January 3, 2012
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Business | Happy 2012!

Wow…. 2011 is G.O.N.E. How did that happen?!? Time speeds up as you get older, I’m convinsed! I’ll be doing a 2011 review soon, but let’s talk goals today, shall we? Start off with December, and see how we did. 1. Blog Arianne & Jeff, Heather & Graham, Emma Rae, Burnett Family & all the film I just sent off 🙂 I’ll get around to those last 3, promise! 2. Shoot Heather & Graham’s big day! YAY! 3. Go to the Bahamas! (tonight!!!) SO FUN!  4. Finish Christmas shopping At the last minuet!  5. Decorate the house DONE! (and begun to un-decorate now!) 6. Explore flooring options for the office DONE & INSTALLED! Pics to come! 7. Explore draping my office ceiling Holding off… 8. Do some paint projects in the office Did some, more to do…. 9. Order new prints & rearrange them Eh… all prints are off the walls right now… 10. Create office “buffet” Kinda… more work to do! 11. Finish referral packets …. Hmmm… didn’t start yet! 12. Send Holiday cards…. with said photo above DONE! 13. New rug situation for office? Waiting this out… maybe I’ll get one, maybe not (the new floor is just too pretty!) 14. Figure out how to incorporate navy into the blog Still debating… ideas are welcome!!! 15. Monogram navy pillow DONE! 16. Make pillows Hmmm… made one… it was a little bit of a fail. 17. Order cake Holding off…. 18. Customize water bottles with logo…. where can I find that paper?? 19. Customize napkins with logo DONE! 20. Paint the fireplace wall? Still debating…. stripes? stencil? Again, ideas welcome! 21. Paint/cover/order new tops for end tables… did it, they’re a hot mess. Humph. 22. Hang TV in office… DONE! Thanks to hottie hubby! 23. Create new system for back ups Eh…. not yet.  24. Submit to blogs & magazines Submitted once, got rejected :-/ 25. Make chalkboard … managed to loose my chalkboard paint… so this hasn’t happened 🙁 26. Hang drum shades…. never found any 🙁   December was a hard-working month. We did so much, and yet, I feel like there is still SO much left to do. I bought new flooring, ripped up all the old carpet, and then Jeremy & I installed the new stuff on Monday & Tuesday following Christmas. I’d been wanting a new door, but figured we could hold off on buying one till I found the perfect 2nd hand one at the ReStore. Welp… after the flooring went down… the old door wouldn’t fit, and it was metal, so we couldn’t cut it down. Off to find a new door we went last Thursday! We found one at the Cornelius ReStore, but it was unfinished wood and of course I wanted a white one. So off to the other 2 ReStore’s in Charlotte. Nothing. So we went to Lowes, where I’d resolved to spend more than I wanted on a new door. BUT THEY DIDN’T HAVE ANY!!!! Not a single interior, french door was to be found. So… we went back to the ReStore in Cornelius and bought the first one we found! $50 well spent! It was actually a brand new door that had never been installed anywhere, as it had no door knob hole or holes from hinges. I’m going to do a whole office post, but here’s a snippit 🙂     OK…. January Goals…. 1. Work on office (I won’t even go into specifics :-/  ) 2. Create some organization so that I don’t just stack papers on my desk. 3. Do some practice shooting with Jeremy! 4. Attend FerShops in Charleston! 5. Finish editing Heather & Graham’s wedding 6. Finish editing Anna Beth’s newborn pics 7. Blog lots 🙂   Yearly Goal: I want to blog every Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday…. Here’s off to a good start!
