Author: Leslie

I just did a podcast on this topic (if you have the BAP2Go app, you have it there) but I wanted to let readers in on part of this too. I’ve written and spoken out on fear and how it holds you back, several times, because it’s a biggie. We all have things we need to do but we avoid doing out of fear.

For many of you, business-wise, that thing is making “cold” calls. This is really too bad, because they are a crucial part of your marketing (and they aren’t really “cold” since you’re sending promos and emails, etc., right?). Maybe you are okay with calls, but you get the cold sweats at the thought of showing your book in person. Maybe you don’t even have a book because that way you can’t ever have to show it. Or maybe you are terrified of asking a slow payer to pony-up.

Whatever it is that you are afraid of, you have to do one thing to get better: you have to do whatever it is you fear. Avoidance actually makes the fear worse–you have to just do whatever it is, grit your teeth and do.

I am facing this reality personally: I have booked my first flight in decades. Many of you know I’m terrified of flying, but I’m going to do it, drug-free, in a couple of weeks. Time to get past this irrational phobia. I’m using tools to help get me past my fears, like breathing exercises and an iPhone app put out by Virgin Atlantic, and I encourage others facing fears to find tools to help too. But when you get down to it, one still must do that which is so scary.

So, as I said in the podcast, here’s the deal: if I’m going to fly again, you can to do whatever it is that scares the bejeezus out of you in your business. We’ll both face something really scary together. I bet we’re both better on the other side.

There are a gazillion things going on these days in photography, business, the law, and, well, my life. I’ve been a bit bad about keeping you all informed on this blog so here is a quickie attempt to catch up, just a bit.

1) I am moving (yes, again) on Monday 8/15 and so will likely be offline and unavailable for that day at least. I’m hoping to be up-and-running soon after, however.

2) The BAP Oil Change is currently on sale! $75 off this service. Using your online list service account (like Adbase or Agency Access) I will build lists for you, filling them with highly targeted people and companies. Because the lists are better targeted, they’ll increase the efficiency of your marketing. Contact me for more information on this and all my services.

3) Twitter now has its own photo service. I don’t like it because it contracts with Photobucket to provide the service. Twitter’s ToS aren’t horrible, but Photobucket’s are. Twitter is trying to say their ToS apply, but I’m not so sure there isn’t a scary backdoor there. Better to do what I keep suggesting: keep your work on your own servers and post links instead.

4) Google+ seems to be foundering a bit. I know for me at least, I’m not liking it more and more. I’m hearing this from others although many photographers, especially in the fine art realm, seem to love it. Basically, don’t look for me much there. I’ve got enough with Facebook & Twitter and this blog and my legal site, etc.

5) I’ll soon have a big announcement for APA-San Diego members, over on my legal services site. Stay tuned over there for that.

6) I’m considering adding a new service (yes, for a fee) where small groups of photographers and I would have monthly phone/Skype meetings. We could discuss marketing and business issues in a supportive environment, share what works, what flops, give assignments, and encourage each other. If you have any interest in this, please let me know.

7) The Android version of my BAP2Go app is ready and will be available soon. I’m waiting on one thing and then it will be submitted and available! Look for an announcement about that very soon!

Okay, that’s a bit of a catch up. Thanks for your patience.

On the Telegraph (UK) site there is an article by a photography professor where he extolls the virtues of the CC license and giving away work for free. These articles invariably tick me off because they get shared in the photo community and people hold them up as examples of how Free can help their businesses.

Here is the big problem with that: the Free model only works (when it does at all) for fine art photographers. It simply will not and does not work for commercial ones.

Why? Simple: fine art photographers make their money by selling objects (mostly)–prints of their works. They don’t license use (at least not at first, maybe later if they make it), but rather sell the object with their image on it, an object that someone hangs in her/his office or living room.

If you have something else to sell as the basis for your business, you can give away lots of licenses for free and it won’t negatively affect you. You want word-of-mouth so that others will want to buy your things, your objects. Generating interest by giving away your work to be used for free on blogs, etc., is potentially a very good form of advertising for you. Yes, Free in this world, the fine art world, can work.

BUT, if your business is all about the image itself and NOT the object, then you are screwed if you give it away. You have nothing left if you give away your licenses. That includes using CC licenses (which strip you of the ability to EVER license a work with any kind of exclusivity–yes, even if you use CC non-commercial of some flavor).

You have nothing left to sell.

