When my friends Rebecca Mead and Kathy Hokunson mentioned Gary Vaynerchuk‘s stop at R.J. Julia's Bookstore in Madison, CT, I jumped at the chance to go see and hear him yesterday evening.

First impression – this dude is the real deal. Down to earth, even if he has made millions of dollars selling wine in his family business or starting Vayner Media, a marketing consulting company. Just check out the way he presents wine on his extremely popular Wine Library TV. When we met he was approachable and extremely generous with his time.

He was obviously at the bookstore to chat about his second book, The Thank You Economy. I had just received it through Amazon yesterday and had not had a chance to read it yet. His first book, Crush It!: Why NOW Is the Time to Cash In on Your Passion, made a phenomenal impact on me. I recommend you get that book as well if you are just starting to explore social media.

The synopsis of his new book is this – our economy is changing to a point where we better become a whole lot more customer-centric, if we want to survive in the business we are in. Once I have read the book, I promise to post an online review. If you want to know more about it, check out The Thank You Economy.

As I said, Gary was extremely gracious when I asked him if he would spare two minutes to speak to you, my fellow photographers, about how the message in his book pertains to what you are now doing in your business. His is a terrific message and I welcome you to watch the video below. Then post your thoughts about what he said. Are you going to be making changes to the way you run your photography business? Share your thoughts with other photographers here.

Thank you, Gary, for your time and for launching this new feature on Tiffinbox called 2 Minutes WIth Tiffinbox. I welcome other authors, artists, photographers to contact me about being featured here as well.

UPDATE: For a quick review read my friend Scott Wyden's review of The Thank You Economy.

This is Ingrid Spangler's second guest blog post for Tiffinbox. She is responsible for all the social media, as well as copywriting, promotions and marketing for AdoramaPix. She has been an avid photographer from the time she was a child, and studied film at Temple University in Philadelphia, where she learned about film theory and visual aesthetics. Her first post was about finding the perfect photography printing lab.

Hardcover photo books are fast becoming the best choice to present and distribute your portfolio. It’s a more permanent way to display your images, and while that is a definite plus, it also requires much more care when organizing and designing than just slipping your prints into the plastic sleeves. There’s also something about having your images in a book that leads the viewer to believe that the images should hold together and tell a story more than a traditional portfolio.

Here’s a general portfolio tip from my buddy Joe Holmes of joe's nyc focus on one style or genre of photography that you do best, such as landscapes or street photography or portraits. You can always do separate portfolios/books for each genre.

Another tip: Don’t let the design of your book overwhelm your images. Keep it simple. This rule goes for any photo book you make, but is especially true for portfolios.

From speaking to photographers and photo editors, it seems that the general rule when organizing your images into your portfolio is “put your best images in the front and the back; make a strong first impression, then give them something to remember you by.” While you can still use this tenet to start to set up your book, what do you do with all the prints in the middle?

Here are some suggestions for how you can sequence the images to have them hold together as something cohesive.

Organize Your Images By Color

Allow the dominant color in one image to dictate what the next image will be. This is very subtle and works very well for images that are largely disparate. Take for instance these images with lots of red tones, the next images could be something with orange or deeper red as the dominant color and so on.

Keep moving through the color spectrum until you are close to the end of the book, where you’ll place your second set of strong images to leave a lasting impression on the viewer.

Organize Your Images Graphically

Look for the strong, dominant lines in your images and pair them accordingly. This image with strong diagonal and horizontal lines is matched by an image with similar lines. For diagonal lines that go off the page, try as much as possible to have them point to the center of the book. This pairing also works because of the similar colors.

Or these circular shapes:

*Images courtesy of Brandon Remler: Fall Trees, Boys on Beach, Bridge, Guggenheim and Tunnel. Red Table courtesy of Ingrid Spangler.

Group like with like: black and whites together, images that depict the same subject, etc.

Above all, choose a high quality lab to make your photo book portfolio! AdoramaPix photo books are printed on real photo paper, so they are the closest thing to a traditional portfolio. Unique lay-flat bindings ensure that none of your images are lost to a gutter in the center, plus you don’t have to worry about matching up halves of an image that you want to span both pages. PixPublisher, the online book creation and editing program, is easy to use and powerful, you can design your portfolio exactly the way you want, sizing and positioning your images precisely on the pages, down to the pixel!

Remember, it’s your work, don’t gamble with the presentation. You may only get one chance to impress someone, make it count!

If you are anything like me, it's been ages since you read a real page turner. Busy photographers we all are but that doesn't mean we get to stop learning and perfecting our craft.

Photographer and author Ed Verosky is running a special Halloween SALE on all of his books.

If you have been on the fence about getting his books (see the big fat images below as well as in the sidebar of this blog), this is your chance to save 25%. But the sale ends October 31. So hurry!

If you have enjoyed the posts here on Tiffinbox and want to find a way to say thank you, simply click the images below to order your e-books. Yes, those are affiliate links. But they are of e-books I have read and found very valuable.

THE DISCOUNT CODE IS: “PHOTOBOOKS”

Buy 100% Reliable Flash Photography:

Buy 25 Amazing Boudoir Photography Techniques:

If you do buy one or both of the e-books, do chime in below with your comments about them. I do want to hear your feedback. Did you learn anything from them? Were they priced just right for you? Would you feel good about letting your friends know about the e-books being available here? Your comments are valuable. You have a voice.

Thank you again for your support!
Seshu