The end of the blog -

Hey All you wonderful people!

Go visit our new blog at www.ppoc.ca/ppocmb

It's awesome!
See you there!

A preview on membership...

The awards banquet!

What an amazing evening. So many great people all coming together to celebrate the achievements of our fellow photographers! A huge congratulations to all our photographers presented with an award and a special thumbs up to Alexandra Morrison the 2011 Photographer of the Year! Here are a few images of the evening!

5 Tips for Making Tax Season a Breeze

Written by Katie Humphreys

This blog series is for all the photography business owners who want to run for the hills when they hear the word TAXES. Don’t be afraid; be prepared! Read on to learn tax prep strategies and other tips for making tax time a breeze!

Taxes. The word alone is enough to make even the most organized of us want to run for the hills. Despite the fact that I’ve had my own business for eight years now, I still sometimes have a knee jerk anxious reaction when I think about taxes. Over the years though, I’ve found that there’s one big secret to making this not-so-fun season a little more bearable.

BIG SECRET: Don’t save your tax preparation for tax season.

Yes, as fun as it may be to cram all of your tax preparation into the last remaining milliseconds before your taxes are due, there are ways to avoid the frantic activity that comes from trying to cram a year’s worth of tax preparation into a few short days. Doing your “homework” all year long will make tax time a lot easier and help keep your stress level to a minimum.

From someone who’s learned some lessons the….ahem… hard way, here are five tips for making tax season a breeze (or, at least, easier.)

1. Set aside a specific amount of money for taxes from every payment you receive.

As small business owners, we need to make sure that we’re withholding money for tax payments in the same way that a corporation withholds money on behalf of it’s employees. To be sure that you’re setting aside an adequate amount of money for the tax that you’ll owe, sit down with your accountant and determine what tax bracket your business falls under. By looking at previous years’ information along with your Profit and Loss Statement from the current year, your accountant can help you determine roughly what percentage of your income you need to be setting aside for taxes.

Once you know this, you can automatically deduct this percentage from every payment you receive and transfer it into a separate bank account. There are a lot of places where you can sign up for a free savings account (I love using a free ING online account) but it’s important that this account is totally separate from your current business checking account. Whenever you receive a payment, you’ll transfer this percentage into the account. Unless it’s time to pay taxes, you shouldn’t touch the money that you set aside.

Sticking with this important habit is a real lesson in discipline. It can be hard not to forgo setting money aside, especially when finances are tight. If you can’t set aside the full percentage when you receive a payment, make a note of the remaining amount that should be transferred so that you can hopefully make it up later. There’s nothing worse than ending up with a monster tax bill at the end of the year and realizing you’ve already spent the money.

2. Keep your financial records up to date and review them quarterly with your accountant.

A huge part of tax preparation throughout the year is keeping your financial books up to date. Whether you enter information yourself into Quickbooks (or some other accounting software) or you have a bookkeeper, it’s critical that your books are up-to-date with all of your transactions. If basic accounting terms sound like a foreign language or you can’t remember the last time you opened Quickbooks, it’s time to hire a bookkeeper. Usually, you can hire a separate bookkeeper whose hourly rate will be less than your accountant’s; they’ll be able to update your books monthly or quarterly, depending on the specifics of your particular business. The cost of paying someone to take care of your bookkeeping is more than worth it when you consider the time and headache you’ll save trying to learn how to properly set up and maintain your accounts.

As someone who has done her share of hunting down copies of old checks and trying to dig up old credit card statements, I can attest to the necessity of keeping your books up to date. Trying to enter in a year’s worth of activity into your books when tax time comes is stressful and leaves room for error. Even more than that, having updated books will make it easy for you and your accountant to look at different tax strategies and because you’ll be doing this throughout the year, you can make adjustments to your spending and saving before December 31st rolls around.

3. Save (and FILE) your receipts.

You know this one: You must save all of your business receipts. End of story.

Make it easy on yourself and invest in a scanner to keep track of your receipts. I scan all of our business receipts using Neat Receipts twice a month and upload them for backup. By scanning receipts, I save myself the trouble of paper filing and keeping stacks of receipts in the office. If you’re an uber-geek like me, you can separate the receipts out into categories using Neat Receipts. This will make it easier to track down receipts later if your bookkeeper needs them or if you need to pull some receipts for reference.

