Jovial blog titles aside, I am learning very quickly that if I don't know my numbers, as a business it's as if you are standing in quicksand. What lit a fire under my, ahem, feet was this awesome talk that Zack Arias gave on Photoshelter. If you have a chance go listen to it. First stop, he says is getting a bookkeeper (I just did today, so yay me). But he also urges photographers to know their numbers – what your services and products need to be priced at to be a sustainable and hopefully profitable business.

We are in this to make money. Let's not be afraid or ashamed of that. In fact, my ability to be in business means I am able to serve more people. So, one feeds the other. Want more of that rationale? Read Tara Gentile's incredible e-book, The Art of Earning [affiliate]. Yes, you should read it. It blew my mind.

Ok, back to numbers. Your numbers. How do you arrive at them. Do you copy the local competition? No! Wrong move. Why? Well, because her/his numbers are more than likely a good fit for him/her. Your business has to have unique numbers, customized to your situation.

As a new photographer, I had no clue how to go about deriving those numbers. It wasn't till recently when I started crafting my new business, Amata Pictures, that I have conscientiously put pen to paper and come up with what I must make and what I would love to make in the business.

While there are things like the NPPA's “cost of doing business calculator,” I needed more hand holding. So, I turned to Design Aglow's The Essential Pricing Guide for Portrait Photographers.

“Design Aglow has created another exceptional educational tool that will cover the groundwork of basic business finance and budgets, provide you with Best Practices thinking to set up budgets for cost recovery, calculating your time and paycheck and pricing to support your brand strategy.”

This is elegantly designed. No surprises there as just about anything that Design Aglow offers is meticulously designed. I am sure you are curious to know what's inside. The 70-page PDF is split into eight parts.

Part 1 – So, What Are The Real Numbers?

If things like “Gross Profit” or “Cost of Goods (COGs)” have stifled you in the past, this section of the guide will put you right at ease. You need to know this to set those prices that are unique to your studio.

Part 2 – How To Create An Effective Budget

Do you know your monthly, quarterly or annual expenses? I did not. This section works in tandem with the Studio Budget Worksheet that is provided to you.

Part 3 – Calculations For Time & Paying Yourself

Photographers often forget to pay themselves. A portion of what you make must be set aside as income for yourself. But how do you calculate what your time is worth? The folks at Design Aglow will help you. This important section will help you figure out whether you need to work more or work less to arrive at a number that satisfies you. Do be careful though how you draw money out because that is based on how you are structured as a business (sole proprietor, LLC, S Corp etc.) Definitely talk with your CPA before making any final decisions.

Part 4 – Pricing For Your Brand

This part of the guide truly surprised me with new information. I had never heard of “pricing for your brand” before. While the first three sections talked raw numbers such as expense allocation, cost of goods sold and how to evaluate your time, this section describes how to define the value of your work, skill and output. Your target market and product offerings also are involved in arriving at your “pricing for your brand.” It's an interesting, perhaps somewhat subjective mix of factors that, as I said, I had never considered before.

Part 5 – Smart Pricing For Your Studio

This part of the guide helps you come up with how to design a package/collection, what session types you may want to offer, whether you will require a minimum purchase or mandatory purchase of a collection etc.

Part 6 – Your Game Plan

So, if you have worked through the first five sections, how are you going to implement these pricing changes? What will your clients say when they see them? How will you message your value to your clients? You'll learn all of that in this very telling section of the guide book.

Part 7 – Advice On Using The Worksheets & Price Lists (yes, these are included too)

Ok, full confession here. I hate working with numbers. But, as I have tried to urge you, getting your numbers down early in the game is going to help have a sustainable business or at least one where you know is headed in one direction or another. The worksheets included int his product offering should not be avoided. If you work through them, you'll find yourself looking back at these through the year to see if you are on track or you need to adjust something in your workflow. So, I urge you to check these out.

Part 8 – Industry Contributors

Hear form photographers like Audrey Woulard, Amber Scruggs, Angela Weedon, Meg Bitton, Lena Hyde & Allison Rodgers.

While these are all incredibly talented photographers, as a guy I had to wonder why there were no male representatives. Hmmm … Perhaps when Design Aglow updates this product they may reconsider including a few studios? Just a thought!

Between now and February 14th (yeah, Valentine's Day), show you really love your business and save $30 off of The Essential Pricing Guide For Portrait Photographers. Regular price will be $125. Buy it today for only $95.

Set aside for a second the obvious, which is the price is right. But why else would you want to get this new guide? The $95 investment is a small one to make for what will be your biggest gains this year. Can you imagine how this investment could make you $95,000 or $195,000? Well, that's how my brain works when I evaluate products. They simply MUST provide a tangible ROI and I believe this one does it for portrait photographers.