So, next time you hear about someone extolling the virtues of Free, look at what s/he is really selling. If that person is successful, you can bet they aren’t giving away whatever it is that is making her/him successful.

Cnet is reporting that Facebook won’t permit ads for or even mentioning Google+ on its service.

When you read the article, you get the impression that it’s some sort of first amendment issue. Hey guys… news flash… it’s not. It’s not about free speech in any way. Facebook is its own business, not a government, not public (as in governmental), and it can do very much whatever it wants in the way of regulating speech.

Whether banning G+ talk or ads is a good business decision is something that we’ll not likely know for some time. I suspect, however, that this is a good idea for Facebook (if handled well). Some users might not like the inconvenience of not being able to cross-advertise as they may like, but why should Facebook promote its business competitor?

This brings me back to why I monitor comments and don’t post ones I don’t like, especially anonymous ones–I’m managing my message and there is nothing wrong with that. All good businesses do exactly that. This is my space. This is not a public space. I offer to you what I put on this blog and I hope you get something out of the material I present here, but this is not a public forum. You want to write that I’m a total idiot or, as some commenters have tried to post, that I should be put in a dark hole someplace without a trial, well, you go write that on your own blog and I can’t say bupkis (well, unless you actually slander me or pose a credible threat).

For your business blog and other social media tools, this means that you can and should control your message. You need to use your tools to promote what you offer. You owe no space to those who offer negative comments or your competition. In fact, I think the best thing you can do is ignore any of those outside attitudes and focus completely on what you want to say to the world. Everything should relate back to your core message.

For those of you who have read my books, you know already about the Vision Marketing Statement (VMS). This is your core message. It’s the heart of what you want the world to think of when they think of your business. If you don’t have a VMS (or similar), then you don’t have a message to manage. So start there.

Know who your business is (yes, I said “who”) and who you want it to be. It has a personality (mostly your own personal one I bet)–what parts of that do you like and want to show and what parts do you think might be off-putting and might be better played down? Once you have that, you can better use all your tools (not just the social media ones even).

You snooze, you lose is the old saying, but I’m not a big believer in A or B situations. I like shades of grey like in real life. That’s why when I announced my current sale, I did a graduated discount.

That means, although you can no longer get 40% off my selected services (see this post), you can still get 35% off. To do that you need to contact me and book the service before midnight (PT) on July 23, 2011 (and if you are unsure, I mean 11:59:59 pm PT on 7/23/2011).

Don’t forget, you don’t need to use the service right away–only book it. That means committing to doing the service, paying an up-front at booking, and actually using the service before the end of 2011 (balance invoiced after completion).

For those of you who have been, for example, meaning to update your website or re-do your book, this is the perfect opportunity to force yourself into action.

So, don’t sit on your hands and lose out on saving money while still getting solid marketing help from me.

_______

Oh, and don’t forget the BAP2Go app is on sale (big!) this month too!

[*Last night I tweeted and FB-posted the following: Tomorrow, it’s the first day of everyone’s *new* business. A fresh start for all. Tomorrow, make your first $1. How? You’re creative, figure it out.]

Here’s something to help you get your business on the right road. As I hinted at yesterday (also on Twitter and Facebook), starting today it’s the Burns Auto Parts Super Mega Humungo Act Fast Summer Blow-out Sale! (™ of course… and with big starbursts and a logo the size of a hat, ha!).

Seriously, though, I do want to help shake things up a bit for everyone; so, as promised, I am offering some of my services on a big discount. We all need a leg-up now and again, after all. The thing about a leg up, though, is that you have to pull yourself the rest of the way up.
And so it is here.

Here’s your pull-up: in order to get the biggest discount, you have to book asap. The longer you wait, the less of a discount you will get.

Specifically, if you book (not do the work, but sign up to do it):

• Now through July 17, 2011, you will get a 40% discount on selected services.
• July 18, 2011 through July 23, 2011 the discount will be 35%.
• July 25, 2011 through July 31, 2011, the discount will be 30%.

After that, no more discount. Oh, and you can’t add in some other discount. Thank you for playing.

The services discounted are the Test Drives (where I review your existing website and/or your book and make suggestions for improving them) and the Rebuilds (where I look at a greater body of your work and edit and sequence your website and/or your portfolio). Shoot me an email and I’ll give you more details on the services.

