ASMP announces Strictly Business 3

The American Society of Media Photographers invites you to the Strictly Business 3 Conferences, the newest generation of this highly acclaimed series.

FULL CONFERENCE DETAILS

SB3 offers you a selection of topics to enhance your professionalism and build your business. From copyright registration to social media marketing, negotiating and sales, licensing and pricing, the business of video and much more — you can design the conference to fit your specific needs.

Your registration includes 4 meals, 2 receptions, 2 keynote presentations, 6 workshops and bonus evening sessions. This packed schedule will inspire you and direct your career!

REGISTER HERE

When and Where
January in Los Angeles
February in Philadelphia
April in Chicago

Conference Hotels
Take advantage of the excellent room rates and stay at a conference hotel. Book early as the room blocks are limited.

SB3 Roundtable Discussion
Have you embraced new business models successfully? Are you willing to candidly share details about your business? Apply now to be part of this Saturday late night session. 4 photographers per conference will be selected to participate. Winners will have their SB3 attendance fee waived. APPLY HERE

Help ASMP – Protest New 1099 Requirements!

Dear ASMP Members:

One of the provisions of the new healthcare reform legislation will significantly impact the administrative burdens of your business unless the IRS changes it. As of now, starting next year, if you pay any person or corporation more than $600 in a year for goods or services, you must report that to both the IRS and the entity or person whom you paid. For example, if you bought a new camera or lens for $1,000, you would have to report that on your income tax returns and issue a 1099 to the company from which you made the purchase. Fortunately, there is now an exemption for credit card transactions, but that doesn’t apply if you paid by cash or check.

The good news is that the IRS has asked for comments from the public. Please copy and paste the sample letter below, edit it as you choose, and email it to Notice.Comments@irscounsel.treas.gov. Please be sure that the subject line of your email says Notice 2010-51. Please note that the emails must be sent by Sept. 29, 2010.

We understand the government’s desire to track cash transactions, but the current system would impose an unacceptable record-keeping and reporting burden on small businesses like yours.

Thank you for your support and your membership in ASMP,

Vic

Victor S. Perlman

General Counsel & Managing Director

(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.

Here Comes Summer …

[by Susan Carr]

I hope you had an enjoyable Memorial Day weekend. We often think of summer as down time for marketing and sales, but in this tough economic climate, these areas of our business can’t really afford any time off. Yes, you can take a vacation, but do not take three months off from promoting your business. With this in mind over the next two weeks, the Strictly Business Blog is going to focus on practical marketing and sales ideas for these summer months. We hope they help you plan a productive period for business promotion.

In these lazy days of summer, most of us have fewer commissioned assignments, so my suggestion is to use some of your time to photograph for yourself. Whether you photograph in your studio or out in the world, create pictures that come completely out of your interests, passions or ideas. We all have things we have thought of pursuing photographically, a place or subject, well, dig those ideas out and go for it. How about dedicating a day a week or three consecutive days a month to this task? Whatever formula works best for you, make the time focused; if you are working in your studio, resist checking email or if your plan is wandering a park or neighborhood with your camera, consider turning your cell phone off. By setting aside time to create, when September rolls around, you will have new portfolio pieces or perhaps even the start of a significant personal project.

How is this promoting your business? We sell creative services, and if we do not nurture that part of our job, we will have little to offer the commissioning client. Our success depends on being distinctive and we cannot achieve that without actively engaging in creativity. My advice for the summer, grab your camera!

Susan Carr is a Chicago based photographer and ASMP’s Education Director. She is currently working on a book, “The Art and Business of Photography”, scheduled to release in early 2011.

Phase One Buys Expression Media

Microsoft has sold Expression Media to Phase One, the Danish company that makes Phase One cameras and Capture One software.

Phase One is offering the following to existing customers:
* Capture One owners can get a free copy of Expression Media
* Expression Media owners can get a free copy of Capture One
* iView owners can get a free copy of Expression Media 2

Details available here. Offer good for the next month.

ASMP Copyright Symposium Videos

On April 21, 2010, the American Society of Media Photographers presented an important symposium in New York City addressing the sweeping changes in the way images are used and distributed. The symposium, Copyright and the New Economy: Issues & Trends Facing Visual Artists, was a big hit with the packed TimesCenter audience. According to ASMP President Richard Kelly, “During the coming year, ASMP plans to lead in moving forward on copyright issues and identifying sustainable business solutions for our changing world.”

