Chris and Katie Humphreys

Update on the first Denver SMUG!

As we recently posted, we're so excited to be two of the leaders of the new Denver SMUG!  If you're a photographer, hopefully you've already signed up for the SMUG mailing list so you heard about the date change, but just in case we wanted to update everyone!

The first meeting date has been changed to Wednesday, November 18th at 7:00 pm at Blake Street Tavern.  We're so excited to have Jeff Jochum on the agenda for the first meeting, who will be sharing some great info with everyone.  We're also just so excited to have a great time getting together with photographers in the area and seeing lots of new faces!

Here's the agenda!

New SMUG leaders Chris & Katie Humphreys and Sara Frances & Karl Arndt welcome:
 
SmugMug's chief marketing dude...Jeff Jochum!

 

Fusion... WTF (what's the fuss)?

Jeff will reprise his Igniting Fusion presentation at this month's meeting. Featuring incredible videos videos by Bob Davis, Robert Evans, JVS, Chris MacAskill, The Bebbs and The Bui Brothers, as well as the NEWEST video from Vincent Laforet's SmugMug project in Hawaii - Igniting Fusion was a big hit at this year's Collision Conference, hosted by the LA Film School, a few weeks ago.
 
If you are wondering "WTH is Fusion (and why should I care)?" - this is the meeting for you.
 
Learn how it's done (good, bad and ugly) and how to GET STARTED in this next generation market opportunity.  Old Skool is still cool, but the success of the Canon 5D MkII (and excitement around the new 7D), coupled with the exploding consumer demand for vid-media (thanks to Animoto.com and the Apple iPhones and iPods) is driving Fusion photography as the next BIG step up in the world of digital photography. Become a Fusion leader (or find one) at this month's SMUG.

Denver SMUG
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 18, 2009 | 7:00-9:30PM
Blake Street Tavern (map)
2401 Blake Street (@ 24th)
Denver, CO
 
SMUGs are free and open to everyone who loves photography.
No RSVP is needed, but SPACE is LIMITED, so get there early for the best seats.
 

Spend a Day with The Humphreys!

We’ve talked about it for about two years.
We’ve tossed around ideas, tossed them out, and started back from scratch.
And finally, we created a new vision.

That’s why we’re so excited to be announcing our first-ever workshop for photographers! 

Chris and I both absolutely love teaching and speaking, and we’ve wanted to develop a workshop for quite a while now.   One of the things we knew from the beginning was that we wanted to create a workshop that was a totally individualized experience where we could really focus on some of the seemingly small details that are involved in running a successful business.  Things that aren’t always talked about, but that really make a difference.

The vision for our workshop came from an excerpt we found in Michael Gerber’s book – The E-Myth Revisited – one of our favorite business books of all time.
.
“Great business people know that a business doesn’t miss the mark by failing to achieve greatness in some lofty principled way, but in the stuff that goes on in every nook and cranny of the business.  And so the great ones I have known seem to possess an intuitive understanding that the only way to reach something higher is to focus their attention on the multitude of seemingly insignificant, unimportant, and boring things that make up every business.”

Because we know that the small details in execution matter, we wanted to create a one-on-workshop where we could really delve into an individual photographers’ business with them and at the end of the day, leave them with practical, actionable things that they could do.  Whether it’s working on your pricing, figuring out how to systematize your workflow so your clients all get a consistent experience, or working on particular shooting issues,, we want to address these weaker areas you’re struggling with.

You can check out our brand new workshop site here!

These last two months of 2009 are a great opportunity to get together with us to tighten up any areas of your business before the new year starts, so email us today about getting  your date set for these last two months of 2009!

For the complete info, please visit our new website for Spend a Day with The Humphreys!

Blogs that Challenge.

Last night, Chris and I were commenting on the crazy number of blogs that each of us follow (especially me, Katie!) and remarking that it's funny because many of those blogs are ones that we don't actually read for the most part!  But though we may skim the majority of them, when push comes to shove, there's only a handful that get our undivided attention when it comes time to read.

