Google Fate!
Wednesday, Jul 29, 2009

I recently worked with a client (In fact, they are coming in tonight to view their images) that found us by searching on Google. It was one of those “fate” clients who searched, called us, came in for a consultation that day, booked the session and paid, all within a 4 hour period! This client was hosting her father and siblings from out of town for dad’s 50th birthday. Her father had always wanted to visit the Northwest and have a family portrait with his kids. The 50th birthday trip was the perfect excuse to do both! Dad had originally mentioned going to Sears or JC Penny’s as an option for the session. My client (his oldest daughter and local Seattle resident) visualized the final portrait as “being something more.” When she found our website, it was exactly the kind of thing she was looking for! Now I don’t preach to have the coolest, newest website out there. Old and out of date? Yes! But searchable on all major sites? You Bet! I bring this up because today many photographers have a flash template website that is not getting picked up by organic Google searches. See for yourself; try searching for your studio’s name, the city you’re in, and the state. I bet you’ll be more than surprised with the results! With all that said, I don’t claim to a website expert. Josh and I have learned a lot the past year on how to make your websites more effective and searchable. We are in the process upgrading all of our sites starting with our all new high school senior one! It should be launching this weekend! As soon as it is up, we’ll let you know! How a client finds you continues to change on a daily basis. I do believe in fate, especially when the perfect client calls you and starts that magical relationship. This day and age, many times it’s not fate…it’s Google! –B.H.

Guilt Free Sunday!
Sunday, Jul 26, 2009

I guess you can call me a workaholic. It is one problem we all have as artists and business owners. There is always something we should be doing! This compounds as if we are considered to be a “one (man or woman) band” so to speak! Finding a balance in home and family life and business is always a challenge. One of my strategies in life is to get up early before everyone else and work on the business stuff. Today (Sunday) is a great example. Being blessed to live on a beautiful lake and having a 90+ degree day, motivates me to get up and get going. The more I accomplish before my family wakes, reduces the amount of guilt I will experience this afternoon floating on the lake with a Corona in hand. Bottom line, it is possible to “do it all” and find a balance in home life and business. Unfortunately or fortunately, it means working earlier for us workaholics! Enjoy your guilt free Sunday! Until next time! BH

“Time is money, thanks for being so efficient!” –Words from a commercial client today!
Wednesday, Jul 22, 2009

Today I want to share with you a pleasant phone call I received from one our commercial clients today. I’m not going to mention his name, but he is a major political figure in our area that is running for a top governmental position this November. He was refereed to us by a client of ours, who just happens to be in charge of his campaign fundraising. We were called upon to photograph him for an upcoming brochure, and time was of the essence! Much like in business, time is money in politics. When a Politian is campaigning, they have zero room for error. From sunrise to sunset, their day is non-stop. Long story short, the on-location commercial shoot took about 20 minutes. We were able to get every shot his political team requested and even had time to chat about county septic regulations! My dad is still a little bitter from building his new house! LOL! His campaign manager told us that we needed to FTP the images back east that day because they were going into print right away. Less than an hour later, the images were in their hands. That was about a week ago. Today I received a personal phone call from the Politian, quite a feet considering his crazy schedule. He told me that he was very impressed with our efficiency, professionalism, and that the images were the best ever taken of him! Wow, what a compliment! You see, when it comes to commercial photography, you have to be dead on. Not just with your image creation, but with your time management, especially when you deal with high-profile people or their companies. I guess that is the moral of today’s blog, time is money, and your commercial clients will thank you for it! This gentleman already said that if he needs anything done while he’s in office, he’s calling us! Very cool! Take care everyone, Bruce will be back tomorrow! -Josh

