I measure the usefulness of any piece of software on my computer by how much I miss it when using someone else’s machine.

By that measure, easily the greatest item I’ve ever bought has been the text storage and expansion utility for the Mac, TextExpander. (Full disclosure: four years after becoming a rabid, vocal, and paid user of TextExpander, the company hired me to do some consulting work for them last year.)

At its most basic, TextExpander stores snippets of text (or pictures!) which you can then easily insert on the fly with user-defined shortcuts. Thus, it’s great for storing all kinds of boilerplate text–email signatures, telephone numbers and addresses, replies to frequently-asked questions, URLs, HTML code, etc. Pretty much anything you find yourself typing over and over again is fair game for getting turned into a TextExpander snippet.

There are also a number of incredibly useful snippet groups that come either come standard (time/date stamps, frequently misspelled words) or that fans have created and shared (accented words, keyboard symbols, etc.). Without even getting into advanced features (there are some fancy things you can do with creating forms and having the cursor move around automagically), I’ve saved close to 40 hours in four years thanks to TextExpander. (And yes, the statistics counter is probably my favorite feature of all.)

The #1 rule of lifehacking says that when you find yourself repeating monotonous tasks, find a way to automate. The #1 rule of TextExpander is when you find yourself on a computer without it, get back to your own rig, pronto.

Colleen Wainwright lives for finding creative ways to save time and energy, which she then uses to fuel her ASMP chapter talks on Making People Love You Madly.

One of the biggest issues for my business, and it becomes the biggest issue because of my great desire to avoid it, is the finances. OK, I don’t avoid it, I hide from it completely. So yes, on my short list as my business grows is to hire someone to handle it for me. But until then, I have to put on that bookkeeping hat.

Here are 5 easy tips for keeping all those receipts straight:

1. Never throw away any receipt, business or personal. This ensures you don’t accidentally throw a business one away. You can always throw away the personal ones you don’t need later.  Oh, and another selling point to keeping every receipt – when audited by the IRS, if you have a receipt, that is 99% of the battle.
2.  If a receipt is specific to a project, write that on the top of the receipt at the time your get it. That way you’re not guessing later.
3. I have a hanging folder with two folders within it, one labeled Business, one labeled Personal. Each receipt goes in the coinciding folder. OK, that means you have to keep your business and personal purchases on separate receipts, but I know you’re doing that already.
4. Every Monday morning, I go through my receipts from the previous week and enter them into QuickBooks. The receipts then go into an accordion file with individual months on the tabs, which is my “archive.”
5. In the last week, it has dawned on me, duh, think they have an app for that? And sure enough, there was one. You photograph your receipts, the software extracts the data and puts it into a spreadsheet complete with categories. It says it can even import directly into QuickBooks. I haven’t played around with it much, but, I’m guardedly optimistic. But wow… with the IRS now accepting scans of receipts, no more accordion file of receipts to keep for years on end, no more potentially lost or faded receipts (if you scan it right away), and my standard back up procedure ensuring I don’t lose the electronic data… “what a wonderful world it could be!”

Kimberly Blom-Roemer is a Gulf Coast based architectural photographer who has experienced endless sighs of dismay from her mother, a professional accountant, due to her avoidance of all things financial . kimberly@r2-photography.com

Have you ever received a message from the universe that wouldn’t let you escape it? Something so clear, simple, and obvious that you feel silly when the realization occurs?

In the last couple of weeks, I have encountered one consistent message from over a half-dozen sources including several conversations, blog posts, books and a trade journal. One after another, they pointed to the Pareto principle as an effective tool to be used in my decision-making process.

The Pareto principle, or the 80/20 rule as most people know it, states that roughly 80 percent of the results we achieve come from 20 percent of the effort we apply. Although this is a concept I understand in theory, in practice I often find myself mired in activities that produce very little positive outcome for the amount of time I’m investing in them.

When used thoughtfully, the 80/20 rule is a powerful tool for simplifying our decision-making process about the various areas we each need to manage and be productive in.

For instance, most businesses receive 80 percent of their income from about 20 percent of their clients. But how many of us spend an inordinate amount of time trying to satisfy requests from clients that we don’t really want to work with because they’re not helping our businesses grow. Have you discovered that the demands that many clients make are in inverse proportion to the amount of income they produce for you?

This simple but easily overlooked principle is one that can encourage you to focus on activities that produce the best outcomes for you, including doing the things and being with the people that bring you the most pleasure for the least amount of effort.

Based in Raleigh, N.C., Charles Gupton photographs real people, really well. While seeking a life of chronic joy, with bouts of acute happiness, he aligns himself with people and projects that are enjoyable to work with.
cg@charlesguptonphoto.com | www.charlesguptonphoto.com | www.charlesgupton.com

Ask any photographer whether they would be happier shooting to layout or collaborating with their client to define the look and feel of a shot and most would reply the latter.  Photographers live to collaborate. During the process they feel alive, excited, creative, productive, useful, valued, and, yes, loved.  The process is exciting. Brainstorming, open conversations, two minds and hearts working toward a common goal, what’s not to love?

