Tuesday Tips | Inspired by This Blog

Sometimes we get hasty and way too flustered when someone in our market is doing something we don’t like. You know what I’m talking about, right? Your colleagues or your competitors start to parade through the blog world and the streets of twitter with their fancy announcements. I know it can be hard, but don’t get down. You are doing great! Being you is good enough- remember we cant do everything all the time for everyone. When it appears that other people can be and are doing it, remember that looks can be deceiving. The facade will not last forever.

What has your strategy been from the beginning? Maybe you didn’t have one. Ok, then its time to put one in place because just being a follower and reacting to whats happening around you wont get you far for very long.

Here are some ways to tell if you’re being proactive or reactive:

Being Proactive could mean:

-hiring more staff to help support your day to day business
-making goals and putting into action for yourself a plan on how to remain relevant in social media and in the media world
-setting boundaries for how many hours a day you’ll work, be on twitter/facebook, spend time with your family
-building true long lasting solid relationships in this industry not just connecting online

Being Reactive sometimes means:
-hasty decisions that don’t ultimate reflect what you would have originally decided had you really thought about it a job not as well done
-panic or anxiety for no real reason at all other then a tweet or a blog post that set you off ( breathe)
-signing up for a conference because you see everyone else going and you don’t want to be left out
-tweeting or friend-ing on facebook or linked with everyone you think will help advance your next move ( people see through that)

Most of the time it seems many of us are reactive not proactive in life. Instead of creating our reality we just react: to situations, to people, to events etc. Lets stay calm and start on our plan. Let go of whatever is pushing you to hastily move now, jump now, tweet now, call now, email now.

Stop. Think. Decide what’s best for you here and make moves that are not only true to yourself but will reflect well on your plan for your business in the long run.

Photo by Elizabeth Messina

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=322558181118

May you be inspired,

Leila

In an industry that capitalizes on the importance of the little details, it can be challenging to take a step back and see the bigger picture. What are your goals for your business? Are you getting any closer to bringing them to fruition? Allow me to offer some helpful tips in regards to what I get the most inquiries about: getting Press. This will not be a step by step explanation about how to submit your work and to whom, what I would like to share today is how to quickly not be considered for online and print press.

Magazines and high traffic wedding blogs want to feature new and fresh content. They do not want their readers opening their magazines or going to their blogs/websites only to find images they have already seen and notice articles they have already read. Most savvy, popular bloggers know what their peers are featuring and most of the editors I work with are always looking at blogs for content and new vendor inspirations too. Recently I called the editor-in-chief of a well known national publication to ask her if she knew that a recent wedding they had featured had been all over the wedding blogs about 6 months prior. The reaction: pure shock!We agreed that it made it near impossible to provide a unique product and service that makes them the best at what they do if they are using content vendors are submitting that has already been seen. If you want your work featured in a magazine, do not even think about blogging it or giving the images out. I write this from the perspective of how its going to affect YOU- the photographer and YOU the planner/designer who worked so hard on this. I have had national magazines drop consideration for my clients’ work because the photographer gave them to an online outlet and they saw it before I could do damage control! Maybe you think that if you do not have a high traffic site, it will be ok. Nope, wrong again. What has a tendency to happen is one of those blogs with a strong following, may blog the photos you release on your personal blog or website and then the magazine staff who scours all the blogs will see your images and will no longer consider your work for a spread. May I add as well…more power to those bloggers who grab the content from their favorite vendor websites and blogs- they are wise and know where to find the amazing content that makes them so unique. They know what they are doing and they do it well- now its your turn to have your wits about you and make your marketing and media choices wisely.

You may be dying to show everyone what a cool shoot you just wrapped, or your last amazing wedding but if you want media outlets to even consider you, hold your horses! This doesn’t just limit you in blogging. Do not twitpic or tweet the specifics of what you are putting together either. I have seriously gotten frantic calls from editors about tweeted images that are slated to soon appear in their magazines AND please don’t put them on your personal website until the images have been released online or in print. Remember patience is a virtue, and in the case of sharing magazine and online bound work, a necessity! Image from the fabulous Paloma’s Nest…I am obsessed. can you tell? only used her images 3 weeks in a row!

May you be inspired,

Leila