Tag Archives: business practice

WHAT DO YOU DO POORLY?

04.13.10

Much of your success in business lies in knowing your strengths.  And even more lies in knowing your weaknesses.

As an artist, you’ve spent countless hours honing your craft, learning to blog, to update your website, to hand out your business card, to get more clients, to…you name it.  You’ve done a lot of learning. You’re getting stronger.  Your brain is on overload.

But have you taken the time to make a list of your weaknesses?  I’ll share mine, in the hopes of illustrating my point.

Design your business around your WEAKNESSES to maximize success.

I prefer the company of children to adults.

My business partner, Haunani, is crucial for dealing with adults.  She books clients, makes phone calls, handles e-mails, and generally creates a barrier between myself and the client until I show up at their shoot and get to meet their children.  This is all by design, not because I hate adults, but because I’m better with kids.  Knowing this and acknowledging this in business practice  means that everyone is happier.

I hate accounting.

I hired an accountant.  Being self-employed means that, under no circumstances, EVER, will I do my own taxes.

I’m a bit of a shy hermit, unless I’m being paid to travel to exotic locations.

Again, Haunani helps with marketing trips and talking to grownups!  We introduce ourselves to businesses together — which isn’t nearly as scary as meeting a stranger SOLO.  She does the negotiating of display details, brochure placement, cross promotion, and the like.

I hate handing out my business card.

I blog.  A lot.  Blogging beats handing out my business card, has more reach, makes the most of my writing skills, and keeps me from feeling like a pushy salesman.

Shooting film without a working light meter = weakness.

How can you grow your business by acknowledging your weaknesses?

Being self-aware can help you to eliminate dreaded tasks (and face it, dreaded tasks always fall to the bottom of the priority list) and keep clients happy.  Make that list of weaknesses, and then figure out just one way to deal with a single weakness.  I guarantee you’ll see a change for the better in your biz.

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Marla - April 14, 2010 - 6:47 pm

As always, LOVE your post! It just says stuff for those “aha moments” (hate to be so Oprahlike). Anyway, thanks for the thoughts. I have many weaknesses and am working on them one by one :)

peachtree studio - April 13, 2010 - 7:05 am

I need a Haunani – she is so pleasant on the phone. She makes me feel calm, the few times I’ve talked to her. how does one get a Haunani when you are building your business. It’s like the chicken and the egg thing, which comes 1st? In order to build a strong business you have to address your weaknesses but I feel like until my business is stronger then I can’t afford someone to help with my weaknesses. aahhhhhh the turmoil!

MY GIRL CRUSH.

04.09.10


Meet my girl crush, Danielle LaPorte.  I’ve read her blog for a while now, and it’s great.  White Hot Truth is nifty.  But then — oh, but then! — I saw Danielle’s video called The Metrics of Ease.  It was my reward for pre-purchasing The Fire Starter Sessions.  I thought it was just going to be a ho-hum video about the law of attraction, but turns out…

It explained everything about Brand Camp to me in a way that made sense.  Why has the blog become popular, why do I write twice a week, why do I coach photographers to become their best selves, why do I love this endeavor so much?  Because it’s easy.  (Easy, the way Danielle defines it.  Not easy like eating ice cream for breakfast.) It’s the most natural thing in the world for me to write, since it is my first love.  It’s second nature to me to be able to view things objectively, be a straight-shooter, and to listen with my whole heart to what people aren’t saying.  It’s fun to have an outlet for my thoughts about this industry, and it’s even more fun to make crazy analogies about strip clubs that become 10% of my blog traffic over time.  (Thanks, guys.)

Danielle LaPorte’s Metrics of Ease video (remember, I haven’t read the book yet — it isn’t available!) was worth the $150 USD price of admission.  It may or may not be the same for you.

I encourage you to watch the video and explore your newest candidate for girl-crush-hood.  You can pre-purchase The FireStarter Sessions here.

Oh, and $5 from each purchase is donated to charity.  (See?  Crushing!)

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CUTTING CORNERS IS NOT GREEN. IT’S JUST CRAPPY.

06.30.09

I’m still mad at Ikea.  And it’s about my fifty-nine cents.

Yes, my fifty-nine cents.

Yesterday, I spent three hours in Ikea looking, oohing, aahing, generally being inspired, adding items to my cart with abandon, and loving life.  My cart was overflowing with lovely products.

And then I got to the checkout, where I found out: there are no bags.  Yes, that’s right, no bags.  A bag will cost fifty-nine cents.  And I went blind with rage.

Ikea says this is eco-friendly and green because their bags, which cost $.59, are reusable. I say this is highway robbery — Ikea is cutting costs by nickeling and diming its customers, despite the average sale at Ikea being hundreds upon hundreds of dollars.

This would be completely and utterly un-get-away-with-able in a less-than-behemoth corporation.   If, as an artist, I just throw a bunch of prints your way and say packaging is extra, you would never use my services again.  If your clients order items from you and have to pay separately for shipping and pay again, separately, FOR THE BOX IT GETS SHIPPED IN, clients would have a hissy fit.

If you are selling enjoyable, quality products and experiences to your clients, don’t insult them by charging that last fifty-nine cents.  (If you must, raise the price of your products by fifty-nine cents, and throw the bag in for free. )

And for the love of Pete, DON’T tell me your practices are eco-friendly when they’re merely cutting corners.

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brandcampblog - May 19, 2010 - 11:45 am

It was more about spending a grand and not getting a bag, which I reuse to death…bringing my own bag wasn’t an option, as everything was bulky. I have and use eco-friendly bags at the grocery store…but lamps don’t fit in them…

I heart your perspective, Jeanette. ;)

Jeanette - May 19, 2010 - 11:32 am

Just hitting your archives for a moment this morning and this actually made me smile ’cause it shows a tad bit of American-centric thinking….

You’re used to bags, so you expect ‘em. Not providing them must be based on economics. But Ikea is not an American company.

Lots of places in Canada it’s normal for stores to not provide bags…paper or plastic. You bring your own, or you have none. Other stores, you want bags, you have to pay. Of course, it’s also normal to see garbage areas in mall food courts or on the street separated into garbage, recycling and compost. And both compost and recycling are mandatory along with your city garbage…in some places garbage placed on curb for pickup must be in clear bags so you can tell it does not contain compost-able or recyclable goods. Other countries take environmental stuff WAY more seriously than the US – and the onus is placed on the consumer to step up.

I was thrilled to see Ikea take that step. If they pussy-footed around it, most people would still use the non-biodegradable, one time use, end up in landfill bags. Yes, a few people might bring their own bags or purchase the ones from ikea – but even with a discount, most people won’t.

I realize this is not about the environment, but actually about how we service our clients…but it all ties back in. I think there are cases where, if my clients wanted an option that was way more environmentally costly (say they purchased digital files that could be delivered electronically but wanted them mailed on DVD…the environmental cost is the DVD+ the packaging -fancy or utilitarian- + the fossil fuels for delivery to post office and then clients home, etc, etc). Is their a way to help my client choose the greener option…or make it the only one available?

Just food for thought, and a different perspective.

Alicia - June 30, 2009 - 11:19 pm

Most places here that do the bag thing give you a 20 cent bonus per bag for bringing in your own bags- but I have never heard of anyone not offering bags at all- only bags that you pay for! Ridiculous

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