Tracking your photography studio’s marketing!
Tuesday, Jul 21, 2009

We all know the importance of marketing our studios, well; at least I hope we all know! Marketing is probably 75% of what we need to be doing on a daily basis, but how do you know if what you are doing is effective? It would be great if we could just send out a mailer (like the old days) and have the phone ring off the hook for a week. It seems to me that certain types of marketing are not as effective as they used to be, mainly direct mail. Here’s where tracking is essential for finding out what type of marketing is working in your studio. Tracking can also help you find out what your studio’s marketing is lacking. Here is what I mean. Let’s say you send out a mailer to 1,000 family portrait prospects. Let’s say the copy is strong, it includes an enticing offer and a call to action. You send it out and wait for the phone to ring. Weeks go by with nothing. You’re probably thinking, “Well, I’m not doing that again!” Here’s where tracking your marketing campaigns can shed some light on your lack of response. Most people now days research everything on the web. Not too many of our clients call directly from a mail piece. They usually go to our site to learn more about us. Or they ask their network on Facebook. If you direct your prospects to your home page, it’s hard to track the results of the mailer. Maybe you had a 100 people go to your site to check you out, you’ll never know! Theoretically the marketing piece was a huge success then with a 10% conversion rate because you caused your prospects to take an action. Unfortunately, that action was not to call you, just go to your website. Thus, maybe it is your website that is lacking in marketing prowess. “But Josh, how can you track hits from a specific marketing piece on your website?” Easy, set up a specific splash page for each piece, that way you can track the hits though analytics! If you only advertise a specific URL on a specific piece, you know how many of your cards led people to your site. For instance, when we send a mailer, the URL on the piece might be www.hudsonportraits.com/2009lakecard. If the card was a bomb, we would have no hits. If it has 50 people hit the site, we know that we at least hit a nerve! Now, we can either send another card (direct mail is usually more effective in 3’s) or beef up copy on the website. To sum up today’s blog; add some tracking components to your marketing. It’s hard to know what isn’t working when you can’t see what is working either! Take care everyone! –Josh -PS. My dad is broadcasting a webinar for H&H Color Lab tomorrow from Canada! Learn more by going to http://hhcolorlab.com/university/CourseDescription.aspx?CourseScheduleID=275&view=WEBinars

“What if I fail?” “Don’t try at all and you’re sure to fail!” Don’t let the fear of failure and change stop your photography studio from making more money!
Monday, Jul 20, 2009

“Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end. Failure is something we can avoid only by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.” -Denis Waitley- I just love this quote! I also love the heading of this blog because my dad Bruce Hudson has said it to me many times! Hi everyone, Josh here! I’m filling in for Bruce who is somewhere in Canada right now sipping on some wine! He is speaking at Reg and Jacqueline Mess’s Four Day Expedition in Sun Peaks, BC. Have fun dad, I’ll hold down the fort! You’re probably wondering why the topic of today’s blog is failure? Well, to tell you the truth, I was inspired by the anniversary of the moon landing. What an amazing event in our human history! “But Josh, we made it to the moon, what does it have to do with failing?” Watch HBO’s “From the Earth to the Moon” series, NASA had a lot more failures in their journey to the moon than they did successes. But in the end, all of the failures resulted in a success! How does this relate to running a successful photography studio? We all have fears in life and in business, especially now days. Fear of change. Fear of failing. Fear of going back to the day jobs we left for photography! I hear all of these on a daily basis from our Monthly Mentor Members. One thing I have learned from my dad is to always give it a try! “What’s the worst that could happen? If anything, we’ll learn something”, my dad always says. Ask any successful person if they have ever failed in their life, their answer will probably be more times than they succeeded. Much like the moon landing, failures can amount to a success. Each time we try something new, like adding projection to our sales process or sending a mailer out of the studio, we run the risk of failing. But I think for most of us it is more the fear of it than it is the actual failing. “What if my clients don’t want to see the images via projection, then what?” “What if I don’t get a single call from the mailer, what then?” It’s the fear that keeps us from moving forward, even when we know we need to. I’m a pretty blessed to have a mentor and a father who has made me pretty bullet proof to trying anything, but in my family growing up, failure was called opportunity, not defeat. So what’s the point of these ramblings tonight? You know, I am not really sure myself, but I’ll leave you with this: Abraham Lincoln ran for office and lost over 20 times before he was finally elected. Coronal Sander’s (you know, the chicken guy) recipe for fried chicken was rejected over a 1,000 times before an investor would back his venture. Success can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere, but you have to throw your hat in the ring. Sometimes multiple hats many times! If there is something that you have wanted to do in your studio but are afraid to implement it…do it! You might surprise yourself and your bottom line as well! Take care everyone! Josh

