Changes and Reflections 2010 {Nicole Pfeiffer Photography has moved to Howell, MI}

In defense of my absence on the blog… we have bought a house!! It’s been a rush the last few months, but we have closed on the purchase of our first home and are finally moved in. For a few years now, my husband and I have been wanting to move closer to Ann Arbor. Not only because of the market base and feel there, but to be closer to my sister and her family. What this means for Nicole Pfeiffer Photography is not only a more happy home life (I finally get to paint walls and decorate a home) but I will have an in-home studio space/office for the next 2 years until we can build a separate studio on our property. Yes… we have over an acre and are SO excited looking forward!!

During all my packing and organizing, I’ve had time to reflect on last year’s business strategies. I was able to really think about what worked and what didn’t work and that is important for moving forward and being better as an artist and a business. I wanted to start off positively this year and point out “what worked” and will be staying in my business work-flow.

• Advertising via Facebook: I can’t stress this enough, but this free little tool really helped my senior season last year.
• Using Photojuction and Photoshop together for my album designs: Though I didn’t come across Photojuction until 1/2 way through the year, it cut down on my time for each album layout because I was able to make them all in advance and then just pick and choose layout designs when needed.
• Investing in cool props: I collect them, I use them, clients ask for them. And sometimes they are so unusual, it breaks the ice.
• Bringing along posing examples to most shoots: This is so much more beneficial to my clients than me trying to show them what I want myself. I am not a model. This really helped my clients visualize what I wanted or felt they could pull off and it was a distraction to the fact that I was actually taking their photo – “how long CAN you squat and arch your back and balance on one foot while still looking stunning?”
• Showing my clients their photos in-camera: Many photographers don’t do this, but I am confident about my work and show clients their photos as we work through our session. What this does is show them how I see them! It shows them what looks good and what does not and we then work together to get amazing images. This has never failed me!
• Leaving the SEO and business back end to my husband: He’s a computer wiz, why wouldn’t I?
• Placing print orders twice a month: So simple, yet so amazing. Most companies charge if you don’t place a high enough bulk order, so placing your orders when they build up is beneficial. This also helps keep orders in cycle so you can keep track of who’s coming and who’s going.
• Mailing out orders and hitting the bank once a week: Time spent running to the post office or bank not only cost you time but money as well. Keeping this schedule kept me on track with many other things. It was a domino effect for scheduling in a positive way. Moving forward, this will be very beneficial since I am almost 10 miles away from a post office now.
• Being busy! I found I work better under pressure and am able to get more done and do it better if I am busy. I am more organized and on point when I have a million things going on and I am ok with that. I prefer to be busy and I prefer to be organized!
• Having my sister as my assistant: I know the main reason this works best is because we are sisters – we can read each other without speaking and she always knows what I need or expect, just because she knows me. I had worked with a few other assistants and it effected me drastically. She will be sticking with me as the years go on and we have plans for her to take on a few more tasks!
• Shooting just to shoot: If for some reason I had a break in my client sessions, I would hit up a friend, or someone I kind of knew, or a random stranger for a photoshoot… on me. I am the type of artist that needs to be visually and mentally active almost all the time. I have more ideas than I know what to do with and if I am not shooting, I feel lost. This touches on working best when busy. If I have down time, I shoot for free and express what I want to express without worry of the “paying client”. Why this works is not only because I am able to explore new ideas, but I usually meet someone new or make an acquaintance into a friend!
• Having my husband’s jeep for shoots: I love my little sports car but it could never fit all the people and props at one time. I also liked the fact that I could drive over curbs and railroad tracks when needed. We will be getting more terrain vehicles when the time comes.
• Having office hours: This should be a given to any business, but I am a personal business so it’s hard to know where to draw the line. I made sure to only answer calls and emails during the office hours I set. This gave me the time to have a personal life and know I had certain times of the day for just me.

Now, what didn’t work. I try not to think of these as negative aspects, but more as things that need to be changed to work better.

• Not having client meetings: I think this was something I couldn’t avoid because so many of my clients last year were not local to me, but moving forward I plan to start holding client meetings before they book. The few I would have, were at a local coffee shop and I hated that, but it’s what I had to work with. I plan to hold them in my studio and I think this will help with connecting and feeling more comfortable with my clients before the day of their shoot.
• Mailing out welcome packets: This is very hard for me to say, because I put a lot of effort, time and money into my welcome packets. But I had too many clients agree through email to book and then once I mailed them my welcome packet, I never heard from them again or they changed their minds. This is not only a waste of my time, but really a waste of my money. I really believe in my welcome packet and moving forward will only offer it to clients by hand when I meet with them.
• Blogging: It didn’t work because I didn’t stick to a schedule. Moving forward, I hope to change that.
• My end of year service survey: Last year was the first year I did this and it did not bring in the feedback I had expected. I wrote up a questionnaire for my clients and emailed it to each of them individually. This was to get feedback about their experience with my studio and to give suggestions on positives and negatives, if they had any. Sadly, I only got 3 back from over 100 clients. This is disappointing on many levels, because I not only miss out on what worked or what could be improved – which would help me grow- but it makes me feel  insignificant about the roll I played in this special event for them.
• Giving a helping hand: This sounds horrible, but saying “sure, I can do that for you”  bit me in the butt too many times last year. As much as I understand certain situations on a personal level, dealing with them professionally should always be the rule of thumb.  I found that being strict on deadlines, when bills are due and when orders will be in, was the best way to keep my business and my sanity in tack!
• Being generous: Along the same lines as above, I went above and beyond many times for clients and I didn’t see the return for those efforts. This was something that didn’t work because I did not see the positive feedback from what I was doing. Many people won’t admit this, but in order for you to continue to be generous and be an artist that goes above and beyond, you  have to see that it’s worth it. Otherwise, it is wasted energy that I will soon run out of as my career moves forward. As an artist, for me to know what I am doing is appreciated, I have to hear that it’s appreciated. That’s how I see things at least. Last year, I took the time to graphically edit one image from each of my senior girl’s shoots and purchase a large scale, metallic print for them for free. I did this as a gift and a thank you for being a client and mailed it with their order. I only received one email from a parent saying thank you for the thought. I don’t like asking for appreciation, but a small thank you is always nice and let’s you know what you are doing is appreciated. This didn’t work and I am sad about that.
• Working in a small office that was also my living room: Not having a separate space just to organize orders or edit photos was added stress. I now have an office with no TV and a table just for organizing orders!
• Working when my husband was home. He likes to vacuum when I am trying to focus and I am the type of person who works in complete silence. Weird, I know.
  

Starting this year, I have many new things planned and different ideas on how to approach and improve my business. I will touch on these things next week in my “moving forward” breakdown!