Ok, n'uff said … if you buy it, please come back here and tell me what you thought about it (but please go through the whole guide book … yes, worksheets as well). Deal? Here's wishing you the very best year for you and your business.

Full disclosure: I was sent this product to review but I do not receive any commissions for promoting it.

Look, I get it. Timing is everything. But what trumps that is planning and doing.

In 2001, I saw the editorial market fade. I started photographing weddings as only a real photojournalist would, which is to say I had no freakin' clue how much to charge clients, what to offer them, how to follow up with vendors and lastly how to grow my business. I got into this spin cycle that involved creating some amazing images but not sharing them with my clients in a timely manner and then signing on new clients and on and on. The excuses simply piled up and I found myself not really enjoying the process any more. All that to say a little bit of planning and strategizing back then would have helped me a great deal.

Now, I bet a lot of you are looking at the new year as a new point in life, perhaps your square one (which in itself is kind of refreshing if you think about it), to start your photography business. I know I am with my new venture, Amata Pictures.

So, I am starting with a business plan. While Todd & Jaime Reichman have helped me define my WHY, I'm working with Eric O'Connor of Agile Photog to come up with systems and processes. Having mentors like them goes a long way.

But if you are starting out or been a photographer for a couple of years, you need a road map or else you will do what I did initially and get totally lost. Just make sure the plan is flexible and scalable. That's important too, in my opinion. Don't believe for one second that a plan is etched in stone and that once you write it out, you have to stick to it. Quite contrary, you should be able to try things, test them out and spit them out if they don't work for you. There are ways of doing that without wasting time or your other resource, time. At the end of the day, your business plan should speak to you and whom you plan on serving, what Todd Reichman defines as your “rightest” clients.

I am an unabashed fan of the folks at PhotoShelter. They actively publish guides that help to elevate the photography industry. I was honored to attend their Luminance conference last year. For 2013, PhotoShelter has just published a new guide called The 2013 Photo Business Plan. It costs nothing and you do not have to sign up for their services. All they do require is your email information so that they can send you the guide.

Lots of good information in there including tips to:

– Market your photo business with Facebook
– Attract readers to your blog
– Improve SEO traffic
– Get more work from old clients
– Create a lasting photo brand
– Manage your finances and get smart with taxes

So, go here to get your 2013 Photo Business Plan workbook. It could just be your road map to success.

If someone wanted to know your family's story, what would you tell them? What would you show them?

As a father and husband, I have been thinking a lot about this. How will my kids and wife remember me, how will I remember them? How have we spent time together as a family? What fun moments do we remember the most? What challenged us and how did we overcome them?

Lastly, how have we loved our children? There is never enough time, to be together, right? It seems that way, but it doesn't have to be the way all the time. Certainly, we can give ourselves some time away from work, from social media, from blinking lights and other distractions to hang out with our family and just chill out.

Well, all of these questions, observations and potential solutions highlight what I want to do for families and couples in Connecticut, with Amata Pictures, a new project that I launched. But I am sure you are wondering how you would go about documenting your family right? Well, I am here to tell you about The Familyness Photo Workshops led by Davina Fear.

Davina Fear is a Clover, South Carolina based photographer and author. More than those obvious titles, she is also a wife and mom. From what I have seen her do in the last few months, where she launched Love 15, to her kits for photographers (some, I personally use), I know she puts her heart and soul into whatever she produces.

The Familyness Photo Workshop is no different. It's meant for parents who are juggling with jobs and life in general that take them away from their kids, their “familyness,” a term Davina freely admits she made up. To that end, I think photographers too, who are parents, can benefit from the workshop that launches tomorrow (January 20).

Davina and I had a chance to sit down for a brief chat. Check out the video below.

Sign up with the following code: “FPW30seshu” to save $30. Sign up here for The Familyness Photo Workshop.

The dictionary definition of “thrive” is – prosper; flourish. What makes your “thrive”?

I am sure you all remember this video by Zack Arias that went viral. Zack is back again, after a nine-week hiatus on social media (well, being online constantly, I suppose) to create this new video for Scott Kelby's blog.

I feel you must watch this right away. It's only five minutes long. So, take a look and comment below:

“Feed your soul. Not your feed.”

Like you, I am juggling a job, a business, a family with kids, this blog and a project called Amata Pictures. There is always “stuff to do.” But I worry sometimes if I am doing the “right stuff” at the “right time.”

My friend Eric O'Connor is all about being “agile.” That's an interesting word, isn't it? The concept, according to Eric, is a simple one: DO SOMETHING, but focus on action rather than inaction. Eric is teaching me to prioritize the things that must be done to run a business. He is a natural mentor and I thank him for his patience and perhaps more for his persistence when dealing with me and my various “attractions.” Do you want to become an agile photographer too?

