July Meeting!

Our next meeting is July 20.  We are meeting at Jen Kroll's Studio in Grand Rapids!  She has graciously offered to host our meeting at her studio. 

 Jen's studio address is 401 Hall Street SW, Suite 325 (3rd floor hang a right down the hall), GR, 49503. Parking is at the building (no charge).

Program title is:

Strong Portraits: Separating the Ordinary from the Extraordinary.

The program will start at 7:00

Jen is sponsored by Color Inc. Lab, who will provide snacks and prizes!

Being that we have snacks, and the meeting is at Jen's Studio, we will not meet for dinner ahead of time. 

Print of the month: Children 

So, see you at Jen's studio!

OPEN HOUSE!

Hi everyone!  

I just wanted to let you know what is happening in June for PPWM.  We have a GREAT speaker lined up.... Charles Bordner who is also known as "The Storyteller".  Charles will be coming to us all the way from Charleston, South Carolina!  He is known for his amazing ability to tell a story with his camera.  The title of his program is "Shut up and shoot!"  Make sure you take a look at his website HERE.

I know that June is a busy month for everyone... so make sure you put this on your calendars now and plan to come.  In fact, we want you to bring a friend!  We have decided to make this event an open house for PPWM.   Invite all your photographer friends to this FREE program!  Here are the details:

No Board meeting this month

Dinner at Bobirinoe's at 5:30

Program at 7:00 at the Eberhard Center

Print of the Month: Families

See you there!

New Membership Applicants

The following individuals have submitted their application for membership into PPWM.  Their application was reviewed by the board.  Their names are published for input and comment by all members in accordance with the current PPWM policies on membership.  If these applicants meet all qualifications and no objections are received by the membership chairperson, in writing, within 10 days of this post, the membership of these individuals will be accepted.

Brenda Gross :: BG Photography :: Sand Lake, MI

Jack B. Johnson :: Jack B. Johnson Studio :: Lakeview, MI

April Letter from the President

Letter from the President April 2009

For this month’s letter from the president, I want to focus on business. As photographers, a lot of us lack the use of the left side of our brain! For most photographers the creative part of our job is easy. It is the logical side (the left side of our brain) that is more difficult.

For 2009 I have been focusing a lot on Business. In a hurting economy, a lot of businesses are closing. I want to run my business in a smart way. While I was at the PPA convention in Phoenix, I took a sales and marketing class. I know that these types of classes are not as popular as the fun creative classes, but as business owners we need to also focus on the things that teach us how to make our business successful.

PPA offers a program to it’s members called SMS - Studio Management Systems. SMS helps photographers increase their profitability. SMS offers sound business and financial advice and guidance, bookkeeping services, in-depth, hands-on business workshops, online business seminars, and other online resources. They also have 2 and 3 day workshops that cover Pricing for Profit, Managerial accounting, Sales techniques, Branding, and much more. For more information on SMS, check the PPA website at www.ppa.com/studio-management-services

There is a free resource in Grand Rapids that I can’t believe more people don’t know about or take advantage of. It is SCORE. SCORE is headquartered in Herndon, VA and Washington, DC and has 370 chapters throughout the United States and its territories, with 11,200 volunteers nationwide. Both working and retired executives and business owners donate time and expertise as business counselors. SCORE was founded in 1964. The Grand Rapids chapter is located downtown on Pearl Street.

SCORE is free and confidential. SCORE volunteers are successful entrepreneurs and executives who love business and want to share their knowledge with you, so you can succeed too. SCORE offers face to face and online counseling. They have business workshops in person and online. You can have the SCORE volunteers mentor you, and there is no limit on mentoring. You can get help as you request answers to specific questions.

I recently went to a SCORE one on one counseling appointment, and also their business workshop. (There is a small fee for the business workshop to pay for materials. When I went it was $40.) The business workshop talked about making a business plan, doing research in your target market and for your target client, and implementing what you are learning. At the workshop we also learned that the Grand Rapids Public Library has a business consultant, who has access to a computer program that studies demographics, and helps you make smart business decisions.

At the one on one counseling, I got more specific answers to MY particular questions. I had questions about hiring employees or subcontractors, Sole Proprietor or LLC, Tax questions... The counselor that I talked with was very knowledgeable. If he didn’t know the answers to my specific questions, he told me how to find out.

SCORE will council you on anything to do with business... from business plans to marketing to employees...etc. They even have a trained Quickbooks advisor to help you with Quickbooks. For more information on SCORE, check the SCORE website at www.score.org, or call the Grand Rapids office at 616-771-0305.


So, I want to end with a question to you... What are you doing to grow your business?

Michael Cole... Product Photography - sponsored by Millers Professional Imaging

Our next PPWM meeting on April 20 will feature Michael cole!  He is sponsored by Millers Professional Imaging.

Dinner will be at 5:30 at Bobrino's in the B.O.B, followed by Michael's presentation at 7:00.

Print of the Month is Water.

Michael began his photographic career by photographing Harley Davidson motorcycles.

His commercial images have been accepted in the PPA Loan Collection.

He has photographed from planes, trains and cranes.

Michael’s images have been as tiny as microscopic electrical connectors to as heavy as 375 pound chucks.

Michael specializes in tabletop images, including mirrors and diamonds.

This program will include:

Expand your client list and develop commercial clients.

Solve client’s problems.

Hide from your camera lens.

Support and photograph jewelry and hard to hold items.

Spend $10 and have instant name recognition.

Spend $120 and become a decent commercial photographer.

Michael will be demonstrating several types of tabletop images.

Here are some of Michael's sample images:

Time for Essentials

Just a reminder that the PPM Essentials Seminar is coming up April 26 - 28 in Petoskey. People who have attended in the past feel that is the best seminar PPM offers. This is a great opportunity to relax, rest, and reinvent yourself. The intimate atmosphere provides ample opportunity to get to know attendees and speakers ... and just look at this speaker lineup.....
You don't have to be a member...or a woman! to attend. For more information check out the ppm website and the PPM blog. Register soon!

March letter from the President

Here is March's letter from the President!

Well, there is no doubt that times are tough. The plight of the economy has his us, and has hit us hard. So, I want to ask you, what are you doing to help the local economy? Are you making any conscience decisions about it? Or, are you just going on with your daily life, hoping that it will get better?

I have made a conscience decision to help OUR LOCAL ecconomy. How am I doing this? I am choosing to shop locally. I am choosing to purchase everything that I can from a local business. Sometimes that means paying more.

From a photography business standpoint, there are many local businesses that we can support. We have three great Michigan labs that have business memberships at PPWM.  They are Allied Photographic and Imaging, JD Photo Imaging, and Prolab Express. I have chosen to keep my printing at a Michigan company. Why send it out of state when you can get it done locally?

We also have some great camera stores in Grand Rapids. I have chosen to buy all my camera gear and supplies at Norman Camera. They really know their products they sell, and they do it with great customer service. I know that I could probably find a product for a couple dollars cheaper online, but it doesn’t come with the customer service that Norman Camera gives me. I feel better knowing that I am helping MY LOCAL economy. There are also several other local camera stores in the area, including The Camera Center, Marks Photo and Video, and Lakewood Photo and Imaging.

One of the other local companies I support is Great Lakes Albums. I use Renaissance albums, and I order them through Great Lakes. I know they have quite a range of albums including flush mount, self mount, and traditional.  Call them and see what they have!

Do I buy everything locally? No. I wish I could say I did. There are a few things that I have found that I still purchase from companies that are not local. But, I do think about everything I buy. I ask myself if I can buy that product locally. If I can, I will. I want to challenge you to do the same, not only with your business, but your personal life also!