The key ingredient to making this system work: Don’t save twelve months of receipts for filing at the end of the year!

4. Make it easy – automate.

Whether you’re paying estimated taxes quarterly or monthly, work with your accountant to come up with a plan to help make these payments as automated as possible. I utilize EFTPS (Electronic Funds Transfer Payment System) to easily make monthly deposits online. This system is connected to my bank account and each month will automatically withdraw the amount that I have specified. It saves me the hassle of mailing in monthly payments and helps me avoid making late payments when I’m traveling or busy with other projects. Depending on what your schedule is for making tax payments, find ways to automate the process as much as possible so that you don’t waste time sending in paper payments and risk making late payments.

5. Don’t recreate the wheel – save information from prior years.

After you’ve gone through tax season once for your business, keep notes of your previous year’s information. Make note of what information your accountant requested so that you can keep track of this throughout the year and have an easy reference for when they ask the following year.

In order to easily gather information when tax time rolls around, I scan pertinent tax information (including tax payment confirmations and other tax related forms) into a folder that I keep on my computer. Scanning these pieces of information as they come in will save significant time when it comes time to gather tax-related forms.

Want to learn more about some of my tax organizational must-haves?

•A great Accountant – the best way to find an accountant who understands the particular tax issues pertinent to photographers is to ask photographers in your area for a recommendation.

•An online savings account through ING – www.ingdirect.com

•Neat Receipts Scanner – www.neatreceipts.com

•Electronic Funds Transfer Payment System – www.eftps.com

Written by Katie Humphreys

Fred's report on the convention!

Where to begin?

O.K. Let’s start with the Sask photographers. Outstanding,friendly and definitely fun!
Brought back some good ideas for our association.

For instance,
Sat eve was a free ,open, meet and greet for the public. Non members, camera clubs etc. 130 guests attended.

After a short wine and cheese PPOC-SASK had 5 members put on a 20 minute program each. Topics ranged from pricing, branding to

Home based studios. The last speaker (#6) was, get this --- David Beckstead. This was a class event all the way!

The evening ended with a mini print critique of the submitted prints. It included prints that did not hang to Excellent.

I think we could do this on the eve before a major speaker. There are things that they could have done to make it more

Impressive such as a display of large prints or perhaps a continuous slide show from the National.

Did I forget to mention that the four trades at the convention were present to showcase their wares.

I believe they signed up a few new members as a result of this event and some additional attendees for the programs.

Sunday was program time for yours truly and Bruce Hendricks. We were very well received ( even if I say so myself )

With quite a few post program compliments! Actually after Bruce’s morning program Craig Glendenning approached Bruce

And complimented him on his program. David Beckstead was next to compliment Bruce on his content. To say he knocked

It out of the park is an understatement. He put an amazing amount of thought and work into his presentation. You had to be there.

Monday was David Becksteads program and he did not disappoint. I cannot understand why any photographer, especially a wedding

Photographer would not want to attend!

April 11th // Our next education event!

If you're interested in inspiration for this year's upcoming wedding season, this is one seminar you don't want to miss. Joel Ross' Wedding Photography program will walk you through a typical wedding day – Joel Style. From the minute he meets the bride in the morning to the time he gives his farewells at the reception, all of the important details and techniques he uses to create his unique style will be covered.

Joel Ross has owned and operated his studio on Osborne Street for the past 14 years and has photographed over 900 weddings. In 2004, he was the recipient of the prestigious “Photographer of the Year” award and has had the honor of receiving Best of Wedding/Portrait Awards from the Professional Photographer's Association of Canada – Manitoba.
This is an education event you don't want to miss!


Keep checking in for more information on our other guest for this education event!

The Bebbs are back!

Hey guys!
We stumbled upon this information that we thought some of you might want to know about. It's not a PPOC event - but judging from the last event the Bebbs put on in Winnipeg - it is well worth attending.
Here is a link to all the information you would need!
http://bebbinars.com/

The Canadian Gallery

You are cordially invited to attend the grand opening of "The Canadian Gallery" on Saturday, March 19 from 7:30 to 9:30 PM.

