The Tenors performed live in Las Vegas on August 5, 2012. The concert was recorded in the breathtaking 2,050 seat Reynolds Hall at The Smith Center for an upcoming PBS special and live concert DVD.

The Tenors have traveled the world for the past four years. From Johannesburg to Shanghai, London to Los Angeles, they have inspired millions of music lovers with their rich harmonies, addictive charm and powerful songs. They have performed for world leaders and many celebrities including an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show with Celine Dion. Most recently, The Tenors performed in London, England for Queen Elizabeth II.  Now they’re back with a dazzling new show prior to the launch of their new album.

The Tenors performed all new music from their, yet to be released, sophomore album Lead With Your Heart. The foursome invited some of their friends as special guests to share the stage for this unforgettable performance.

We had the opportunity to be the exclusive photographers for this unforgettable event. ENJOY!

12►

1) Join a professional organization. APA, ASMP, PPA

2) Start a photo blog.

3) Consider using per-image pricing.

4) Read John Harrington’s book:  Best Business Practices for Photographers. (not a NMP affiliate)

5) Define your target market.

6) Use Google reader to follow blogs of interest.

7) Develop your professional story.

8 ) Join your local chamber of commerce.

9) Comment on other blogs.

10) Enter photo contests.

11) Read the DAM Book by Peter Krogh.

12) Find a new photographer on the Web who inspires you.

13) Create a Facebook fan page for your photography business.

14) Attend a photography seminar.

15) Learn search engine optimization.

16) Take a successful photographer to lunch.

17) Open a Linkedin account.

18) Exchange links with other photographers.

19) Host an evening event for your clients.

20) Open a Flickr account.

21) Build a community around your work and Web site.

22) Keep an updated e-mail list of your clients.

23) Open an e-mail marketing account such as constant contact, vertical response, Icontact.

24) Create a vanity search (or Google yourself) regularly.

25) Send a press release to local media. (Save this for the important events.)

26) Rewrite your business plan.

27) Set up a Google alerts account.

28) Sign up for a meetup.com account for local event networking.

29) Take a successful business person to lunch and ask questions.

30) Read any book by Seth Godin. I recommend “Purple Cow.”

31) Make sure you have an e-mail signature.

32)  Visit a new town to take photographs and meet people.

33) Champion other photographers.

34) Be a mentor.

35) Volunteer your services to a worthy charity.

36) Make a 4×6 portfolio card to hand out at events.

37) Speak to local groups about photography.

40) Start a newsletter.

41) Focus on a new target market.

42) Explain to a friend why you are different.

43) Rewrite and improve you contracts and paperwork.

44) Face your biggest fear.

45) Create a plan to eliminate your debt.

46) Return all e-mails with 24 hours — if not faster.

47) Return all phone calls within four hours.

48) Place an opt-in e-mail request on your Web site’s front page.

49) Write an article about your photography style or tips.

50) Create a photo book to give to clients and friends.

51) Create an e-commerce photo gallery or stock site for your work.

52) Call 10 new prospects today for a portfolio showing.

53) Create a one-year marketing plan.

54) Learn a new Adobe Photoshop technique.

55) Upload a video about your photography to YouTube.

56) Create a new logo.

57) Define what success means to you.

58) Create a unique background for portraits.

59) Listen to photography podcasts.

60) Introduce yourself to local equipment representatives.  (Canon or Nikon, for example)

61) Develop relationships with photography bloggers.

62) Write a white paper on your photography techniques.

63) Go through all of business cards at the bottom of your desk drawer.

64) Create an online survey.

65) Call customers who didn’t buy and ask why (check your ego).

66) Create a name for your style of photography.

67) Create an affiliate program for your products.

68) Ask three friends to navigate your web site and report back.

69) Create a unique prop for your studio.

70) Find a good accountant.

71) Create a helpful non-photography Web site for your target market.

72) Increase your rates.

73) Create a list of 20 new target prospects.

74) Partner with companies serving the same target market.

75) Create an AdWords account.

76) Expore insights for search.

77) Train your own representative.

78) Send thank you cards after every shoot.

79) Ask current clients for referrals.

80) Create a risk-reversal proposition. (Put the risk on you, not the customer.)

81) Learn to golf.

82) Examine your usage and licensing guidlines.

83) Create and print a price list for reference.

84) Create a Friend Feed account.

85) Test, test, test (everything)

86) Create a memory hook. (a phrase that helps people remember you)

87) Sponsor a local sports team.

88) Network with photographers specializing in different areas of photography.

89) Teach five friends how to refer you.

90) Calculate how much it costs per day/month/year for you to stay in business.

91) Set 10 goals.

92) Ask a photographer you respect to review your portfolio.

93) Exercise for more energy.

94) Learn to say no to bad deals.

95) Make it easier to do business.

96) Review your communication systems. (Is there a better way to communicate?)

97) Follow up with lost or former clients.

