This is ‘Search, plus Your World’, which makes Google’s robots to incorporate data from its social network as well as the internet when delivering search results.

“But clearly, that isn’t enough. You should also be able to find your own stuff on the Web, the people you know and things they’ve shared with you, as well as the people you don’t know but might want to … all from one search box.” The company added: “Search is simply better with your world in it.”

Here is CNN’s headline leading story .

I’m sure that Google’s competitors are going to complain that Google gives preferential treatment to content from its own products i.e Google+ to You Tube. To this I would say, good luck to Google. They produce some amazing products & services and I for one won’t be complaining one bit!

If you don’t like the way ‘Search, plus Your World’ displays search results, you can switch it off.

Here is the link to Google’s Official Blog

Before deciding on which software to invest in, you should consider these options carefully:

Productivity

You need to work smarter rather than harder to streamline your workflow. A good & robust photography studio software should be able to effortlessly handle the day to day of running the business, reminders & things to do, sending quotations, making bookings, keeping track of clients & suppliers, setting up a series of workflow things for various jobs be it weddings, portraits, commercial or sporting events, updating & keeping track of all your events in one place.

Pricing & Support

Pricing & after sales support is extremely important. First decide how much you wish to spend on a photography studio software. Then make a list of 3-4 products and then see what the Support is offered after you purchase the software. Some offer a 30-day support, with some companies you need to go and attend expensive day workshops & seminars just to learn the software and get to grips with it and some offer unlimited free support. Also see on the website whether they have a phone number listed as very few websites offer this. Here is a recorded 1 hour webinar on photo studio management you can watch.

Marketing

You need to turbo charge your marketing efforts in these tough economic climate. One of the best and under-used marketing tools by photographers is Email Marketing. Every marketeer will say this ‘The money is in the list’. So the sooner you start to build an email list, the sooner you can start making money. Email marketing is something

Book Keeping

As a photographer you want a simple photography studio software to help you run your business which gives you a bird’s eye view of your business on a daily basis. What you want is an easy to use book keeping system to help you with your sales & purchases with a powerful enough reporting system to help you see where your business is heading.

I hope this gives you some ideas as to which photography studio software is right for you. I would welcome you to try Foto SF, the award-winning photography studio software , for free and see how it can help you to turbo charge your business.

Oz

Are you someone who is interested in making money from digital portrait photography without the added & expensive costs of running a studio?

 Enter your Name & Email below to receive your instantly down loadable 35-page free report. Your email privacy is always respected.

 A no-non sense behind the scenes look at how to make profit from Digital Portrait Photography working from home.

You will learn how to operate a successful & thriving business from home.

Whether you are a beginner, experienced, part or full-time photographer, this report will unlock the secrets to profitable portrait photography.

You will learn:

• how to start a home portrait studio business
• outdoor photography tips
• portraiture photography
• what camera, lens, computer, software you require
• lighting on-location with minimal of equipment
• how to use available ambient light
• off-camera flash techniques
• how to capture great portraits on-location
• learn work flow for shooting as well as post-processing
• online & offline marketing
  
• and much much more….

Did you watch tonight’s episode of The Apprentice ? If not, then you missed a really good episode. It was all about creating a free magazine. Those of you who  have been to one of my seminars or are my students, know how passionate I am about the free business model or the Freemium model.

It is without question one of the most powerful business models in this economic climate. No matter what business you’re in, what you sell or what you do, you can apply this model to more profitability. We changed our business model from ‘Premium’ to ‘Freemium’ a few years ago and it has completely changed our business.

A great example is of the Evening Standard newspaper. One of the top evening ‘paid for’ newspaper, they changed their business model from ‘Premium’ to ‘Freemium’ and now it is given away to commuters in London free of charge. There are of course other newspapers which are competing with the Evening Standard and they are all given away free! Puzzled? You must be wondering how they can compete with each other when they are free. They are competing for the advertising revenue through which they make their profits. It makes these publications more profits since they went free.

I watch these kinds of programs with great interest and pick up golden nuggets of information from the wisdom of successful people like Lord Sugar, Donald Trump, etc.

