I know Fridays tend to be the days for lighter posts as we all head into the weekend. But today I come to you with a heavy heart & a really important cause that I hope you guys can help me support. We received an email a few days back from the amazing Rita Wiebner letting us know about a photographer in her area who was lost very suddenly & just months before his wife is due to have their third baby. When I heard that, my heart honestly broke & I can't even imagine what that would be like...it just made me want to go and hold on to Justin as tight as I can.
Rita & her husband Joel have done the amazing thing of setting up a charity auction to help raise money for the family as they deal with this terrible time. We have donated a seat to our upcoming June 11 & 12th Walk Through a Wedding workshop, and tons of others like Mike Colon, Melissa & Jerry Ghionis, Denis Reggie and Sean & Mel McClellan have joined in too. I want to ask you guys the HUGE favor of going over & seeing if there's anything you'd be willing to bid on. If you've been thinking about coming to Walk Through & haven't had the chance, this is the opportunity to not only come but to know that every dollar is making a huge impact in somebody's life who really needs it right now. If you want to big on the auction, you can do it by heading over HERE. The auction closes on Sunday so the winner can make it up to CT in time for the workshop...so be sure to head over before then!
Thank you from the bottom of my heart you guys!
xo
M
The national wedding & portrait photography community has come together to support the family of photographer Daniel Mast. Daniel's passing on May 21, 2013 was sudden and tragic. There has been an overwhelming amount of donations and support, and items to be auctioned off include (but are not limited to): photography workshop seats, mentor sessions, WPPI convention passes, photographer goods and products. All proceeds raised in these online auctions will go directly to Daniel's wife, Rebecca, to help support her and her 2 boys, and the 3rd baby which is due any day. We thank you for your support!
On May 21st, 2013 we lost an amazing friend. Daniel Mast was a man of God who was passionate about life, his family and photography. He was an adventurer, a free spirit and the kind of friend you hope everyone is lucky enough to have in their lives. He leaves behind his wife Rebecca and three children, Ryan (4) and James (2) and a third child due to be born in June. Daniel lived life fully, he dreamt big and loved bigger.
This week our adventures took us south to the sweet land of sweet tea in North Carolina for our most recent J&M Lighting Intensive and a few days away for ourselves in the Outer Banks.
Yesterday before our workshop, we got to grab lunch with our amazing friend Millie Holloman (and Amanda & Brent!!) to catch up on life and all that she's been up to. Millie was just coming back through on her way home from Engage '13 where her new business Pressed Cotton (she's also an incredible photographer!) was putting on the welcome party! And let me tell you, if you guys haven't heard of Pressed Cotton yet....you are going to be in LOVE!! I know I am!
Their whole idea is wedding decor that you would actually want to have in your home after the big day. How amazing is that?? We just ordered a ton of stuff from them for our upcoming Walk Through a Wedding workshop in CT on June 11-12th including these adorable Mr. & Mrs. pillows, and I can't wait to show you guys all the other fun stuff we got!
Head on over & check them out and if you find something (or lots of somethings!) you fall in love with, you can use the code "justinmary" to grab 10% off your order!
**Also, I just fell in love with those pillows so much (which are totally going to end up on our bed after the workshop!) that we decided to give another set away to one of you guys! We just seriously want you to know how grateful we are for you guys each and every day & how much we appreciate you reading along. It means the world to us! F'real. Just leave a note in the comment box below & we'll be announcing the winner early next week!!
And a HUGE congrats to the winner of a free album design from Align....Miss Eileen Broderick!! Eileen just shoot me an email & we'll get you all set up!
First, I know you are so busy, and so I just want to thank you for even taking the time to read this. I write only because we admire you guys so much. Kenny and I really would like to step into our business full time. Currently, Kenny still works as a pastor full time, while I manage the business and we shoot weddings together. We feel like God may be leading us to do this full time, but also feel kind of stuck right now. We are shooting a good amount of weddings, at the price point that we want to be, but unsure where to go from here. Did you guys step out in faith? What would you say were the five most important things you did to prepare for a full time jump?
Practically, we have built savings, and feel prepared in that way. We are just looking for any and every bit of advice you may have. Again, I know you are SO busy. You guys are amazing people. Thank you so much for taking the time to even read this. It means so much to us -- we want to do things well and know you feel the same way. We are definitely inspired by you -- please know that.