December 14, 2011
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Business | Unsolicited Advice

Last night we were lucky enough to be invited to a photographers get-together where we could celebrate surviving another year, another year of growing and learning. It’s always interesting to chat with others, talk about pricing, how to grow, logos, bookkeeping, and all those other headaches we share. I thought I’d share a few of the things I’ve learned over the last few years that have helped me in my business… We’ll call it “unsolicited advice”.  Some are physical and some are mental. Ready… here we go with the first 2! 1. Provide the best customer service humanly possible. This is number one for a reason. I HATE it when I email a “professional” and don’t get a response. If I don’t hear from you within 24 hours, I’ll always assume you don’t want or need my business. I firmly believe others feel this way too, especially brides who are over the moon excited and just want to learn as much as they can to plan for their big day. At the end of your experience with us, I want you to feel like we coached you through your wedding experience, and left you in the dark about nothing. I want you to feel like you’ve been pampered in every way possible from us. *Here’s an example. Just the other day a bride was ordering several prints from us, she ordered a particular image in an 8×10…. however, in that image the people were close to the edge of the frame. An 8×10 is NOT the same ratio as our cameras (they’re 4×6)…. do I expect her to know this? Nope. I surely didn’t know it until I became a photographer. So what did I do? I took a screen shot & emailed it to her so she could see how ordering an 8×10 would effect the image, and offered to order her an 8×12 for the same price so the image wouldn’t be compromised. A LOT of photographers just won’t do this. They don’t like dealing with print orders so they farm it out to print fulfillment companies who’ll print & ship out exactly what you say you want without looking over the order. Nothing wrong with this, it just isn’t what I like to offer. I need my clients to understand what they are buying and offer them the best option for what they want. …. here’s that image, if you’re interested in seeing how the crop works. (remember this is a screen shot) You loose a bridesmaids arm & the back of a groomsmen. Now think… if this is to be matted and framed, so the mat will cover even more…. making that 8×10 not the best choice. … that got long… #2 will be shorter 🙂 2. Get yourself a custom URL and email. Or in the words of Lara Casey “Own your internet real estate.” There’s nothing more that screams “unprofessional” to me than when I go to a blog that is….. www.blahblahblah.blogspot.com or www.blahblahblah.wordpress.com …… seriously, it only cost $10 a YEAR to not have it say blogspot or wordpress… it’s a wise investment, I promise! On the same note, if you get a custom URL you can then have custom email FOR FREE. Take the time, do some research on it. Google apps will become your best friend! Disclaimer: I am 100% guilty of having an @gmail.com email for the first 10 months or so of this business… [[runs ducks hides]] I have Lara Casey to thank for this change…. “@LaraCaseyReps #GetBrandedLC Own your internet real estate.Love getting emails from “pros” at @hotmail.com @gmail.com or highendweddingphotographer@aol.com”   Take yourself seriously, if you don’t, how can you expect anyone else?  
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January 3, 2012
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Business | Happy 2012!

Wow…. 2011 is G.O.N.E. How did that happen?!? Time speeds up as you get older, I’m convinsed! I’ll be doing a 2011 review soon, but let’s talk goals today, shall we? Start off with December, and see how we did. 1. Blog Arianne & Jeff, Heather & Graham, Emma Rae, Burnett Family & all the film I just sent off 🙂 I’ll get around to those last 3, promise! 2. Shoot Heather & Graham’s big day! YAY! 3. Go to the Bahamas! (tonight!!!) SO FUN!  4. Finish Christmas shopping At the last minuet!  5. Decorate the house DONE! (and begun to un-decorate now!) 6. Explore flooring options for the office DONE & INSTALLED! Pics to come! 7. Explore draping my office ceiling Holding off… 8. Do some paint projects in the office Did some, more to do…. 9. Order new prints & rearrange them Eh… all prints are off the walls right now… 10. Create office “buffet” Kinda… more work to do! 11. Finish referral packets …. Hmmm… didn’t start yet! 12. Send Holiday cards…. with said photo above DONE! 13. New rug situation for office? Waiting this out… maybe I’ll get one, maybe not (the new floor is just too pretty!) 14. Figure out how to incorporate navy into the blog Still debating… ideas are welcome!!! 15. Monogram navy pillow DONE! 16. Make pillows Hmmm… made one… it was a little bit of a fail. 17. Order cake Holding off…. 18. Customize water bottles with logo…. where can I find that paper?? 19. Customize napkins with logo DONE! 20. Paint the fireplace wall? Still debating…. stripes? stencil? Again, ideas welcome! 21. Paint/cover/order new tops for end tables… did it, they’re a hot mess. Humph. 22. Hang TV in office… DONE! Thanks to hottie hubby! 