Social Media – Page 4 – Journeys of a Hybrid

May 15, 2011May 15, 2011

Avoiding the Pitfalls When Working from Home

A lot of my photographer friends have closed their studios this year, due to a lousy economy and changes with the type of work they do. They’ve set up offices in their home and some have faired better than others. It seems like this transition is a lot harder for some of my male friends than my female friends.

Maggie Doyne visit- 2011-04-20 — Gail in her "home office" - cluttered but productive.

I think it’s kind of a “hunter/gatherer” type thing where some men feel the need to head off to a “place of work” and if they don’t have that – they feel less “legitimate”.

This past winter one of my friends was having a particularly tough time making this transition and he was ready to pack it all in and get a “real” job. He called me because he knew that I’ve always worked from home, and he wanted to know how I dealt with it and stayed productive. We had a long and very honest conversation and he thanked me.

I saw him at a party this weekend and he came up to me, thanked me again and told me things were looking up for him. Quite honestly, I had forgotten the conversation but he reminded me of some things I said to him and suggested that I blog about it. So here goes.

Some tips and some things to avoid:

Start off by calling it your “home office” – not “working from home”. Somehow it’s different psychologically.

Be prepared for well meaning family and friends to encourage you to get a “real job”. This happens a lot with people who have creative careers. It’s hard, but you need to explain to your loved ones that what you do IS a real job. Just because you’ve had to lower your overhead and work from a home office, doesn’t mean that you’ve failed. It does mean that you’ve had to make adjustments just like a lot of others have had to do these days to make ends meet.
Avoid falling into the trap of taking care of personal tasks during your business hours. My friend found himself spending a lot of time on errands that his spouse asked him to do – “since he was home”. That’s fine once in awhile, but if you find yourself spending half your day doing personal stuff – you are sabotaging yourself and your business. And personal stuff includes putting together Aunt Ann’s birthday bash photos in a fun presentation for all to see. Sure do that – but not during business hours because this is not your hobby – it’s your business.
Don’t get overly complacent as soon as you get rid of the expense of your studio. I’ve seen this happen a lot. The pressure to make that overhead is gone so you let your guard down and along with that your clients start to disappear. But it’s because you’ve disappeared – you’re not marketing yourself anymore – and you’re off your clients’ radar.
- • Have a routine just like you would if you walked out the door to go to work.
- • Get up at a set time and get dressed – sounds simple but it’s important
- • Have set work hours
- • Have a plan – just because you’re in your home doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a business plan with action items.
- • Avoid distractions – tough one. If you find yourself doing something that a “boss” wouldn’t approve of – then stop yourself. You’re the boss so stop cheating yourself.
Network and connect with your peers and colleagues. This is important, especially in a creative business. You need to have people you can bounce things off of. I have a couple of friends in my life that I’m really grateful for because I know I can share my vulnerabilities and ideas with them without being judged. Friends can do that for you because they don’t have anything personally at stake and can look at things with unbiased eyes. These connections are critical when working from home. These days it’s easy to connect with others. If you can’t do a face-to-face – you’ve got hundreds of other options with social media, listservs or just pick up the phone.
Remember on your darkest days when it seems like it’s hopeless and you’re ready to pack it in and get one of those “real jobs” – don’t totally abandon your dream just yet – leave the door cracked open at least. Maybe get a part time job to start. It will take some of the pressure off and if photography or music or writing or whatever – is your passion – then you’ll quickly find out that a “real job” may not be what makes you happy. The cynics may say that you shouldn’t expect happiness with a job and that the expectation of a job should be to just pay your bills. Maybe so, but do you want to spend most of your life being miserable or counting down the hours to your next vacation? Many times that part time job gives you the push you need to re-invigorate your business because you’ve had a taste of the alternative.
Don’t burn your bridges. If you’ve had even the slightest bit of success in the past, following your passions but are in a slump – don’t be so quick to announce to the world that you’re moving on to another career – unless you are thoroughly convinced that you will never have any regrets making that decision. You get the best light from a burning bridge – but it’s usually too late by then. If there’s one thing I’ve learned the hard way – it’s not to burn bridges – because life has a way of making you regret it.

