Mary & Justin Marantz are wedding photographers based in New Haven, Connecticut with clients who span the globe. They are also active educators and mentors to many photographers.

Skip Cohen loves to refer to their gorgeous website and work, so I am going to send you there to take a quick peek. When you come back, do me a favor and comment below, a word or two that best describes their website. I am curious to know what you came up with.

To say the Marantz are busy would be an understatement. I am not quite sure how they are able to do it all – photographing weddings, running a successful business, blogging on three separate websites, teach sold-out workshops and travel to some of the most amazing destinations.

The short answer to my own question: they've worked for it.

Curious to know where they blog? Here you go:

Well Groomed Groom
The Black Tie Bride
Justin & Mary Blog

Thanks to ShootDotEdit, Justin and Mary Marantz will present a FREE webinar on May 27th on how photographers like you can create stand-out images in the toughest of situations just like them. Register for the webinar here.

Given that they are sort of neighbors (we live about an hour away from each other, so “neighbors” may be a bit of stretch), I invited them to chat about their business, how and why they love shooting in tough situations and what kinds of solutions they bring with them when they are photographing weddings across the country.

Curious to know more about their business marketing guide and lighting guide? Visit their shop now.

I asked nicely and Mary & Justin gladly offered to give away their new Lighting Guide to one Tiffinbox fan. Will that be you? Do you want to win it? Go here for the Lighting Guide giveaway.

If you don't want to wait that long, and want to buy it, do so before the price bumps back up to $179! Right now you can download it for $129. [Not an affiliate link]

The Youngrens, that's Erin and Jeff, based in San Diego, California are industry leaders, presenters and mentors to many photographers.

You may remember that a few months back, I interviewed them about why it is important for photographers, especially wedding photographers, to blog for their business websites. If you missed their free webinar hosted by ShootDotEdit, you can still check it out here. Just fill in your info and you'll be spirited into the replay section of the ShootDotEdit website.

One more thing, the Youngrens also have a free six-week course on effective blogging. I would jump on that right away! And, they walk their own talk. Check out their blog, too. Any surprise why they are so good at what they do and how incredibly popular they are in their community?

Another Free ShootDotEdit Webinar

On May 20th, the Youngrens are leading another free webinar thanks to ShootDotEdit on finding your ideal client. It's a topic that most photographers avoid until it is almost too late and then have to start from scratch. The Youngrens, suggest working on defining your ideal client first, so that you can begin serving them in a way that is going to make both them and you truly happy.

Imagine not having to take on clients who aren't a good fit? Are you suddenly awash with a sense of relief? I bet you are.

I caught up with Erin & Jeff to chat about this new webinar and why it is so crucial for photographers to identify and work with their ideal photography client. Give this short chat a good listen:

The Photographer's Shop

In addition to dispensing sound advice on blogging and business topics, the Youngrens also have a robust shop for photographers where you can buy contracts, email templates, workflow guides and schedule consulting sessions with Jeff and Erin. Coming this summer to the shop will be a self-guided “Discover Your Ideal Client” resource that the Youngrens are pumped about.

More about the “Discover Your Ideal Client” Guide:

The Youngrens will be launching a downloadable self-guided course in mid-June that will walk you through the steps of discovering and profiling your unique ideal client. With the course, you will walk away with a crystal clear picture of who your dream clients are and how to attract them to your business. To stay in the know about this head on over to their photographer site and make sure you’re signed up for their newsletter.

I am typically skeptical of sequels, especially with summer blockbusters looming ahead. But there is one sequel that I feel truly hits the mark and that's Mahesh Bhat's book, Unsung – Extraordinary Lives. Learn more about Unsung here.

Unsung was started by Mahesh Bhat in 2004 and it eventually became a book in 2007. Back in April 2008, I wrote a short review to the first Unsung book.

The first book chronicled the lives of nine unsung heroes from all over India. It sold 6500 books and it raised $150,000 towards the various projects these heroes were spearheading.

