It's Beginning to Look A LOT Like Christmas!

Well I guess our wishes of a white Christmas were answered in a BIG way. We got anywhere between 20-30 inches of snow in the Denver area. At our house in Denver we had 26" that fell and drifts that were 4' high.

Our house has a giant growth.


I wonder if they get this much snow at the real North Pole?


The one time a year you use the snow blower is definitely worth it.


Jess and Heather were pretty amped up for their first ever ATV sled ride.


Chrissy's new car is unrecognizable.


Mom is an ATV pro.


If you look closely you can see me, Chrissy and Sarah.


That was a wild ride, Sarah had more snow IN her clothes than she did ON her clothes.


Sarah and Chrissy pulled Jess and Heather.


They had fun!



We wish everybody a very Merry Christmas, and hope that you didn't have to shovel too much snow.

I know what I want to be when I grow up!

At one point it was a paramedic, than an astronaut and later a game warden (glad I didn't choose that one.) But for as long as I can remember I always knew that I wanted to own my own business. I have grown up my whole life around a great businessman, my dad. He took a desire to do something better and built it into the best sprinkler system company around. I have always had that influence, and it has given me a great appreciation for what it takes to be successful as an entrepreneur, and a business owner. Over the last few months my business IQ has gone way up, I have become extremely excited about owning my own business; and I believe that I can finally answer the age old question "what do you want to be when you grow up?"

The answer to that question is an entrepreneur, a business owner, an investor, a wedding photographer and more. I have found something that I am passionate about, and more importantly an avenue with which I can use my talents. I enjoy the aspects of business, I love managing and teaching people, I love trying to be creative, and I enjoy trying to come up with better ways of doing things. Every time I have been an employee, I spend a large amount of time pondering how I would do things differently. I try and observe everything, what my boss does that I like, what he or she does that I dislike; how they interact with the employees, and others around them. I have gained invaluable experience and knowledge from every job that I have ever had.

I want to be able to put my time and effort into growing my own business, and making my own money; instead of trying to find a job, a paycheck, or someone who will hire me. Ideally, I will never work for anyone else again, realistically that may change, but using that idea as motivation will allow me to succeed. There are so many things that I want to do in my life, and I am beginning to realize that to accomplish those goals I need to own my own businesses, I need to be in control of my life. In the end I believe that is the most important point, control. I want to be in control of my money, my businesses, my talents, and my life.

Attended a Wedding

This past weekend Jessica and I attended a wedding in Steamboat Springs; it was my second or third, or once-removed cousin or something like that. I wasn't the photographer, but I did take some pictures, which was helpful. But what was more helpful was just to sit back and watch everything happen. Since I expect to be the "official" photographer at the next few weddings I attend, it was helpful to kind of observe. The wedding itself was a bit unusual, seeing that the ceremony was outdoors in Steamboat Springs in the winter. What that means is there were 50 well dressed people, in 6 inches of snow, in 8 degree temperatures. Luckily the ceremony only lasted about 20 minutes, the reception was very nice, and I got to meet some famlily members that I had never met before. I also heard the standard "the last time I saw you, you were just a baby," line more than a few times. Overall it was helpful to sit back and watch a wedding, it reminded that the actual day will be stressful, but it also reinforced how much I enjoy weddings, and how excited I am to be a wedding photographer.

Kenneth Cole, A Killer Whale, and How They Relate To Me

One of my new favorite TV shows is the Big Idea with Donny Deutsch on CNBC, it is basically an interview show, with very interesting guests. Many of his guests are entrepreneurs and business owners. He has recently had a lot of people on who took a small idea and turned it into a huge business. For example he had the guy who started Vitamin Water, and the guy who started Sam Adams, and the CEO of Chick-fil-a. A few nights ago he had Kenneth Cole on, he of the high-end expensive shoes, who started with an idea; and turned it into a billion dollar company.

So during the commercials I was flipping around and CNN was interviewing one of the biologists at Sea World. Recently a trainer was attacked by a killer whale so they were talking to the biologist about killer whales, their life cycle, habits, etc.