This episode should be an eye opener for those who do not negotiate. The team which lost this task was the one which did not negotiate! I’m not saying that this was the main reason, but a huge factor in their loss. Whether you are buying or selling, the situation needs to be WIN WIN. Not Win/Lose, Lose/Win or Lose/Lose. Both the buyer and the seller should feel that they have got a good deal and value for their money. I negotiate with every supplier we buy from and I don’t take any offence if one of my customers negotiate a better price or a better deal with me. This makes business all the more enjoyable. Negotiating is a skill which quite often takes years to master. All I would say is don’t be shy. If you don’t ask, you don’t get.

I’ve heard & read comments from other photographers as to how they don’t negotiate, well you probably know a bit better  that if you don’t then you may lose out. During The Art of Wedding Photography webinar series I touched on the subject of free sessions and how to monetize it. The way I’ve got my business modelled is completely different to a vast majority of photographers and a lot of the attendees were pleasantly surprised as to how I make money from free sessions. If you give something of great value with good content for free up front, you won’t have much problem selling on the back of it; however, most photographers refuse to do this, they would rather just want to sell up front without giving much value for money. This is where a huge shift in mindset is required and one needs to change with the times.

Compare the difference of buying a car now to say about 10 years ago. Before you would just get a car for your money, whereas now, you get offers which are hard to resist like 7 yrs warranty, free servicing, free insurance, road side assistance, tank of petrol and so on. Car manufacturers are fighting each other for your cash. You too need to be doing the same thing to convert more leads into sales, more prospects into buyers. I’m not saying that you should just give away loads of discounts and make less money, you need to think of how to sell for less and make more money! Make sense ?

I wrote a blog post ‘Free is the Future’ on 24 Sep 2010. You can read more on this by clicking here . I get at least 2 calls and emails per week on how to learn more about the ‘Freemium’ business model. I can certainly help you with this. If you are interested, then give me a call or an email. Would be happy to chat about it.

If you haven’t watched the episode, go to the BBC website and watch it now (for UK only)

Oz

Image © BBC

Sponsored by:

We are pleased to announce this very exciting six-part wedding photography webinar series with one of UK’s leading photography retailers Warehouse Express . Each webinar consists of 60 minutes – that’s 360 minutes of high quality tuition in the comfort of your own home!

Price: £60 +VAT

Instant download after checkout.

Who is this for?

If you are a beginner and are looking to set up a wedding photography business then this is an online webinar series you cannot afford to miss out on. You will learn everything you need to know to get ahead in this very highly competitive market.

What you’ll learn:

The Business
Getting the basics and foundation right is critical for the success of any business. You’ll learn how to assist other pro photographers, get your portfolio ready, setting up your contracts, legal documents, price lists & products, equipment, camera, lenses, software. You’ll also see and learn how to handle enquiries, sending quotations, bookings, sales and purchases, how to create a workflow so you will never forget your tasks and much, much more.

Branding, Advertising & Marketing
You’ll learn how to ‘brand’ yourself and your company. Why branding is so important, how to advertise your business through magazines, bridal fairs, online and Google. You’ll also learn some very handy tips and tricks on how to turbo charge your website and blog so you get indexed in search results above your competitors for free traffic.

Story Telling Part I
You need to document a complete and beautiful story of someone’s best day of their lives. It is a challenge to capture those important moments each and every time without having to be lucky! You’ll learn Oz’s shooting process as to how effortlessly you’ll shoot a wedding from start to finish to capture those magical moments for your clients.

Story Telling Part II
You’ll see how to shoot a wedding right from the bridal preparations up to the first dance, getting the ‘safe’ shots in the bag first and also creating some masterpieces along the way.

Off-camera flash
A flashgun is one of the most creative tools in your kit bag, use it right and you’ll achieve results like you’ve never achieved before. Oz is truly a master at off-camera flash. He’ll share with you all his secrets on how to set up and shoot incredible images that have the ‘wow’ factor. You will truly be inspired to get started on off-camera flash.

Editing, Post-Processing & Workflow
A lot of photographers waste too much time in front of the computer. There is a very fine line between making a profit or a loss. You’ll learn some very simple editing, post-processing workflow tips & tricks which will save your hours on end in front of the computer.

Price: £60 +VAT

Instant download after checkout.