98) Have a studio reopening party.

99) Make sure all digital files are backed up and easily accessible.

100) Fire bad clients.

101) Follow successful people on Twitter.

102) Offer a referral fee.

103) Attach a portfolio link to all image review Web sites.

104) Submit your Web site to photographer directories.

105) Ask for client testimonials.

106) Create a poster for clients to display.

107) Sponsor a client event.

108) Answer photography questions on Yahoo! Answers.

109) Research prospects who have great photography.

110) Research prospects with bad photography.

111) Write an article for a trade publication.

112)  Write an e-book.

113) Join ifreelance or Elance to find new opportunities.

114) Create unique promotional items with your printed logo.

115) Trade services with select prospects.

116) Rewrite your biography. Make it interesting (and truthful).

117) Ask to be a guest blogger.

118) Invite guest blogger to your blog.

119) Create a voiceover slide show of your work.

120) Get a StumbleUpon account to share content.

121) Read “The Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell.

122) Teach an adult education class. (develop name recognition)

123) Publish a book through LULU.com.

124) Make sure your Web site’s “about” page is full of quality information about you.

125) Use Website grader to make sure your site is of quality in Google’s eyes.

126) Define and focus on attracting your ultimate job.

127) Take a second look at all the business tools Google has to offer and apply them to your business needs.

128) Investigate the business-building options Paypal has to offer. (more than you think)

129) Discover project management systems like Basecamp.

130) Track your time spent on tasks.

131) Create Photoshop actions to save time.

132) Create a list of policies that benefit your customers.

133) Call your competitors to keep tabs on pricing.

134) Ask your customers to be honest about your service and how you can improve.

135) Wear a name badge at every event.

136) Attend a Tweetup.

137) Print custom CD/DVDs with your logo for final image delivery. (looks more professional)

138) Open a PhotoShelter account.

139) Conduct a survey about your industry.

140) Develop a new benefit for customers using quality photography.

141) Understand why people are fans of your competitors.

142) Don’t try to pass a card to everyone at an event. Build quality relationships with a few people.

143) Dress appropriately.

144) Look at your prospect’s Web site before you call for an appointment or bid on a project.

145) Test e-mail headlines.

146) Make eye contact.

147) If you are shy, bring a guest with you to events.

148) Always stand in a “V”  so others feel welcome into your conversation.

149) Introduce people. (even if you just met them)

150) Send a follow-up letter or e-mail to every business card you receive.

151) Don’t shy away from talking to insurance sales, financial people or real estate agents at events. They talk to new people and businesses every day.

152) Set up a booth at a trade show.

153) Spend an entire event looking for referrals for your networking partners.

154) Ask friends, clients and associates the powerful question: “Who do you know?”

155) Send clients cards on their birthdays.

156) Write testimonials for your best customers.

157) Write testimonials for your best vendors.

158) Give framed photographs to your favorite clients.

160) Ask to speak to your client’s staff. (group learn and share)

161) Create a contest and give away something cool.

162) Review your budget.

163) Replace beat-up photography accessories. (makes you look more professional)

164) Get a toll-free number.

165) Hire a live, personal answering service.

166) Package your services with networking partners.

167) Join a local BNI Group.

168) Create a “vCard” and share it — often.

169) Create and review your model and property releases and keep them with you at  all times.

170) Keep a backup camera with you — always.

171) Read the copyright laws and register.

172) Create an easily accessible electronic portfolio on an iPod or Smart Phone.

173) Look for a new niche.

174) Explain to a business owner how poor photography is costing her money.

175) Give a service certificate to a charity auction.

176) Review your insurance.

177) Make sure your passport is up to date.

178) Plan play time to refresh yourself.

179) Hire a good business coach.

180) Keep a list or file of photographers’ Web sites or photography that inspire you.

181) Ask yourself: Would you hire you? Why?

182) Be Positive. Yes, it does matter.

183) Gather your junk mail and call on the senders for opportunities.

184) Develop a powerful sales letter.

185) Buy an e-mail list for your target market.

186) Give more than expected.

187) Remember your copyright has value. (If it didn’t, people wouldn’t be asking for it.)

188) Use your @ twitter name in your online signatures.

189) Create a list of 189 things you can do to improve your business.

This list is just he beginning. What items would you add?

Original article:

189 business building ideas for photographers | Rosh Sillars.

[by Todd Joyce]

Yeah right. I want that job! Who can say no in this economy? If that’s your negotiating position, I’m here to tell you – that’s not negotiating. It’s begging. Have you every been pulled over for speeding and tried to negotiate your way out of a ticket? Nope, it’s called begging. And that’s all you can do. You have nothing to offer the officer to negotiate with him or her to get out of it. Plead and beg all you want. Try logic. I even hear that crying works for some. But in the end, it’s the officer’s decision and you have to take that ticket if they give it to you. You have no choice.

