I am being offered what looks to be an amazing and rewarding opportunity. I will most likely be laid-off from Pharmaceuticals. This is sad, right? At first glance, yes. I LOVE my job and have LOVED it for years, but after sliding by through several downsizings, I have come to terms with my future. There is no future for drugs....
Here's the opportunity. I get to jump head first into owning my own business! I've wanted to do it, but have been too scared. God has decided to put it out there for me, and I'm taking the chance.
Here's where I need - your honest feedback and insight to begin the brand.
Do people need more photographers in Athens? Nope. There are several amazing options. Can I shoot? Yes. I plan to continue to shoot portraits all the time. That will be a small part of what I plan to offer.
I feel like every time I talk to a friend of mine, young or old, everyone talks about the need to print images. Like you, they have pictures all over their hard-drives, on cds, some old prints, their iphones, etc., but aren't showing them off. They're stuck in cyberspace....
I want to help people display what they already have, and supplement life's milestones with my photography, too. I am thinking in three directions and am working with some amazing partnerships.
- This is my specialty --- coffee table photo albums. Sure people can do them these days, but does anyone really have time? I have just finished my annual book for 2011 and have lots of man hours in the design, text, etc. What a pain!! Weddings take weeks sometimes. So many mamas tell me, “I had such a great scrapbook for my first, but my second.....I forget my third's name sometimes.....” Can you relate? I want to do these for people and present an amazing quality, professional photobook – not just another internet upload and print kind of thing.
- Some other friends have beautiful, professional images, and don't know how to display them. Do they buy frames and print, work with canvases, metal? What's good quality and what isn't? I hope to go into people's homes and take the images they want to display and do it for them. What do you think?
- Lastly, is there a need for digital books? I feel like some might want to get all of their pics into adorable slideshows, email books, etc. to send friends and family, post on facebook, etc. This one is an easy one, but people still shy away from it. I can build family websites, blogs, etc.
Lastly, I can take any existing photos and edit them for clients. Did you go on vacation with a point and shoot and want your images to simply look better before you frame them? I can do it. I can incorporate old and new into everything I do.
Now. For the brand...... I have researched, and researched.....played with words, looked at logos.... I need something catchy, not too cheesy, but that depicts what I am trying to sell. Here are some thoughts..... drum roll.... “Polished Projects,” “Polished Perspectives,” “Showy Spreads,” “Display What's Dear?”
HELP!!
Also, let me know if this is something that there is even a need for. If not, I can stick to what I know – adorable portraits, fine art, and weddings, but I have a real passion for this idea. I will take ALL advice and thank you, dear friends, for taking the time to think with me.
I have also attached the link to my personal 2011 album that I have just finished with Blurb. I am looking to work with them (I have created all professional books with them so far and everyone loves them) to get things rolling. Let me know!
I am blessed to have you in my life!
Best,
Heather
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/invited/2380958/8b63e37d04aa8a630f881ad52643a8dfebd59056