"The Canadian Gallery" showcases the fine art photographs of Canadian landscape and nature photographer Mike Grandmaison.
It is situated at Photo Central, 2nd Floor, 499 Notre Dame Avenue. Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Wine & Cheese will be served.

Please let us know if you will be attending.

All the best,

Mike

http://www.thecanadiangallery.com

Inspiration for this cold winter morning!

Follow this link - There are some great images.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-12618167

Being Your Own Boss - A Good Reason to Start a Business?

Authored By: Erin Verbeck | Feb 16, 2011 8:51 am | Category: book reviews, entrepreneurship, owning a business, starting a small business, starting my own business

You may already own your own business. Or you may be trapped in a full time job you want to leave and dream of owning your own business. The Entrepreneur Equation, just released by author Carol Roth, helps 'wanna be' entrepreneurs and those who are looking to take their business to the next level ask the first necessary question: not "Could I?" but rather "Should I?" start my own business.

Carol's book may seem like a downer, but I think it's a much-needed reality check to what true small business ownership entails. It can save you a lot of time, money and effort avoiding small business ownership if you're not going into it for the right reasons. The book lays out some of the things you may not have considered that are required of small business owner. And it's an easy read.

Here are a few of the highlights:

60% of businesses don't earn a profit over their lifetime! Yet because of widely distributed misconceptions about the freedom, flexibility and money entrepeneurs benefit from, 6 million people start businesses each year. Many of those business owners are just creating a job for themselves by going into business. Yet this job takes more time and energy and risk than any job you'd otherwise get. And the pay...well it's likely far less than minimum wage given the time you put into the job. Sound familiar?

Most people think entrepreneurship means getting to spend most of your time doing what you love or want to do. But the reality is 90% of your time is spent handling administration, marketing, providing customer service to crabby clients, blogging, networking, selling, managing emploiyees, dealing with vendors and bookkeeping. That leaves just 10% of your time to spend doing what you love. So before you take the leap into the land of small business ownership (or get in any further than you already are), The Entrepreneurship Equation helps you identify your motiviations.

Another HUGE misconception is that you'll be your own boss when you own your own business. The truth is, as business owner you actually have MORE people to work for. To generate income, you have to accept the reality that your clients are now your boss. Without them, you have no income. Add to this the fact that your employees are now your boss, your investors are your boss, vendors, landlords, regulatory bodies and your family are also bosses and stakeholders. Whew...that's a lot of bosses to please. If your main motivation for going into business is to be your own boss, you may not be up for small business ownership.

Just because you have a passion for your hobby, doesn't mean you should transition into business. The biggest difference that Carol identifies is that a hobbie is all about YOUR likes and wants and a business is all about your customers' likes and wants. That can be a hard pill to swallow. Many pseudo business owners have what Carol calls a jobbie - a hobby disguised as a career. If you're working full time and are not making a profit and able to pay yourself at least minimum wage for the hours you put in - you have a jobbie, not a business. The good news is that you can transition into a bona fide business. It starts with creating a business plan including financial statements (this month's Cafe Joy teaches you how to do just that, easily). Then you can truly evaluate whether you have a bona fide business opportunity, or something that will forever remain a jobbie.

If you are dreaming of the day you can leave your full time job and pursue your hobby full time, The Entrepreneur Equation is a great resource and definitely worth the $25 you'll spend. If you're already a small business owner and are struggling, the book can help you understand why (hint, it's likely the wrong motivations) and get you back on track. It's an interesting reality check and a book I'm sure many business owners wish they had read when they got into this game.

A Summary of our last event.

Barry Cullen Had a great presentation and spoke to us about establishing your brand and great tips on how to make your business work for you. Karen Hunter was up next and shared her experiences in her business and a few things that have made her stand apart from the rest in her own business.

It was a great evening enjoyed by all who attended - thank you for coming out - it was a great time to see old friends again and meet new ones.

An interview with Wedding photographers.

Wedding Photography Spoof Video from Matt E on Vimeo.

Congrats to Joel Ross...

This year Joel was awarded 5 accreditation's! Awesome job Joel. Here are a few of the images that Joel entered.

Provincial Convention!

The provincials are fast approaching and there are some great speakers and events lined up for you! Here is a short bio on David Beckstead. Check out our website at ppocmb.com for more information!

