Author: Leslie Burns

After a wonderful few days in DC, I’m off to Boston today. I speak there tomorrow and do personal meetings both tomorrow and Friday. Then my tour will be complete (just a long trip home).

Last night I gave my presentation to the ASMP-DC folks and, I think, we had a pretty good turn-out and reactions were very positive. Corey Miller from Livebooks joined me (and will also be in Boston) and presented his company’s products/services–which, if anything, actually helps to reinforce much of what I have to tell people in my spiel. If, between the two of us, we can get a couple of people from each place to give up their old, klunky sites and use Livebooks, that alone will significantly help their businesses. If they also choose to follow some of my other advice, of course I think they’ll be that much more better off. Justone or two small changes can make the difference.

But enough of my “preaching.”

I’d like to thank Irene Owsley, Paul Fetters, Mike Morgan, Patrick O’Brien, and everyone else at ASMP-DC for all their hard work, kindness, and help on this part of my trip. You’ve been lovely hosts. I’d also like to thank John Harrington (my soon-to-be ASMP Strictly Business partner-in-presenting) for the ride back to my hotel after the event and the informative discussion (about everything from GPS to photography to the Queen).

On this tour I’ve stayed in 6 hotels and I’ve had good customer service experiences in all of them, until now.

The place I’m currently in is, absolutely, a very cool and interesting hotel. It’s in several old buildings with unique rooms and furnishings. Its dining room is excellent. But its hotel guest customer service is not very good.

One of the few absolute needs I have is that, if I’m going to be meeting clients at my hotel, it must have internet (preferably wireless, but anything will do). This place promised that. In my (original) room, I could barely get a signal–1Mbit rate–which isn’t even enough connection to check my email, let alone look at photographers’ websites. Finding this out after having hauled my own luggage up 6 flights of stairs (3rd floor, but wrong staircase the first time–and no offer of help from the staff), I contacted the front desk. The guy there, the same one who didn’t offer to help with the bags, started telling me how he didn’t think there could be a problem. I assured him there was. He started saying how with his N-card in his PC laptop he got great connections and that the hotel was going to upgrade soon to N–I said I had a Mac with a G-card anyway so the B & G-based router should be fine but I wasn’t getting a signal in my room. He then told me how metal Powerbooks blocked signals–I showed him my plastic iBook.

This went on and on. He did not want to consider the possibility that the room they put me in simply did not get a decent wireless signal. The next morning, I put my foot down and insisted on being moved at the very least. They switched me to a first floor room with a nice strong signal. Finally.

They still didn’t offer to help with the bags, though, and the same guy behind the desk still insisted that the wireless problem was “impossible.”

The point of this venting is that even if I had been totally in the wrong about the wireless issue, the hotel handled it terribly poorly. The customer is not always right, but the customer’s issues must be taken seriously and fixed if possible–even if they seem silly or unnecessary to the vendor. If you have a client who says (for example) they’re afraid you’re going to do X or Y, even when you know you’re not, don’t try to shut the client up–instead ask the client “What can I do to help you feel more assured?” or the like. If you can do whatever they asked, do it (even if you think it’s silly). That builds respect and trust and that builds successful relationships.

And that, of course, builds long-term clients.

Remember, a bad experience gets circulated a lot more than a good one. I’ve already told at least 8 people my full (there is more) bad story at this hotel–and the name of the place (which I have omitted from this tale). You don’t want that to happen to your business.

Bob Sutton points us to another great business story. As he emphasizes the importance of treating people well (especially our employees and our clients) over the almighty dollar as first motivator in business, with posts like this one he shows how the money comes when you do what is right and good.

This meshes so well with my main business tenet: do what you love open and honestly, find others who respect that, and the money will follow.

After my presentation in Richmond, VA last evening, a photographer came up to me to discuss how we had once disagreed on one of the forums about how to handle a situation. The details aren’t important, but he wanted to show me that he thought he was still right. In fact, he probably was in that one very specific context but I never would have agreed with him on a public forum.