Videos of individual presentations and the panel discussion are available here.

Do You Register Your Images with the Copyright Office?

[by Susan Carr]

Only a small percentage of photographers register their work with the copyright office. ASMP wants that to change.

We have new resources to help:

• Read ASMP’s recommended Best Practices for registering your work.
• Attend one of our “Registration Workshops” traveling the country.
• Watch our new podcast on the steps to register unpublished work.

Registering your work gives you the full benefit of copyright law. If you do not care enough about your photographs to take this step, why should anyone else?

New ASMP Resource for Video

[by Susan Carr]

ASMP has a new online resource designed for the still photographer who is moving into motion.  Gail Mooney is chair of the newly formed Motion/Video Committee and she embraced this role with the same gusto she uses in her own work. Gail interviewed fourteen members who have successfully incorporated video into their businesses. The results of this work are now available as the first step of ASMP’s new tutorial on video.

Topics covered include – definitions of the common roles involved in video production, technical concerns, insurance and business issues and how to get started. Here are some sample questions included in this resource:

• What are the differences, advantages, and disadvantages of positioning yourself as a shooter, a director or a producer?
• What markets do you work in when shooting video?
• Do you market yourself as one “production company” or separately as a still photographer and media producer/videographer?
• What are some standards in video? What is considered the pixel threshold for HD?
• Do you edit your own material? What platform and software do you use?
• How do you copyright a body of work that is comprised of video and stills and music?

ASMP is dedicated to making sure you have the tools you need to reach new markets with your work. So, check this out and give yourself a leg up before you move into motion!

Thank You and Happy New Year!

[by Susan Carr]

Dear Friends,
I want to take a moment and thank you, our readers, for making this blog a success. We launched this endeavor nine months ago and our community has been growing steadily ever since. I also want to express my gratitude to our talented contributors for sharing their insights on all aspects of the photography business. Together we are building a valuable resource for the trade.

As we end 2009, please share your blog topic suggestions with us by posting a comment here. What do you want us to talk about? Tell us what what type of information really hits home and what doesn’t? Share your ideas and feedback with us as we plan for the New Year.

The SB blog team is going to take a short vacation to enjoy the holiday season returning on January 4th refreshed and ready for 2010!

Wishing you an enjoyable holiday and prosperous New Year,
Susan Carr, SB Blog Editor

Work Begets Work

[by Susan Carr]

I had the privilege a few years back of hearing photographer Ken Josephson speak at the  Society for Photographic Education Midwest Regional conference. While discussing his own struggle with blocks in creativity or direction, he clearly stated his own mantra, “work begets work.” These three simple words have hung with me and continue to ring true.

The most difficult times for me, as an artist, are those periods between projects. It frequently takes me a while to know when a given personal project is complete, thus, the creating new work slows gradually, the emphasis shifts to exhibitions or other outlets for the project and my lack of producing new work sort of creeps in unexpectedly.  Ideas for new projects start brewing, but the day-to-day work of making a living and getting my existing images seen takes over. Then, what feels like all of sudden, it will hit me that the real love of my life, making photographs, is being neglected.

I moved to Chicago four years ago. Relocating my home after 25 years was a daunting task and my move coincided with the completion of a significant personal photography project. Between actively exhibiting this body of work – a documentary project of home interiors – and settling into a new home and business community, I didn’t think about photographing beyond my commercial client work. Fast forward to this year, I acknowledged that my own photography needed to become a priority again. I simply feel lost without it.

My idea is to photograph my new home, the Chicago neighborhood of Rogers Park. I struggled with how to get started. I predictably tried to answer the why and how of the project before I initiated the work. Then I remembered Ken Josephson’s lecture. Work begets work. The process of creating work is the process of discovering the why and how. I wasn’t going to solve anything unless I simply walked the neighborhood camera in hand.

I am happy to say that this past spring and summer were productive. I walked miles, shot many rolls of film (yes, film for this work) and slowly the project is taking form. My advice for anyone struggling with their own vision is to simply get to work, pick up a camera and stop asking yourself so many questions.

Registration ©ounts!