Part 3: Sue’s Action List!
Friday, Jul 17, 2009

My late wife Sue gets all the credit for the concept I’m going to share with you today. Sue was amazing at getting things done and still to this day is an inspiration to me. Sue developed what she called her “Action List”, not a “To Do” list. She was all about taking action, not just doing something. She literally would get more done in a day than most people would in a week! This is how she did it: (1) List up to 6 items that you need to take action on at a time. She felt that if you wrote down everything you needed to get done, you would overwhelm yourself! “Stick with 6” she would always say. (2) Always write your list at the end of the day for following day. Her reasoning was that everything is still fresh in your mind, not in the morning when you walk through the door. (3) After establishing your 6 action items, prioritize them from most important to least important. That usually means hardest to easiest! Sue’s theory was that most people always do the easy things first (like photoshop) and the harder things last (writing your studio’s newsletter). Unfortunately, the hard stuff is what is going to move your business forward, and most people would run out of time and never get to them. She always did the hard stuff first, easy last! (4) This is key- Sue would always try to finish her action list BEFORE NOON! After lunch was called “bonus time” and this is where she could really move forward on more long term projects. So, let’s sum up today’s blog before I let you go enjoy your weekend. Throughout the years after Sue’s passing, I have always tried to follow this model of getting things done. It’s all about taking action! I highly recommend you try it. You’ll be surprised at the amount of stuff you’ll get done in a day! I hope these daily thoughts are helpful! If there are any topics you want us to cover, post them on the fan page wall. Thanks everyone, have a good weekend! –B.H.

Part Two (Continued from 7-13-2009): How did the final fitting go?
Tuesday, Jul 14, 2009

Well, the final fitting went well this morning! My clients ended up with a 28x36, which was the perfect size for their space. Once again, taking the right action pays off handsomely! In this case, it was taking the extra time to go to their home as well as finalizing the order ASAP! Remember, its not just about taking action, it’s all about the right action. This is what will move your business forward. What are the right actions? To each is own my friend! I suggest looking back at some of your recent successes in life and business. What actions did you take to create the environment for that success? This is the key to knowing which actions will be the most beneficial for you! Or, look to your mentors, and use some of their examples to steer you in the right direction. Tomorrow I will add a part three to this blog; I’ll be discussing how to create your own action list. Not to mention how to get more things done in a day than you ever imagined! See ya tomorrow! –B.H. –PS. New image of the week to come tomorrow! It’s a commercial composite…very cool stuff!

“Success seems to be connected with action. Successful men keep moving. They make mistakes but they don’t quit!” – Conrad Hilton
Monday, Jul 13, 2009

I think the hardest part of being in business is not taking action, but knowing what action to take! The past few weeks we have had some major sales. I’ve been trying to analyze why and how these sales evolved. One common characteristic of all these sales has been closing the clients at their homes ASAP after the projection at the studio. In the past I have waited a few days or even a week before finalizing the sizes of the wall portraits and the quantities. I guess with the volume of business down right now, I have more of a sense of urgency. During the last 2 weeks of this “mini boom” at the studio I have closed the sales either that day or the day after for every one. It’s a great case study and is something I am really enjoying! It makes sense though; the excitement from the projection is fresh in their mind. I’ve always preached that you have to sell at the height of excitement! But a lot of times with the multiple wall portrait sales, you have to finalize the order in their home. We’re dealing with a lot of money here, not just an 8x10, I want to make my clients are getting exactly what they need. This requires me to project their favorites again at the home. But instead of scheduling for the next week, I am going out to my client’s homes the same day. A good example of this was my last appointment today. The couple needs my input as far as the size is concerned, their not sure how large they should go. Instead of waiting a few days, I am going to their house first thing tomorrow morning to finalize sizes and to order frames. Stay tuned, I’ll let you know if we’re still on a role! Remember, action can come in various forms; some are more productive than others! Wish me luck! –B.H.

Don’t Let Your Clients Fall Through the Cracks!
Sunday, Jul 12, 2009

I had the opportunity to attend one of my top client’s parties last night. The party was celebrating their oldest son’s graduation! I of course photographed his senior portraits this year and it was great to be considered part of the family! Back in 1985 I photographed his mother’s senior portraits too, followed by her wedding in 1989. Then, not to mention, the many family portraits over the last 20 years! Ironically, last night I ran into their neighbor whom I photographed 20+ years ago! They were awesome clients that had fallen through the cracks (shame on us). They have not received anything from our studio since their wedding 20 years ago, nor had they used our photographic services since their wedding. Isn’t that an amazing correlation! Their daughter also graduated this year, but we didn’t do her portraits. Out of sight, out of mind, out of business! So, first thing this morning I did the following: 1. Sent them a card (SendOutCards.com/hudsons) saying how great it was to see them! 2. Sent them another card (SOC) with our upcoming portrait safaris locations and dates. 3. Tomorrow I will put all their information in our database and send them a Premiere Portrait Club letter and packet. 4. Made plans to follow up this Friday by phone and see if they received the card and once again say how much I enjoyed reconnecting with them!!! If I said it once, I’ve said it 1000 times, “The most valuable thing you have in your studio is not your camera, lights, computer, or Photoshop program, it’s your clients and database! Don’t let your clients slip through the cracks! In this case, we did and it cost us (who knows how much) some revenue the last 20 years! See you tomorrow! BH