Why? Well, because his point would have been manipulated by others to become approval for working for free and, to defend against that, I thought it was important to take the other side in that argument. Too many photographers on that forum would have misread my approval for that one very specific situation (which may have warranted working for “free” because of a lot of other benefits) as approval for working for free in most even vaguely similar situations. I have seen it happen too many times on forums–someone says “in this one situation, this one response is a good one” and the masses take that ball and run with it, turning it into “in any situation sort of kind of like that situation, that answer is the best one!” Ugh. The danger of that misinterpretation weighted my response, so I chose to defend the other side.

Photographers (and others) have a deep desire for hard, specific rules. Unfortunately, business doesn’t work that way–what I state aren’t hard rules but rather guidelines and “best odds” ideas for general situations. For example, generally speaking, having 50-75 images on your website is plenty. However, each specific situation has its own context and, therefore, has its own, individual, best response. Maybe your work is better shown with more images as they tell longer format stories or something. Your mileage may vary, as they say.

In other words, business is a bunch of big grey areas. What I (and many others) try to do is tell you what I think works best, but often I have to generalize. In public forums (and on this blog) that information has to be more general and weighted more towards what is best for the industry as a whole–the “best odds for most people” kind of information. At the same time, I wouldn’t trust anyone who says “This is the one and only best way” to do anything or “that way is always bad”–as if it is written in stone some place. Not in business (and not in most things, actually).

Your situation, your specific context may be very different and it is therefore your responsibility to weigh the data/info you get from me (and other sources) within your specific context/needs. If it fits (the premises match, in logical terms), try the advice. If it doesn’t, don’t, or contact me for more specific advice tailored to your personal situation.

Many of the people who come to meet with me individually (during this tour) have as their core issue some variation on essentially the same fundamental problem. I like to think of it as creative laryngitis–they can’t/won’t let their own real creative voice out.

Every creative knows when s/he is being honest to the creative voice in her/his head. You know it when you’re there–it’s exciting and passionate and sometimes even almost scary because it’s so intense; and after you’re done you’re exhausted, but in a good way. To be frank, it’s not unlike great sex.

And yet, so many photographers hold back from letting that voice sing. Perhaps it’s related to our nation’s Puritan heritage, perhaps it’s some Freudian block, but what it seems to be (in my opinion) is the fear that others won’t like our vision and/or will think we’re weird. The work that ends up getting shown to prospective clients is what the photographer thinks is safe or right–as if there is such a thing as wrong creative work. The great work, the real voice, is muffled and hidden. If it gets seen at all it is qualified as personal work–as if to say “don’t look at me because I don’t really count in the commercial world.”

In reality, the safe work is exactly not. If you’re showing work that doesn’t show thought and individuality, if it shows no special spark, no real creative voice, then anyone can and will do it, including the company intern with a digital camera. There is no reason for a client to have you shoot its project unless you can bring that elusive “something more” to it–your creative voice. And there is certainly no reason for the client to pay you well for giving them images anyone could have done.

Instead, wouldn’t it be better to show your work, sing your creative visual voice at full volume, and have clients who want to work with you because of that tune? You’ll be more respected, you’ll enjoy the projects more (even when you have to compromise that voice some for a client), and you’ll be better able to command the fees that creativity deserves.

I’m currently in Atlanta, having presented Beyond PMS yesterday morning for the fine APA-Atlanta folks. Tomorrow, I have individual meetings with some of the fine photographers in the Southeast, and not just from Atlanta. Like the presentation, the consultations are bringing people from places like eastern Tennessee. I’m honored that so many people have made such efforts to come see me.