David was named The Top 10 Wedding Photographers in the World by American Photo magazine March 2007


David is truly a mountain man at heart! He has traveled to over 68 countries and almost every state in the US. He has hiked thousands of miles of backcountry, including above the base camp of Mt. Everest. He was one of the first registered trackers for Arizona Search and Rescue, worked for the US Forest Service for 12 summers as a Hotshot firefighter fighting fires around the US and Canada, all the while carrying a Nikon SLR with a 50 mm 1.8 lens. David is a fine art watercolor painter and lover of all things artistic.

David lives out-in-the-middle-of-nowhere, NE Washington State. David mixes his passion for art and travel to run a 14 year destination wedding photography business. Kassandra, his wife (of 19 fabulous years!) and business partner, shares his passions. Together they have successfully mixed their lifestyle with their business. They have a 4 year old amazing girl named Asia! They have photographed weddings in Italy, Scotland, Ireland, UK, Bahamas, Caribbean, Mexico, Vietnam, Slovenia and many other destination style shoots.

David has a reputation for being honest and helpful and taking on life with passion and a smile!

www.davidbeckstead.com

7 Ways To Get Your Photography Business Noticed Online

How do I get my photography business noticed online?

I can’t even begin to count how many times I’ve been asked that question.

I wish I had a “one size fits all” answer for all of those people. But I don’t.

No one does.

There are many strategies that work together to help you get noticed as a photographer online. What works for one photographer in a specific niche in a particular section of their world may not work so well for another.

That’s just how it is. But that doesn’t mean you just throw you hands in the air or go back to your World of Warcraft!

Here are some easy to implement strategies every photographer can do to get noticed more in the online world.

1. Have a website

I suppose this should go without saying but we’ll delve into it just a bit because it’s the most important thing.

Your website is your home online. It’s your hub. It’s where you, ultimately, would like to drive the bulk of your traffic. You control how it looks, you control what it says about you, and you only have yourself to blame if it starts playing Enya on my speakers so freakin’ loud with a tiny mute button that’s impossible to find and all I want to do is punch my computer monitor when I visit your website.

Try Livebooks or SmugMug or something similar. They know what they’re doing.

2. Have a blog

This is the heart of your website. The soul. It’s where you give personality to your photography. You talk about the process, or the joy, or the whatever you think will get you more clients, or whatever. Just keep it on topic and keep it updated regularly. It doesn’t have to be every day or every week but it needs to be consistent. People like consistency. Again, keep it on topic! No one who’s going to buy your $4500 wedding package wants to hear your thoughts on the latest controversy surrounding whatever reality TV show you waste your time watching! Or maybe they do. What do I know?

Bonus tip: When you start blogging don’t publish your posts in the middle of the night. No one will read them and everyone will think you’re a sociopath for not sleeping when everyone else is watching infomercials.

3. Have a Facebook page

Start a facebook page dedicated to your photography business and invite all 45 of your friends to “like” the page. Then tell them to tell their 45 friends to like the page. Link your blog to the facebook page and post specials and other tidbits of info pertaining to your photographic awesomeness to that facebook page.

Then tell them to “like” our facebook page.

4. Have a Twitter account

This one may, or may not, actually drive much traffic to your website but if you learn to use Twitter properly it can become one of the biggest tools you can use to help you get noticed online as a photographer. You can become virtual best friends with people half way across the world who you’ll likely never meet but still feel a closeness to that is unsurpassed in any realm of reality.

I mean, that’s how I became BFFs with @photojack. No really.

5. Localize your photography services online

Use localized search engines that specialize in getting you business like SkillSlate.com. You can sign up here. It’s a good place to start, especially if you’re in a big city. Google won’t index your website right off the bat and it will take a while before you get top ranking when someone searches for a photographer in New York (if ever). However, if someone on SkillSlate goes to the photographers in New York City section, and you happen to garner a few good reviews, you’re more likely to get some business out of it. Think of these types of services as a virtual phone book. Sign up for as many as you find. It doesn’t take that much work and it’s worth the effort in the beginning.

6. Link build like crazy

There are tons of strategies to link building. You can pay someone. That’s easy enough but probably expensive and who knows how well that actually works. I’ve never tried it even though I get contacted about it almost every day. Seriously people…I’m not gonna pay you for your “magic”.