April 27, 2011April 27, 2011

Validation No Longer Necessary

There seems to be a prevailing attitude of doom and gloom. We have an economy that can’t seem to turn itself around and we’re bombarded by change that technology continues to thrust upon us. We’re scared to death of the unknown and nobody seems to know what to do next and how to make any money doing it.

Yet, I’ve never been more hopeful in my life. Why? Because I no longer need someone else to validate my ideas – and that is a powerful notion. Those of us in the communication business seem to be particularly fearful. Some believe that the “news” business is dying because print publications – newspapers and magazines are folding every week. But the “news” business is not dying – it’s just being delivered in another way – electronically and globally. There are no longer just a few gatekeepers with a lock on the playing field.

Human beings are social animals and we will always have the need to communicate with each other. These days we can communicate with one another globally. An idea or creation can be shared around the world in a matter of minutes. Think of the power in that and think of how we can use that power and the opportunities it presents. I could digress into a discussion on the ethics of this thought but I’d like to focus more on the reach and influence that each one of us has in creating awareness.

Many of us get enamored with the latest devices that enable us to deliver and receive information with speed and ease. As technology’s exponential growth continues to change our lives in every way imaginable, we will constantly be incorporating and upgrading new gadgets and devices as part of our lives. We need to be mindful that these “toys” are merely enablers and that each one of us can use these tools to create and distribute our words, images, designs and ideas across the planet.

I think that we as creative’s or journalists underestimate ourselves sometimes. Perhaps because we chose professions that aren’t lucrative – at least in terms of money. However, what one is paid doesn’t necessarily correlate with one’s worth. We live in a time now where we can use our creative skills to really make a difference and to tell the stories that we feel need to be told. Mass communication has been democratized. We no longer need the traditional gatekeepers to validate our ideas.

I never would have dreamed that I would be able to circumvent the globe, create a documentary with only one other person in my crew – my daughter and then distribute it internationally. I never imagined that I would have the power to create awareness on a global level like I did when I uploaded my trailer to Vimeo. In a little more than a week’s time people in over 72 countries had played that video. Now in less than a month’s time, that trailer has been played in almost half the countries on the planet. Staggering thought.

This was not a commissioned project by a network or a motion picture studio. If I had waited for that – it never would have happened. I assigned myself. I was able to fund it by using my airline points, hotel rewards and doing trades with manufacturers for equipment. I also successfully raised money via Kickstarter a crowd funding site that made it possible for me to hire a professional editor. My daughter and I have been building an audience for our film since we started blogging about our journey. Our readers got more and more engaged as they followed us on our 99-day adventure around the world. They spread the word through Facebook and Twitter and via their own blogs and pretty soon word of our project spread virally. That was precisely our goal. To use our tools and skills to create a film about the change makers of our world so that others would be inspired and motivated as to what they can do.

I often think about how things in my life and in history would have been different if we had the Internet when I was growing up. For starters it would have had a huge effect on the Civil Rights Movement of the 60’s and the Vietnam War. But everything happens in its own time and when it is meant to happen. Change can be scary or it can be embraced and sometimes both at the same time.

Never stop dreaming. Never stop learning. Always listen to that inner voice. Then use the means and the tools of the day to do the dance you are meant to do.

March 31, 2011

Believing in the Impossible

It’s such a big leap isn’t it? To really believe that anything is possible. For me it’s far easier to believe that anything I put my mind to is possible than to think that everything is hopeless. It’s a simple mindset and a way of life.

Think about it for a minute. When you are convinced that you have the ability to make the impossible – possible – then you will put your dreams into action. You will take that chance and by doing so you are creating your own reality instead of reacting to what others have created for you which may not be in your best interests.

I’ve never been a big fan of hearing “you can’t do that” or “it won’t work”. Those are fighting words to me because no one can predict the future – so I find comments like that offensive to my very being. I’ve come up with my own theories about why there are so many naysayers in the world. One theory is that misery loves company and because there are some people who stop themselves – they seem to take comfort in deterring others from their dreams.

Stay away from the naysayers and remind yourself that they don’t know the future – nobody does. Hang around people who are crazy enough to brazenly go forward and pursue those thoughts and dreams that live deep inside themselves because they are listening to their inner spirit.

