Bits and Pieces

First off, I want to thank Heather Elder for the shout out in your fantastic interview on Adbase.com. And photographers, if you haven’t listened to the interview, you really, really need to. She offers a ton of information about what she and her group are doing to drive their success–you can use a lot of her tips.

Pay particular attention to what she and her group are giving to their clients (note they are not giving away the work!) and how they are interacting. I was particularly struck with the part where she says that it’s not all about the work (images) anymore. So true… and that is not a bad thing, really. It does mean, however, that if you are one of those photographers who doesn’t like people (and yes, I have heard that from more than a few of you), you are in for a tough future. Now is the new relationship marketing and I think it’s going to stick.

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Next, I wanted to mention that today is my last day as a non-lawyer. Tomorrow (June 1) I take my oath and get admitted to the California Bar. I’ll also get admitted to the Federal Court, Southern District of California at the same time. That second admittance is kind of important in our world since copyright is a Federal Court thing (to put it in lay terms)–that is, if you want to sue for infringement, you have to do that in Federal Court.

Anyway, my point in mentioning tomorrow is two-fold: 1) I want people to know that I will be an official, real-life lawyer (finally!) and so will be available to help on legal issues; and, 2) I want to thank everyone again for all the fantastic support you have given me on the road to this goal–every email, post, etc., of encouragement has meant the world to me.

Oh, and the lawyer training makes me do things like write “1)…. ; and, 2)…” Ha! I’ll try to keep the legalese to a dull roar and avoid using words like “preclude” on this blog or in the work I post on my new BAP2Go app.

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Third bit: As we’re rapidly approaching the mid-point of the year (where did the first half go?!), many of you may be feeling a bit like you have fallen off the rails. That’s okay. It’s pretty normal. All those big plans made at the beginning of the year may have gotten a bit lost as real life slipped in. Still, you can make some significant changes in your business and your life before this year comes to a close. I really like this article which offers 60 small things you can do over the next 100 days.

One big warning though: do not try to do everything! Pick just a few (like less than 5) and focus on doing those well rather than trying to do it all. There will be another 100 days and you can add new things then. Or maybe you can pick a couple now, and after 30 days or so, add a couple more… rinse, repeat.

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Last thing: I encourage you to follow me on twitter (@LeslieBAP) and “like” my Facebook page as I post much more frequently on both those tools.