December vs January because of the greater tax break we will have this year.

In January I will be teaching three Boot Camps throughout the US, and then one here in Atlanta in February.  We’re also launching our OWN new business next year so this may be the last time I’ll be teaching for a while.  It’s a VERY VERY exciting yet busy time for us right now!

I would love to have you join us:

Orlando, FL Area – January 10-12, 2011
Denver, CO Area – January 20-22, 2011
Washington, DC Area – January 25-27, 2011
Atlanta, GA – February 1-3, 2011

If you sign up this weekend (anytime before Tuesday Nov 30th) then we’re giving a BONUS of an additional DVD for free!  The Profit Center DVD is included with your Boot Camp registration and then you get to pick an additional DVD for free.  You’ll have over a month to go through these DVDs so you are well-equipped for Boot Camp.  Simply note which additional DVD you’d like in the checkout notes.
***CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO***

Also, all of our DVDs are $50 off this weekend using the code BLACK50 at checkout!

I can honestly say it’s still one of my favorite conferences!  I’ve been to EVERY single Pictage Partner Conference since they started in 2005.  West Coast, East Coast, Chicago, New Orleans, you name it!  I’ve lead sessions at every single one of them too, so it’s an honor to be asked to come back again this year!

Why PartnerCon is Different

1.  The Size. You don’t have to worry about being lost in a crowd of 10-15 thousand photographers at PartnerCon!  They keep it to 400-600 photographers so it’s much easier to “get to know your neighbors” so to speak.

2.  Food is included! They feed us breakfast & lunch & during cocktail hour so we REALLY have an opportunity to break bread with other photographers and meet new people.  It’s not a battle to find your five best photographer friends and coordinate which cafe or grease-pit to run to in-between sessions.  You don’t even need to leave the building if you don’t want to there’s so much going on!

3.  No repeats. Pictage really cracks down on their presenters to NOT present the same topic they’ve done at every other conference for the past three years.  I’ve never once done the same presentation for them – it’s been a different one each year! PS. Unlike some other conferences, presenters do not get paid nor are they allowed to sell from the back of the room. This means that the people who are up there presenting do it out of good will and wanting to help out. And there’s a LOT of quality presentations going on year after year. That should say a lot about this community of photographers.

4.  The people. Four is my lucky number, which is why the most important thing goes here.  Honestly, this is what does it for me.  There’s just REALLY good people that are part of this organization.  The people at Pictage, the photographers who use Pictage, and even those that don’t but come to the convention anyways (the convention is now open to all!).

5.  Select, top-notch, non-overwhelming group of sponsors. I’m excited that this year ALL of my main album suppliers are going to be there.  The best of the best, in my opinion!!  It’s nice to be able to reconnect and see what’s new, touch and feel the latest and greatest samples, and some even offer deals to try out their new offerings.  All this without being overwhelmed by two buildings full of sponsors to try to navigate through.  They keep it simple and full of quality.

What I’m Up To

This year I’m going to be talking about Working Smarter, Not Harder. It’s a bit about workflow, a good deal about giving your clients the best experience possible, and a lot about how putting certain systems in place that free you up to make more money and focus on what you’re best at.  I’ll touch on how I’ve been using ShootQ to my advantage for the past 3-4 years, and how it integrates now with doing in-person sales using Pro-Select.

I’d love to have you come out and join in the session!   I’m in the first time slot on the first day.

Also, this year I’ll be teaching a hands-on shooting workshop: Urban Kids!  It is scheduled for Thursday 8-10AM and it’s sure to be a blast photographing adorable kiddos on the colorful streets of New Orleans!  It will be a bit about strategy, preparation, client communications, and a lot about the actual shooting and working with the kids.  Bring your cameras and don’t forget to sign up ASAP as space is limited!

Something New

Last, I’ve decided to do something new this year.  It’s called an OPEN BOOK session for you and a friend to attend together.  These will be on Monday and Friday (Nov 8 & 12th) and there are only a handful of spots available each day.  For more information CLICK HERE.

See You Soon

Can’t wait to see ya all in New Orleans!!  My husband Mike is coming too and we’ll be there early to be a part of a fun Boys & Girls Club project.  Also on our list is to revisit Emeril’s NOLA restaurant, which was THE highlight of our dinning adventures last year.  Mmmmm….

Safe travels & see you soon!

The votes are in and our new fabulous hosts are ready to help make this next round of Photo Biz Boot Camps happen in cities across America!

We’ve scheduled FOUR Photo Biz Boot Camps so no matter where you live one of these should be a short flight or drive away!

Orlando, FL Area – January 10-12, 2011
Denver, CO Area – January 20-22, 2011
Washington, DC Area – January 25-27, 2011
Atlanta, GA – February 1-3, 2011

These classes are TOUGH but a lot of fun and you’ll get a lot done during our time together!  January/February is the PERFECT time too as we will be looking at forecasting financials and working on pricing for the entire year!

