Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Join the Chamber

I joined the local Chamber last week and went to my first leads group through them last Thursday.  I'm looking forward to joining the group and gaining more leads through them. 

Today I met a woman from a local newspaper who also happens to be a strong influence with the local Chamber.  She asked me if I was going to attend the Business Showcase and After hours this evening.  I really wasn't going to because I feel a little intimidated.  There are like 300 people at these after hours and I'm supposed to walk in there, alone, and just start talking to people.  LOL...

You see, as I was growing up, I've always been an extremely shy, bashful person.  So bashful, in fact, that my 3rd grade teacher thought I was too quiet and she was going to bring me out of my shell.  She  made me stand at one corner of the classroom while she stood at the other.  In front of all of my peers she made me yell across the room to her until she could hear me.  It took a while and it didn't work.  It did not bring me out of my shell.  Actually, I think I went farther into my shell.

When I attended high school, I would prepare my oral reports, only to chicken out when the teacher called on me.  I would rather take a zero than stand in front of my class and speak.

I've come a long way since those days but I still feel that little girl inside of me cringe each time I need to walk into a room alone or stand in front of a group of people, whether my friends or strangers.

So tonight, I'm taking a leap of faith, and will hold my head up high and just put one foot in front of the other.  I know that this will be great for my business and get my name out there, and that this step is needed in the promotion of my business.  So I'm gonna go for it.

Do you have a story similiar?  Fears from your past that still haunt you today?  I'd love to hear about them.

Below are the pics from my latest adventure.  My hubby and I went up into the mountains this past weekend to enjoy our Saturday.  The weather was cloudy and rainy and gloomy yet beautiful.  Enjoy!

Chow for now,
Corbie








Monday, October 25, 2010

Santa Visits

Each year my husband and I and our children are the Claus Family at our church.  My children enjoy being the elves and of course, the children of the church just love to see Santa and Mrs. Claus. 

After much prodding and suggesting that we do Santa visits in our town, I'm finally giving in to set it up.  After all, why not incorporate it into my photography business.  I know that I never cared much for going to the mall and standing in the extremely long line that seemed to take forever and I'm sure there are others out there that feel the same way.

Santa came and visited my oldest child when he was little and that was something that he remembered for a very long time and he thoroughly enjoyed it.  So why not??

My hubby said 'ok' when I asked him, especially after I told him that we could make some money for Christmas.  So he's on board.

I did some research to see what Santa's going rate is these days.  I found a little info.  So I've set it up, got it on my website and I have some flyers made and will distribute them out in the next week or so. 

So tell me what you think.  I Dallas, Tx, Santa's going rate starts at $50 an hour for home visits.  We live in Grand Junction, Co, which we are the last to suffer from the effects of the economy but also the last to recover from.  We still have alot of unemployment, but we are on the upside again.  I started to offer the visits at $75 and hour but I don't know.

What do you think?

High School Football Coverage

One of my sons plays on the freshman football team.  I, of course, take my camera and get tons of shots while I watch the game and learn how it's played, from my hubby.  This last game, we sat real close to the sidelines and a couple of times these boys were running straight at me.  OMG!!  But I just kept shooting hoping they wouldn't run over me.  I got some really cool shots too.

My son brags about his Mom all the time and apparently he was telling someone at school about me being a photographer and taking pics of the games.  So he came home from school with a web address and told me that if I didn't mind sharing, they would love for me to upload some pics to their yearbook website.  I think that's pretty cool too. 

The high schools here in town don't really have very big stadiums.  Our team is fixing to play at the big stadium in town.  My son was really looking forward to playing in the Stadium but now has broken his foot during PE at school and will not be able to play.  He's bummed.  We're bummed. 

Anyway, below are some of the pics from their last football game.  The full album is posted to FB if you want to see the rest.

Chow for now,
Corbie



Friday, October 22, 2010

Stepping Out!!

So I opened my mouth in my networking group about being a photographer.  I filled out the application, they checked my references and accepted me to the group (again).  Woo Hoo....on my way.

I did my first presentation yesterday and they loved my photos.  You know we all love those compliments because it gives us another boost to our ego.  The presentation was great, they asked questions (and I was able to answer them confidently) and I even got a couple of leads.

I also joined the Chamber of Commerce this week and they have a leads group too.  I visited the group and have now scheduled a portrait party with one of the members.  I'm looking forward to it.

