Consultant Lanae Rivers-Woods speaking at WPPI, 2010

Power of Basics Business and Management Consultant, Lanae Rivers-Woods will be speaking in at the Wedding and Portrait Photographers International (WPPI) in March, 2010. She will join Katarina Garner of GoBoda: Tools for Photographers to present a sold-out Master Class on Work vs. Profitability: stop the bleeding.

Here is a brief synopsis of the Master Class:

Managing your company for tomorrow and not today is critical when doing business. Katarina and Lanae will explain how understanding your financial statements can deeply impact your photography studio business. They will cover various topics including: discerning when it’s time to hire vs. when it’s time to fire, how to foster existing clients, developing a framework for better products, and how to price your work for profit. Over time, your business will develop into a healthier system of information management.

BODA V3 Timeline

Client Profile: J. Garner Photography

Founded by award-winning photographer, Jim Garner, J. Garner photography has bloomed to become an internationally-recognized entity in the photography industry. Sought-after for their stunning wedding images, J. Garner Photography has developed a signature style called Storytelling Photography, which turns photo sessions into a natural, relaxed and enjoyable experience.

The Company.

Jim and Katarina Garner started photographing weddings in 1999. Their love of wedding photography is based on the pure joy they see and feel for the bride and groom and for what a wedding symbolizes—life, love, commitment and happiness.

Jim’s artistic approach fuses several elements, including an editorial fashion sense, a taste for distinctive colors and textures, a relaxed shooting approach and a strong passion for capturing “real life” moments. After the shoot, Jim and the team put their creativity to work and make beautiful, bound art books for each couple that tell the story of their most memorable moments. As a result, Jim and Katarina provide each couple with an amazing collection of images, while allowing the bride and groom to truly enjoy their wedding celebration.

Photographing weddings is more than simply documenting the events of the day. Providing truly great memories requires insight, intuition and the ability to connect with people on an emotional level throughout the entire process. If the experience is positive, in the right hands, great photos will follow. The team at J. Garner Photography is dedicated to providing every client with an amazing experience.

Sensing and capturing the incredible emotions and love taking place on a couple’s wedding day allow Jim and Katarina to provide them with a tangible reminder of their day which will last for generations.

The Lead Photographer.

Jim Garner’s career began in 1993 as a commercial photographer, where his skill for combining technical expertise with an elegant, modern aesthetic enabled him to build a solid business based on satisfied clients and referrals. But Jim’s fascination with communicating people’s life stories soon led him down a different road: to become one of today’s most sought-after wedding photographers. According to American Photo Magazine, Jim Garner is “One of the Top Ten Wedding Photographers in the World.”

Jim has developed a unique style that consistently wins accolades and awards. J. Garner Photography has won in multiple categories at the Wedding and Portrait Photographers International (WPPI) conference for three years running, and recently acquired three awards at the 2009 Western States Regional Competition of the Professional Photographers of America (PPA), including the prestigious Best Wedding Division Entry. Click here for a complete list of recent awards.

An expert in his field, Jim has been published in numerous photography industry publications including Rangefinder, PPA and American Photo Magazine. He is also a popular educator and public speaker.

The Business Manager.

Katarina Garner has a strong business background that’s prepared her well for running the business side of J. Garner Photography. After graduating from the University of Washington, Katarina spent several years in retail marketing, event planning and lease management for some of the largest shopping centers in the United States. She brought her expertise to J. Garner Photography in 1999, and came on board full time in 2005.

In addition to managing the business, Katarina works with clients throughout their experience to build and deliver the perfect photography package for their needs. Years of working with all types of commercial clients on complex issues have revealed Katarina’s natural ability to connect with people, build lasting relationships and look beyond the obvious to identify just the right solution for the project at hand. Katarina uses that talent at J. Garner Photography to provide a truly personalized experience for each and every couple.

Client Julie Kramis Hearne on Martha Stewart Radio...again!

Power of Basics client Julie Kramis Hearne will once again appear on Martha Stewart Sirus Radio!

Listen in on October 15th at 9:15am to hear Julie talk about Cooking in Cast Iron. Co-author of Cast Iron Skillet Cookbook and the Dutch Oven Cookbook, Julie keeps us updated on her cooking exploits via her Cooking Blog.

