We buy with our eyes.

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These are a few of the images that were shot two days ago for an interior designer. We were tight for time and budget, so I shot mostly available light, averaging about 15 minutes setting up and shooting each image.

The images don't come out of he camera looking like this. Extensive post-production is required to make the most of the data captured by the camera. The post-production on this assignment averaged about 30 minutes each image.

I show these to illustrate that a good interior images are often possible without going in with a crew and doing extensive lighting.

These images will be used on the designers website and in her portfolio. Since people buy with their eyes, photographs are by far the most effective way to show what she can do.

Remember, if you provide a service, you're selling trust. You can't show a buyer in advance what you're going to deliver, but you can show what you've done for others. Perception is everything, and you can't afford to fool around with images that are less than the best that you can afford. If you miss out on getting a new client because your photos don't do justice to your work what have you saved? Great images aren't an expense, they're an investment.

Quote of the day

"If you want to be successful, it's just this simple. Know what you are doing. Love what you are doing. And believe in what you are doing."

Will Rogers

Clean room operation

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One aspect of my work that I find very enjoyable is being able to go into all different kinds of manufacturing environments and seeing how things are produced.

I recently shot this (and many other related images) at a New England pharmaceutical plant. It shows my client's product (syringes) being filled by machinery in a clean room. 

Quote of the day

"Photography teaches that how well you see has nothing to do with how well you see."

Anonymous

The lifetime value of a customer.

Appreciating the lifetime value of a customer is key to both understanding the importance of marketing and how crucial it is to provide both top notch products and superb customer service.

First of all it's always more profitable to retain a customer because it's estimated that it costs three to four times as much to get a new customer than it does to retain a current one. 

You'll still always be wanting to add new customers though, both to grow your business and to counteract attrition of your current customer base.

You can estimate the lifetime value of a customer by taking the profit from an average sale, multiplying it by the number of times a year an average customer orders, and then multiplying that by the number of years that you retain a typical customer. 

Work out the numbers for yourself. If you're in a high margin business the lifetime value of a customer can be huge. When you realize how valuable each customer is, you'll know how much you can afford to spend on marketing to "buy" a new customer. You'll also better appreciate your current customers.

You'll also know how much money you're losing every time a customer doesn't respond to your marketing. Cutting corners on your marketing can be very expensive indeed.

That's why it's so vitally important to make your website and brochures the very best they can be.

Quote of the day

"Your work is to discover your work, and then with all your heart to give yourself to it."

Buddha

Website traffic isn't enough

So many businesses spend a fortune on search engine optimization (SEO) and Google ads thinking that if they increase their traffic that the business will just flow in.

So naive.

Traffic is important, but that's not nearly enough. You have to clearly answer the reason why people should do business with you while at the same time conveying quality and building trust.

A website only as strong as it's weakest link. Design, copy, graphics and photos must all work together to reinforce a cohesive message, show what makes your service or products special and give compelling reasons to do business with you.

If you use stock photos and/or templates you'll just look like everybody else. You'll never build trust.

Visitors aren't captive like they are in a sales showroom. On the web, they're only a couple of clicks away from your competitor. 

If your website isn't generating sales or at least leads, you'd better re-think it and change it.

Quote of the day

"That's when it hit me. The site is more important than me."

 Harry Knowles

Vacation Snapshots

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Here's a few personal images shot during the last week. They were shot in the Caribbean. I love their use of color.

Quote of the day

"You can observe a lot just by watching."

Yogi Berra