***SIGN UP NOW for a Photo Biz Boot Camp****

Attention ALL small business owners!

Our government, in attempt to conjure up more money to fund their expensive Health Care bill, has slipped a small line into this bill REQUIRING A MAJOR CHANGE in SMALL BUSINESS REPORTING starting next year.  This change is going to mean small businesses like myself — other photographers and entrepreneurs will have the added burden of massive amounts of additional tax filing requirements.

They are asking something nearly impossible – to send a 1099 to EVERY vendor (including corporations and larger companies like if we buy products from Office Depot, B&H, Apple Computer, etc) that we spend more than $600 with.  So if you buy a computer from Apple for $2000 you have to send them a 1099.  If you spend $620 at Walmart buying office supplies in any give year, you have to send them a 1099!  This is ludicrous!

If you are like me you have dozens, sometimes hundreds of suppliers.  Imagine the cost and time involved in sending 1099s to everyone!  Currently this is only required if we spend money on independent contractors providing services to our business (not corporations).  If you thought keeping up with your books and accounting is difficult now, just imagine the horror it will be next year if this bill is not corrected.

The government is accepting feedback currently and ASMP has drafted a letter that proposes a better compromise to this change.  PLEASE write and let them know it is unacceptable to pass this as-is!

Here’s the ASMP email letter you may send:

(SAMPLE EMAIL)

TO: Notice.comments@irscounsel.treas.gov

RE: Notice 2010-51

Dear Sir or Madam:

I am a professional photographer and a small business person. I have virtually no administrative staff to handle my record-keeping and reporting responsibilities. The new requirement under Section 6041 of the Internal Revenue Code would place impossible burdens on me. The exemption for credit card transactions was a great step toward reducing the impact of this change in the tax code. Unfortunately, it does not go far enough.

I often pay for computer and camera equipment, studio and equipment rentals, catering services, and other items by check or cash. Those expenditures often total more than $600 per vendor in any given year. Having to keep separate track of each of these items — and then to issue Form 1099’s to each vendor — would simply take more time than I have as the owner of a very small business operation, and it would require back office support that I do not have and cannot afford.

Please change the requirements so that they apply only to larger business entities, such as persons or entities that employ more than 25 people.

Thank you for your time and understanding.

Starting a business is a Catch-22. I’ve touched on the topic before in previous UGLY TRUTH post titled Red is Normal for the First Few Years in Business.

Unlike some other photographers who teach it’s okay to take out a $60k loan to spend on advertising and equipment, you’ll find me teaching quite the opposite.

SURE you will need to buckle down and spend some money in order to get your business up and running, but how do you do this without going deep into debt!??

Here’s what I would do if I was starting out from scratch opening a photography business:

1. Read Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover from cover to cover, twice. Listen to his show. Become a debt dominatrix like me. Get passionate first and foremost about getting your personal finances in order. Make sure you’ve dumped the debt AND have an Emergency Fund (EF) before diving into business full time.

2. Get a day job. Or two or three. Make sure you AND your spouse (if applicable) are maximizing income any way possible. If this means you have to wait tables and work at the job you hate for a while longer, do it. If you have to scrub dishes at night and teach at the YMCA on weekends, do it. I did it (yes, all of those – even the scrubbing dishes part!) If you don’t have the plush EF plus a few tens of thousands of dollars to start your business with yet, keep on working to pay the bills and save up to invest in your EF and business.

3. Learn, Learn, Learn. Shoot Shoot Shoot. Go work for free for anyone who will take you. Bend over backwards for them, helping them with all the mundane office tasks and be grateful when they let you shoot with them. Develop your style and brand identity EARLY so you don’t waste lots of time and money refining and defining it over and over again later. Build your portfolio. Don’t copy your mentors or the photographers on all the blogs you stalk. Pave your own road to success by discovering what style, experience, and processing is unique to you. Remember that Photoshop is like the brain – you only really ever use 10% of it. Learn the 10% and move on. Photoshop will suck up your time otherwise, especially if you’re just learning.

4. Know your NUMBERS before you start. If you’re not priced right, you’re bound for failure. I’ve met quite a few photographers who, upon running their cost analysis, find out they’re loosing money off of every shoot! One actually said to me “well, I’ll just have to shoot more then.” (YIKES!!!) I quickly reminded them that shooting more, when loosing money off of the shoot, means that you’re digging yourself into a bigger proverbial hole. Go learn from PPA, join us for a Boot Camp, or if you’re already business savvy check out the Number Cruncher to make sure your numbers are in check. I developed Boot Camp and the Number Cruncher and the DVDs for the sole purpose of sharing this knowledge that is so crucial to success.