I prefer the more organic approach.

You can write some really awesome content on your blog, that nobody is reading yet, and hopefully, if a fairy flies over a rainbow and a leprechaun shoots it with cupid’s arrow while riding a unicorn, someone like Chase Jarvis will make a video about how awesome you are and Frederick Van will invite you on This Week in Photography where you will instantly become a photography expert and the skies will rain golden photography contracts!

OR…you could write some really awesome content, then submit it to a photography blog (like this one) as a guest post, that some people are actually reading and that Google already indexes, and you’ll get good Google juice while building a solid reputation as a knowledgeable person qualified to take someone’s pictures.

Links are like golden recommendations buttered with awesomeness and joy that tells Google, and all the other search engines, how awesome you are. Oh, and they drive traffic to your website. You know…your hub.

7. Be original

I cannot help you with this. Sorry.

Oh there’s more…

You just have to get creative and think of where the people who you think should notice you hang out online. Then stalk them like crazy until they visit your website and buy your photographic services.

What did I forget?

So if you’ve got a pretty solid “rep” online as a photographer why not share some of your tips and ideas in the comments below? Pay it forward!

http://www.yourphototips.com/2011/01/20/7-ways-to-get-your-photography-business-noticed-online/comment-page-1/#comment-7571

5 Super Easy Ways To Use Video To Promote Your Business

This post is republished from my original article on the Amex Open Forum website. It is part of "Small Business Friday" on this blog, where I share ideas and marketing techniques specifically to help small businesses stand out. To read more articles like this, visit the "Small Business Friday" category on this blog.

You may have heard the saying that content is king – but if you had to get specific about the online environment, the saying might go video content is king. The reason is simple – most people will respond much better to moving pictures and a story through video than any other type of content online.

If you are like most small businesses, though, video is likely the last type of content that you are actively using online to promote your business. After all, it seems much harder to produce than it really is. In fact, video can be the easiest type of content to create if you follow a few basic rules.

The 3 Basic Rules Of Using Online Video

1. Get an easy to upload camera (like a Flip Cam). This will make the process of getting your video online much easier and make it more likely you will actually follow through and do it.
2. Shoot exactly what you want so you don’t need to edit anything. The biggest time investment in using video is having to edit afterwards, so as much as possible, film things in one take and only get what you will use.
3. Make sure to get close enough for good sound. Video quality is no longer the major issue with online video as long as you are using a real camera and not a mobile device. The issue with quality usually comes from sound – so try to get close enough so everything you want to hear will be audible, or invest a bit of money and buy an external microphone.

Once you have these rules down, you are all set to create videos to promote your business. The first part of having everything ready to go is the easy part. The harder part is answering the question about what your content should be. Let’s look at a few examples of how to make this process easier.

5 Super Easy Ideas To Promote Your Business With Online Video

1. Answer your customer’s biggest questions. In any business, you likely field the same questions from customers or potential customers over and over. Whether your business has a product or service to sell, if you can use video to effectively answer those most common questions, then you can not only use video to promote your business but also as a way to field those questions in a more engaging and shareable way.
2. Creating an “unboxing” situation. The art of “unboxing” is becoming popular online as a way to experiencing a product without buying it. In an unboxing video, someone simply places a camera on a tripod and films themselves unpacking a product so you can see the packaging, what comes in the box and virtually watch the experience you might have if you did purchase the product. These types of videos help demonstrate to potential customers what their experience might be if they did purchase your product and though it is better suited to tangible products instead of services, the concept could be extended to services as well.
3. Do an office tour. This is exactly as simple as it sounds. While it may seem like a trivial exercise, simply letting potential customers have a virtual look around your office can do wonders for helping them to see you as a real business with real people instead of a yellow page ad or a static website.
4. Interview your best customer. Not everyone will be able to get their customers to talk on camera, but if you have a customer that you have a particularly good relationship with, ask them if they would be willing to talk with you in a short video to share what they like about your business and why they might recommend you.
5. Demonstrate your product or service in action. Think of this as a simple demo video, where you can show how your product works or demonstrate the thinking behind your services in action. Ideally, you can just capture something that you already do every day on video.