They say the spirit inside never ages. I believe that and I know when I feel aligned with my spirit because I feel child like – filled with wonder, curiosity and belief in myself and my dreams. When I tell people about my wild notions, they get caught up in my passions and spur me on. These days with social media we have the power to turn one person’s simple idea into a collective thought – into a possibility. Imagine the power in that thought. That’s the power of the individual to create change and change starts with that one crazy thought that someone had who listened to their spirit inside.

Let’s hear some of your own crazy notions. Who knows it just may spark something in someone and change their life.

March 21, 2011

Some Useful Information for Workflow

I made a few new discoveries this past week. Forgive me if these items aren’t new but they’re new to me.

One item I discovered was Drop Box and the timing was perfect. Drop Box is a sharing and storage site. I can upload files and documents to their server and share those files with anyone who has Drop Box installed on their computer. For instance, I am able to share project files and updates with the editor that I am working with on Opening Our Eyes. This past week, I was working on a new trailer for my film and I was able to share that updated project file with him, along with the RF music that I licensed for it.

The other thing that I love about Drop Box is that I can share files and info with the various computers that I work on. No more emailing docs or copying media to a DVD so that I can transfer files over to my laptop. With Drop Box installed, I can share files, media and calendars with any and all of my computers. As a bonus, Drop Box acts as an off site storage solution as well.

My other discovery was a royalty free music site called Neosounds. I’ve been searching through hundreds of royalty free music libraries over the years and Neosounds is definitely the best source for high quality music that I’ve found. It stands out amongst the rest because their music doesn’t sound like royalty free music. Recently, I needed music for a new trailer that I was making for OOE and I was googling around for some cinematic sounds. I found the perfect background music for my film’s trailer. I’m still tweaking the trailer a bit, but you can listen to a clip of music from Neosounds that I used in a short video I made that appeared on a recent blog post.

One last item that I’ll mention is a great source for travel guides – the unconventional type. They are called Unconventional Guides and are brought to you by Chris Guillebeau. Since discovering Chris Guillebeau’s blog The Art of Non-Conformity, I’ve become a huge fan of Chris and his writings. If you haven’t discovered Chris’s blog , then do so. He has an amazing outlook on life and he articulates his thoughts so beautifully in his blog. His global view of the world and how to live life is truly an inspiration to me. He’s definitely, a kindred spirit.

Back to tweaking. Stay tuned for my next blog with links to some new samples.

February 7, 2011

Monday Morning Quarterbacking

Ok, I’m just going to come right out and say it. I was one of the few people in America who did NOT watch the Super Bowl yesterday. Before you try to enlighten me as to the merits of the game and sentence me to watch NFL highlights, let me just say I don’t like football. Just never got into the touchy feeliness of the sport. And besides, I’m still chained to my editing station – finally starting to see light at the end of the tunnel.

But this morning I couldn’t escape the pundits grading and scoring the Super Bowl commercials as I clicked through the morning programs looking for the “news”. It was interesting to hear their “take” on what commercials were successful. Most of the pundits made their assessments through the eyes of their “ad men” (and women) persona, debating which commercials caught the attention of the viewers.

One “expert” frequently commented, “now this one had people telling their friends – be quiet – I want to hear the commercial. I’m not quite sure what Super Bowl party this person went to, but no doubt it was a party made up of other advertising folks. Now, I’ve had very limited experience attending Super Bowl parties, but as for the ones I have been to – nobody has ever said “be quiet – so I can hear the commercial”. With that said, as I watched many of the spots this morning via YouTube, some of the most effective commercials required no listening at all. Check out this one for Bridgestone.

I guess the creatives who made this spot go to the same kind of parties as I do – parties where people don’t ask someone to turn the volume up for the commercials. Actually, I’ve learned a lot about editing by watching TV commercials with the sound off. The “story” either becomes apparent – or not.

The New York Times did a pretty good critique of the ads this morning. But what I found most interesting was the running commentary from the “average Joes” via Twitter and Facebook. No doubt some of these advertising experts were paying as much attention to the social media chatter this morning as Mumbarak’s men were. Hands down, the Chrysler “Detroit” spot won the most hearts – mine included. It drew me in from the start and kept me the entire two minutes. Imagine that – a two minute commercial! When was the last time you saw that? A beautiful mini-film told in credible brevity. Quite frankly, to me it would have been just as effective without Eminem or any celebrity for that matter. It evoked emotion – that’s what kept me watching.