Danelle Dalpra is the Director of this chapter and she is amazing. Besides all her hard work for APA-A, she is an outstanding producer who can make your project run much more smoothly no matter where you and/or your project may be. Producers aren’t used enough, in my opinion. The value that Danelle can bring to a project is so much greater than the cost–the photographer gets to focus on the creativity, the client gets taken care of at a higher level, the details are left in the hands of someone whose entire mission is to focus on them. The resulting shoot experience and, yes, even the final images are better than they would otherwise have been.

I want to thank her for all her hard work in making the event a success, as well as her kindness to me. And thank you to all the attendees–especially those who drove from places like Savannah and Alabama.

Last evening I gave my Beyond PMS presentation to APA-Charlotte. It was a wonderful evening. I heard lots of positive feedback and had great conversation with the photographers who came to the event.

I’d like to thank the sponsors of this event, Paper Chase Printing, AsukaBook, and Modern Postcard. Their generosity helped this smaller APA chapter bring me in. It’s often very difficult for smaller pro groups to bring in the very people who can best serve their membership–sponsors like these mentioned do a great service and I encourage everyone to consider using their services and buying their products. It helps them to justify their sponsorship, of course.

As for the Charlotte people, I have to thank Rick Hovis, Jon Silla, Erin Ellis, and Heather Busher for all they did in getting me here and making the event run smoothly. I’d also like to thank Mitchell and Connie Kearney for their wonderful conversation and kindness after the event. Lastly, thanks to everyone who came out and especially those who also booked private meetings–it was a pleasure meeting all of you.

From here it’s on to Atlanta. My presentation there is on Saturday morning for APA-Atlanta with consultations on Monday. Another city and, I bet, another group of interesting, thoughtful, and creative professionals (safe bet as I know some of the Atlanta folk already).

I love what I do.

In my talks and my consulting (actually, in all my work), I emphasize the importance of finding the right clients, not trying to get any possible client out there. Well, Fletcher Martin, an ad agency in Atlanta have figured out a great and amusing way to pre-qualify their clients. Under the guise of a questionnaire/game, they share their manifesto–what they believe they should be for their clients, what the relationship should be, and even get in a good swipe at how spec work is of no value. All with humor.

I love the payoff in particular–they say that they are only looking for 4 new clients. Just like our industry, theirs is changing and fluid, but they understand that they don’t have to ride all the different waves. They just need to ride their own wave and find the (few) right folks who appreciate and respect what that means. 4 new clients–that’s it.

(hat tip to Brandon Barr for the link)

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Last evening, as I was getting ready for a dinner meeting here in Philly, I had the HBO tribute to Jerry Seinfeld on in my hotel room. He was being presented with an award, and rather than just doing the usual, they had a panel of comedians discussing what it is to be a comedian, the process, and what it’s like to work with execs, etc., in the business. It was really fascinating. Their creative struggles and issues were very much like what I see in my clients and the people I meet in all creative industries.

At one point they were talking about how the TV show Seinfeld ever got made. The panel pretty much confirmed that it somehow snuck in–under the radar, if you will. Usually, when an idea like the one for Seinfeld gets pitched, the execs reject it with comments like how the viewer won’t “get it” or how breaking the 4th wall doesn’t work in TV, etc. But somehow, Seinfeld got on.

That didn’t stop the attempts at micro-management by the execs. They would send “notes” (production notes) and the like all the time. Seinfeld was asked how he handled this. His reply is one we should all keep in mind:

[I’d tell them] Entertainment is not their field.

He meant that it was his, that he was the entertainment pro and that they had to back off and let him do his job. After all, he had made himself popular and famous doing what he thought best. He was the pro. They had to trust him. He continued:

Let the comedian do his thing–he got this far on his own–let him do his thing.

You are the pro in your field. Sometimes your clients need to be reminded of that. Do it gently, respectfully, but do it the next time they try to tell you a shoot is only going to take a half-day or the like. They came to you for your vision, your abilities, your talent. It was what you have already achieved that made them want to work with you. Most importantly, remind them that they won’t get the best results (for them!) unless they let you do your job.