Using video online can help you bring your small business to life and it does not need to be a daunting task requiring a professional crew and big investment. So what are you waiting for?

Really interesting research // Business side

Our Channel ReadWriteBiz, sponsored by Yola.com, is a resource and guide for small businesses. Yola.com is an award winning website builder that makes it easy for small businesses to create a website. With Yola's professional templates and easy-to-use tools, you can make a website that helps you stand out from the competition.

A new infographic by Intuit looks at the cost of starting a new business in the United States as compared to other countries around the world. It notes that inflation and currency exchange rates play a large role in the costs of doing businesses in various countries.

The graphic gives information about start-up costs, time to launch, and success rates in different countries. New Zealand and Singapore are ranked numbers 1 and 2 in terms of the easy of doing business.

Some of the figures at the bottom are apples-to-oranges sorts of comparisons (success rates in the U.S. over the course of three years versus failure rates in France in a business's first year, for example) but the information draws an interesting picture of some of the places in the world where small businesses are thriving.

The next great education event is here... cont...

"Karen Hunter is the Owner of Karen Hunter Photography ( established in 2005 ) in Stonewall, Manitoba. She specializes in Newborn and Child Portrait Photography. Karen left her 10 year career as a flight attendant at Air Canada in 2008 and has been shooting full time ever since. Her formal training includes classes at Prairie View and various seminars in Canada and the United States, including one with Ann Monteith in 2010. Her newborn work is on display in the Labour and Delivery ward at St. Boniface hospital in Winnipeg Manitoba. To date, she has photographed over 200 newborns and nearly 600 children."



Carving Out Your Niche in a Saturated Market: Everyone and her grandmother has a digital camera and is a "Child Photographer" - how to set your self apart
Working with Newborns, Babies, Toddlers & Children - Putting the child, and parents, at ease while creating beautiful images
Creating a recognizable Brand - Marketing pieces and selling the "Experience"
Optimizing Online sales when projecting is not a possibility

The next great education event is here!

Marketing and Children

February 21st

At the Lab Works // Winnipeg

Start at 6:30pm

Marketing by Barry Cullen...

Barry is the founder of Keywest Photo, located in Brandon, Manitoba, which has been in operation for over 25 years. In 1995 he expanded his business by adding his marketing entity Image by Design. Over the past ten years the photography business has literally been transformed by the digital world and now Keywest Photo - Image by Design has emerged as a creative marketing solutions provider. His company’s portfolio of work includes such clients as MNP chartered accountants, Canexus Chemicals, and Maple Leaf Foods. For more information you can visit their website at www.keywestphoto.ca.

Barry is currently the President of the Manitoba Marketing Network Inc., Southwest Chapter, operating through Manitoba’s department of competitiveness, training & trade. Barry has developed a series of workshops to help large and small business’s, as well as young entrepreneurs throughout the province, focusing on building their brands and encouraging them to embrace change.

Barry is a motivational convention speaker and had recently spoken at the Manitoba Hydro management conference, and again in Gillam for their safety conference. Barry is known for his “no holds barred, no punches pulled” humorous speaking style. Barry invites people to look outside and inside the box. Happy, Creative, Fulfilling.

Barry has always been extremely involved in his community, including holding the position of President of the Brandon Chamber of Commerce, and most recently the Chairman of the United Way campaign where he and his team raised over 631,000.00 for 43 different charities.

Today’s presentation

“FEELING” MY WAY

FEELING MY WAY !!!!

If your not happy with the results you are getting, you must change what you do every day

You are what you think bout !

Activity breads activity.

Going to work “ WORK “

What do clients feel about you creations.

What do people feel about your brand

What do people feel about your value proposition

What do you want from your BUSSINESS ?

WHY are you here ???

MONEY ?

The goal is always HAPPY, LOVED , fulfilled, challenged, living your life to its fullest.

TIME , non of us gave make it out alive.

When I finally close my eyes, for the last time. I would hope that I would not have a single drop of talent left and could say “ I used every talent or gift that was given me. I crave the peace of mind to use all that has been given me. I seek to surround myself with people that compliment my talents. Success is valueless if we have on one else to share it with.

And the children side of things by the great Karen Hunter!

http://www.karenhunterphotography.com/

It's going to be grand!

Hope to see you all there!