At the end of the day, the commercials that resonated most with just about everyone – pundit and laymen alike were the ones that told a simple story that rang true with the human spirit. Works every time. To tell those stories, one needs to get out of the meeting rooms and late nights at the office and spend more time living life. Otherwise, what you end up with is a bunch of people creating commercials about what they think life is like.

January 11, 2011

SB3 – Get Inspired

If you haven’t registered for the ASMP Strictly Business 3 conference yet, I would highly suggest that you do so. They will be held in three locations starting next week: January 21-23 in Los Angeles; February 25-27 in Philadelphia; and April 1-3 in Chicago.

There’s an incredible line up of speakers presenting workshops on pricing, estimating, copyright, workflow, strategic career planning, successful portfolios and branding and video production. I’ll be presenting two workshops: “Thinking in Motion” and “Shooting Video with the DSLR”.

Branding expert Colleen Wainwright will deliver her keynote “Making People Love You Madly: Selling Yourself in a Postmodern Marketplace”. Tom Kennedy, whom I’ve know since his days at the National Geographic Magazine will give a keynote “Learning New Skills for the Changing Media Landscape”.

This conference series is meant for everyone, not just photographers who are beginning their careers. In fact, I think that photographers who have been in business for many years will benefit equally, if not more than a shooter who is new to the business.

I have been in business for over 30 years and I have found that one of the most dangerous things that can happen to a creative person, is for them to become complacent, especially in a business like photography. It’s even more deadly to become complacent these days in our fast changing world of technology. We not only need to stay current with our skills, we need to keep our vision fresh.

When I got into video and motion more than a decade ago, I was looking for something to excite me. I felt that even though my business was successful and that I had accomplished many of my creative goals, the spark was getting dim inside me and at times I felt like I was reinventing the wheel. So, I set out on a learning curve and have been soaking up information ever since.

I love to learn and I have found that the more I wonder and grow, the better off I am creatively and the more successful I am in business. I’ve also found that networking and collaborating with my peers has opened my eyes to all sorts of possibilities that I never knew existed. I think that’s what makes the SB3 conference so powerful – the sharing of information with our peers. You don’t get that from online learning.

We live in a time where anything is possible. Come to SB3 in LA, Philadelphia and Chicago and be prepared to be inspired.

January 6, 2011January 6, 2011

Crowd Funding and What I’ve Learned

There’s a scene at the end of my favorite holiday movie “It’s a Wonderful Life”

250px-It's_A_Wonderful_Life — It's a Wonderful Life

where George Bailey, a character played by Jimmy Stewart is surrounded by his friends as they come to his aid and bail him out of his financial shortcomings, caused by his crazy Uncle Billy. I’ve seen this film at least a dozen times and ok – I admit it – I cry every time George Bailey’s little girl opens a book that mysteriously appears under the Christmas tree with the inscription “No man is a failure who has friends”.

I felt like George Bailey today when I saw the email from Kickstarter telling me that my daughter’s and my film project, Opening Our Eyes had been officially funded. We actually exceeded our goal of $7500 and raised just over $10,000! What a feeling – what a triumph and all possible because of our “friends”. Through crowd funding – our friends had helped us reach our goal and made our film a reality.

This would not have been possible just two years ago. But, Kickstarter and other crowd funding sites like it, provide other options for artists and entrepreneurs who are seeking funds to make their creative ideas come to life. Many times these ideas might not fit within the confines of what a traditional bank would finance, but there are some great ideas that have a chance now of becoming a reality – and we all benefit by that.

Here are some things that I have learned through the process of getting our film funded on Kickstarter.

