The Daily Mentor Minute Blog | Bruce Hudson

How much is your time really worth?
Sunday, May 30, 2010

Happy Memorial Day weekend everyone! I woke up this morning thinking of a conversation I had with one of our Platinum Monthly Mentor Subscribers last week about pricing. It seems to me that many photographers out there don’t know what their creative time is really worth. Yes, photography and Photoshop are fun, but sometimes it’s important to think like a business owner. Since the invention of digital, many photographers find themselves editing images into the early morning hours just trying to get the images ready to be viewed by their clients. For one reason or another, this seems to the rule now, not the exception. With that said I’ll ask you this- What is your hourly wage? Here’s what I mean: Let’s say that your session fee for a family is $100 and it lasts 1 hour. $100 an hour, not bad, right? Now, how long do you spend editing those images before the viewing or you put them online? Or maybe you’re not even doing that, maybe you’ll just be giving them all the retouched images on a disc? Let’s say your average editing time is 7 hours per session. So, with 8 hours of total work (not including expenses) that you charged $100 for, that’s $12.50 an hour that you are paying yourself for your time and talent. You are just above a retail manager at Wal-Mart according to payscale.com. Now I know what you thinking, “Josh, I make more money on the back-end with print sales.” Yes, you are absolutely right, but I wanted to make a point that time is money in this business. The next time you are sitting in front of the computer at 3am editing images, think of what a Wal-Mart manager is doing instead of you. Probably sound asleep with this family. We’re in this business to have fun, create timeless images, and make some money all while giving ourselves the freedom to enjoy life. Later this week my dad and I will give you some time saving tips that will not only raise your hourly wage but it will put more profits in your pockets! Have a great Sunday everyone, I’m off to the beach with my family for some relaxation! -Josh

What Motivates You? Part #62
Tuesday, May 25, 2010

On Saturday I woke up excited to embark on the day! Why you may ask? I had a wedding to photograph! After 30 years and over 1200 weddings under my belt, why would I be excited about dealing with the “Church Lady”, “Mother of the Bride”, or a “Bride-zilla”? (1) Part of me loves the challenge of creating incredible images under the pressure of the day. (2) Part of me loves the challenge of dealing with the family dynamics of the day. (3) Part of me loves being well paid for what started out being a hobby in High School. (4) Part of me is honored to be responsible for creating images and memories that will be cherished for multiple generations to come. (5) A big part of me is a hopeless romantic and loves the wedding process and what marriage stands for. All of the above motivates me and has motivated me for 30 years to be excited about jumping out of bed to embark on the day! So, what motivates you? What’s your “why” for wanting to be a professional photographer? Post your thoughts on facebook.com/mystudiomentor. Hope that you find it and understand your key to motivation; it will help you to become a better image creator. Until next time, BH

Display what you want to sell! Some thoughts from the wall portrait conference…
Thursday, May 20, 2010

Once again, the International Wall Portrait Conference hosted by Ken Whitmire was a huge success! Bruce and I drove over and did programs on Tuesday afternoon. Mine was on building your Facebook network; my dad’s was on optimizing your website for selling wall décor. In order to sell large wall décor and set yourself apart from all of the new shoot and burners, you have to show people what you can do as an artist. People have to experience wall portraiture, which can start on your website. Show examples of your work as 30, 40, 50, 60, even 70 inch portraits hanging in your clients homes. Also, have copy that conveys what you create; it needs to plant seeds in your client’s psyche. Basically it comes down to this, do you create JPG’s or wall art. Another way to covey this is to use physical displays. Tonight we participated in a high school business fair. Our booth had 4 wall portraits at it, people were blown away. Us as photographers think that everyone knows what we can create. The fact is they don’t. Especially today, with everyone giving away their work for pennies and on a disc, the consumer doesn’t have a clue about wall décor and the custom nature of what we do as artists. The good thing is though, as fewer photographers actively market wall décor, the ones who do have an easier time setting themselves apart. Just some thoughts from yesterday, I hope everyone is having a great week! -Josh