The power of an unexpected perk!
Saturday, Jul 11, 2009

Today’s blog is going to be short and sweet! I am about to leave for the Seattle Mariners game tonight! Yesterday my dad dropped off the master CD for this month’s Monthly Mentor Issue, which features John Hartman, at our CD manufacturer in Seattle. They are called Paragon Media and they are located across the street from Safe Co. Field, home of the Mariners. So my dad was dropping the CD off and mentioned to the VP of the company that he was going to the game last night. The guy said, “Cool, use this card and park behind our building for free! Thanks for being a customer!” Pretty cool perk, considering that parking can be $50 a car on a game day. All Paragon Media customers have this privilege! They also sometimes have a party before Friday games on the roof, and all their local customers are invited to partake in the fun. What can we as photographers learn from this? Sometimes these little unexpected perks can go along way. Paragon is not the cheapest CD manufacturer in town, but their quality and customer service is excellent. Plus, we get to park for free during sporting events! And, don’t you think that everyone who uses this perk is going to brag to their friends about the free parking they get from Paragon? You bet they will! That’s what I call “Water cooler” marketing. Try to do things that will get your customers talking about you around the water cooler. We do this by hand delivering and hanging our client’s portraits. We also bring them a bottle of wine and a gift certificate to a local restaurant. We also encourage them to take a friend out to dinner with the certificate! Tell them this meal is on YOUR photographer! Not a bad unexpected perk! -Josh

Staying the course during touch times!
Wednesday, Jul 08, 2009

It’s no secret; most studios are down right now and have been for some time. Although, I am hearing a lot more positive talk coming from our Monthly Mentor Members and other photographers from around the country. For us personally, I feel that our “staying the course” business model is paying off, even during these challenging times. Many businesses, not just photography studios, have opted to lower their prices and are practically giving their work away just to get people in the door. I am in disagreement with this model. When all is said and done, your brand and studio will be all about the discount, not the quality of craftsmanship or the experience. I recently interviewed John Hartman for our Monthly Mentor Program, his take was the same. “The studios who are able to stay the course right now, not cheapen themselves, will be better positioned after this mess is over”, states John. Don’t get me wrong, when your starring at an empty appointment book, we all get to a point of no return. My advice is to work harder. Many photographers ask me how we are doing; I reply with, “I am working as hard as I have ever worked to get the phone to ring with qualified clients.” Well known studio owner Lori Nordstrom said the exact same thing to me a few weeks ago during an interview. What’s the point of this blog? I would say it is to stay the course as long as you can! Of course, you may have to diversify and stretch yourself into some new markets, but discounting your talent and work can have some long term consequences. Recently, a lot of our hard work has been paying off with some amazing family sales. In the last month, I’ve invoiced multiple 5 figure sales and few high 4 figure ones as well. Are things fully turned around yet? I’m not sure, but I am pleased with the quality of clients that our marketing is bringing to us. If we became another low priced studio, these clients might have gone to the next high-end guy down the road instead of me. Stay the course my friends and inject passion into everything you do! Today my passion for image creation got me busted for trespassing! More about this tomorrow along with an image of the week! –B.H.

3 of the most powerful words in life and business…
Monday, Jul 06, 2009

So, what are the most powerful words in life and business? YOU NEVER KNOW! In all aspects of life and business, you never know if a prospect calling for pricing on 8x10’s and 5x7’s will become a 5 figure family sale. You never know if a one year baby portrait will turn into a 5 figure wedding client 20 years later. You never know if meeting a fellow Rotarian during a program you are presenting will later turn into a 5 figure commercial client. You never know if presenting the Send Out Cards program to a guy named Jordan Adler 12 times would, 4 ½ years later, result in the man making over $100,000 a month with a greeting card business! No joke either! What’s my point with all this…YOU NEVER KNOW! Take a risk and put yourself out there, life is too short to sit on the sidelines and wait for something to happen. You never know if planting seeds, which will sprout someday, could turn into the largest trees in the forest! You never know if a $5 memory mate will turn into a mid 5 figure family sale in Maui! Never underestimate anyone or any situation in life or business, you never know! I hope everyone had a great 4th! –B.H.