Mahesh has given a 100 presentations about the original Unsung project. It wasn't until he was approached by Dinesh Khanna, a photographer based in Delhi (and Dinesh was interviewed on Tiffinbox too), about doing a second book that Mahesh started to seriously consider it. But of course, a project like Unsung isn't inexpensive to do. An admirer of the Unsung book stepped up and provided Mahesh with two checks to fund the day-to-day production of the book. This included paying photographers a living wage and travel expenses that simply covered their costs.

Mahesh and I spoke about this book sequel and why it is important for him to produce it. Listen to our conversation and look at some of the photographs the photographers have submitted towards this fascinating book about ordinary Indians doing extraordinary lives.

Out of the eight heroes featured in the book, Mahesh and I talk about Niketu Iralu, a peacemaker from Nagaland, India and Narayana Reddy, an organic farmer in Bangalore who is making a tremendous impact on the food production in his community. To look at these gentlemen, you are likely to mistake them for regular old joe's (or the Indian equivalent of it). But through photographs and text we come to understand how their passion to make the lives of their fellow human beings drives them into making their ideas happen.

Mahesh is looking to crowd-fund the printing of the book. He hopes to raise $6000 to cover the cost. If you can help, do so by going here now.

A few days back, I sat through a webinar. Yes, a webinar on SEO (Search Engine Optimization), that inevitably led the presenter to pitch me a SEO course for $497.

The Situation

It was a wonderful presentation except for one problem: the presenter didn't really speak to me and my business directly. She had no knowledge of the photography world and what I need as a photographer. I naturally began to tune out. Now, if she had addressed my concerns head on, I would have likely dropped my credit card and bought the full-blown course.

Don't get me wrong. She is extremely good at what she does. She is an industry leader, but she failed to make it about me. And that's really the situation in most cases isn't it?

When we are eager to make things better for our business, including attracting the right clients to our website, we often don't consider if the advice that's available to us is really meant for us. In my experience, I come away with the right solution when I am referring to the right resource. If the resources aren't a good fit, then they are both a waste of time and waste of money.

Agreed?

The Solution

As your curator, I'm happy to introduce Zach Prez. He is the founder of PhotographySpark. In the last few years, he has created some incredible resources for photographers. Take for example the Business Planning Cookbook he co-authored with Angela Pointon. Or, The Pinterest Marketing Guide for Photographers he produced with Design Aglow. Both runaway best sellers among photographers. They both are packed with actionable steps and worksheets so you aren't just given the information and left to figure it out on your own.

Today, he is relaunching another popular book called “Recipes to Rank Cookbook” as SEO Cookbook (3rd Edition). Zach is also introducing us to his new SEO Cookbook Course this week.

If you are a photographer and you are confused by what to do when it comes to SEO, you can't go wrong with Zach's advice. His recipes, and that's what they are so you can take a few at a time to deploy on your site to see how they work out for you, are simple and easy to follow.

I insisted that I speak with Zach because what he has done is revamp his earlier versions of the book. But he has gone a step further in the right direction by also launching the SEO Cookbook Course. I wanted to know what the two options were about. The launch price is $249 (regular price is $299) and you can't go wrong by signing up now for the SEO course.

SEO Course For Photographers

When you sign up for the SEO course, you'll receive the following:

– 60-page SEO Cookbook PDF
– Video Course with 30+ videos
– Bonus Worksheets
– Support area to ask Zach questions
– Exclusive webinars with Zach 4 times per year

If you watched the video interview above, you'll know what the differences and advantages are of signing up for the SEO course. Yes, you do receive the ebook as well when you sign up for the course, but it is the video clips (screen sharing) of the recipes that are pure GOLD. Know of anyone else who will patiently show you how to set up your website's SEO?

The Course is your best option for understanding the critical success factors in search, and get answers to the difficult questions about your personal SEO goals.

If you have listened or read or watched all the wrong people on the Internet to learn about SEO, isn't it time you listened, read and watched the right people? Learn more about the book and the course here or click the big graphic below. If you do decide to buy the course, please come back here and let us know how things have changed for you and your business.