About the Presenter

Uzair Kharawala is a full-time professional photographer. He runs SF Digital Photography with his wife Farzana and is also the creator of the award-winning photography studio management software Foto SF .
Uzair has photographed & given seminars in various countries including Sweden, Switzerland, Italy, Malaysia, Malta, Cyprus, Ireland & Denmark.

He is currently one of Nikon’s ‘Evangelist’ and is a regular guest speaker at major photography conventions, trade shows & fairs in the UK, at Apple’s flagship store in Regent Street London, Calumet Stores, Focus on Imaging and has previously presented for all major photographic bodies. Uzair’s work has been featured in magazines, blogs & websites all over the world.

Uzair has photographed weddings from the sub zero freezing conditions at the Ice Hotel Sweden to the hot temperatures of Borneo, Malaysia. Often shooting huge weddings of up to 800 guests!!

  What they say…

“King of Cool“
Photo Pro Magazine

“Master of the art of wireless flash”
Digital SLR Magazine

“ We work with Oz on a regular basis and love his simple to follow training techniques, both as a photographer and as a businessman. His enthusiasm is second to none and best of all he is always coming out with new ideas & concepts to help photographers improve their business. ”
Bob Campbell, onOne Software

“ …the person capturing it all certainly is no ordinary photographer ”
Digital Photography Magazine

Price: £60 +VAT

Instant download after checkout.

Topics Covered:

Lifestyle Portraits

You”ll learn how to photograph on-location using ambient & flash light. You”ll discover what equipment you need to shoot on location, the right lens, portable lighting and much much more. Oz will demonstrate the same kit and techniques he has used in the past in places as extreme as the Swiss Alps, inside the London Eye and at the Arctic Circle in temperatures as low as -30C.

Getting The Basics Right

You’ll learn how to lay a solid foundation for a profitable business. You’ll learn how to:

How to do market research
How to generate leads at very very low costs
How to have a high conversion rate from leads into customers
Creating your marketing & sales funnel
Setting up your prices & products
How to organise your business

Portrait Promotions & Marketing

In this economic climate, Oz will show you how to make more money by selling for less, how to attract customers by sending out promotions, use of email marketing, gift vouchers, 3rd party marketing, free media & press coverage.

Online Promotions

You”ll see how to use a simple website as a shop front for your business, how to drive and attract customers using a variety of techniques including the use of social media, blogs and clever use search engine optimisation to get your site optimised for Google. You will learn how to drive traffic for free and Oz will also showcase his Google Adwords campaigns which help drive tons of traffic to his websites. How to promote & market your business using slideshows like the one below on You Tube.

Shooting & Editing Workflow

You’ll learn how to photograph couples, kids, families on-location, how to set up your shooting workflow so you get consistent results time after time. Post-processing & editing of images is as important as clicking the shutter. Oz will share his simple yet very effective workflow and how he minimizes his time in front of a computer!!

Schedule

Day 1 is all about hands-on practical shooting all day long. We will have a model to photograph and we’ll shoot indoors as well as outdoors using a variety of shooting workflow. You’ll create some incredible images for your portfolio and also try new tips & techniques to take your skills to the next level. You’ll brush up your techniques on how to see the light, metering, taking control over your ambient and flash exposures, mastering high-speed sync flash, and using Nikon’s Creative Lighting System to set up a portable location studio.

Day 2 is all about the business side of things. As explained above, you’ll learn everything you need to know on how run a successful portrait photography business.

Together, both days will give you the insider knowledge, skills and confidence to take your business in the right direction. Places are extremely limited and you are advised to book early.

Dates
29 & 30 June 2011

Place
Nikon House, Kingston, Surrey

Price
£225 incl. VAT

CLICK HERE TO BOOK DIRECTLY ON NIKON’S WEBSITE

Not sure how to take your business forward online ? Is your website not working as hard as you do ? Not sure what all this Twitter & Facebook is all about ? Are you totally confused as to where to start with online marketing?

If so, this is a one-day hands on workshop you can’t afford to miss. A practical workshop where you will build up your blocks for online profits. You’ll be doing all the work to get your online marketing activities turbo-charged and not just make loads of notes all day long only to go home and get more confused!

