Having recently left my desk job behind, I have moved to a “mobile office” with my Blackberry© Curve. I’m using Google Sync to keep my calendar and contacts in sync, the Gmail Mobile app, and of course I have the Facebook and MySpace apps for Blackberry as well. (more…)
Archive for April, 2009
Apr
24
2009
The Ideal of Success
One of our neighborhood churches posted the following message on their street sign last week:
The ideal of success must now be the ideal of service
Obviously, I understand their intended meaning, but the impact this had on me in my current situation was vastly different for a number of reasons. (more…)
Apr
18
2009
A Day at the Park
I took my 4 year old son, Kiefer, to the Nathanael Greene Park late last week, just to get outside for a while. As any good photographer/parent will do, I brought my camera. He is such a delight to watch, especially when other kids come around. He is so friendly and outgoing, as well as funny. (more…)
Apr
12
2009
Tooting Your Own Horn Is a Good Thing
Recently, some anonymous person attempted to post a derogatory comment on my recent post about starting my own photography business. Amongst the juvenile name calling, this person said, “I bet you toot your own horn WAY more than anyone has ever tooted it for you.” Now, I’m a big proponent allowing people to voice their own opinions, but I did not publish the comment because the rest of it was simply a sophomoric, uncreative personal attack.
The name calling did not bother me because I’m a little older than 4 years old, but the horn tooting statement made me think. Why, I asked myself, does this person think that calling attention to myself in a business sense is a bad thing? I sat on this for a few days before deciding to address it here.
Advertising is all about tooting your own horn. It’s about telling customers why they should choose you over the next guy. You offer this instead of that, you give better customer service, or the quality of your product is better than the person down the street selling the same thing you are. You are bigger, stronger, faster, better than your competition. To refrain from this kind of communication would be a death sentence for any business. Especially a new one.
So yes, my narrow-minded, anonymous commenter, I will toot my own horn as loud as I can! I will find that which separates me from the other photographers in the area and emphasize it in all of my advertising. I will tell everyone I know about my new business, and bug my friends (thanks, guys!) to spread the word for me as well. If I thought the ROI was worth the sore throat, I would shout about my new venture from the rooftops.
I will toot my own horn because it is essential for any business to succeed.
Whether it is word of mouth, print ads, flyers, business cards, or any other form of advertising, defining what makes you better or different is what sets you apart and helps bring customers to your door. Coca Cola does it when they claim to be the real thing. Bounty paper towels does it by calling their product the quicker picker upper. Smucker’s does it when they say with a name like theirs it has to be good.
So, why in the world should I be ashamed of tooting my own horn? It’s a good thing!
Apr
05
2009
From Programmer to Photographer in One Easy Step
As some of you may know, I’ve been behind the camera much of my life. I have a BFA in Photography from MSU here in Missouri, and I taught myself web design while in college. As it happened, the only decent job I could find right out of school was web design for the local newspaper. I was newly married with two new step-sons, and so my focus was on earning a living and taking care of my family. We had also just moved into a rented house and I did not have space for a darkroom – no digital cameras back then. (more…)
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