Chris and I have often said that a huge reason we've seen our business grow since it's inception in 2004 is because of the things we've read and the ideas we've exposed ourselves to.  Believe it or not, blogs are a big part of that and we really love that there's a few blogs that we can always count on to challenge us.  I wanted to share three of my favorite Blogs that Challenge.  I'll do a couple more in this series, but this post will have three of my favorite blogs that are specifically geared toward small businesses.

1. Seth Godin - he is hands down probably my favorite blogger on small business because his ideas are simple, yet extremely powerful.  If I could read only one blog and own books by only one author, it would probably be him!

2. Sean Low - The Business of Being Creative.  An incredibly well written blog that caters a little more towards the wedding industry, but is thought provoking for any small business owner.  This blog challenges me - my only complaint is that I wish he would post a little more often!

3. Think Splendid - This is a new find and a blog that I've only been following for a couple of months.  Liene Stevens who writes this blog is a consultant for other business owners, and her blog has a lot of interesting commentary on social media that I really enjoy. She's challenging and says things like they are. Though I haven't followed this blog for that long, I ALWAYS make time to read this one.

What are some of YOUR favorite Blogs that Challenge?

A SMUG is coming to Denver!

Chris and I have been long-time believers in the importance of community.  From the time we started our business, we've been constantly amazed at how being in a community of photographers has not only impacted our business, but also enriched our life outside of business.  Our friendships with other photographers have challenged us, helped us discover ways to improve our business, and we've made friends who have supported us in ways that we never expected.  We are convinced to our core that being involved in a community is one of the most important things photographers can do, not only for the success of our business, but for our life.

That's why Chris and I are so excited to be two of the leaders for the new SMUG  (SmugMug User Group) that is starting up in Denver.  Smug Mug is a company that knows community is vital to the success of photographers, and because of that, they've launched the SMUG!  Along with fellow photographer, Sara Frances, we're excited to help start what we know will be an incredible community in Denver!  SmugMug CMO, Jeff Jochum, has been a friend of ours for years and we are so thrilled that he is spearheading the introduction of the SMUG in Denver and we're also so excited for our fellow Denver photographers to meet Jeff if they haven't already!  SMUGS are open to any and all photographers, so even if you aren't a SmugMug user, we really hope that you'll join us!  No matter what stage you're at in your business, we would love for you to be involved! 

So...without further ado, here's the details for our very first meeting so you can mark it on your calendar!

Date: November 17th, 2009

Time: 7:00PM

Location: Blake Street Tavern - 2401 Blake St Denver, CO 80205

Most importantly though, be sure to sign up for the SMUG email list  so that you can be notified of meeting times, changes, etc. Click here  to add your name to mailing list to be the first to know about upcoming events!

We can't wait to see you there!

Social Networking and Small Business...on Photographik!

As we've mentioned before, Photographik  is a site that we love for both brides as well as other photographers and wedding vendors.  They have a great directory for brides, but also publish articles on a wide variety of topics.  Chis recently wrote an article for Photographik about understanding how to use Social Networking effectively for a small business and the article is now published on the site!  We wanted to share it here in hopes that it might be some good food for thought when thinking through the ways that you're using all the social networking resources that we now have access to.  To view the article, visit Photographik here!

Enjoy!

New Article featured on Pro Photo Resource!

As we've mentioned in the past, Chris and I are monthly contributors for a great online site for photographers called Pro Photo Resource.  It's a great place full of information and articles written by different photographers and Chris and I are so happy we can be involved with such a great website!

This month, I wrote an article for photographers about re-evaluating their business strategies in preparation for a new year of booking weddings and running their business.  I cover a few key areas that photographers should be paying attention to in order to develop their businesses and better serve their clients.

To read the article, you can visit Pro Photo Resource - you do have to enter in your name to sign up in order to read the full article, but it's free and quick!  We hope you enjoy!