I was flipping back and forth for a few minutes, and realized I am more interested in learning about killer whales and how the environmental changes are effecting them, than I am in learning about very expensive men's shoes. But I didn't want to watch the poorly dressed, and extremely boring scientist. I wanted to watch the charismatic and well spoken businessman.

It got me thinking about many things, first I can see why people don't take as much of an interest in the environment as they should. Many of the "spokespeople" for environmental issues are either boring scientists or very liberal "environmentalists." Both of these types of people turn me off, they are either uninteresting, or tend to be "holier-than-thou." Of course I am making extremely broad generalizations, but in my experience these tend to hold up. I think this is why Al Gore is trying to have more of a personality, and doing a pretty good job.

So how do they relate? Basically a well spoken, engaging, intelligent person will be able to sell you on just about anything, or at least keep you interested longer. It's not that people don't care about the environment, it's just that the "environment" doesn't have a great spokesperson.

As far as business goes, it reminded me of the importance of always putting my best foot forward. Whenever I meet with a potential client, or whenever I meet with anyone who can potentially help me, I need to present myself as someone who is organized, but also someone who is engaging and charismatic. I need to listen to the other person, and take a GENUINE interest in them as a person. By doing this, and being sincere, and having a passion for my work, I know that I will be successful. While I don't consider my a salesman in the typical way, I am always going to be selling myself and my business. And the best salespeople are the ones who are friendly, engaging and seem to relate to you on more of a personal level. All skills that I think I possess, but that I must always be consciously working improving.

You Should Go There

Jess and I went to Moab for a few days after Thanksgiving, it was only a 5.5 hour drive out there which wasn't bad at all. We spent Friday afternoon and Saturday morning at Arches National Park, which if you have never been there is definitely worth the trip. There are over 2000 natural arches in the park and there are many that you can almost drive right up to. Some of them are huge, Landscape Arch is the largest in the world and spans over 300 feet.

Landscape Arch at sunrise


There is of course probably the most famous arch called Delicate Arch, it is on the Utah license plates. We didn't hike all the way up to it this time, but it is pretty cool, even from far away.


The colors are incredible, especially at sunset. A lot of deep reds and oranges in the rocks.


Sunset


Every single arch is extremely unique and different, many of them have lost large chunks out of them which dramatically changes how they look. There is also a lot of sand out there, as most of the rock formations are sandstone, we probably should have worn sandals.



It was a nice little get away, the weather was great, we ate some good food and had a great time together. So if you ever have a chance, I highly recommend going there, this is my third time and they have all been very cool.

Changed My Website...Again

Actually I just added a few new pages, changed some of the text on the pages, and made a few other small changes. But please check it out and let me know what you think about it, also please let me know if you see anything I need to change; like any spelling or punctuation.

I also met yesterday with a photographer here in Colorado named Grant Oakes, I just called him randomly and asked if he would be willing to sit and chat, and he was very receptive to it. He has been professionally photographing weddings for about 10 years, he commands a fairly high price and had some great ideas and insights for me. He also offered me the opportunity to tag along with him as an "assistant" some time. He said I would be able to help him shoot the wedding and get a better idea of the flow of the day. That would be extremely helpful to me in building my portfolio and becoming more comfortable during the actual event. He only photographs about 25 weddings a year, and he said he may be able to pass my name along to couples who can't afford his services. That is almost like free advertising, and would be an incredibly helpful way to get my feet off the ground. So all in all a pretty good two days so far this week. I hope everyone has a nice Thanksgiving break.

The albums that I will be offering to brides and grooms is a fine art coffee table book. They come in a variety of sizes, and either square or vertical format. The cool thing is that you can custom design each page for the album. I arrange and lay out all the pages with all of their pictures, I can add borders, backgrounds, etc. This makes each book unique and custom so that the couple has something nobody else has. I think these books will be very desirable.

"Can I Photograph Your Wedding?"

