Week 10 EOC: Financial Spreadsheet

Today I was walked through a process of how to use a financial spreadsheet. A financial spreadsheet is a layout of everything your company is making and spending. At the first glance of it, it was very intimidating because it was long and full of percentages and numbers and words that I have never heard of. At the beginning of the walk through, I was sure that somewhere along the line I would get lost and not a moment too soon I did. I was able to quickly catch back up on where I needed to be. I begin putting in hypothetical numbers that I projected my business to be doing and making in a separate spreadsheet. This thought process took a few minutes because for each month you will have different projections because of what goes on for photographers in certain times of the year. I was able to end up with a decent amount of money totaled at the end of this worksheet. I was told that having anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 was a good number to have and I ended up with $60,000. After this was done, I then put these projected numbers into the financial spreadsheet where they were needed. As I was told what each column represented, I immediately understand a majority of them for the most part. There are still many that I am confused by and need to research more on. Doing the research and making sure I understand it completely will help finish a financial spreadsheet successfully. For the future of my business I will make sure that I know and understand all of these terms because I know that I will not be able to afford and accountant right away to help me. Doing this process has helped me understand better and I will utilize this knowledge in the future of my business.

Week 9 EOC: 40 Under 40 in Las Vegas

In Las Vegas there is an even that is held called “40 under 40”. This event recognizes 40 employees under 40 in Las Vegas that have become quite successful and made themselves known in the community. I have been asked to explain where I will be professionally, personally, and in the community when I am 40. Professionally I hope to have a small portrait photography business that is successful in the community that I will reside in, in order to provide for my family and myself sufficiently. Even though it will be later on, I still want to be able to work out my home, so I will not have to worry about a studio and all that comes with it. Personally, I want to be settled down with my family that includes my husband and by then a few children. My greatest desire is to be a mother to children I have been given. With having my business run out of my home, I will be able to be there for them which will be when they are a little older by this point. I also hope by this time that my husband will be out of the military and at a steady job. This also means living somewhere we both enjoy and I’m not quite sure where that is yet. In the community, I want to be recognized by all the locals as “the photographer of the town”. Both I and my husband prefer to live in a smaller community, so I could potentially be the only photographer in the community. I grew up in community like this, so I know that it is possible. These may not seem like big dreams to most people, but these are my dreams. I am a simple person who wants to live a simple life.

Week 8 EOC: Is She Fair Game?

In the movie Roman Holiday, the plot revolves around a princess who has run away from home. She has landed in the arms of a man who works for a newspaper, but she does not know what he does. He knows who she is, but never tells her. He immediately develops the idea to get a story about the princess that no one else can get. One of his best friends is a photographer. He arranges for the photographer to meet him while he is out for a fun day with the princess. Little does he know that he (the newspaper writer) will fall in love with the princess. While this is all going on the photographer meets up with the two and begins to secretly take photos of the princess doing different things she’s never gotten to do. These are things such as smoking her first cigarette, dancing with a barber, and hitting someone over the head with a guitar in a fight. Once the newspaper writer found out he was in love with the princess he knew that he could not write the story worth a lot of money. The photographer soon came with the photos and was confused by the writer’s reasons. He said she was “fair game”. The writer said you can take them and make money with them if you want to, but I don’t want anything to do with it. In today’s world it is true that she is fair game. There are many people willing to pay a lot of money for photos of celebrities doing things that are unheard of. The photographer could have black mailed the princess for more money to not show them and I’m sure that this happens today also. I think that because the photographer was the writer’s friend that he made the right choice to not sell the photos and ruin the princess’ name. I’m not sure that with the money that could be made that I or other people would be able to do the same. I guess the saying is true that you don’t know until it happens to you.

Week 7 EOC: Progress Towards My Professional Contacts

Part of being a business owner is building up your professional contact list. These people will help you advance or help you with your career along the way. These may be someone you meet at an event, or just anywhere in your day to day life. When you meet these people you need to ALWAYS ask for a business card. Some of the absolute professional contacts you need for starting a business are a banker, an accountant, an insurance agent, and a lawyer. I’m going to talk to you about my experience in gaining these four important contacts business cards. For each I did an initial research on where to start. I began with my location and then reviewed what the different company sites had to offer me. The ones that looked more professional and had many qualified people to help me were the ones that I was more drawn to.