Here’s everything you need to know on how to generate FREE TARGETED TRAFFIC to your website. You’ll learn some cutting edge tips & tricks to get your website or blog optimised for higher rankings. You’ll also learn how to build relationships with your prospect and how to build a profitable database of subscribers.

Best of all, what you will learn throughout the day does not require you to have any technical knowledge, geeky programming languages or any kind of expertise. Everything will be taught in simple language which is easy to follow.

Content

The day is divided into 4 different sessions where you will learn how to:

Session 1 – Keyword Research

This is one of the most important process you MUST understand before you get your website online. Most small business owners leave it to their website designers to optimise their website with certain keywords. However, your web designer does not understand your business the way you do.

You’ll learn how to research what kind of online competition you have and the amount of competing websites in your market / niche. Plus, you will learn how to research what people are searching for and how many people searched for your product or service in Google recently.

With these statistics, you will be miles ahead of the competition and on the way to being indexed in search engine result pages and being found by people looking for your product or service.

No keyword research = losing money.

Effective keyword research = more traffic + more money.

Session 2 – Website / Blogs

A website or a blog should work hard for you 24/7 365 days a year. You will learn good ‘house keeping’ for your site so it ticks all the boxes for the search engines resulting in higher page rankings.

You’ll learn why a blog is so so important for your business and how to keep it updated with relevant and fresh content. Did you know that search engines penalise sites which are static and reward sites which are dynamic and updated with fresh content on a regular basis?

Using the correct keywords & phrases are vital for any site to be indexed, once you’ve done the keyword research, you won’t be wasting time & energy over less profitable keywords.

Session 3 – Marketing Your Website

With the explosion in social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Stumble Upon, Digg to name a few, you’ll discover how easy it is to get free and targeted traffic to your website.

Most business owners don’t use the power of You Tube to market their product or services. Did you know that You Tube is the 2nd largest search engine and the 3rd largest website in the world! Using some amazing video marketing techniques you’ll generate perpetual free traffic to your site forever as long as the video is online!

I promise you won’t have to spend hours and hours on end on Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, etc to generate traffic to your site. In fact, I’ll share with you my ’1-click’ process which will create your online presence on some of the world’s top ranking websites.

Session 4 – Email Marketing

When it comes to business, time really is money. Email marketing can be extremely effective; however, do you really have the time to make contact with every single potential client or previous client to offer new deals and services? Most busy business owners don’t have the time to do this, and this is where email marketing comes into play.

Email marketing effectively & automatically sends out marketing emails, auto-replies and follow-up sales letters on your behalf. This is pretty much a miracle in modern marketing techniques because it can effectively bring in sales on auto pilot, as well as make sure your clients don’t forget you. What are you waiting for? Set your sales machine on auto-pilot and start seeing results.

This is a practical hands-on training day where you’ll follow the process by using your laptop and working away all day long. This is not a boring & techie workshop and you won’t be bamboozled by industry jargons & language. This is exciting stuff and something which, once learnt, you will apply in your business to always be a couple of steps ahead of your competitors.

Help will be at hand on each and every step and you will understand how to market yourself on the net.

I’ve achieved page 1 rankings for my various websites. It is not due to sheer luck that I end up on page 1 Google time after time after time. There is a process to it.

If you are struggling to get higher rankings for your site, then this is a workshop which you must attend to improve & enhance your online presence. Whether you have an existing business or are thinking about starting a new business or a website, I invite you to attend this workshop to clear all the myths of internet marketing.

What’s included:
– Tea / Coffee
– Hot Lunch
– Wifi
– Ample free parking

What you need to bring along:
– Laptop

When
Sat 07 May 2011

Where
Mentmore Golf Club, Mentmore Near Leighton Buzzard, Beds LU7 0UA

Times
10.00am to 4.00pm
(Registration at 9.30am)

Price:
£95 + VAT per person

Enchantment-Cover

Guy Kawasaki is the co-founder of Alltop.com , an “online magazine rack” of popular topics on the web, and a founding partner at Garage Technology Ventures . Previously, he was the chief evangelist of Apple. Kawasaki is the author of ten books including Enchantment, Reality Check, The Art of the Start, Rules for Revolutionaries, How to Drive Your Competition Crazy, Selling the Dream, and The Macintosh Way. Kawasaki has a BA from Stanford University and an MBA from UCLA as well as an honorary doctorate from Babson College.