As I mentioned last time I have been learning alot about business, but now my biggest, and most important challenge, is to begin advertising and finding clients. After all the overriding goal of this business is to make money, and I can't do that without some clients. My SBA class last week was about marketing and I met with my aunt last week who works in marketing and advertising. I definitely got a clearer picture of the general principles of marketing, and some ideas of more specific things to do. This is going to be a big challenge for me because first I need to find some couples getting married; but then I need to convince them to allow me to photograph the most important day of their lives. Oh and by the way I have only photographed one wedding before, and you will need to pay me $2000, so how about it? Obviously my sales pitch will be more refined, and I know that I have the ability and creativity to do an incredible job, so my confidence will definitely show through.

My First Wedding (That I Photographed)

Back to "getting" clients, I think that the best way to start will be a type of grassroots campaign. I am going to print up brochures, make a list of all of the wedding related businesses in the area and start going door to door asking if I can leave some brochures. My hope will be to spread my name as far and wide as possible in hopes of receiving a few phone calls, and then maybe booking a few weddings. I have a feeling that it will be somewhat of an exponential curve; it will be slow going for awhile, but as I start to photograph a few weddings the bookings will come more frequently. This whole process may take in excess of an entire year, and I am prepared for that. If I can photograph 10 weddings by the end of next year, that would be very beneficial. After I begin to see what my "typical" client might look like, than I can spend some money on advertising. Try things like buying a mailing list and sending out direct mail pieces; which is actually more successful than one might think.

One of my favorite pictures ever, Thanks Marcus


I also need to begin to create a more targeted market or client. Right now my ideal target market would be a couple from the ages of 21-28. I would like to try and target the younger couple getting married because I feel that I have some insight to getting married at a younger than average age. I feel that I would be able to relate to someone closer to my age. I also don't believe that there are many photographers specifically targeting this age group. Knowing this target market will also influence the places I do some advertising, for instance I will try and market more heavily on college campuses in the area. This will definitely be a huge challenge, and the majority of my time the next few weeks will be spent on some of these tasks. I did read that about 15-20% of all engagements happen in December, so that is good news for me.

Oh by the way if anyone knows of any places that I can leave some brochures and business cards please let me know. Please also feel free to pass my name along to anyone you know who is getting married, or who needs a photographer in any way. Word of mouth is going to be EXTREMELY important for me right now, so any help that I can get from any person or place will be greatly appreciated. As always thanks for reading and Happy Thanksgiving!

Fall Foliage of Colorado

I'm Learning a lot

I have taken two classes through the Small Business Administration, I have been reading books, and doing a ton of online research. I have received a huge amount of information about how to run a business. At my most recent SBA class we learned about business entities, taxes, liability, and small business loans. While this information is very technical it is also extremely important to the viability and success of any business. The general statistics I've heard are that about 85% of businesses fail in the first year, and of those 15% that succeed another 70-80% fail in the next five years. These statistics can be a bit frightening, but with the right training and with a strong business and financial IQ many more businesses would succeed. There is never a shortage of great business ideas and inventions, but it seems like people fail to realize the importance of the "boring" aspects of a business. While I can't admit that accounting and balance sheets are the most exciting, I can say that the idea of learning more intrigues me.

Sunset through the trees.


Working on a trail crew this summer was great fun, I got in good shape, and it helped me lose some unwanted pounds. However the majority of our conversations during the day seemed to turn to bodily functions, or making fun of each other, sometimes it felt like I was 16 or 17 again (only with more friends.) But in the last two weeks I have already learned so much, I have a much better understanding of the direction of my business, as well as more of the nitty-gritty things. For example I thought I was going to be a sole-proprietor, however I am now deciding between an LLC (limited liability company) and becoming a corporation, yes, you can actually be a one-person corporation. The last two weeks have really allowed me to use my brain alot more than I had in previous months, something that has been very beneficial for me, and my brain.

Rusty fence in eastern Colorado while hunting this week.


This coming week I expect will be very helpful. My third SBA class is all about marketing, and I am meeting with my aunt who works in marketing and advertising. I will also be meeting with a local photographer in town, I sent him an e-mail asking if he would be interested in sitting down with me, and he was very excited about the idea. Hopefully I will be able to gain some great insight from someone who has been in the business for 25 years.