Special Guest Blog from Plat. Member Denise Jane: Working with a True Professional!
Friday, Jul 03, 2009

Hello everyone, I am here visiting my adopted Dad and mentor Bruce! I have been privileged with many opportunities to work with Bruce over the past few years. You may have seen my photograph on the cover of his New Directions tour DVD! No matter how many seminars, videos, one on one experiences or conversations I have had with him, Bruce always teaches me something new. He is without a doubt a gifted man, a true blue. He doesn’t just go on tour and talk about what makes your career successful, he lives it. That is why it is so easy to learn from him. He is just sharing what he does on a daily basis, what he believes in and what he strives for daily. This morning we photographed three generations, a total of 14 people ages 7 to 87! Bruce and I met the Andersons during their portrait consultation on Tuesday. They came in by referral and were familiar with his work. They were excited to finally have this opportunity to display their family on the wall. Here is where Bruce’s true professionalism comes into play. The key to the consultation is to stop talking and listen to your client. Find out what is most important to them. Then Bruce asks them specific questions about where they spend most of their time in their home and where they feel they would enjoy the portrait the most. We talked about the colors, style, and décor of their home. I know this sounds regimented and technical but the key is how he presents it. He not telling them you must where solid blue shirts he lets the clients discover for themselves what will look the best in their home. Mrs. Anderson kept referring to her original silk painting she had in her home. Realizing how important this was to her we suggested they dress to match the colors in the painting! Their family portrait will now harmonize with other art in their home! That was it! Then she was on board with displaying the portrait in that room because it would go with her painting. After going over prices, size examples, session fees, etc, Bruce said, “So, I’d love to come over and take a look at your home so we can get a better idea of where you want your portrait.” It is the way he suggests this that makes it so genuine and casual, it’s just like you’re going over to an old friend’s house! Some of you may be thinking, “What you meet with them at the studio then you spend more time going to their home….how are you making any money? Time vs dollar earned?” What you must understand is what Bruce live and breathes; it’s all about the RELATIONSHIP! The connection, making your client comfortable, and making them feel like family. People do not buy portraits from studio’s they buy them from the photographer! Then, later that evening, Bruce and I had a fabulous family session with Mount Rainer as the background. See this week’s image of the week! After the session we drove to the Andersons home to complete the consultation. The Andersons invited us in and showed us the few locations they had in mind for the portraits. Perfect! We now had an idea of vertical, horizontal, and the proper sizes! This morning we met the family at 9am. During the session the light stopped firing. So we changed out the battery got a few more shots and that was it! No light! But, without hesitation, we took the fabric off the Octobox and used the inside silver as a reflector on the stand. Bruce also changed the ISO to 400 and BINGO, gorgeous soft fill light! We finished the session, got all the important shots, and no one knew any different. We were packing up, walking to the car, and I looked at Bruce and said, “That’s when you know you are a true professional!” Did he panic? NO! Did he just go with the flow and create some one of a kind art pieces for the family? YES! The key is your attitude, staying flexible, less planning and more doing! Thanks Bruce I love YA!- Denise Jane

You have to implement fast and always!
Wednesday, Jul 01, 2009

Hey everyone, this is Josh filling in for Bruce tonight! I am happy to report that my dad caught a salmon and a shark on his fishing trip today! Way to go dad! The fishing boat he was on is called the Miss Nickel and it is owned by a guy my dad met at his marketing mastermind group. Mike, the owner, is a real estate developer who bought the Miss Nickel last year, so this is its 2 charter fishing season. Mike admittedly needs help with his marketing, that is why he started going our Dan Kennedy Inner Circle meetings and soon joined the invite only Master Mind Group. A few weeks ago Mike asked the group to help him build a marketing piece for his past clients. The group gave their advice. With in two days Mike had a post card through Send Out Cards already on its way to his past clients! Was it perfect? Probably not. Was it effective? I guess we’ll see! But, Mike did what the vast majority of businesses don’t do…implement! So many times I am on the phone with photographers and business owners alike who spend months working on a single marketing idea. It’s just crazy! I would much rather send out a piece that is almost perfect than a perfect piece that missed its target date. Time is money in this business, when you have an idea; you have to run with it! Congratulations to Mike for getting things done, I am excited to see how it did! -Josh

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