How much will you save? Well, at a minimum over $100 (Web Test Drive) and if you do the Web + Book Rebuild you could save over $500! Here are the actual numbers:

But wait! There’s more. (I just couldn’t resist saying that, you know, but really, there is) The BAP2Go app will also have a big discount for the rest of the month starting tomorrow (July 14… Bastille Day). In the US, you’ll save $20 and in other countries the discount is similar.

Oh, and please let others know about this by sharing the link on Twitter, FB, G+, LinkedIn, or whatever medium you choose.

Today is Day 1 for us all. 🙂

One of the great things about the internet is the access to all sorts of information. Another is that the medium gives people the opportunity meet and/or to learn from other people they might not never have known of or had the opportunity to meet. The internet can be a great teaching & learning tool, but it can also be a dangerous place.

Sadly, there are a lot of people out there who put on a great show but who are, in fact, not experts or at least who have questionable backgrounds. In fact, there is the whole range–from real, giving experts and professionals to scam artists, and everything in-between.

The trouble is, it is very difficult to tell who is who. Although there is a lot of information out there, it’s difficult to know what is legitimate and what isn’t, so whom you follow for crucial business advice may be a great resource or someone who looks great but who is a convicted con man.

So, all I’m saying is that you should do your research and not just believe what you read on someone’s blog or website (including this one!). Ask questions and ask for credentials. Be a bit skeptical. Trust but verify, as they say. It could save you a lot of pain in the end.

I bet every reader of this blog has been asked to work for free. Certainly you’ve been asked to do it for insanely cheap, but I’m betting “free” has come up at least once in your career. There are usually three contexts for this.

First, you get the client who has no budget or is a not-for-profit. This client tugs at your heartstrings with pleas of “we can’t afford to pay” or “everyone is donating their efforts for this worthy cause” or even “we’re a start-up and if we hit, then we’ll pay you on shoots–we’ll remember–just help us out!”
I’ve always advised that if you want to donate because you want to donate (and this does not apply to the start-ups), go ahead and give of yourself; but, if you are only agreeing to do it out of guilt, do not do it.

The second group are the really evil bastards who act like they are doing you a favor for giving you the opportunity to work for them. Think of the publicity! You will be connected with this person/entity in the public’s eye! Lucky you!
Never, ever fall for this. They are making you their bitch from the very get-go and you will never, ever get the slightest respect, or money, from these people, no matter how sweetly they put it. It is never worth it.

The third group are the ones who seem oblivious to the fact that this is your business, that you have to make money, and sometimes they are even shocked that you would expect to get paid or get paid anything near what your rate is. Often, this is the result of the erosion of the apparent value of the service you are providing because others have given it away for free or very cheaply.
Here, just say “no.” You can try to educate them, but likely this client is looking for free or very cheap and really doesn’t care at all about your actual value. Walk politely away.

In my business, I get a bit of number 1, almost no number 2 (with one huge exception), and a whole lot of number 3. I get emails all the time from photographers who want me to review their portfolios or websites and when I say “it’ll cost $X” they act stunned. These days, there are a ton of consultants and photographer service providers who offer free out the yin-yang, and that makes it more difficult for me when I quote my rates.

Y’all have the same problem. Because there are so many photographers who will do it for a credit line or for cheap, the rates have been depressed. You have to face that as I mentioned in the post from a few days ago. Like me, you have to find a way to differentiate yourself from the hoards. For you, that way is by making unique work. If your work isn’t like anyone else’s, you’ll be the go-to person for that work.

For me, I seem to have picked a perfect time to go to law school to add that to my quiver. I’m the only consultant/lawyer that I know of.

See, here’s the thing about the cult of free: it’s fading. As the economy continues to swirl the bowl more and more regular people are commenting on how people cannot make a living. They get it. People understand that things cost money. The Long Tail is the emperor’s new clothes (see this, and this, and most of all this) in the real world where products we buy, like groceries, actually cost money.

So while we’re still in a tough place and we all have to deal with the schmoes who want it for free or next to free, none of us are alone in it and, I think, it’s getting better.

At least I hope so, because I can’t pay my rent with only good press either. 😉

I grew up with two older brothers who were Star Trek fans so I became one at a young age. Lately, the words of Leonard “Bones” McCoy ring in my head. He used to say “I’m a doctor, not a miracle worker!” or “I’m a doctor, not a brick-layer!” He knew what he was and he was more than confident and competent at it. More importantly, he knew what he was not.

We can learn from Bones.

