Pop Art your Pictures for just £20
Why not transform your snaps to Pop Art. £20 covers the cost of converting your picture to pop art. Email your image to info@miketurner-photography.co.uk , and we will convert it, and email it back to you. We can also print onto Photographic paper or canvas for an extra charge. We have very competative pricing for our canvas printing service. Prices start from just £28. check out our canvas printing page here
Great offer on Graduation Photographs in Warrington!
We are currently offering 12″ x 8″ Graduation photographs or image on disc with licence to copy for just £50.
Running a Photography business – getting started
In our previous blog we briefly talked about what this blog would be aiming to cover, today we continue to discuss the construction of a business model when you first start off your photography business.
Knowing which aspect of photography you are going to do professionally is key to the way you develop your business model. Are you going to be a social photographer? Undertaking weddings, and possibly portraits or are you going to be a wedding photographer only. Would you prefer to undertake commercial photography? Capture products for use in catalogues or on the web. Will you require a studio or can you get away from being home based? All these questions need to be answered before you can begin to formulate you business plan.
In my case I decided that my area of expertise was in Weddings, Portraits and Makeovers. I knew that I would need a studio in order to make a living from portraiture and makeovers, because you can never depend on the weather here in UK, to schedule five or six portrait sessions in one day. Any sign of rain and a full days program goes out the window. The same problem exists for weddings but the key difference is you have an option to use the wedding venue if the weather takes a turn for the worst.
These are all issues that need to be considered. Once you have established these key points you can then start to put together your business plan.
Again going back to my particular circumstances. I had decided that I needed a studio to work from. I looked around at a number of locations and ultimately decided to go for my studio in Lowton. I have had to go through this process a number of times previously so had a bit of experience in knowing what locations would best suit my business. These included:
• Good prominent main road position,
• Good parking facilities,
• Residential area close by,
• Easy access from motorway network
I avoided a town centre location mainly because of the parking issue. I personally avoid visiting town centres mainly because of the difficulty in finding parking spaces close to where I want to shop, that is partly why supermarkets have done so well, free easy to access parking spaces. My studio in Lowton is possibly the best location I have had a studio because the studio has its own ample parking facilities, it is easy to access from all locations, from Bolton, Liverpool, Manchester, Widnes, St. Helens as it is just off the East Lancs Road and close to Junction 22 and 23 of the M6.
When I met the landlord I thought he seemed a genuinely nice, accommodating person who was easy to talk to and seemed concerned about his tenants. As it as turns out, whenever there is any issue he is quick to put things right. I also spoke to other people that knew him and they all spoke very highly of him. This was a big plus for me. When I was looking at other studios some where owned by big faceless organisations with headquarters in city centre Manchester that seemed very impersonal and this really put me off at the time. Some had be left empty for a long time and were suffering from dampness and had a big pile of mail behind the door, as if they had not been visited by the landlords for months if not years. This I view as a warning and I decided not to progress with these properties.
When you are starting off in business for the first time it is vital that you tread carefully when looking for a location, often leases can be 10 years plus and if you get it wrong you could end up stuck in a place that is completely wrong for your business. Paying off a 10 year lease is not a consideration for most people so you are stuck with it. As they say location, location, location.
So now you have your business model partially established.
Next time we will be exploring more about adding detail to the business model, using the diagram below
Disclaimer, release and acknowledgment
Mike Turner, is not a financial planner, adviser, registered accountant or financial professional.
The information presented in this blog is based on his personal experiences as business owner, researcher, and others he has modelled in detail.
You may have to modify them, do further research on them or adapt them to suit your personal financial situation.
Any information presented on this blog, or any support materials, are given purely as illustrations and should not be construed as specific investment recommendations.
The laws relating to investment, taxation, benefits, and the handling of money are constantly changing and are often subject to changes in government policy, and whilst every care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the material contained herein at the time of publication and presentation, Mike Turner will not bear any responsibility or liability for any action taken by any person, persons or organisations on the purported basis of information contained in the conference, its notes or sessions, manuals or any supporting material.
Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, no person, persons or organisations should invest monies or take other action on reliance of the material contained in this blog, or any support material, but instead should satisfy themselves independently (whether by expert advice or otherwise) or the appropriateness of any such action.
Running a Photography business.
Having run a number of businesses over the past 10 years, and working in Production management before that, has given me a good grounding in all aspect of running both small and large businesses. I enjoy working in my own business, because of the variety of things I can get involved with, finances, sales and marketing, and the creative aspects of creating something to sell. Many of the aspect of running a photography business, translate into skills that apply to any type of business. In its simplest form a business, whether photography related or otherwise has three main components.
1. Having something to sell (product or service),
2. And someone to sell to (customer).
3. Having some form of business process that links the two together (business model). This is the how-to part of the equation. How do you generate revenue from your product or service? How do your customers interact with your business model? Indeed what kinds of business models exist?
Over the course of the next few months I will be posting content that will endeavour to answer these questions in greater detail. We will be covering all aspects of running a photography business.
- Sales and marketing
- Market research
- Psychology – which applies to all aspects of business
- Financial control
- Wealth building
- Debt management
- Investing for the future
My goal is to share the wealth of information, gathered from years of research, and trial and error. I love to read and gather all things business related, very geeky I admit, but something I love to do in my spare time, to keep the grey matter active. All of the information I will be presenting is out there, on the internet, in books, and blogs (albeit not photography related), but making all this information into something practical and ultimately useful is another thing, I guess that is where the line between success and failure lays.
Disclaimer, release and acknowledgment
Mike Turner, is not a financial planner, adviser, registered accountant or financial professional. The information presented in this blog is based on his personal experiences as business owner, researcher, and others he has modelled in detail. You may have to modify them, do further research on them or adapt them to suit your personal financial situation. Any information presented on this blog, or any support materials, are given purely as illustrations and should not be construed as specific investment recommendations. The laws relating to investment, taxation, benefits, and the handling of money are constantly changing and are often subject to changes in government policy, and whilst every care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the material contained herein at the time of publication and presentation, Mike Turner will not bear any responsibility or liability for any action taken by any person, persons or organisations on the purported basis of information contained in the conference, its notes or sessions, manuals or any supporting material
Great Tutorial on Professional Lighting Outdoors
Lighting it up in Austin with Robert Seale from PhotoShelter.com on Vimeo.
Found this on the Stobist website, excellent video tutorial from Robert Seale, well worth a view if your looking to improve your outdoor photoshoots. Was looking to do something similar around my studio in Lowton, but when I found this I thought that it contained most of the things I wanted to communicate, so here it is….enjoy!