Happy Holiday Weekend! :)

Our new SEO Guru :)

It's not often that we devote a full post to sharing about the wonderful people who have helped our business, but we have one particular friend who is such a phenomenal resource that we just can't keep our lips sealed anymore! :)  A few months ago our good friend Jesse Chatham told us about his new business called SEO for Wedding Pros.  You may already know Jesse as the brains behind the awesome site, Photographik, which is not only a great resource for brides, but also for portrait seekers who are looking for a photographer.  Though Chris and I have always been aware of how important SEO (search engine optimization) is, we've just never really known what specific things we should be doing to get to the top of Google searches.  When we started hearing more about Jesse was doing, we just knew that he would be able to really help us out.

The other reason we had such an incredible amount of respect for what Jesse is does is because we have seen first hand how he has optimized other sites.  His wife, Julie, who's also a good friend of ours, is a  photographer and thanks to Jesse's work on optimizing her site, her website comes up at the top of almost any google search you do for wedding photographers!  It is pretty amazing to see what he's done for her site in optimizing it and it's such a testament to how talent he is at SEO!

We have been working with Jesse for almost four months now and have been absolutely thrilled with the progress he's already made in helping us become more visible online.  Our main focus in optimization was  to achieve higher placement in online google searches for a few key phrases.  We worked with Jesse on figuring out these particular key phrases that we felt would really help our business and from there, Jesse came up with the details of what we needed to do to better optimize our site for those keyword searches. 

In only a few months, we have gone from being buried on page 30 for some of these phrases, to now showing up on those first two pages of a google search.  When we signed up to work with Jesse, we knew that his goal would be for us to reach the first page of search results within a year of when we started working together.  After working with him for only four months we've almost already achieved that!  Hiring Jesse isn't cheap, but it's incredibly valuable to have higher placement in online searches - it is money well spent!

No matter what your specific goals for optimizing your site are, Jesse is an expert in helping build a plan for optimization that's specifically tailored to your business and your goals for growth.  If you've wondered about SEO and how it works, or if you're just interested in talking with Jesse about how he might be able to specifically help with your current needs, you should definitely check out his site!  We can't recommend him more highly and feel grateful for the ways we're already seeing growth in our business!

Livebooks Webinar

Photographers, mark your calendars for Tuesday April 21st.  Katie and I will be doing a webinar on our topic of Everything Watched Improves.  It's totally free, but you have to register in advance. 

The webinar is graciously being hosted by Livebooks who did our site. 

Look forward to seeing you there!

Thirst Relief!

Just a reminder that the Thirst Relief Auction starts TONIGHT!  Katie and I both are going to be available during WPPI for a mentoring session, (if you're not going to WPPI we can do something over the phone or in the future if you like).  We're also matching the winning donation with our own donation to Thirst Relief. 

There's also tons of other photographers who are doing the same thing, so go check out the auction site!

Thanks so much for donating to an awesome cause.  To learn more about Thirst Relief International go check out their site.

I think I'm in Love....

Well, that's maybe an exaggeration, but only slightly :)

Our dear friends, Rachel and Andrew of LaCour have built an amazing team that has developed a program called ShootQ.  ShootQ is a studio management software for photographers that is designed to help streamline all the functions we do to keep our businesses running.  Now, if you know me (Katie),  you know that I looooveee organization. Yeah, I really did just say that.  Call me crazy, but I'm a nut for excel spreadsheets, categories, lists....you name it and if it has to do with organizing, I love it!  Up to this point, I had developed a system that worked pretty well for running our studio - the problem was, it was made up of excels, quickbooks files, address book, another organization program, etc - and I always had to monitor and make sure that I was keeping track of it.

Then, along came ShootQ.  I've been talking with Rachel and Andrew about this for months now, but just hadn't had time to sit down and really look into it.  Finally, I got my butt in gear this month and actually looked into it, signed up, and I am seriously amazed.  This program takes care of everything I was trying to manage on my own, and the biggest difference is the way that it automates our workflow.  Even Chris, who is definitely NOT into organization (and that's an understatement! :) ), has absolutely loved getting to use it and loved that we can both be looking at the same information since it's a web based program.

Since now is a time when many of us are reflecting and evaluating our businesses as we look forward to the coming year, I just had to share with you my new love :) We're still in the very beginning phase of implementing it, but couldn't be more excited about the changes we see coming in our business.  If you haven't implemented a system for keeping your business on track and monitoring what's happening, definitely check them out!