His latest book ‘Enchantment’ hit 3 bestseller lists : New York Times, Wall Street Journal & Publishers Weekly within the 1st week. I’ve read ‘Enchantment’ and it truly is a No.1 best seller.

Here is the interview:

Martyn Greswolde of Greswolde Photography has been a Foto SF user for the last couple of years. Here he talks about his work and how Foto SF has helped him in his business.

What’s your name and what do you do ?

I’m Martyn Greswolde, I run Greswolde Photography, a photography business in Wolverhampton, West Midland

When did you start your business ?

I have been a freelance photographer since 1999 and started my own company back in 2005

What kind of work do you specialise in ?

I mainly shoot weddings and location portraits but also undertake commercial shoots as well as large dance events such as Global Gathering and Creamfield

You’ve been using Foto SF for the last few years, how has Foto SF helped you in organising your business ?

I started using Foto SF when version 2 came out. Like many photographers I started up because I loved photography and not because I loved paperwork. Unfortunately paperwork is a must with any business so I needed a system that was quick, accurate but above all else, easy to use.

Before I had Foto SF I never really bothered tracking such simple things as business mileage or the costs of stamps, I saw then as just too time consuming with such little reward. In the first year of using the software, my claim for these two simple items more than paid for the software outright!

I now find it easy to collate all of the information required to run my business and better still, when a client calls, I can have ALL of their information on screen within seconds. This makes me look and sound much more organised and professional which is a must to secure ongoing and repeat business

What is your favourite feature ?

This is a difficult question to ask and similar to asking what is your favorite ingredient in a meal. All of the features come together so well its hard to single one out. If I was forced to answer it would be the reports. As simple and as boring as they seem they give you an insight into your customers and products. Within a few clicks you can see what products are selling well, how much money they make you and who is buying them. This information is invaluable and at the heart of any marketing I do.

Has Foto SF helped you save money on accountancy bills ?

While Foto SF is great, unfortunately it doesn’t complete your tax return for you, for that I rely of the services of a professional. When I first gave my accountant my paperwork as well as the reports automatically generated by Foto SF, my accountant was impressed. When he gave me my audited accounts I was impressed that I saved 50% of the original accountancy quote. My accountants found that the reports I submitted were so detailed and relevant they had to complete far less work than normal and as a result charged me less.

What advise would you give to photographer’s who currently don’t use a database.

Working in an industry like ours without a database is like working for nothing, let me explain. You may take the best pictures in the world and you may give the best customer service in the world, but without a database all of your hard work is lost at the end of your job. Every new booking and every new photo shoot you will be starting afresh. Your database allows you to engage your existing clients and market effectively to new ones. By transferring this work from job to job you will build up data that will allow you to be more productive and spend less time in front of your computer.

Still not convinced ? Why not try the 7-day challenge and see how you can improve your productivity and profits for your business.

Download the free trial version . It only takes 10 seconds to fill the form!

As some of you know, I was at the Nikon stand throughout Focus On Imaging, NEC, Birmingham. The new stand was just fabulous and it won the ‘Stand of the Year’ Award. Congratulations Nikon. The whole team did a fantastic job and I was very proud to be part of the team.

My presentation at Nikon titled ‘The Portrait Business’ was attended by a very enthusiastic crowd on both the days. Thank you to everyone for coming along. As many of you either missed it or couldn’t make it, here is your opportunity to see what it was all about. I’m hosting a webinar and you’ll see my presentation. I hope you can join in.

When: 23 Mar 2011

Time: 1900 hrs UK

Where: Your place – online!

Price: Free

Are you someone looking to make a living from portrait photography or want to take your existing business to the next level. In this seminar, you’ll learn how to take stunning & sellable portraits on-location including kids, family, engagement, makeover & fashion using minimal equipment.  You’ll see my portable ’1-light’ studio for complete lighting control. Plus, I’ll will share with you some low-cost / free offline & online marketing strategies to get more visitors to your website. Last, but not the least, see why video marketing is the next big thing.

Many thanks to my good friend Martyn Greswolde for these shots.