Author: Leslie

Okay, I think you should be creative in all your marketing materials, but if any of you gives this guy and his thoughts/attitude any credence whatsoever, I will personally smack you upside the head.

If you are looking for ideas on how to build your business, or how to estimate better, or how to build and use a good list, then you need to check out the Livebooks site. Their events page lists all sorts of helpful events–from ASMP meetings to webinars to, well, you name it.

Offering help like this, without demanding something in return (you don’t have to buy anything to access the listings!) is a great idea. It pays off for everyone.

I’m hearing from some (smart!) photographers that they are looking for ways to give to their local creative communities in these tough times. They’re not asking for or demanding anything in return (although they may get business from some of the things), nor are they giving away their creativity or licenses.

What they will do is build honest good will, and that is priceless in the long run.

Now some of the more cynical readers out there will poo-poo all of this as some sort of cultural manipulation or look for underhanded reasons for acts like these. Why not just look at the good side? Livebooks is offering information you can use. Use it, say thank you, and try to pay it forward.

I am rapidly heading into final exams for this term and, accordingly, I will probably be a bit more sporadic in the postings until they are done. That will be around the 25th of this month. Please accept my apologies for that, in advance.

On the good side, however, is that after those exams are done (and I’ve had a few days to recover), I will no longer be a lowly 1L. That means that I will be permitted to start working again! Huzzah!

So, if any of you have been waiting to do a Test Drive or a Tune-Up, I will be able to start working with clients again soon. I’ll post more about that, as well as update the BAP website, when that happens.

Also, I will be getting back to recording the Creative Lube podcasts. I’ve had several people tell me that they miss those and I have missed doing them.

So, a lull for the short term, then things will get more active. Although I will be taking classes over the summer, I will also be available to help clients, and I look forward to that like you wouldn’t believe. 🙂

Thank you to everyone–for being patient and supportive during this first academic year!!!

Go to this TONIGHT!! APA legal panel discussion.

Former ASMP President Susan Carr and Gary Cialdella are offering a weekend workshop to develop your portfolio. If you can get yourself to Kalamazoo, go. I’m sure it will be worth your time and effort…and the price is a hell of a deal!

I LOVE this. Someone has invented an app (OSX only…sorry PCers) that blocks email and other internet distractions (you set which ones) for a specific period of time (again, that you set). You can’t get out of it without restarting your Mac.

If you are like so many people, this will be a godsend. Start in small increments to wean your way off obsessive email & Facebook checking. Watch how much more productive you become!

After hearing the hue and cry of the photographer community, the Copyright Registry has made significant changes to their copy and contract terms. I think we, as a community should applaud these changes and the spirit in which they were made.

Are things perfect? No, of course not. But I don’t expect or demand perfection and, frankly, neither should you. I see too many photographers (and other creatives) dig their heels in unreasonably about some issues that, well, aren’t really issues. This is cutting off your nose to spite your face, as the old saw goes. What has been fixed is important and, though I still think the URL choice was poor on their part (for example), that just isn’t important in the big picture. What they fixed was important.

What is most important is that they listened to the community and tried to make things better for everyone involved. They had their position, but they were willing to listen to others and reframe that position. That is a good way to handle challenges and, frankly, mistakes.

Unfortunately, the community doesn’t seem willing to act in the same way. That is, there are some people who are still calling for this company to stop its business or something. They aren’t giving the Registry folks any space to be human and to have simply screwed up. Maybe they took steps to get input from the photo community before they launched but still ended up not presenting in the best way they could have–would that make a difference in your mind? It should.

Wishing them to fail is acting just like those people who are hoping for Obama to fail. Even if you don’t like everything about something, that doesn’t mean you can’t take the good and wish them the best, because maybe their success is really a good thing for you in the long run.

Maybe this is some of my Buddhist readings and maybe some of it is my law school training, but I just do not see where constantly attacking and being negative will get us anywhere. We talked, they listened, they made significant changes–why not just celebrate that and move on? In the long run, services like the Copyright Registry have the potential to be extremely helpful for creatives. Let’s try to keep on the path to make that goal a reality and not get sidetracked by some obsessive need to be 100% right and, worse, to win just for the sake of winning.

This may seem a bit of an odd topic for this blog, but really, it’s not. Anger is something we all face, but I’ve found that it doesn’t generally do much good. Seems the science backs my attitude on this.

I used to be much angrier. I took things very personally and suffered often from what could be called “righteous anger.” That’s a big family trait on my mother’s side. Seething, bitching…”It’s not fair!” and “It shouldn’t be like that!” are popular exclamations. Lots of “passion” but, really, nothing ever felt better or got accomplished–I mean, afterwards, I would just feel tired…and still angry.

My father, however, has always been very level-headed and even when things seemed overwhelmingly “wrong” he would always try to see both sides. I started studying Buddhism, learned to let go of my seething, etc., and in the process have become very much like my dad. It turns out that my barely Protestant father is, in some ways, a natural-born Buddhist. Go fig. Treat everyone with respect at all times, even when you disagree with them completely–that seems to be Dad’s way, and I think it’s a good way.

My point is, these days it is very, very easy to get angry. Venting and writing nasty blog posts (which, yes, I still do sometimes–I’m not perfect!!!) and digging in your heels won’t do much good. Instead, I think looking for solutions is much more productive.

For example, the C-Registry.us problems I posted about a couple of days ago. Since that post, I have spoken with several people, including Randy from that site, and things are changing. I’m not sure where this will end, but by being polite and open to discussion, I think ALL sides on the issue have a very good chance at reaching a good place.

I could have just decided that no matter what he was a bad guy and the company was bad and railed and railed against it, or I could look at what was good and what was bad, and then help try to get things fixed.

In business, being open to seeing the problems and trying to find solutions and/or ways of mitigating those problems makes more sense than just getting angry and complaining about it. Righteous anger is still anger, and it doesn’t help–it ends up being “cutting off your nose to spite your face.” Instead remember that your “enemy” is only an imperfect human, just like you, and try to find a way through it. You’ll find you can then talk with them and, when you let go of the anger, hear them when they talk too. Your business will be the better for it.

What do art buyers look for? Caitlin knows.

What does this (the photographic dictionary) do to the old maxim of a picture being worth a thousand words? 😉

Seriously, though, I love creative thinking and projects like this. Anyone can do something like this now, so what is your excuse? Get your creative friends together and figure out some fun project to do! Make a party out of the show if you do it with mostly locals! Enjoy and celebrate being a creative!

(Doing creative play is particularly a good thing to do if work has been slow…)