•    You have to do the work. Once you launch your project page on Kickstarter, you need to let potential backers know about it, using social media or email blasts or word of mouth. Just like getting traffic to your website, you can’t expect people to stumble upon your project and fund it.
•    You have to make it fun. Have fun with the “rewards” that you offer your backers, and on Kickstarter every project must have rewards. People love to give, but they also love to feel like they are part of something or that they have helped to make something happen. If a backer contributed to my project at the $500 reward level, they will receive an Associate Producer credit in the film and on the project’s website, along with DVD’s of the film when it’s completed, as well as a signed print and an e-book from the project’s journey.
•    Keep your financial goal realistic. Look at other projects that are similar to yours and see what the “market will bear”. See what has been successful and ask yourself why. Remember that if you ask for too much money and don’t meet 100% of your goal by the time the funding period is over for your project, then you won’t receive anything. Only projects that are successfully funded at 100%, will receive funds.
•    Use social media and email blasts with common sense – don’t be obnoxious. If you do send emails – don’t send an email again to someone who has already backed your project. Ask people to share your project link on social media but don’t overdo it.
•    Post updates on your project to keep your backers and potential backers informed. Use visuals if you have them, both on your page site as well as in your updates. Photographs and videos really give a project presence and are a must have. You want to stand out from the crowd.
•    There is no such thing as a pledge too small. They say the average pledge on Kickstarter is around $25 and I can attest to that. Out of our 161 backers – 69 had made pledges of $25. It all adds up. And every time someone backs your project there is also the opportunity that they may share it with someone they know who may in turn make a contribution.
•    Be grateful and appreciative. I made it a point to send each and every one of my backers a personal thank you note.
•    Have faith – because anything is truly possible these days.

October 26, 2010

“Kickstarting” a Passion Project

For anyone who has been reading my blog, you know a few things about me – I love to dialog and share with others, my work and my pleasure are one in the same and I always have a passion project that I’m working on.

I can’t say that I’ve always been like this. In the beginning of my career it was a lot harder to dialog and share with people – pre-social media and email. And as my career took hold and I became busier with work, I didn’t have time for sharing or personal projects. But for someone like me who is a dreamer, I was starting to burn out.

When I started exploring the video medium in the late 90’s, it triggered a spark in me. I started thinking and dreaming about all the stories that I wanted to tell – that would be possible for me to tell – through this medium. One of my first attempts at telling a story with video was a short documentary I did on my daughter’s youth symphony. I couldn’t have picked a harder subject if I tried because it was all about sound, which I knew nothing about. And anyone who has ever shot a musical concert knows that it’s almost impossible to do with only one camera. But I naively pursued with this project and learned a lot in the process.

My next passion project was The Delta Blues Musicians that I envisioned as a multimedia project combining still environmental portraits of these musicians along with video interviews, capturing their life’s stories. It was a lot of work and for the most part, I went it alone – doing everything myself. For anyone who has ever tried to shoot both stills and video on the same job, you know it’s not an easy thing to do. That project will always be near and dear to my heart and continues to reward me in ways that I never knew were possible.

There have been other passion projects since these first two and my head is usually full of ideas that are rumbling around, just waiting for the right time to surface. I am in the midst of a project now, Opening Our Eyes that is perhaps the most ambitious one I’ve ever dreamed up. This past weekend I launched the project on Kickstarter. Kickstarter is a website that posts creative projects for the purposes of finding funds. It’s a perfect example of crowd funding where one can donate anywhere from $1 to $10,000 to the project of their choice, and in the process make someone’s idea come to life.

I launched Opening Our Eyes on Thursday and within 3 days we reached 30 % of our goal. We still have a long way to go and have another 71 days to get fully funded. The way Kickstarter works is that if you don’t get funded 100%, then all bets are off and you don’t receive anything. So, I’m doing my best to do what I like the least and that is make a pitch for pledges. My intent is to secure enough funds so that I can collaborate with a professional editor and raise the bar on the film that my daughter and I shot this past summer on our 99-day adventure around the world, about people who are making a positive difference in the world.

It’s really a win/win for anyone who chooses to give – even a pledge of $25 will get us closer to our goal and you’ll receive a DVD of our film when it’s finished. So please check out our project on Kickstarter and pass this link along to others. Ultimately our goal is to inspire and motivate other change-makers through the power of our film. We know we can do it with everyone’s help and it will make you feel good to give – it always does.