Making the most of a win-win situation
Monday, May 17, 2010

Last weekend I was at my Rotary District’s Conference in Portland, OR. I worked with our District Governor over the last few months producing videos for the big event. They also had a special guest show up that they wanted me to photograph for the Rotary International Magazine, Mr. Marvin Hamlisch! It was fun photographing him, mingling with the movers and shakers of the other clubs that were there, and getting some pretty good name recognition throughout the weekend in front of 400 influential people. Most of these clubs have seen me speak before; I’ve given my Seven Steps to Better Photography presentation to nearly every Rotary Club in the Seattle District, about 60 or so over the years. So yes, not going to lie, it does feel good to get a little celebrity recognition, but the opportunities that await for future business potential far about weigh the 15 minutes of fame. But how do you make the most of these win-win situations? Here’s what Josh and I have in store: (1) Since I was at the conference with all of my camera gear, I decided to cover the event. I then had the district Governor mention to the crowd that all of the images taken will be online for viewing and selecting. I then asked her if I could get the list of the attendees so I could email them a link to our website, where they can access our Event Pixs page. Not only will I add some pretty heavy hitters to my hardcopy and online databases, they will get an e-blast from us sending them to our new website. (2) Next, we will work with the Rotary’s website manager to get embedded copies of the video’s we produced on it. Of course, the videos will be provided by our new Hudson Team Commercial Division and we’ll have links back to our website. The same goes for Rotary’s Facebook Page! (3) We will be letting our clients know I covered this event got to photograph Mr. Hamlisch in our monthly e-blast, some Facebook/Twitter updates, and on our blog. It’s good to create buzz with your clients, it leads to more referrals. In conclusion, always remember the big picture when it comes to win-win situations. Yes, the pat on the back is nice, it always feels good to be recognized as an artist, but we are also business people. There are marketing opportunities everywhere you look; it’s up to you to make the most of them. Have a great Monday, Josh and I will blog from the Wall Portrait Conference tomorrow, we are each giving a program! -Bruce

Keep thinking, keep trying, keep failing, keep succeeding, keep growing!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010

One of my clients, mentors, and friends is Keith Lee, owner of American Retail Supply. It’s one of the largest retail supply companies on the west coast and it has 3 locations. You think us as photographers get overwhelmed? Imagine managing hundreds of employees, multiple locations, and selling thousands of different products. We just ordered some bags and tissue from his company and he emailed an invoice. The tagline in his email was “Keep thinking, keep trying, keep failing, keep succeeding, keep growing!” Sometimes our inspirations can come from odd places; mine for this blog came from that tagline! I decided to take a second and explain what it means to me as being someone who has been in business for 28 years; maybe you’ll be inspired too! Keep Thinking- Never get complacent or stop learning new things. As I get older, this becomes a little harder. You get set in your ways and it is hard to shift gears. Surround yourself with education and people who inspire you to think outside the box. If you are not thinking, you are not moving forward. If you’re not moving forward, you’re falling back. Keep Trying- Always be on the lookout for new opportunities! It could be a new product to offer, a new way to market, or a new direction in your business. You can’t be afraid to try something new; fear is the number reason businesses fail in my book. Keep Failing- Failure is not a bad thing; it teaches us far more lessons than a success does. Highly successful people attribute their success to some failure in life; it showed them the right way to go about something. Learn from past failures, make adjustments, and don’t repeat the same mistake. Keep Succeeding- Work hard and NEVER give up! Success is achievable by everyone, but not everyone has the heart to push through to the end. It’s amazing how close some people are to success and they don’t even know it! Train yourself to stay positive and to never look back! Keep Growing- You have to keep growing, period. Business is like a treadmill, if you’re not moving forward, you’re moving backwards. Sometimes things like this recession knock you back, but you have to push forward and innovate yourself. Just some words of inspiration for today! Thanks Keith for being a positive force in my life! -Bruce