5. Rent equipment and just “say no.” Just because your favorite photographer has 17 of the best Canon or Nikon pro digital lenses, doesn’t mean you have to have what they do in order to be successful when starting your business! Some of my top-rated, most-awarded images are from weddings I shot with just a Canon 20D and 24-70mm. I photographed my 7th wedding for over $7,000 with that same setup (plus backup of course and my 2nd shooters had other lenses to zoom in closer and go wider). You don’t need a $200 camera bag or the most expensive letterpress business cards to be successful. In fact, I still love my $10 black Old Navy tote to carry my lenses in for weddings! Sure, I use the lens-specific tote on occasion, but it’s not a necessity. Make sure you have a few solid camera bodies and lenses (even older models work GREAT still!) and rent the rest. Slowly build your bag of equipment. You’re not going to have time to build your business and portfolio if you bankrupt yourself first by investing in things you can rent for a while first. Plus, if you rent a variety of lenses and cameras you’ll have an opportunity to see which ones you REALLY use and love, and focus on getting those first.

6. Build a great website and distinguishable brand. You can build a great website these days for as little as $300-400 total or $40-50 per month with sites such as BluDomain and Showit. Make sure you show your best, consistent work. Write a bio, include a picture of YOU, and don’t talk about where and when you got your first camera. I don’t care. Your clients don’t care. They want to know who you are and what makes you different from the other half a million photographers out there. Build a brand board and start a competition on LogoSauce if your current logo/identity sucks. If you’re not sure if it sucks, go ask the Digital Wedding Forum or someone who works with brands for a living. They’re more likely to tell you the truth. Your friends and family probably won’t. If you’re not sure how to go about this process, you can watch what I did on the Brand Camp DVD.

7. Get involved. You won’t get clients by being holed up behind a computer. Go join a club, association, or take up a new hobby. Attend as many industry events as possible. Make friends with these people, don’t just send them your materials trying to solicit business. They’ll refer you naturally if they genuinely like you and your work. Plus, it makes being a photographer so much more fun when you’re getting to know others in your line of work!

That’s what I’d start with if I was building a business from the ground up. There are no perfect answers and everyone’s situation is unique but one thing is universal – if you have a strong financial foundation, everything else is much easier. Build your business on a strong foundation, so when the storms of life come, you and your business are prepared to ride out any disasters.

Pictage recently asked me to write a guest blog post article for them, which you can READ HERE.

It’s an extremely long article but only a portion of what I covered in the Marathon Press Webinar I did on the same topic. You can still order a copy of the recorded webinar HERE. (recorded March 1, 2010)

(an excerpt)

Sales is nothing but helping. Helping to educate. Helping to make sure every specification has been taken into consideration. Helping to keep us within our budget. Helping us choose the best choice for our particular situation.

Back in 2006 I made some big changes in the way I thought about sales and providing my clients with finished art pieces for their home. While I have hours upon hours of content on the topic, Iʼd like to highlight a few key points below.

***CLICK HERE TO READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE***

Some interesting stats came out recently that in a NORMAL year 40,000-60,000 photographers enter the marketplace. This past year over 150,000 photographers entered the marketplace!!

Fellow been-in-business-for-more-than-10-years wedding photographers here in Atlanta agree we’ve never seen anything like it before. EVERYONE we know wants to be a photographer or knows someone who is just starting out.

A lot of new photographers write to ask me about Pricing Photography and What to Do Before they Quit their Day Job. I learned the hard way and if you’ve read my Debt Story I think you’ll understand why I’m so passionate about teaching the pricing and “numbers” to other creative small business owners.

There’s a stigma that what we do is all FUN and GLAMOROUS. I think that’s part of why people decide to be professional photographers. What they do NOT realize is how time-consuming (all-consuming) it is running your own small business, and how difficult it is to make a living as a photographer. The cold hard facts tell us a full-time studio needs to bring in over 10k per MONTH to be able to issue a meger salary of 30-40k to the owner.

Today I read an excellent post by Jim Collins, CEO of Pictage, that I’d like to share with his permission. Here is an excerpt:

….There are those of you who’ve jumped in because the day job just wasn’t working out. Congratulations! You have a day job again. Working professional photographers spend most of their time doing actual work. Between editing events, having sales meetings with prospective clients, bookkeeping, rewriting marketing materials, working with vendors, etc., there is a lot of “slog” that has to happen between the “fun times” taking pictures. You’re your own boss now and there’s definitely an upside to that, but in that capacity you have to discipline yourself to actually doing these things. Otherwise when the tax bill comes at the end of the year you’re going to get an awful shock. (and the health insurance and the … you get my point).

The biggest mistake most of you will make is undercharging….

***CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE on JIM’s BLOG***

Thanks Jim for the insights – it’s good to know I’m not the only one who believes in unveiling the ugly truth about what it takes to succeed in this biz!