October 18, 2010October 18, 2010

The Power of Yes

I’ve just experienced one of the most extraordinary weekends of my life – all because I said yes. Barely more than a week ago, I sent an email with a link to the trailer of my documentary to Rebecca Self,

Rebecca_MG_0359 — Rebecca Self at the European Summit for Global Transformation

who I was introduced to by two of the subjects in my film, Letha Sandison and Maggie Doyne.

LethaMaggie_MG_0371 — Letha Sandison and Maggie Doyne

Rebecca is an amazing woman – she’s a connector of change makers. The day after Rebecca got my email, she replied “Would you consider coming to Amsterdam this weekend and showing your trailer at The European Summit for Global Transformation. My first thought was “wow” – and with a title like that, it was bound to be a gathering of very interesting people. My next thought was, “it’s not possible – there’s not enough time – the airfare will be high” etc. etc. All very practical thoughts – right?

And then I flipped it and told myself all the reasons I should say yes. I ‘d have the opportunity to show a culturally diverse audience a sample of my film and talk about the idea behind it. I would get to see Letha and Maggie again because they were going to be speaking. And most importantly, I would be spending the weekend with people that not only believed that anything is possible – but are making the impossible happen, together. So I replied to Rebecca and said YES.

For two days I listened, as all kinds of people told their stories – people who are actively doing things that are making our world a better place. They awed me with their courage, their commitment and their passion. But the most empowering part of the conference was connecting with these people, who were not only there to talk about what they were doing, but also to network with others to help them make their commitments a reality.

As I write this, on my last night in Amsterdam. I’m ready to head out to have one final dinner with some of the most fascinating people I have ever met. It has been a powerful weekend, being part of this group of people, from all over the world that are making extraordinary things happen. This is what my film is all about – the power of the individual, working together to make things happen – across the globe.

To be able to show my ten-minute trailer to these amazing change makers was an honor and reward in itself. But to spend the weekend with such a unique group of people who believe that anything is possible, was extraordinary and fortified me as I go forward in editing over 150 hours of footage.

I have a friend who is always telling me that I need to say “no” more often – because I tend to spread myself too thin. But this time, I was glad I said “yes”.

October 13, 2010October 13, 2010

The Thin Line Between Work and Pleasure

I’ve always been lucky because there’s a very thin line between my work and my personal life. That’s because I’ve never looked at what I do for a living as work, or at least if one defines work in negative terms.

I became a photographer and later a filmmaker because I’m a born storyteller and the camera is a means to that end for me. I come from a long line of storytellers, as evidenced by boxes of old letters telling the tales of family long gone. While they may have told their tales by pen, through their words, I have chosen the camera as my tool to tell the stories that I have to tell. So how could I possibly equate the word work with the professional life that I’ve built – telling the stories of people and companies around the world? It’s in my blood.

Sure, there have been jobs through the years that seem a lot more like work than others, especially when a client hasn’t trusted their instincts in why they hired me by allowing me to trust mine. But there have been so many other jobs where I’ve had to pinch myself to believe that they’re real.

I’m also a firm believer in following my instincts and that has led to many rewarding opportunities in my life. I’ve been doing that a lot lately and the universe is opening up for me. I’ve stopped waiting for someone else to validate me in order for me to pursue a project that I’m passionate about. I’ve stopped telling myself all the reasons that I shouldn’t do something and I’ve replaced them with all the reasons that I should. I think about the pros and don’t dwell on the cons. And that’s because I’ve blurred the lines between work and pleasure.

I’ve just completed a 99-day journey shooting a documentary on change makers – people who were making a positive difference in the world. Over the weekend I got an email, inviting me to show my ten-minute tease at the opening of the European Summit For Global Transformation in Amsterdam, this weekend. I immediately started to discount it, telling myself that I didn’t have enough notice etc. etc. Then I saw it differently – I saw it as an incredible opportunity to not only show the tease of my film but to network with like minded people. So, this evening I’m headed to Amsterdam.

Years ago when I was traveling a lot, shooting for magazines like Travel & Leisure and National Geographic Traveler, as I departed for my trips, my mother always used to say – “have a nice vacation”. I used to get annoyed because I thought that she didn’t recognize the fact that I was working and not going on vacation. But, as I reflect back on the “work dynamic” that I’ve set up for myself, I think – maybe she was the one that had it right. It’s been one long pleasure trip.