Negotiating is a discussion of terms of exchanging valuable goods. Power in a negotiation is having something the other party needs. The more they need it, the more value it has to them and the more you can get for it. They likely have money that you want. And if you really need it, then you’re willing to give them more for it. If you have what they need, then they will be willing to give you more for it too. What you can do for them has value. View it that way. Work to exchange things of value in the discussion. Rushing to meet their timing has value. Granting certain rights has value. Delivering quality has value and so does your unique vision of communicating their message. Even their confidence in you being able to achieve their vision has value. Recognize your value. You have the ability to ask for something of value in exchange and you have the right to take what they offer or say no. They also have that right. And, if you are not willing to say no, then you’ll get what they decide, just like getting a ticket. You have no choice.

via The Power of No at Strictly Business.

The most important element in any negotiation process is defining the value of what is being exchanged. Without a clear understanding of what you have to offer and its value to the person you’re communicating with, the negotiation process will quickly become frustrating.

The challenge for many commercial artists/photographers is that they are artists first while the “commercial” aspect unfortunately takes the back seat. The mindset of many artists is that it’s acceptable to be under compensated for their work, hence the description “starving artist.” And what you do is an extension of what you believe.

If you are struggling with the negotiation process, take a look at these two aspects— the value of what you offer and your relationship with money — and think about where you stand. In her book, “Overcoming Underearning,” Barbara Stanny writes: “Psychology is to money what an engine is to a car. Whenever you’re stalled, that’s the first place to look.”

Although “looking under the hood” may be disorienting and the last thing you want to do with your time, negotiation is simply a process of exchanging beliefs about value.

You can’t transfer a belief you don’t have.

via Negotiation Starts with Value at Strictly Business.

[by Barry Schwartz]

If you’re in business for yourself, you’re negotiating even when you only appear to be pushing paper around.

For instance: proposals and contracts. You have a potential client with whom you have discussed – at length – all the particulars of a job.

As you write the proposal, what you say, where you say it, and how you say it might make all the difference between a document that remains a proposal and one that turns into a contract.

If you sound like the most important part of your job is to take care of your client before yourself, well, honestly, isn’t that nice? Who wouldn’t want to work with that person?

If the proposal sounds more like you’re the client’s partner and less like a sub-contractor, well, anyone would rather hang around a partner than a contractor.

On the other hand, if the first page of your proposal is filled to the brim with restrictions, warnings, and threats of legal action; and if the client is on the fence about giving you the job; and if the client has had a bad day; and if the client is looking for an out because they think their life is hard enough already, well, that client might read that bleak document representing all your work, hopes, and dreams for a decent payday and throw it away.

There are several ways to help avoid this potentiality.

You could take all those threats and warnings on the first page and put them on the second page in your Terms & Conditions.

You could make the language on the first page sound like ordinary English, indicating to the client you don’t spend all your time with a lawyer whispering in your ear. At least on the first page.

You can make your “deliverables” clear and understandable (see above), such as how many images you’re providing, what kind of file, resolution, and color-space; when they might expect to see selects; what the charges are for post-production, assistants, and so on. Let them know what it takes to get the job done.

You can design your proposals to be easy on the eye (you are a professional visual artist, after all).

Proposals and contracts are a representation of who you are as a professional and a creative and they’re a sales tool. So grab your keyboard and start negotiating.

via Negotiating is a Full-Time Job at Strictly Business.

Photographers sometimes call me for pricing advice when they get a project that is a bit outside of their normal type of work. I’ll always ask them, “Did you ask your client what her budget is?” And they sometimes say, “I didn’t, that question never yields an answer.”

Never? I doubt it; and I ask the question every time. But it’s true, in my experience, about 80-percent of the time, the client will tell you they haven’t set one. (I’m betting they have, but they’re just not sharing at the moment!)

So here’s what I’ll do. I continue talking about my value, that is, what it is that I’ll “bring to the job” that my competitors may not. (That’s my differentiation by the way.) I ask open-ended questions, ones that end in who, what, when, where, and how. These answers get you information you need to help you determine what her budget might be.

And then, later in the conversation, I’ll ask this question: “You know, this sort of job is exactly the type of work I do all the time and I’m confident I would produce images that would be perfect for your brochure. Tell me, where do I need to be in order to work with you?”

Now your chances of getting a number from the client are much improved. Why? Because you’re further along in the conversation; your potential client is getting to know you a bit better, becoming more familiar with you and your value, and beginning to trust you more. At this point, if she wants to work with you it’s very likely she’ll tip her hand and offer you a number.

A key component of selling is relationship building. People work with people they like. Be friendly, answer questions, and offer solutions. Let the client know you’re on their team that and you are the right photographer for the job. Asking about the budget can stop you from leaving money on the “negotiating table.” There have been times when the client’s budget exceeded what I originally thought I should charge. Good luck!

via Ask About the Budget? Always! at Strictly Business.