Hope you are having a great week friends. Thank you again for everything,
Kimberly
Kimberly's question is such a great one & one that we get in one form or another from photographers all the time: How to go about going full time. But I especially loved how Kimberly put it by saying, "What are the five most important things you did to prepare?" And I loved it so much that, with her permission, we decided to make a Pancake Session out of it. Because so much in life is really about that preparation. There is a great quote that says, "Most people have the will to win, but very few have the will to prepare to win."
The first thing that you have to know about Justin & I, was that in all honesty we did very little to prepare to go full time. We were two young crazy kids just starting out in the world who went to our very first photography conference...and just decided to go for it. Like Kimberly says, it was very much a leap of faith for us in that we just decided to leap & the net would appear." Obviously, somewhere along the line the net did appear & nearly 7 years later we're both still full time. But, like we used to talk about in my law school days.....there were mitigating circumstances about that leap that you need to understand to put it in perspective.
The first is that I did go to law school with an emphasis in business law, and Justin spent four years & graduated from the top photography program at RIT. So we weren't jumping and THEN having to learn everything about both business and photography as we went. Don't get me wrong, there was still a TON of stuff we still had to learn, fumble through & make mistakes about along the way. A TON! But between the two of us, we had a good foundation to start from. The second, is that because we were just two young crazy kids at the time we didn't have a ton of responsibilities to factor in. No mortgage, no retirement fund, and obviously since we still don't have them...no kids! Also, we had both just come off of being students, so we were used to being poor! :) And not having a ton of cash around while we started the business didn't pinch as much as it might if we were starting over now. Finally, like I said, we got started seven years ago....and the simple fact is, that was a very different (and much easier) time in the industry, the market, and the economy. Don't get me wrong, we still had to work our tails off and I'm really proud of everything we've built with just our four hands. But if we were starting over today, my answer would be a little different than "just leap & the net will appear." So given that, if I were trying to go full time right now, these are the top 5 things I would be thinking about before I made that leap.
1. A six month (or more) emergency fund Starting any new business, it's going to be a while before you can pay yourself. Starting a business in an industry that is as seasonal & cyclical as wedding photography....there are going to be times when you're first getting started when the money is just plain not coming in. And you're going to need that cushion to fall back on. Having at least a six month emergency fund cushion (an amount that will cover ALL of your bills for six months) before you leap, means you won't have to be stressed about how you're going to eat....and you can put every last ounce of energy into getting the business off the ground. Because believe me, it's going to take it.
2. An LLC, business bank account, business insurance, accountant & bookkeeper If you run your business as a sole proprietorship, then you are your business & your business is you. Which means if (God forbid!) you ever are in a position of being sued or liable for damage you cause, then your personal assets like your house and your car could be up for grabs to satisfy that judgement. You can get incorporated as an LLC online for $300 & it will create that divide and protect all of your personal assets. It's some of the smartest money you could spend. Well that and getting business insurance to make sure you're doubly covered. Take the time to be a real business owner & get your ducks in a row before you need them. Set up the accounts, hire an accountant, keep good books, sign up for business & health insurance. Trust me, your life will be a lot easier if you just do it right & take care of it from the beginning.
3. Create monthly booking & financial goals and track them Know what it is that your business needs to gross in a month to support you (hint: whatever you need to bring home, double that amount) and track it. Know how many jobs you need to book a month to hit those goals....and track that. Then for at least six months leading up to you going full time, track it and make sure you actually can hit those goals before you pull the mat out from under yourself. While you're hitting those goals like crazy and have that extra cash, fund your safety net.
4. Get your systems in place. Know who is going to do your editing, album design, product fulfillment. Write out your workflow from client inquiry to album delivered from start to finish. Figure out which album companies you're going to use, where you're going to buy your ribbon, which lab you're going to order prints form. Is it going to be a bookkeeper or Quick Books? Will you burn dvd's, do flash drives, or share online? Will you do proofing parties after the wedding or try to sell products up front? Will your pricing be packages or a la carte? This all comes back to that idea of preparation. Because the thing is, business could pick up faster than you ever imagined. And like one of my favorite sayings go, "Don't ask for rain & not pack an umbrella."
5. Have an entrepreneurial spirit. Entrepreneurs by their very job requirements have to be creators of resources. Most of us are used to just being allocators of resources. We go to a job, we get a check, we have a budget, we pay bills. Small business owners have to be magicians of sorts, in that they have to create resources & wealth out of thin air where before there was none. And it takes drive, tenacity, and the willingness to go out and make something happen for that to work. I've talked to people before who had said that they really wanted to invest something in their business that was $99, but they just couldn't swing it. And while I totally felt for them and I know times can be tight, what I also wanted to say just to protect them was, "If you don't have the entrepreneurial spirit to figure out a way for your business to bring in $99 extra dollars this month.....then how is it ever going to make you a living? And support your family?" Ooooh, and I know that's tough y'all! But I'm tough because I love you guys (hence the word, tough love!) You need that spirit to survive. And if you're going to do this, I just don't want you to fail. I truly from the bottom of my heart want to see each and every one of you succeed. Because here's the thing... I know that you can if you're willing to work for it.