If collaboration makes the shoot even sweeter, why are more photographers not being asked for their ideas before a project is creatively completed?  It’s simple. Photographers rarely promote their interest in collaborating.  Most clients aren’t going to propose the option unless they have already been sold on the photographer’s  interest, skill and experience as a creative partner.
If you want to collaborate you must walk the talk. You cant expect your clients to give you collaboratively oriented  projects if you don’t let them know you are interested and if you don’t give them ample opportunity to trust your ability to deliver.

It’s up to photographers to show clients their collaborating skills and then gently remind them of their interest and experience.  It’s a rare photographer that will proactively seek collaboration, even though most crave the gift it brings.

But you will be different! Start by building a vision based portfolio. Who wants to collaborate with someone who hasn’t taken the time to develop their own approach to photo? Check out the wording in your bio on your website. Is there copy there that speaks to your interest in co-creating? Consider mentioning your love of collaboration in blog posts. Stop putting off in person visits as they are a great opportunity to promote your interest in collaboration.

Are you lacking examples of your collaborating skills?
If so, approach an art director, or graphic designer you know and ascertain their interest in working with you on a visual project. If you shoot editorial or motion, identify a non profit or publication you’d like to contribute to. Create a photo project and approach the PR director, or a freelance photo editor and offer to collaborate with them.

Every one gains through joint creative  ventures. The exchange of ideas and process for those involved is huge. The end result for the viewer is one that would not have happened if the process was not in place. The reality is that if you are interested in collaborating with your clients you will need to walk your talk.
Are You ready?

Selina Maitreya is a consultant to visual creative professionals.  Go here to download a free interview where Selina shares the steps to success that you need to take.

For an introvert who’s generally happiest holed up in a cave, flailing away at a keyboard, I’ve racked up a surprising number of creative collaborations–everything from a TV pilot for a major network to a comic play (with music!) about two of the world’s least sexy chronic illnesses.

Most recently, I completed a massive fundraiser that required collaboration on several fronts, including (among other things) building a website, creating prizes for giveaways, producing a video, and coordinating a massive benefit party for 150 people complete with musical entertainment, art raffle, tacos, and a head-shaving.

From what I can figure out so far, here’s what made the collaborations successful:

1. People got to do what they loved. I know I’m happiest contributing to any project when that project is utilizing my strongest skills or addressing my most pressing needs. So when I invited collaborators, I made matching project tasks to contributor interests a priority: the charismatic friend who loves wrangling crowds emceed the closing party; photographer friends documented the evening and shot the photobooth portraits, etc.

2. The boundaries were exceptionally clearly drawn. I was as clear as I could be up front about exactly what I needed, and exactly where the commitment would begin and end. And when I needed something extra, I made it clear I knew this was an additional favor, not an expectation.

3. Communication flowed freely in both directions. Most of my previous lousy collaborations had in common lousy communication: we either didn’t speak the same language, or one of us was scared to speak, period. For this all-volunteer, no-money-and-less-time effort, I was merciless about including only people I was sure I could keep the lines of communication open with.

Of course, the final words on making a collaboration work well? Always be grateful. “Thank you” goes a long way toward achieving that!

Colleen Wainwright loves working with fun people, especially the fun people at ASMP who are helping her bring her Making People Love You Madly seminar on non-sucky marketing to so many wonderful ASMP chapters.

“Collaborate”.  That is my mantra and the one piece of advice I give to any still photographer who is thinking of getting into video.  Many photographers are overwhelmed at the prospect of having to learn new skills, like how to capture good audio and how to edit.  I tell them, even if they know these skill sets – they should collaborate with professionals in these areas, rather than to do it all themselves. It’s not impossible to work solo in video, depending on the job, but it’s definitely more difficult and sometimes counter productive. Simply put, a good crew will make you – and your productions look good.

Still photographers by nature are independent creatures, so the concept of working with a team is somewhat foreign.  Sure, we have all collaborated with art directors, stylists, hair and make up people and assistants, but with video the team you build becomes even more integral to the production.  These days a team can be anywhere from two people to twenty or even more.

I have always had a partner, even in my still photography business, so when I got into video I found that was an asset and an advantage. In the beginning my partner would shoot the still images on video productions and I shot the video.  On simple jobs, I would also “run sound” and do the edit.  As productions became more complex, we would hire good sound people and editors.  Some jobs needed bigger crews.  We quickly found that not only could we not “do it all” but that we shouldn’t on video productions because it was self-defeating. Many times the productions were taking longer with smaller crews.