[by Susan Carr]

The copyright office tells us that only 5% of photographers register their images. ASMP wants to change that and this week at Photo Plus Expo ASMP will launch a new initiative called Registration ©ounts to create awareness of copyright issues, to encourage all photographers to register their work, and to provide the tools and information needed for registration.

Representatives from the copyright office will be at the ASMP booth (#478) to answer your registration questions. ASMP now offers recommended best practices for registering your work and a workshop to help photographers get registered.

ASMP has designated the week of April 19-23, 2010 to highlight the issue of copyright and will lead a number of activities and events for photographers and other visual artists. On Wednesday, April 21st, ASMP will host a symposium entitled The Current State of Copyright from an Artist’s Perspective to explore views on significant issues, challenges and trends in copyright. Experts from leading organizations including Columbia University, PLUS and Public Knowledge will participate.

Join with ASMP to create a powerful voice for the defense of copyright law.

I Highly Recommend “Free, The Future of a Radical Price” by Chris Anderson

Chris Anderson’s new book is a provocative look at the growing economy of free. I know many of you may roll your eyes at the thought that “free” is our new competition, but do not judge this book by it’s title. Anderson provides a careful investigation outlining the history and future of this economic driver, and in so doing, removed my fear and replaced it with new ideas for my business.

Like most photographers, it has become increasingly difficult for me to maintain profitable fees let alone institute increases, so when I read, “Products that can become commoditized and cheap tend to do so, and companies seeking profits move upstream in search of new scarcities,” I realized this book has a message for photographers. I kept reading and my copy is now dog-eared and underlined.

Book Review Week

I love reading biographies and these three very different stories are some of my favorites.

Limelight is a memoir by Helen Gee and traces her history opening this country’s first photography gallery. If you love photography and photographers, you will enjoy this immensely. It is a charming tale of Greenwich Village and the coming of age of photography as an art form.

Walker Evans a biography by James R. Mellow. Much has been written about Evans, but this exquisitely written biography is my favorite. Mellow’s carefully researched book rewards the reader with new insights and lots of wonderful stories.

Another biography favorite of mine is de Kooning, An American Master by Mark Stevens and Annalyn Swan. This biography tells the story of de Kooning’s life, but it also provides an in-depth history into the New York art scene from the 1930’s to 1990’s. The book was published in 2004 and won the Pulitzer Prize for biography.

ASMP Launches New Web Site

New look, new navigation and new resources! Check it out at www.asmp.org.

Quick Tip Week – Let’s Start With Jamey Stillings

© 2009 Jamey Stillings

This photograph by Jamey Stillings of the Colorado River Bridge appeared in yesterday’s New York Times Magazine. I stubbled upon it over my morning coffee and it changed my day. A beautifully executed image and a fascinating subject coalesced and I craved more. I went to Jamey’s web site and viewed the entire portfolio. I know Jamey, he is an ASMP member living and working in Santa Fe. I asked him how this project happened and how the image landed in the NY Times Magazine this Sunday. Turns out, Jamey made it happen. He saw the bridge, was wonder struck by it and started photographing. He wanted to expand the project and get more access, so he approached the NY Times through his rep about doing a photo essay. It took a few weeks, but armed with a letter of assignment, Jamey acquired the necessary permits and permissions to get closer to the bridge construction. The logistics of gaining access to a project like this are overwhelming, but Jamey used his skills as a producer of many advertising photographs to pull together a supportive team and made this project a reality. What is the quick tip here? Find a photography passion and make it happen.

This DAM Stuff Is Important

Managing your digital images can be a daunting task. Imagine a world where you can retrieve a specific image for a client in seconds or pull up everything you photographed on a specific theme instantly. You will not only save time, but you will improve the quality of your customer service, your marketing materials or your next project proposal.  Peter Krogh takes you step-by-step through the process of digital asset management in the latest edition of his book, “The DAM Book.”

This second edition has been almost entirely rewritten, updating the material for the changed technical landscape. Chapters were added that covered the use of Lightroom, as well as an entirely new chapter on backup and validation of image files. Peter also covers the use of GPS devices and software to geotag your images. Check out Peter’s blog and get a taste of the valuable information he provides.