Case Study #1: Online Marketing and Retail Strategy

Presenting Issue The client presented with low online sales revenues, high fixed costs for web marketing, and complicated, cumbersome web outsourcing arrangements. Because of an unorganized and untargeted web presence, the client could not monetize their online work, control their marketing message or effectively generate sales. Despite an active blogging schedule, designated staff and an expensive website, sales volume remained low and unreliable. The client knew maintaining an online presence was important, but could not reliably connect investment and up-front work with profits. Diagnosis The client had not developed an online sales strategy. The client’s limited website structure could not accommodate the client’s recently expanded product line. Because of access limitations, the client required complicated third-party updates to the site, which often did not load during the client’s test navigation. The product site and shopping site ran on parallel platforms and contained no sales language. It was extremely difficult for a customer to navigate the site to make a purchasing decision. The client’s blog and social networking page did not lead customers to purchase, did not promote customer capture, and offered limited opportunity for community interaction. The client’s online marketing voice lacked content and a clear message and gave no direction to the online conversation about the client and their products. Solution Re-brand as a company, not a single product The limited product capacity of the company’s previous website had damaged the company image, making it appear that they essentially sold one item, rather than a product line. Power of Basics worked with the client to completely redesign the website and relaunched their entire line, featuring each product separately. The new website is organized to allow ample room for future growth. Build an integrated, sales-focused / community-focused website with easy updating capabilities Featuring prominent sales language and detailed product information, the new website anticipates customer questions and leads customers directly to purchasing choices. In addition, the site allows user-friendly online retail sales, and offers easy updating that takes only moments and requires minimal web knowledge for designated staff. The ability to immediately update in-house allows the client to run weekly product marketing campaigns and sales incentives to drive retail sales. Finally, increased internet search optimization for the website directly improves the client’s web presence. Build an interlinked online social networking/marketing system Power of Basics linked several social networking platforms to create sales-oriented channels that automatically distribute marketing material directly to an international audience 24 hours a day/365 days a year. This strategy yields increased opportunities for client capture and community interaction as the client’s marketing materials engage an audience that has directly requested additional information. Design and implement online marketing campaign and sales strategy Power of Basics implemented a tracking system that allows the client’s company managers to directly access the traffic data resulting from their diverse online marketing channels. Using this data, Power of Basics designed a long term marketing plan that focuses the client’s marketing efforts toward the channels that yield the highest response. Conduct company-wide training to ensure appropriate use of social networking systems After building a clear online strategy, Power of Basics conducted training sessions for the client’s designated staff to ensure confident and accurate implementation. By familiarizing the client’s staff with ways to consistently support short-term and long-term marketing goals, Power of Basics enabled the client to achieve success from the ground up. In addition, this training equipped the client to manage their marketing in-house as much as possible, allowing increased marketing flexibility. Client Return on Investment Client’s average monthly sales increased 250% Effective conversion of client from wholesale company to a retail company, with associated higher profit margins Increased purchase response rate to online marketing Increase of internet search optimization yielding a more dominant industry presence online Decreased annual cost for online marketing and implementing sales strategies Increased client control over web presence Increase of online customer capture for future marketing Increased number of online community members and number of member interactions Case Study Review Rebranding the client from a single-product company to an online corporate presence including multiple products immediately diversified revenue streams and opened doors for future growth. In addition, streamlining the customer’s online purchasing experience allowed the company to successful convert from wholesale to retail sales. Also, increased ability for customers to emotionally engage with the company through social networking interaction has improved customer capture and enabled a higher conversion rate from interest to sales. Finally, building a long term marketing strategy and educating company staff on marketing goals allowed the company to lift sales in line with growth goals and to continually move forward with a clear, corporate understanding of how to drive sales and foster company image. The company now maintains a robust online presence that yields robust profits for time and money invested.

Read more Power of Basics client case studies on our website...

An Excellent Client Review

This morning we received the following outstanding review from one of our clients. These are the moments we type, strategize, and Skype for:

"[Power of Basics Consultants] Lanae, Rebeqa, and Kate have literally changed my life. Our business would not be where it is today without their help."

Claire Parkin
Production Manager, GoBoda

Thank You, Claire, for all your hard work. We would never make progress without dedicated clients like you.

Just Hit "Send": Four Steps to Getting Past Perfection

We found this article by Communication Coach, Beth Buelow, on the small business networking site, www.biznik.com. We know how easy it is to become mired in our own perfectionism and we love how Buelow calls us to take deliberate action, rather than waiting around for everything to become "perfect". Here's an excerpt:

"Every once in a while, someone’s Facebook status strikes me as profound. This happened a few weeks ago, when my friend Robin wrote “Just hit ‘send.’” She was writing a paper for her doctoral seminary program, and like me, she has an “A+ student” streak and wanted the paper to be perfect before send-off.

Her short update has become one of my new mantras. In addition to being a great companion to my other mantra, “better done than perfect,” it also reminds me of my Virtuoso Gremlin. Virtuoso is a hold-over from my years of training as a classical musician, when perfection was the only acceptable standard. It tries to tell me that unless something’s perfect, it’s not ready for the public. After all, no one’s going to buy a CD with wrong notes." (read full article)