So that's it. Those are the top 5 things that I would be saying to myself if I was starting over today & trying to go full time. And hopefully they helped even one of you out there. I will end just by saying that while preparation is so, so important, there will always come a time when planning has to give way to action.
And even the most prepared & best laid plans...still require a little leap.
And BOY do we have a treat for you today!! While we were out in Nantucket, in addition to hanging out & having fun with them, we were also able to finally do Ashley & Jeremy's engagement shoot! Those of you who have been reading along for a while, know that we first met A&J a couple years ago when they modeled for our Sunrise Shootout at WPPI. Then the following year, we had the incredible honor of shooting their surprise wedding, again at WPPI. Since then, they have become some of our best friends in the entire world, have lived on a bus with us cross-country for three weeks, and we just pretty much wouldn't know what to do without them! So it seemed about time that we, like I said, finally got around to doing their engagement shoot. :) And boy, did they bring the HEAT! Sailboats, jeeps, lighthouses, and the prettiest floppy hat you ever did see. These guys will be having their second wedding (what we're all now referring to as the BIG party!) this October in Virginia. And after the epicness that was their engagement shoot, I can't WAIT to see what they have in store for the big day!
Enjoy!
Meet: Ashley & Jeremy
{A&J I hope it doesn't even need to be said at this point how much we love both of you. You are our family. Our allies against the world. And our friends for LIFE. Muah! xo M}
As small business owners, Justin & I wear a lot of hats.
Add to that teacher, speaker, writer, blogger, and oh yea WIFE....and I could pretty much open up my own hat shop!
I like to imagine that they would look like the Kentucky Derby hats, and be in all pastels like the "I want candy" montage from Marie Antoinette. The Kirsten Dunst version. With macaroons. But I digress.
The point is, we have a lot on our plates. All of us small business owners do. And something that Justin & I realized a long time ago is that if we're only ever two people, with four hands, and twenty-four hours in a day....then quite simply, we can't do it all. And more importantly...we shouldn't be.
I think it's John Maxwell who talks about how if you ranked all the things you can do on a scale of 1 to 10 at how skilled, talented, and passionate you are at doing them, you will be far better served in your life & your business if you spend your efforts trying to get your 8's & 9's to a 10 rather than your 5's & 6's to 7. In other words, we should be focusing our efforts in the areas where we most excel and that fuel our souls anyway, rather than trying to get better at the things we don't truly love. Amen? AMEN!
For us, enter album design. While I absolutely LOVE handing over the finished product of an album, and the idea that that book will be passed down for generations in a family telling the story that their family always started with love drives the why behind what we do....when it comes to the actual layout work, I'm just not very good at it. And more than that, I don't LOVE doing it. Me & photojunction are not friends (although I hear it's a fantastic product!). I don't lie in bed at night dreaming of key lines and making sure all the x axises line up. I know what I love design-wise and I know what I want our books to look like so that they reflect our brand. But I don't want to be the one actually building the layout.
Because here's the secret: there are people out there who actually LOVE design. And on their Maxwell scale, this is one of their abilities that's a 10.
We just started working with these guys after we hung out with our good friend Melissa Jill (the founder of Align) at WPPI. She told us their vision & what they hope to stand for, and I can tell you we have already been blown away by their customer service, clean & classic design sense, and super fast turnaround time. More than that, I LOVE knowing that we can do everything online with them so Justin & I can be taking a day off at the beach or traveling to North Carolina to teach a class....and our designs & client's changes are still getting done.
It's like we've just added a whole other team of hands working on building our business right alongside us. And that my friends, is a very good thing.
If you know that feeling all too well that your own two hands just aren't enough anymore & you're looking to get something off your plate, definitely check these guys out! They do such beautiful work! And the amazing folks at Align have just made it that much easier to give them a try: just mention "Justin & Mary" in the "how did you hear about us field" and you'll get 50% off your first design!!
And then you can use the money you save to go buy hats! :) Obviously.
Also! We are SO excited to be able to gift one lucky winner a completely FREE design from Align. to start digging you out of that workload! Just leave us a comment in the box below & we'll be announcing one lucky winner later this week! And....GO!!
Pay it Forward