So how does one find good sound people, grips (lighting), gaffers (electricians) and editors? There are many online resources these days – Craig’s List, Mandy’s and Production Hub to name a few.  I have also met great people at DSLR meet-ups, editing user groups and trade shows and conferences.

If a job is complex and the budget accommodates it – I hire a line producer to put a crew together for me.  That’s their job and they keep a file of good people that they draw upon on an as needed basis. I actually found the editor who worked on my film and was brilliant, by networking with an ASMP member who also works in both mediums. Personally, I think one of the biggest benefits of being a member of ASMP is the networking.

Technology has had a major impact on visual communications, which in turn has changed the way, we manage our businesses and produce jobs.  It’s more the norm these days to build crews as we need them, rather than to maintain large production teams full time. There are plenty of very good freelancers to draw from.  Not only will a good team make you and your productions look good – you’ll be learning at the same time.

Gail Mooney has recently finished her first feature film Opening Our Eyes.  You can see a trailer and find out more about this project at www.openingoureyesmovie.com

Ladies and gentlemen, the queen of soul, Aretha Franklin!

“R – E – S – P – E – C – T – find out what it means to me!”  -   Aretha sings that song with more attitude and heart now than she did when she first performed it in 1967.   I guess that’s what a lifetime of experience offers.

When I’m working with someone, I want to be heard, valued and utilized to the fullest extent of my talents.   I want  R E S P E C T.   If you want my all and the value of my experience, you’ve got to trust me and give me some respect.   The same goes about collaborating with others.   If you want the fullest extent of everything your partners have, then you have to listen, value and utilize everything they offer.

Step one: Use the word “with” instead of “for.”   It won’t cost a dime and it may change your relationships when you use it.   My assistants, stylists, production people, location scout and yes, even my clients all work with me to create the best images possible.   They all contribute to the success of the project.   They need to know and understand that what they do, brings value and we do it together.   Nobody works for anyone anymore.   We all work with each other.

Step two: Offer someone a stake in the creative input.  It’s amazing what you get in return.   Ask their opinion.   It may take some give and take, but let them loose.  The more they are valued, the more they will want to give.   And they may just want to come back to do it again.   That goes for everyone from assistants to clients.

Step three: Foster an environment for honest feedback.  Give honest feedback to those you work with, with the sole purpose of improving the work and the working relationship.   Ask for their honest feedback in return.   This is tough, but incredibly important.   If you can’t be honest with those you work with, the relationship will never grow to be everything it can be.

RESPECT – Find out what it means to the people you work with.   It may mean more than you think.

Todd captures people to help his clients sell things.
http://joycephotography.com / todd(at)joycephotography.com

Most of us have heard the old adage: “You’re known by the company you keep.” This can be especially true when it comes to collaborative efforts. Collaborative projects often present an opportunity to raise the bar for our own work.

Foremost when considering collaborative partners, seek people who want to do what you want to do, to the standard you want to do it. Most people tend to seek out other people who are at a place that allows them to feel most comfortable.  That seldom leads to producing remarkable work. If you want to raise your “A” game, you need to collaborate with people who are going to push your standards higher rather than letting you stay comfortable where you are.

The people we spend the most time with have a tremendous influence on the person we eventually become in all aspects of our lives. It can be very difficult to be in the company of people who challenge our comfort zones and cause us to grow. Working with partners on a project who are known for working at the top of their game can influence the work we produce and enhance our professional reputation.

Collaboration is the name of the game in today’s business world. But if you want to grow your business to new heights, make sure you’re collaborating with the right people.

Based in Raleigh, N.C., Charles Gupton photographs real people, really well. With a transition from still photographs to increasingly more film and motion projects, his reliance on collaborative partners has radically grown.
cg@charlesguptonphoto.com | www.charlesguptonphoto.com | www.charlesgupton.com

It’s hard to part with the money needed to launch a marketing campaign, especially when you are just starting out or business is slow.  When I’m sweating the expense I look at the total cost of the campaign and compare that with how many average sized jobs I need in order to break even.  This puts my output and input into perspective.

Jenna Close tries to break everything down into manageable bits.  You can find her examining the pieces at www.p2photography.net.

After working with photographers for over 30 years I’ve had the opportunity to witness the habits that I see consistently in photographers who are successful. Regardless of where they live, how old they are or what type of photo they shooting these creatives all share these habits in common:

1. They dont take their talent for granted: they constantly shoot,edit,shoot, edit and shoot some more.
2. All the support people they hire are the best at what they do and they let them do their work.
3. No is not in their vocabulary. They give 125% in everything they focus on
4.  Positivity not negativity is their position in life
5. They listen actively and play well with others

Selina Maitreya is a consultant to photographers worldwide.
Go here to learn more about why photographers fail and how you can succeed!