The internet has made lots of information available to everyone. We have access to information that used to be essentially unavailable to people not in those professions. We can find instructions on how to build a house or even a nuclear device. We can access legal tomes. We can read medical journals. However, access to these materials has not made us architects, nuclear physicists, lawyers, doctors, or anything more than dilettantes in these arenas.

Yes, I said “we” and I am including myself. Before I went to law school, I thought I knew a lot about contracts and licenses and copyright. I thought what I didn’t know couldn’t be that much because I knew so much. I did know a lot, and a hell of a lot more than most people, but it was a cup of knowledge in an olympic sized pool. I never would have known how little I actually knew, relatively speaking, if I had not gone to law school.

Why am I bringing this up? Because there are a lot of very well meaning photographers and consultants who are posting about terms of service and releases and contracts and copyright (etc.) but they do not really know what they are talking about. Why? Because even though they may have read a bunch, they don’t know the law. It is very rare when someone posts “I talked with my lawyer and she said _____.” No, instead, it’s an authoritative sounding declaration from some photographer who, meaning to help, simply gets the law wrong.

Cries of “It’s a rights-grab!” spread through the photo community via social media like novovirus on a cruise ship. Sometimes the terms at issue are bad, sometimes not, but which is which gets lost because it’s almost impossible to fix a falsity once it’s been spread. There are just too many points of spread to fix them all, and thus bad info gets out and becomes an accepted truth. Frustrating.

So, please remember, you are an artist. Be a great and confident artist. Do your profession with all of the joy and enthusiam you have in you. Don’t let anyone tell you how to make your work and, most importantly, make your very own great work.

But leave the law to the lawyers, medicine to the doctors (and nurses), accountancy to the CPAs, architecture to the architects, etc. There’s a reason these professions require years of intense study and wicked-hard tests and are licensed by the state–because the material is complex and the issues are life affecting.

So, please, don’t share tweets or posts that offer a legal interpretation without first running it by your own lawyer. Don’t accept any legal sounding advice posted anywhere (yes, even from me) without making that same check. These issues are too important to leave to well meaning non-pros. This is your professional life, and those of your colleagues, you affect when you pass on that information.

More on the Maisel/Baio situation has come out recently and what is being done to Mr. Maisel is a shame. It is, in fact, criminal in some cases, but whatever, it’s terrible that someone who did nothing more than defend his intellectual property rights has been attacked as he has.

Although it is incredibly tempting to want to, oh, smack freetards upside the head (or worse), we have to keep our fight above such tactics. Leave the bullshit attacks to them and rise above it.

What can we do? Calmly and articulately post comments and blog posts everywhere we can, defending Maisel and intellectual property rights in general. Fight against CC and the Lessigites (including groups like Public Knowledge and EFF) and call on your professional organizations to come out 100% against these IP-weakening “tools” and the groups which support them!

Don’t call names (okay… “freetard” is acceptable I think, but not much worse) but instead focus on the importance of IP in the global economy and on your personal economy. Make the case–you only can make your art if you are paid and IP rights are how that happens, etc.

Trust me, I know how hard this is. It’s so tempting to want to fight back on their terms, but don’t go there. I have been personally attacked via anonymous emails and tweets for writing against CC and Lessig in particular. I swear like a sailor in real life but some of the names I’ve been called even I wouldn’t say. Ugly is an understatement. But I know that if I start posting anonymous attacks on their sites, I will do no good at all and will, in fact, be lowering myself. No, fight the good fight instead.

These people, the freetards, the anti-strong-copyright people are tough enemies. They hide often behind anonymity. They are adept at spinning the rhetoric to make it sound like any strong copyright laws are an attack against free speech. We have a hell of a battle ahead, but the tide is, in my opinion, starting to turn for the better.

The government is understanding how much our economy has been hurt by piracy and it is trying to plug the holes in enforcement with PROTECT-IP and the like. More regular people are beginning to understand that artists of all kinds need to be paid for their work. We can win this war, if we keep fighting the good fight.

That means calling out bad terms like I did on the Assignment Wired “contest” and lauding those companies who do right by artists. It means weathering the name calling and tweetbombings and staying on message: strong copyright laws are necessary and good for everyone, even when it is occasionally inconvenient for some.

______

UPDATE/NOTE

I will not approve any anonymous and/or freetard comments. I give you no space on my blog to “share.” Don’t even bother trying, okay? Thanks.

_____

UPDATE 7/13/2011

If you want to know why I don’t approve negative comments, read this.