Anyway…I am getting off topic. There are still plenty of people left in our lives to get married. Not as many as there used to be. But plenty. And thankfully, some of them are wise enough to come to us for advice about the photography. I recently helped my brother find a photographer in San Diego. They did not want an album at all and were fairly adamant about that, so while I included it in my search, it wasn’t the prime factor. But let me tell you. Finding a photographer cross country is surprisingly difficult. A close friend moved back home to Seattle. We’re *hoping* she is engaged soon. And while there are a TON of well known people in Seattle, there are even more incredible people who aren’t “famous”. This friend works in fashion, so I know she will want an incredibly stylish, beautiful, timeless album that she can make “her”. Now, I have a great way to point her in the direction of some photographers that I at least know use amazing albums.

Queensberry just did a “soft launch” of a directory to find photographers that use their albums worldwide. If you are a bride who happened to find this, give it a go. If you are a photographer, check it out and send Queensberry some feedback. And if you don’t carry their albums but you are looking for something to make you stand out, definitely check them out!

Since I was posting our card, I also wanted to talk about Bay Photo, which is the lab I chose for our printing this year. Previously, like many others, I used WHCC. I am beyond happy with WHCC’s customer service. They are always quick with printing and delivery is ALWAYS on time. What I have always liked even more, is that in a pack of 25 cards, you usually end up with at least 2 extra. This is great if you want to be able to sell to your clients in packs of 25 and still keep a few for studio samples. The only thing I wasn’t crazy about with WHCC was the digital printing quality. The trim lines are HUGE and never accurate. If you were hoping to have something centered on your card….good luck. And the dots from the printing! It is almost as if you were looking at a newspaper.

So, as I said, this year, after searching the pricing of everyone else, I chose Bay Photo. And hey – it didn’t hurt that they offer 25% off your first ROES order! SWEET! My primary reason for choosing Bay Photo besides the discount though….their premium 6 color printing. And that ends up about the same price as WHCC’s standard printing! The printing turned out absolutely gorgeous! And while I was shocked by their templates having such tiny “safe area” guides, I am happy to say, it seems as though exactly what I uploaded is what printed and came back to me! Almost no loss to trim. Well done Bay Photo. And the pearl paper with an outer UV coat….beautiful. I am hoping the UV coat protected my pearl paper in the mail. I have seen cards by WHCC absolutely destroyed because the envelopes actually wear the pearl off the paper in a pattern.

But I must be honest….the whole experience was not peachy keen. My order seemed to have gotten lost. I uploaded and paid for express shipping. I wanted my envelopes before I went away so that I could address them while traveling. I kept checking on the order and checking again…I emailed customer service…Nothing. Finally I used live support. They were able to see my order was 2 days behind. Apologized, but blamed it on the holiday rush. I flipped out slightly, but my cards were printed and overnighted to arrive the day before we got on the plane. Issue one resolved. Next…as I am addressing my envelopes, I realize that pile is shrinking far faster than my pile of cards! In an order of 100 cards, it seems I only received 80 envelopes. Yes, I counted. A quick email to customer service…..this time I complained about not receiving my few extra cards too….what can I say – I was stressed about not having the envelopes….I counted the cards too – there was exactly 100. I just wanted to tell them I had been happier with results from WHCC before… I got an apology email less than a few hours later (at around Midnight), and in two days had extra cards and a bunch of extra envelopes. So yes, I had some bad times with Bay Photo. Everyone has bad experiences with every company sometimes. But overall I am beyond happy with our cards and the results of choosing Bay Photo for our printing. If anyone out there at Bay Photo is listening however…I do have one suggestion…in Roes, I would love to be able to have a separate front file, back file, and Inside Spread. I do not want it to be 4 separate or 2 spreads as my only choices. Thanks

And now that everyone has read my rant, enjoy our 2009 holiday card, and have a safe and happy new years celebration tonight!

Thank you to Kamila Harris for the FABULOUS outer photo on our card & Jana Bannan for the photos inside!  Everyone told us it was AMAZING!

I do however need days off just like everyone else. Weekdays that will not be counting towards turnaround times thru the end of the year are: 11/26, 11/27, 12/4, 12/9, 12/24, 12/25, 12/31.

I am also still holding to 7 business days for processing weddings! Have any 2009 clients outstanding? Get them their images soon so they can get you all those glorious holiday orders! Prints, Holiday Cards, Thank You’s, Oh My!

Last! Tweet this post and receive 10% off ALL your orders from now through 5pm EST November 25, 2009 (day before Thanksgiving).

I personally can’t stand that there is stores are holidafied before Halloween, but what are you going to do….we have deadlines!