23. Create new system for back ups Eh…. not yet.  24. Submit to blogs & magazines Submitted once, got rejected :-/ 25. Make chalkboard … managed to loose my chalkboard paint… so this hasn’t happened 🙁 26. Hang drum shades…. never found any 🙁   December was a hard-working month. We did so much, and yet, I feel like there is still SO much left to do. I bought new flooring, ripped up all the old carpet, and then Jeremy & I installed the new stuff on Monday & Tuesday following Christmas. I’d been wanting a new door, but figured we could hold off on buying one till I found the perfect 2nd hand one at the ReStore. Welp… after the flooring went down… the old door wouldn’t fit, and it was metal, so we couldn’t cut it down. Off to find a new door we went last Thursday! We found one at the Cornelius ReStore, but it was unfinished wood and of course I wanted a white one. So off to the other 2 ReStore’s in Charlotte. Nothing. So we went to Lowes, where I’d resolved to spend more than I wanted on a new door. BUT THEY DIDN’T HAVE ANY!!!! Not a single interior, french door was to be found. So… we went back to the ReStore in Cornelius and bought the first one we found! $50 well spent! It was actually a brand new door that had never been installed anywhere, as it had no door knob hole or holes from hinges. I’m going to do a whole office post, but here’s a snippit 🙂     OK…. January Goals…. 1. Work on office (I won’t even go into specifics :-/  ) 2. Create some organization so that I don’t just stack papers on my desk. 3. Do some practice shooting with Jeremy! 4. Attend FerShops in Charleston! 5. Finish editing Heather & Graham’s wedding 6. Finish editing Anna Beth’s newborn pics 7. Blog lots 🙂   Yearly Goal: I want to blog every Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday…. Here’s off to a good start!
December 14, 2011
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Business | Unsolicited Advice

Last night we were lucky enough to be invited to a photographers get-together where we could celebrate surviving another year, another year of growing and learning. It’s always interesting to chat with others, talk about pricing, how to grow, logos, bookkeeping, and all those other headaches we share. I thought I’d share a few of the things I’ve learned over the last few years that have helped me in my business… We’ll call it “unsolicited advice”.  Some are physical and some are mental. Ready… here we go with the first 2! 1. Provide the best customer service humanly possible. This is number one for a reason. I HATE it when I email a “professional” and don’t get a response. If I don’t hear from you within 24 hours, I’ll always assume you don’t want or need my business. I firmly believe others feel this way too, especially brides who are over the moon excited and just want to learn as much as they can to plan for their big day. At the end of your experience with us, I want you to feel like we coached you through your wedding experience, and left you in the dark about nothing. I want you to feel like you’ve been pampered in every way possible from us. *Here’s an example. Just the other day a bride was ordering several prints from us, she ordered a particular image in an 8×10…. however, in that image the people were close to the edge of the frame. An 8×10 is NOT the same ratio as our cameras (they’re 4×6)…. do I expect her to know this? Nope. I surely didn’t know it until I became a photographer. So what did I do? I took a screen shot & emailed it to her so she could see how ordering an 8×10 would effect the image, and offered to order her an 8×12 for the same price so the image wouldn’t be compromised. A LOT of photographers just won’t do this. They don’t like dealing with print orders so they farm it out to print fulfillment companies who’ll print & ship out exactly what you say you want without looking over the order. Nothing wrong with this, it just isn’t what I like to offer. I need my clients to understand what they are buying and offer them the best option for what they want. …. here’s that image, if you’re interested in seeing how the crop works. (remember this is a screen shot) You loose a bridesmaids arm & the back of a groomsmen. Now think… if this is to be matted and framed, so the mat will cover even more…. making that 8×10 not the best choice. … that got long… #2 will be shorter 🙂 2. Get yourself a custom URL and email. Or in the words of Lara Casey “Own your internet real estate.” There’s nothing more that screams “unprofessional” to me than when I go to a blog that is….. www.blahblahblah.blogspot.com or www.blahblahblah.wordpress.com …… seriously, it only cost $10 a YEAR to not have it say blogspot or wordpress… it’s a wise investment, I promise! On the same note, if you get a custom URL you can then have custom email FOR FREE. Take the time, do some research on it. Google apps will become your best friend! Disclaimer: I am 100% guilty of having an @gmail.com email for the first 10 months or so of this business… [[runs ducks hides]] I have Lara Casey to thank for this change…. “@LaraCaseyReps #GetBrandedLC Own your internet real estate.Love getting emails from “pros” at @hotmail.com @gmail.com or highendweddingphotographer@aol.com”   Take yourself seriously, if you don’t, how can you expect anyone else?  
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