I went out on a day that I had free to find all of these. I made sure that I was dressed in business attire so that people would respect me more. For the banker I went to Chase Bank because they are a well known, respected bank and you can find them in more places than one. When I went in I talked to a nice gentleman that greeting me at the door. I told him that I was a student who needed a business card from a business banker in order to help build my business plan. He was very helpful and gave me one. For the accountant, I found an office that had many CPA’s that deal daily with businesses.  I asked for a card and they were very kind to show me where they were located. For the lawyer, the company I researched was no longer there, so this was poor research on my part, but there were other lawyers within the business park I was in. I asked if they had an IP lawyer and they gave me the card to someone who could closely help me with that.  Finally, with the insurance agent I have different story. I was able to meet her through a well respected photographer, Sharon Sampsel. She was able to give a brief description on how she would be able to help me as a photographer.  This is an example of it’s all about who you know.

Knowing the kind of contacts you need is a good start to being a great business owner.

EOC Week 6: Ron Galella and the First Amendment

In the movie "Smash His Camera" we learned about the life of Paparazzo Ron Galella. He has been known as the most controversial celebrity photographer in the world. Galella started photography while in the Air Force during the Korean War. He later attended the Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, California, and graduated with a degree in Photojournalism in 1958. After seeing the movie I really had mixed feelings about Galella. I have never liked how Paparazzo’s worked with their cameras. I know that celebrities are always constantly in the public eye, but it seems like Paparazzo’s  today get way out of hand with their craft. I feel that if I were a celebrity I would feel like my life is threatened with all of those people constantly following me in mobs. Galella was and still is a sneaky Paparazzo. He biggest muse was Jacqueline Kennedy-Onasis. Although I hate the paparazzo lifestyle, I really enjoyed looking at many of Galella’s photographs of her and many other celebrities. They are all done in such an artistic way that they don’t look like photos you see in all the tabloids today. Galella photographed Jackie so much that she took him to court for “harassing” her. Essentially they called it a free speech trial. She was only able to get a restraining order against Galella for him to not come anywhere within 150 feet of her. The first amendment kicked in for Galella saying that this was his way of making money and that he had the right to do it. I am glad that he was able to win this because as a photographer myself wanting to make money by taking photographs would not want to be sued for something I enjoy doing and that in no way harms people.

Week 5 EOC: Midterm

My experience in taking Marketing and Promotions has been so far a great learning experience.  I never saw myself blogging or tweeting.  I have a greater respect for people who do those now because I have learned that it has helped them advance in their business.  I also know that I am now capable of meeting a photo challenge I have been given a week in advance, so I will have no excuses in the “real world”.  I have been able to enhance my knowledge on which I am competing against in my photography and evaluate their strengths and weaknesses.  By doing this I know what I need to do to not have the same weaknesses and try to better in my strengths.  I have learned so much about running my own business and what precautions and procedures should be taken to make it all flow the right.  I know that I need to go to a banker when needing help to start a business and to also bring a business plan along to show that I am a professional.  I also know now that I will need an accountant to make sure that I am on track with my finances and that I will not have to owe money to the IRS.  I now know that I also need an IP (intellectual property) lawyer if there ever comes a time to need one. I think that I know and understand everything that has been taught in this class and believe that I am doing better than I ever thought I would when it comes to business aspects.  I have been able to turn everything in on time every week with the exception of my Twitter account.  I try to remind myself daily to do this, but this has definitely been a bigger challenge for me. 

Week 4 EOC: Scary Legal Issues

There are many scary legal issues that go along with being a photographer who run's their own business. There are a few that I want to share with you. The first is having insurance. You should have health, life, and disability insurance, but most importantly I believe is you should have business insurance. "You won't be able to complete assignments that take place in many locations...You'll have problems obtaining loans, and the risk of you losing your entire business because of a lawsuit or a catastrophic loss of equipment, other assets, or data is just too great." (Best Business Practices for Photographers by John Harrington Pg 120) The last thing any photographer wants is a lawsuit to deal with because they did not have insurance.

The next legal scary issue is something that should be avoided and can be done easily. You don’t want to be stuck owing the IRS. The best way to avoid this is by having an accountant. “If you are operating a business, you need an accountant.” (Best Business Practices for Photographers by John Harrington Pg 155) Accountants can save your life by helping you make sure you are making money and not losing or having to owe money. Make sure you keep all your receipts that have anything to do with your business. Make sure you are using your business materials for only business purposes. If you are taking advantage of using these materials for other purposes, this is a sure way you will end up owing the IRS.

So do not take having a business lightly. There are many scary issues you can get yourself into if you are not careful. These can also be very hard to get out of. Be wise and know all aspects of having a business before starting one.