**UPDATE** The last day to upload to ensure 12/24 delivery of layout to your client is FRIDAY DECEMBER 18!!

Since those posts, I feel like I have accomplished quite a bit. I have helped others grow their business. I have provided advice for some to book jobs without losing. And I have people excited about meeting with me and going over their plans for how to improve their businesses. I am so excited about all of this!!! I can’t even tell you!

Looking back at these first two posts though, I feel like I skipped over something. I skipped over talking about my goal of a successful business! I want to design more albums. I want to help more photographers. I want to play with more logos. I want to design custom photo cards for your clients. I want to be your studio’s graphic designer.

I realize though, that I am never going to achieve this goal without people knowing who I am or what I do. This is where networking comes in. I have been trying to get out there and meet as many people as possible lately. Making sure I am where I can meet the people who will hire me, and the people who will refer me. The same goes for anyone in any business really. I still believe word of mouth advertising is going to be what helps me succeed, and I want as many people to be able to say “hey, I know a designer who could help you” as possible. And obviously – I want that designer to be me!

So – out I go! Into the world of wedding and photography events. Into the world of twitter. Find me and follow me! Can we trade business cards?

Enjoy your weekend! It’s Halloween and the Phillies are in the World Series! WOOOOOOOOOO!

I also met some great people and want to give them some link love!

Christina HIll of cHill Weddings

Laurie of Photography by Laurie

Diana McGarvey from The Union League (she was hilarious!)

Leza Davis ofThe Mona Leeza Spa

Blush of Blush and Brushes (can’t wait to see the photo booth pictures!)

Really, everyone I met was great! And – the photo booth was the best! I will get our pictures up here as soon as possible! These events are so important, and I can’t stress enough, if you aren’t putting yourself out there, you won’t succeed. Mix, mingle, make sure your peers know who you are! Word of mouth advertising does not just come from your clients. If you are a wedding photographer, remember that photographers are not the only people in your industry that need to know you! Planners, florists, Caterers, make up artists, there are so may people involved in planning a wedding – and they are all awesome to hang out with!

On the bright side, my lack of blogging means plenty has built up for me to share with you in the coming weeks! Lots of album designs and such!

One of my goals is to start helping people grow their business through the knowledge I have gained over the years of observing rather than trying to be in charge myself. Hopefully I learned enough in that time to help myself. And the way I am starting to help others is to build my reputation as someone who has that knowledge. Continuing to be the go to person, but now on my own terms.

This blog is one of the ways I am hoping to build up to that goal. I want my audience to understand my knowledge and learn about me. I want you to interact and help me understand what you want to hear from me! Listening to as much as I can to try to learn what my audience wants is another way. I will only be able to help people if I know what they need help with.

So I need everyone’s help with my goals too. Who are my readers? Why do you visit the blog? What can I help you with? What do you want to see more of? Do you think I am on the right track already? Leave me comments! All the time! On every post! I need you if I am going to succeed!

And since it seems everyone always thinks a blog post is better with an image, maybe I’ll try that. Since I am contemplating what you want from me (yeah – you reader!), this self portrait (and my awesome husband) seemed appropriate….

Just saying business plan can scare away many people. But I want to offer a different perspective on it. A business plan does not have to be the most formal thing in the world. If you went to school for anything business or marketing related, you had to write one. It may have not necessarily been fun. It may have been boring. You may have needed a book that required you to write certain things, in certain ways. I don’t function well that way.

Recently, I heard someone say their business plan was formed over a few bottles of champagne and throwing out ridiculous ideas for the future. The stuff the stuck the next day was what they made their goal.

That is all a business plan needs to grow from. What your goal is. Set a goal or a few goals and accomplishments for the next year. Figure out a plan for yourself on how you are going to achieve that. That’s it. You don’t need to write it down. Just constantly remind yourself of your goal and how you will get there.

If your goal is to break even in graphic design, you need to figure out your expenses and your income. The tough thing about breaking even in a creative field is that your customer doesn’t always remember the expenses you incur. There isn’t always a physical product, so it must only be your time. What about the thousands of dollars we spend on computer hardware and software. Thousands. Just on software! Add up your annual expenses for your business, and for your life. Then add in the extra money you want to have for fun. And the extra you want to save to have a decent future. Don’t forget Uncle Sam. Think about what you think your average job should cost a client. Do you think you are that valuable (remember how important confidence is)? How many people would you have to help in a year at that rate? Can you get that many clients? How will you get those clients?

If breaking even is your only goal, it makes things a little simpler, this is the only thing you have to worry about. To everyone out there….Please do not underestimate the power of a budget. Even if it is the simplest form of one. Knowing where your money is coming from and where it needs to go is essential for a successful business.

After budget, do you plan to grow? Maybe breaking even is the most important thing in the beginning. You can add other goals later. What other goals do you have? How will you achieve those? I have a ton of goals for the next year and for Piqulette. This one simple search has inspired a whole series of posts. If you are interested in hearing them of course