Category: Uncategorized

…in this case, in France (the pun-ish title alone makes it worth my time).

Okay folks, here is the first of several posts (more details to come) about the upcoming speaking trip I will be taking to points east (of course, almost everything is east of here…). I hope to meet LOTS of you at these events!

What will I be talking about? So glad you asked…

Beyond PMS:
How to overcome fear, find your best market, and achieve your goals

Building on her very popular New Treatments for PMS (Panic Marketing Syndrome) presentation, internationally-known consultant Leslie will talk on several issues blocking photographers (and other creative professionals) from being more successful. Her presentation will have Keynote-based visuals and a downloadable pdf outline available ahead of time to facilitate comprehension and note-taking. These tools, combined with Leslie’s humorous-yet-thoughtful delivery and an openness to answer questions on all topics, result in an opportunity to improve your business and the acquisition of helpful ideas that can be implemented the very next day.

Some topics to be covered include:
time management for the “flakey” creative
rational goal setting
how to turn goals into action
fear and its painful results (like lowballing)
understanding and finding your best market
effective tools
using tools more effectively

Oh, and do you want to win a copy of my book? Then come to one of the events–you have to be there to win!

While in each city, I’ll be offering consultations at a discount to members of the sponsoring organizations. Also, and quite importantly for the groups, I will be donating back a percentage of the fees generated in the consultations–member or not–to each individual chapter. So, for example, if you meet with me in Atlanta, a portion of the fees will go to APA-Atlanta. In other words, you can help these groups while you help yourself. If you are interested in signing up for the individual consultations, you can do that by contacting me directly. The prices will be as follows:

Members 50 minutes: $250, 110 minutes: $470

Non-Members 50 minutes: $300, 110 minutes: $550

Sign up soon, and definitely in advance, to get the most out of our meeting. I will send a worksheet to those who sign up ahead of time, to help us be more efficient with our time together. That way you can get more of the help you want in the time we have.

The schedule is as follows:

Austin, TX
17 April (evening) Presenting Beyond PMS at ASMP-A/SA
18 April (all day) Individual Consultations

Philadelphia, PA (to meet with ASMP National–no presentation)
22 April (morning) Individual Consultations (member discounts still apply!)

Charlotte, NC
25 April (day) Individual Consultations
25 April (evening) Presenting Beyond PMS at APA-Charlotte
26 April (all day) Individual Consultations

Atlanta, GA
28 April 10:00AM, Presenting Beyond PMS at APA-Atlanta
30 April (all day) Individual Consultations

Richmond, VA
03 May (evening) Presenting Beyond PMS at ASMP-Central VA
04 May (all day) Individual Consultations

Washington, DC
07 May (all day) Individual Consultations
08 May (day) Individual Consultations
08 May (evening) Presenting Beyond PMS at ASMP-DC

Boston, MA
10 May (day) Individual Consultations
10 May (evening) Presenting Beyond PMS at ASMP-NE
11 May (all day) Individual Consultations

I’m sure each sponsoring group will have postings about the presentations on their websites soon, with location details. And keep you posted here on those as well, providing links as they are made available.

Hey folks, sorry for the delays in posting but all the BAP stuff is being/has been moved to new servers. In the doing, there have been a few technical hiccups which, combined with a new (and more than usually buggy) version of WordPress (which I use to blog), and, well, you get the perfect storm of non-postingness. Most things seem to be up-and-running now, however.

This switch *may* have caused an email here and there to astray as well. While doubtful (my tech guru is quite good at keeping track of such things), let me just say that if you sent me something in the past 24 hours or so and I have yet to reply, you might want to send it again, just to be sure.

Thanks for everyone’s patience, and please stay tuned–more information on the upcoming Speaking Tour will be posted very soon!

There are more and more people in business who seem to be realizing that being nice, polite, positive, pleasant, etc., are good ways of doing business. It can even be found in advertising agencies…or at least one.

Just what the title says…there’s a new podcast episode. Click here to subscribe…it’s free! Share the link with your friends.

A great post on “clients” who want it done for free. Brilliant.

From a blog on the housing bubble, a commentor posted these words from one of his high school teachers:

The only thing you have to do in life is die. Everything else is a choice, so choose wisely.

 And a quote from STEP magazine, as listed on a humor blog site and pointed out by Jane G. (oh, and I think you can substitue any creative profession for “designer”):

What’s the difference between a designer and a prostitute?
The prostitute will NEVER work on spec.

If you think about it, those two quotes work together well…

I just got an email from a photographer, Stephanie Hager. It was a little email promo, to drive targets to her website, but instead of only saying something like “I’ve got new work” or “Look at my website” she also included the following:

Here are a couple of very important and fun holidays you may find of interest:
January 27 – National Chocolate Cake Day
January 31 – Inspire your Heart with Art Day

What a hoot! Odd, weird “holidays” to celebrate. I bet that increases her hits. It’s always fun to get something unusual like that. Creative clients especially love this sort of “weirdo” lore, so it makes a good connection. Way to go, Stephanie!

We’ve made another series of minor tweaks to the main BAP website and one major one: it’s got a new section called “Vroom!” where you’ll find some comments from past clients, colleagues, and people who have seen my presentations.

You all know that I take the idea that we are all in business quite seriously. I think you should too. But that doesn’t mean we should get so bound by that that we get too afraid to do anything, lest we make a mistake. News flash: you are going to screw up.

Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone. Sometimes they’ll be big, but mostly they’ll be little and pretty easily correctable. Mistakes give us the chance to learn and to grow. Also, as has been noted before on this blog, if you don’t take a chance (which means potentially making a mistake) you can’t really be successful.

But just in case you’re still feeling bound by that fear of screwing up, just take a look at this list of the biggest business blunders of 2006. You can’t possibly screw up as much as them. No way…not even close.