From the Amazon reviews,

“If you want to get your collection of files (note not only photos, videos, music, but all of your files) under control and make sure they are safe this is the book for you. The book lead me to solutions to several of my issues. The book would be worth several times the cost!”
- Scott Buckel

“Peter Krogh’s updated DAM Book is essential for anyone working with a significant number of digital images, if for no other reason than the basic time saved by learning which techniques (and software) are most efficient.”
- Thaddeus Watkins

Business is down for all of us, so use some of your new found time to get your archives in order.

Good Work From Your Trade Orgs

In 2007, two professional photography trade associations, The American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) and The Stock Artists Alliance (SAA), applied for and received matching fund awards from the Library of Congress as part of the Library’s National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP). Now that is a mouth full of an acronym, but this is a very cool thing. Two of our pro orgs took the initiative and acquired funding to do mind numbing research and work to make our business lives better. I don’t want to do the work, but I am more than happy to benefit from the results. And, I believe we all will.

ASMP’s “Digital Photography Best Practice and Workflow” project is to create guidelines with the goal of determining and developing refined production workflows, archiving methods, and recommended best workflow practices for digital photography based on image usage and capture methods. ASMP is nearing the end of the research and writing portion of this project. By the end of this year, these workflows will be available online and a nationwide educational tour will be launched.  Richard Anderson is the project manager for ASMP.

SAA’s  “Photo Metadata Project” is to promote the use of standardized photo metadata to photographers and user communities. After extensive research, SAA has recently launched their online resources for this project at www.photometadata.org. And, tomorrow evening, the first free seminar is being held in Dallas, followed by Thursday evening in San Antonio. Check this calendar to see the complete seminar schedule. I know thinking about metadata may not blow your skirt up, but this issue deserves the attention of any artist. The proper management and tracking of our work is critical in this age of digital distribution. Add in the likelihood of future changes to copyright law and proper metadata becomes critical. David Riecks is the project leader for SAA.

So, I offer a round of applause to the hard working folks behind these projects and challenge each of you to take advantage of the work they are doing on your behalf.

Pieces of Your Promotional Puzzle

We end the week with two marketing posts, so don’t miss Richard Kelly’s post on social media sites below … both of these messages have ASMP benefits with deadlines, so we didn’t want to wait to share them with you.

There is not one way or one approach for marketing your business. A successful business strategy requires that you define your message and then get that message out in a variety of venues – your web site, your Google ranking, your blog, posts to social media sites, email promos, listings in online directories, your direct customer contacts, attending client focused association meetings and the list goes on. Through this blog and our education seminars, ASMP is working to help you hone your skills for strategically selling your services. Though we can help with the “how to”, no one can do it for you.

For ASMP General members, I want to remind you that ASMP’s newly designed Find a Photographer is being launched in just a few weeks. Now is the time to take a few minutes and update your profile and images. An email promotional campaign for Find a Photographer is starting in mid June – reaching thousands of potential buyers of photography. Make sure this piece of your marketing puzzle is in place so we can show you off to potential buyers! Or, Maybe you are an Associate member who qualifies for General membership. By upgrading your membership now, you can add Find a Photographer to your promotional plan. You can apply for General membership by going into your member profile and clicking the membership tab.

Keep trying different methods to promote your business and stay out there!

Our Final Video From SB2

We are emphasizing marketing tools again this week because they are so important. Today we offer you the final video drawn from the Strictly Business 2 conference lectures. In this video, Leslie Burns-Dell’Acqua outlines a clear process for defining your message and refining your marketing. (30min, 29sec)

Practical Steps for Control in a Turbulent Time

This video is based on Judy Herrmann’s workshop presented at Strictly Business 2 and now touring ASMP chapters as an evening seminar. Does controlling your career sound like an oxymoron? Listen and consider this alternative. (32min, 24sec)

Be Prepared When the Phone Rings

An extraordinary thing happened to me last Friday. A potential client called for a quote. My business, like many of yours, has been very slow for months and the call caught me off guard. It took me a few minutes to regroup and switch into business mode. My head was racing making sure I asked for all the details I needed to properly prepare the quote while simultaneously selling the value I could bring to the project. Handling those initial client phone calls well is critical to our livelihoods. Help your business by watching “Negotiating Tips for when the Phone Rings” with Blake Discher. (17min, 45sec)

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