By the way check this website out, he owns a photography studio in California, his company photographs 75 weddings a year and this is his rate. Unbeleivable, but something to aspire to.
http://www.storybookweddings.com/pricing3589/coverage.html

I hope everyone is doing well, keep in touch.

My First Class

I went to class all day yesterday at the Small Business Administration. They have four workshops, one a week for the next three weeks, and it is put on by the group called SCORE. This is the same group who also offers the free counseling. The class yesterday had three components: first they talked about general things in starting a business, second one gentleman talked about financial statements, and third a woman from the denver public library. I found the class extremely insightful and definitely took alot from it; I am excited for the next three weeks. One of the big things they talked about was creating a business plan, I have read some examples and they are very thorouhg, very in depth and 20-30 pages long. This is one thing that I will be working on, it is similar to a road map of your business and they say you should always be referring to it as you run your business. I also learned the Denver Public Library has amazing resources for people starting businesses. They have lists of every business in just about every field in the United States, 13 million small businesses to be exact, they also have detailed information about consumers and their spending habits. For example there are 190,000 households in Denver that are 18-34 year old singles. This is all information that is important when determining who your customers are and what they spend their money on.

There were about 20 people in this class, all different ages and all with different business ideas. Some good, some interesting, some maybe more difficult to start. There were three people who wanted to start hypnotherapy and accupuncture clinics, this must be getting more popular. There were also more women than men in the class, which I thought was great. It was cool to see so many people who were passionate about starting a business and who had so many great ideas. A few of the people had already been in business for a few years and some had started more than one business, smart dedicated and driven people, hopefully I can match them.

Fitzy in Great Basin National Park

Unemployed vs. Self-Employed

Well today is my first day of being self-employed. It is however a very fine line between that and being unemployed, because the reality is that I probably won't be making any money any time soon. However I do realize and know that, and it doesn't scare or worry me; besides I have a sugar mama. Jess and I are definitely going to have to curb some of our spending and make sure we are a bit more stingy with money. However starting this business is something that is very important to both of us and we are ready to make the sacrifices necessary.

Alpenglow of Mount Washington in Great Basin National Park



I think what I am most excited about is how I will answer the question, "So what are you doing now?" Since I graduated CSU I have had my fair share of jobs, and that question quickly became annoying. I would seemingly have a different answer every few months, people wouldn't know where I was working or what I was doing. Now I have a good answer. I am also excited about the prospect of being my own boss, scary yes, but exhilarating as well. I am going to have to be more self-motivated than ever before, I am going to need patience and determination. The fact, though, that I will be making all the decisions, and I will be putting MY ideas into action is what will keep me going.

Creek in Rocky Mountain National Park


So what will I be doing today, and the rest of the week? I need to set some tangible goals for myself that I can reach by the end of the year. Things like registering my business name, getting a tax number, and doing some advertising. The next four wednesdays will be spent at the Small Business Administration taking a class they offer. This week is "Starting Your own Business," I think it will be appropriate. I will need to be contacting other photographers and learning more about the trade. There is alot to do and I am excited about doing it.

A new idea in weddings

I have read about and seen many photographers who create a blog entry for every wedding they are a part of. It is an idea that I really like, so I have decided to try it. I think it gives the couple a third party account of how the wedding went. The photographer is not as emotionally involved as the family members so he or she will have a slightly different perspective on everything that takes place. Not only that but the photographer is usually right in on some of the most important aspects of the wedding. The idea I have for this blog will be a few paragraphs about the whole day along with a few pictures. I believe it will be a great way for the couple to look back at the day, and also a great way for them to continue to share the day with family and friends. I have created a new blog which you can check out at http://schaeferphotography.blogspot.com, I have also created a link to it on the right. I have created a post about the first wedding that I photographed. Hopefully this will be something that couples will find to be unique to their wedding. It may also be an idea more appealing to younger couples, that I'm not sure about. Well check it out and let me know what you think. Today is thursday and my last day of work got snowed out, I'm not all that dissapointed. I am however very excited about being able to spend alot more time dedicated to my photography business.