If there is one goal (not a resolution) in 2013 that I would like to reach, it is to only do the things in my life that add value. When I think about it, I run through the day doing a lot that is just all “noise” and no “signal.” It's time to turn that around. It is time to thrive. So, yes, less Twitter, perhaps more Facebook. Shorter blog posts on Tiffinbox. And, definitely more photography that evokes honest feelings for my clients and in me. More time spent with my family and less time in front of a computer. And who knows, I might reach for my sneakers and start running again.

I stumbled upon Matthew May's book, “The Laws of Subtraction: 6 Simple Rules for Winning in the Age of Excess Everything.” You might want to either buy it or check it out at your local library. It is possible to achieve more by doing less of the wrong things in life. At least, that's the way I am starting to see it.

Do you?

Have you thought about stepping away from it all, to clear your mind and reconnect to what is truly important in your life? If you have taken a break like that, describe it to us below. What do you thrive on? Your comments might inspire others to do the same.

I am incredibly fortunate to have two amazing photography conferences within stone's throw of each other and my home in Connecticut. I just came home from the Mystic Seminars. The other conference I enjoy attending is Inspire Photo Seminars. As a photographer who is eager to keep abreast of all that is happening in this industry, I have found going to these two local or regional conventions (and they are tiny compared to WPPI or Imaging USA) to be refreshing. I asked my friend Mark Higgins to give us an idea of what to expect at this year's Inspire Photo Seminars.

Inspire Photo Seminars is an intimate retreat-style conference of 150 people with an emphasis on building a stronger community. The conference is designed to establish professional relationships and even create friendships among your peers – which can be a sustainable support system to help you grow your business over the years to come. We do this by designing the conference around networking, education, and fun community time. This year, the conference runs from February 11 through February 13 in Sturbridge, Massachusetts.

We will be kicking the conference of Monday afternoon with some intensive pre-conference classes that are free to all attendees. This will be a great afternoon including “Building an All-Star Team” with Jason Aten, “Portfolio Hack” with Allana Taranto, “Lightroom Workflow with Tim and Chris Riley from RPG Keys, and ”Pricing for Profit” with Jared Bauman.

Amy Deputy will be the keynote speaker Monday night after dinner setting the tone of the conference with her talk on “Creating authentic imagery in the land of eye candy: a discussion of seeing clearly through the heart with a camera.”

There will be a talk by Abby Larson of Style Me Pretty on how and what it takes to get published Wednesday afternoon and this is something we’re really excited and proud to offer the studios attending Inspire.

We’ve designed Inspire so you can learn what you need to learn. The schedule is set up so that attendees can choose between sessions in different tracks for each time slot (Business, Technical Skills, and Inspiration). We realize everyone has different needs when it comes to photography and business education so we provide choices to ensure you’re not sitting in a class that doesn’t fit your goals and needs.

Check out the schedule here.

This year we’ve broadened the focus outside the business of wedding photography. You may be looking for more creative outlets or a new type of photography to rejuvenate you and your business. Make sure to check out speakers like Brian Friedman, Christa Acosta and Nicole Taylor, Michael Connor, and Tomas Flint.

We’re also excited to have David Murray as a speaker and David will be doing an Intensive Critique/Editing Process. I have seen David do this on the Fearless Photographers Forum and it was one of the most enlightening and educational three hours I’ve had in during my 8 year tenure in wedding photography.

On Tuesday afternoon we will offer an intimate tradeshow that’s a hit every year. Come see the latest offerings from Pictage or the folks at LensProtoGo and their technical demonstrations. Check out what Couture Books has been cooking up and see how Shoot dot Edit can help optimize your business giving you precious time back with their great editing service or see how to design an album quickly with Fundy Software.

On Wednesday afternoon we offer extended shooting courses with everything from baby portraiture, shooting headshots, intimate posing for boudoir, stepping into the light, learning how lenses affect your perspective.

We include all meals from Monday night until the conference ends, and plan fun late night activities because we want to maximize the opportunities for everyone to come together and connect outside the classroom. We encourage everyone who comes to step out of their comfort zone, and their circle of friends, and meet some new people each day. What better way to break the ice than to sing karaoke with some of your new friends!

This year one of the new things we’ll be doing is assigned seating for the staff so that an Inspire Team Member or Speaker will be at every table. We realize that sometimes it’s intimidating to walk into a room full of strangers so we hope a friendly face at every table will get the ball rolling.

We really hard to create a unique retreat style conference where we all get to know one another while accessing education that will help propel your studio forward. We want to grow this year, and we can’t wait for you to join us on the journey!