Getting Cold Displays…sometimes it pays!
Monday, May 10, 2010

Ok, let’s finish this blog topic off here, how do you get displays in a business that you haven’t worked with before? Here are some of the ways we’ve done it in the past and some that we are currently working on! (1) Become a customer, then ask! Sometimes it pays to become a customer before just walking over to the business owner and asking to hang your work in his place. Developing that relationship first will help you get your foot in the door easier. (2) Get involved with a community project that involves a traveling display. It’s hard for the owner to say no if it is for the community. We did a “Kids making a difference” display to showcase some local students and their achievements. Each principal nominated a student, we photographed them, and a 16x20 was attached to a traveling display that was in banks, the hospital, and all over the community for about 6 months. If it’s for a good cause, it’s hard to say no! (3) Do it for them! If you notice a local business just opened in your town, these are the best people to approach. They are hungry for business and maybe you can help? It could be a showcase that you market to your clients to get people in their business, etc. Always remember to mention the “What’s in it for me!” (4) Stay away from national chains! In these types of places, the manager can’t go to the bathroom without corporate holding a board meeting about it, I would stick to local businesses. Although, places like Starbucks are supposed to have local art on the walls, so you just never know. My rule of thumb is to stick with local. (5) Lastly…just ask! What is the worst that could happen? Well, they say no and chase you out with a broom, but that’s about it. I approached the dress shop where Melissa bought her wedding dress about having some of our images on the wall. They said sure! Sometimes just asking is all it takes! Alright, go get some displays, they pay off! I hope everyone had a great weekend and don’t forget to check out the new image of the week! -Josh

Hola!…Como se dica “How do you get displays?” Happy Cinco De Mayo!
Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Here are some of the ways we’ve acquired displays, both in the past and present day. Basically, I would start with your existing clients, people who know and trust you. Most of our displays are the family portraits of my clients in their office. A lawyer, chiropractor, dentist, doctor, you name, they all have my portraits up in their lobby. There are few ways to go about this with your existing clients: (1) During the projection sale, ask them if they are looking for any office décor. The type of people who invest top dollar in family portraiture tend to be very family oriented and proud, a family portrait in their office is a great way to convey that to their customers, clients, or patients. I’ve had some pay full price, half price, or I’ve even given them a wall portrait as a surprise gift, it all depends on the investment level. One client in particular comes to mind. We created some amazing images during one of our Cannon Beach Portrait Safaris a number of years ago and they purchased 3 wall portraits from the sale. We actually just updated their 35x45 portrait last year. Anyway, I printed one of the images as a display print at the studio. After about 6 months I decided to surprise my client at his office with the portrait. At the time, he owned a large publishing company and was very well known in the community. I called his assistant and told her what I wanted to do. She suggested waiting until he was out of town and then hanging it in his office as a surprise. We did and his reaction was great! You see, a lot of the movers and shakers in our community are in his office a lot, just the type of people we want to get our work in front of. This gentleman is now mayor of our city and guess what hangs behind his desk? You guessed it! So, to recap, you can sell them a portrait for their office, discount the office décor portrait after one has been purchased for the home, or just gift it to them! Also, don’t forget to bring up the “write-off” part of office décor too! (2) Offer your services to your client’s customers or patients. Then, you can feature some of the images for display in their office, a real win-win! This works well with doctors, especially OB’s. Well, those are a few tips for existing clients; tomorrow I’ll cover businesses that you do not have an existing relationship with! See you tomorrow and happy Cinco de Mayo, I’m going to grab a Corona! -Josh

Displays, displays, displays! Just what the doctor ordered!
Tuesday, May 04, 2010

The other day I was proud to learn that one of our new Platinum Members accomplished one of his marketing goals for the summer! We had a brainstorming session a few weeks ago and he mentioned that his wife was pregnet. We also talked about the fact that he wants to ramp up his maternity and baby photography business, since he has some free models at home! Who better to approuch about a possible marketing display than his wife’s OB! Well, he took our advice and approuched the office. Just like a medical sales rep he offered to buy the office lunch and share his ideas with them. That got their attention and he had a successful meeting. He’s looking at hanging photographs of this OB’s patients all over the office, he has total free rein. Congrats buddy, great job implementing! Displaying in a doctor’s office is a great way to build up your portrait business, we had a consultation from one of our displays in a cosmetic dentist’s office yesterday. Tomorrow I will share with you some of our stratigies for getting displays and making them profitiable for you! -Josh