A Big THANK YOU

I would like to say thank you to Mike and Carly (I'm not sure what their combined moniker is) who have given me the opportunity to photograph their upcoming wedding. It will be a huge step for me, allowing me to add to my wedding portfolio. So thanks again Mike and Carly, I look forward to being a part of your wedding.

Taking an online class

I signed up for an online photography course, The Business of Photography, through betterphoto.com recently. The class consists of 8 weekly lessons, this week for example is creating a mission statement. I also submit 6 photographs each week that are critiqued by the instructor. The instructors are well known photographers, many of whom have written books on their particular trade. I believe this course will be helpful, first it will allow a third party to critique some of my photos; unfortunately family and friends aren't always critical of my photos. However it is great to hear family and friends tell me how great my pictures are, that positive praise is what gives me the confidence to know that I can make it as a professional photographer. Secondly the class will allow me to think more about the business aspect of photography, the part I know the least about. Things like a mission statement, and a business plan are necessities of a successful business, so this class will allow me to focus more on those aspects of photography. I think the class will be very beneficial, and will be a great stepping stone. I would also like to say thanks to my parents who have graciously offered to pay for the class.


On an unrelated note, northwestern Colorado is an extremely beautiful region of the state. My dad and I recently went antelope hunting in Craig, Colorado. It is a town roughly the size of Silverthorne, however much less developed. It is about 45 miles west of Steamboat Springs and unfortunately most people think there isn't much past Steamboat. Craig is definitely a hunting town, all of the grocery stores, sporting goods stores, restaurants, bars and gas stations display huge banners that say "Welcome Hunters!" A great sight to see when you are a hunter. Craig's elevation is 6100 feet so the climate would be similar to Denver's. In a day and a half there, we saw hundreds of deer, elk, and antelope. There are mountain lions, bears, badgers, and a myriad of other wildlife. Northwestern Colorado boasts the best elk hunting in the state, and from my experience some very friendly people. If you ever have the chance to visit Craig I would recommend it. The wildlife and scenery are definitely worth it.

Three antelope about 200 yards away.Oh, and by the way both my dad and I were lucky enough to both harvest an antelope.

Free Counseling

I went to the Small Business Administration in Downtown Denver on Friday. They have a program called SCORE, which basically provides free counseling to anyone who is starting a business, or in business. There are between 10-20 counselors who have anywhere from 15-50 years of business experience. They are very knowledgeable people who have expertise in many different fields and many different businesses. The best part of the whole program is that you can go as often as you want, as many times as you want for free. The gentleman I met with was very helpful and gave me some great ideas as to where to start. Basically I am in the "information gathering stage," I will need to research my market; find out who my competition is and determine exactly what it is I want to do. I will need to start calling photographers in the area and asking first if they will send me some of their marketing pieces; and also see if I can find some photographers who will meet with me so that I can ask them some questions about the business. I don't think it will be easy to "cold call" people and ask for their help, especially if I will become competition; but I am hopeful that there are a few people out there who will be willing to help. I have also changed my website and hopefully made it better; there are more pictures and I feel that it is more professional. You can link to it from this blog, so please check it out and let me know what you think about it. Go Broncos!

I'm finally doing it

Well after years of reading about and studying about the business of photography, and frankly procrastinating, I have decided that now is the right time to start my own business. My seasonal job as a trail monkey ends in one month, so I will need to continue working somewhere, probably part-time, but the rest of my time will be spent on photography. Especially the exciting aspects like marketing, advertising, taxes and busniness plans. Actually those things do excite me, the whole idea of being self-employed is very exciting to me. I have decided that this blog will be a good way for me to let everyone know what I am doing, but it will also allow me to monitor my own progress. I will write about where I am in the process, what challenges I am facing and how I am overcoming obstacles. Please feel free to give any advice or opinions you may have, and also ask me how things are going. I will also post pictures that I have taken, so please give me some feedback, both good and bad. I hope that life is treating everyone well, and I look forward to hearing from everyone.