Been busy today doing my research.  The lead that I got was for some commercial photography.  I hope I'm not out of my league here.  Anyway, I've been researching how to charge for commercial photography.  There's alot involved with pricing.  I just want to be fair to my client as well as make a profit, and not undercut the photography market.  There's alot that goes into the licensing of your photos.  I don't have that info directly in front of me right now, but as soon as I can, I'll post so you can read it too.

Another thing I'm excited about is our Santa Program.  Every year my family dresses up as the Claus family for our church.  My hubby is Santa, I'm Mrs. Claus and our children are our little elves ( that aren't so little any more).  It's been suggested to us in the past to do Santa visits, but I just was not thinking outside of the box at the time.

Recently another friend suggested it....and I thought "Why not?"  We could incorporate it into my photography business and take portraits at the same time.  So we're off.  I've researched that a bit and I have to tell you, I didn't find that much info about it on the web.  There are Santa visits in the Dallas area but none where I live.  Everyone that I've mentioned it to thinks it's a great idea so I'm putting together a flyer now to be posted around town and handed out to all my networking buddies.  Wish us luck!

All in all, this week has been a Great Week.  Tomorrow it's off into the mountains again for more photos of areas I haven't seen.  Let's hope the snow doesn't surprise us too much tomorrow.

Chow for now,
Corbie

Monday, October 18, 2010

Monday busy Monday

Mondays are probably my busiest day because of taking off for the weekend.  Emails back up, I take pictures over the weekend that need to be downloaded to my computer, and today is menu and grocery list planning day.  Everyone in the house does their own laundry, but I just so happen to choose Monday as my day, along with changing sheets, cleaning up the house a bit, you know all those domestic chores that always seem to need doing, but are never completed.

Actually, I think I've  planned Monday as my day off, so to speak, but I really do love my job and want to always be in the middle of it. 

I do keep my schedule in front of me so that I can stay focussed on what I'm in the middle of and what needs to be done.  I don't always get to everything on my daily list but no worries, I will get to it.

One of my sons is playing football this year on the freshman team.  While I'm out supporting him and practicing my sports shooting, I'm also getting an education in how the game is played.  My husband played when he was in high school and is very passionate about the game.  He is also very vocal.  I, on the other hand, am usually pretty quiet.  So occasionally, I'll get the wits scared right out of me when he gets excited over the game.  But, I'm learning.

Here are a few of the photos of his most recent game, where he made his first tackle.






Ok, looks like this is the only photo I can upload at this time.  This happened to me the last time too.  Well, I've kept trying to upload a few more with still no luck so if you want to see the rest of the album, head over to my facebook page.  I guess if this keeps up, I will have to take the advice of some of my readers and move my blog.

I belong to a couple of networking groups here in town.  It's a way to get my name and what I do out there at very little cost.  It's advertising by word of mouth.  I've been a member of this one group for a couple of years now with my Gift Shop business.  I recently stepped out with my photography to the group and will give my first presentation this week.

I almost lost out on this opportunity to spread the news about my photography business.  I have hesitated in the past about bringing it up in the meetings for fear that I don't know enough yet.  So I was going to wait to announce it.  Another buddy from the group stepped up a couple of months ago and said that he was also a photographer and I thought that I had lost out on that opportunity. 

Our networking group is exclusive to each business in the group.  In other words, they only allow one banker, one accountant, one photographer, and so on. 

Anyway, that photographer has moved on from the group so I stepped out and announced my photography business and will now promote it through this networking group.

So if you are on the fence about stepping out, take a leap of faith before someone else beats you to it.

Monday, October 4, 2010

2010 Car Show

Ok so I've been really busy and I've gotten behind on my pictures here.  So my plan for today is to get caught up.

Last weekend, after the Son Run, we went downtown for the car show.  I was a little kid when most of these antique cars were popular, but I do have memories.  My dad had a few old cars.  One in particular that I remember was a 57 Chevy, and to this day I just love that car.  My dad was a stock car racer and one of his cars that he built was the 57 Chevy and he would take me and my sister for a ride around the track.  He tried to teach me how to work on them but I was too young to really be interested but I do remember hanging out with him while he worked on them.

Anyway, here are a few of the pics from the car show, the rest will be posted on Facebook if you want to see them. 








Ok, well, I'm having a bit of a computer malfunction and these are the only two that I can upload at this time.  But I'm heading over to FB right now to upload the rest.

Chow for Now,
Corbie