Category: Uncategorized

The Copyright Alliance has a good post about the Anderson/Gladwell Free debate.

I’m not going to go into the discussion. First off, what am I going to say? I mean, really, is there any chance I’m going to suddenly flip and start saying that I think y’all should give away your work? No. Not going to happen.

Also, I haven’t read the book. I’d actually like to, it’s important to be informed on all sides of an issue, but I don’t have the time with my school reading, etc.

Still, this is an important issue. The fact that this debate is getting so much traction is a sign that we may be approaching the climax of the issue–are artists (authors, etc.) going to be pulled under in the tsunami of free or are enough people going to stand up to it?

If you have some extra time, I suggest perusing the interviews on Communication Arts Insights page(s). These are short interviews with various creatives and even some well respected reps. It’s a great resource to get an idea of repeating themes and concepts shared by these successful people.

There are several helpful things I have found over and over in these interviews (and I haven’t read them all), like:

• the best creatives don’t play it safe
• it’s still all about relationships
• a phone call or a hand written note can do more than you think
• it’s work, but it’s joyful work
• collaboration is still prized
• being grateful is pervasive
• find the right targets for your work
• you need to start with great work
• great work comes from within, not external forces
• if you don’t believe in your work, you can’t get others to

Some things to ponder over the weekend…

Lots of people are completely wigged out these days and most of that wigginess is money-related. Most creatives deal with money issues in one of two ways: 1) tighten spending so much that Lincoln screams; or, 2) ignore because maybe that way it’ll go away. Neither is going to work.

The most recent Creative Lube talks about money, more specifically, financing your business. Then today Livebooks posted a piece by Doug Menuez all about dealing with your cashflow and some basic business planning and ops.

Burying your head isn’t going to do any good and being miserly will hurt your business in the long run. You need to learn how to walk the middle path. Also, you’re in business–time to start running it like a business–that means being responsible and doing the work-work. When you run your business like the real business it is, you have a much better chance of being successful.

The more time I spend in my Business Organizations class, the more I am struck by just how poorly most creative businesses are structured and managed. This class is about the law of businesses, not the management of them, but we do spend a lot of time essentially observing management through the cases we read for the class. Far too often, I am very sorry to say, anything resemblances between a well-run business and a creative business, especially a photography business, are purely coincidental.

A few of the basics to consider…

• Do you keep your business accounts completely separate from your personal ones? That is, credit cards, bank accounts, loans, etc.? Just making a note at the bottom of a check (biz purchase) is not enough.
• Do you pay yourself a salary from your business? Regularly and the same amount?
• Do you reinvest in your business?
• Do you have a plan for what happens to your business if you get incapacitated or die?
• Do you have outside, non-photographer/creative mentors or Board Members (even you you are not a corporation)? They can give you important perspectives on your business decisions.
• Is your spouse/significant other involved in your business and if so do you have an employment contract with her/him? (you should)
• Do you have employment contracts with all your employees? (you should)
• Do you hire professionals to help you? (you should)

These are just a few of the kinds of things that a good businessperson, regardless of industry, will think about and do.

And my techno-wizbangery errors continue…for those of you who get the free Manuals in your email, I apologize for the duplicate send. New software and a sloppy operator (me). Mea culpa.

Here is another good blog to follow…a NY attorney (Stephen Filler) is blogging about photo-related issues and he writes in a very accessible style. Bookmark-worthy.

Seems like many people are posting good quotes on FB these days. There is a draw in the wise words of others and seeing the quotes posted made me start to go through a book of aphorisms I keep handy. Here are a few which seem fitting for creatives. Most of them, you will (hopefully) note point out the importance of making your own art. I can’t emphasize enough how important it is for you to look inside to find the answers to what images to make.

I’m particularly fond of the Eugène Delacroix one in that is points out that yes, “it” may have been done before, but not by you in your own unique way.

Enjoy!

W. Allston
The painter who is content with the praise of the world in respect to what does not satisfy himself is not an artist but an artisan; for though his reward be only praise, his pay is that of a mechanic, for his time and not for his art.

He also wrote
There is an essential meanness in the wish to get the better of anyone. The only competiton worthy of a wise man is with himself.

E. Delacroix
What moves those of genius, what inspires their work is not new ideas, but their obsession with the idea that what has already been said is still not enough.

J. Cocteau
What the public criticizes in you, cultivate. It is you.

A. Corn
Life wounds everyone. Besides blood, though, the artist also sheds light.

A. Gide
Sin is whatever obscures the soul.

A new Creative Lube is available. Get it here or on iTunes.

UPDATE!!!
I had screwed up the link when I first posted the podcast–it is now corrected BUT at last check, iTunes still had the wrong podcast. You can get the right one from the link above, but for now, iTunes is hosed. I will post when (if?) I can get that fixed. Sorry for the confusion!!!!

UPDATE, part 2
It’s been fixed on iTunes as well. It should appear as Creative Lube 31a. Thanks for your patience!

While I can’t stand the spelling (yeah, I’m weird and want it to be Night), Photo Nite is a local gathering of photographers and others who want to see their work. It’s not organized by one of the professional groups–it’s much more organic than that with the photographers themselves putting it together (particularly Kat W.).

Saturday I went to the 4th Photo Nite and it was great to see the crowd of people. Lots of interest and appreciation. Lots of camaraderie and support. None of the snippiness and back-biting that people claim they sometimes find in a community of photographers.

Me, I think there is a lot less of that negative all around. Maybe I’m being too optimistic, but I think that photographers actually like each other, mostly. I think they are interested in each other’s work and if we could get past the isolationism of the profession, the openness and dialogue I witnessed Saturday night (and which I have seen at APA and ASMP events) could help each of them in their businesses.

It is no longer about “managing in a downturn,” said Thomas L. Harrison, chairman and chief executive at the Diversified Agency Services division of the Omnicom Group in New York, but rather “leading toward the upturn.”

This is from an article in the NYTimes about what is happening in the advertising industry now. The timing is funny–just yesterday I was talking to a potential client and I told him that I thought things would be making the turn this Fall. As I explained, I’m no economist or anything–this is just my hunch. Then this article appears–maybe I’ll be right.

Regardless, there will be an upturn eventually. For those who are working now at their marketing, they will be better positioned to take advantage of the turn. When the clients start opening their wallets, these people will be top-of-mind when the projects get greenlighted.

What are you doing to be one of them?

I like what CPB had to say in the article–that they’ve never been a company that plays much defense. In my opinion, that’s smart business. You can’t grow if you are too busy protecting. Risky? Yup. But business is risk.

It is also reward. Go for it.