Your Family as Art
FINE ART FOR YOUR HOME + OFFICE
Many of us are sheltering-in-place and staring at the same 4 walls - day in and day out. Did you know that if you walk by a wall of artwork and don't even notice it anymore, it's time to switch things up?
The start of my career was as a fine art photographer so it's only fitting with more time on my hands that I create some new pieces as well as dig out some older images from my film-days.
Since we can't get out to visit art galleries just yet, I've taken my work online and created a virtual art gallery. From here you can browse and collect images for your home and (home)office.
The medium I have choosen is identical to the work as it was formerly shown in galleries in NYC.
All fine art images are printed on premium aluminum surfaces to add greater depth and vibrancy.
Not only is it vivid and beautiful, it arrives ready to hang. How easy is that?
These are limited edition prints also include a Certificate of Authenticity.
Personal Branding for Your Job
COVID-19 has proved to be an unprecedented crisis. It’s almost hard to believe how a virus, first documented in Wuhan China in December 2019, has spread to more than 170 countries. Sadly claiming lives, sickening millions and forcing half the world’s population into confinement.
We all know this isn’t just a public health problem; it is also an economic one. Many businesses have learned of dependencies on other types of businesses that they may haven’t realized before.
Businesses are finding ways to maintain continuity and pivot. With most people working remotely, it is predicted that the home office and co-working spaces will be the new normal when this pandemic subsides.
Remote Working
Remote working isn’t new. Thanks to technology advancements this continues to get easier. A study commissioned by co-working office company Regus, states: “In the future, companies will focus their strategy on a more flexible working model, where employees find their own office space.” This was trending even before COVID-19 hit.
Evidently, the key to survival and long-term prosperity is adaptability. This experience will fast-track the digitalization of the workplace and advance the “work from anywhere” model.
The Growing Gig Economy
The gig economy is part of the changing cultural and business environments. The market of freelancers and independent contractors for specific tasks is growing. This online platform continues to rise and will continue to do so post COVID-19.
Since work is “something you do, not a place,” employers have access to a geographically diverse talent pool. And it allows people to take on jobs better aligned with their preferred lifestyle. (How does working from the beach sound?)
And, the gig economy is popping up in just about every sector.
The Need for Personal Branding
Employers and potential clients or business partners also have a wide pool of jobseekers and service providers to choose from. Having a strong personal brand will differentiate you from other experts in your field and increase your chances over competitors with similar (if not better) qualifications.
In essence, your personal brand is your unique combination of personal qualities, skills and experiences, and the effort you put into defining and communicating this elevates your brand.
Know Yourself: Begin with a self-assessment of your assets. These include your values, beliefs, passion, interests and credentials.
It is important to note that personal branding isn’t about crafting a different public persona but a reflection of who you really are.
Position Yourself: Gather together the key elements of your personal brand. What do you want to be known for? What specific needs do you want to address and whom do you want to influence (who is your target client?) What is your unique value proposition and is it believable? What personality traits do you want to be associated with?
Project Yourself: Not everyone knows who you are and what you can offer. Hence, the need to communicate, and constantly reinforce what you stand for. Communicate where your target client hangs out. Is it LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube?
To maintain authenticity, your image must be consistent online and in real life. Seize every opportunity to share your knowledge and expertise. Remember, there is no second chance to make a first impression!
As Jeff Bezos said: “Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.” Whatever content you put out there—is another piece to the puzzle that is your personal brand.
Are you ready to elevate your personal brand? Fill out this form below to get in touch.
Mothers Day Gift Certificate
Every year around Mother’s Day I've held a mini session event for mothers and their children. However, this year is VERY DIFFERENT from any other year.
Shelter-in-Place has given us Moms a variety of experiences. There are moments of joy and gratitude as well as boredom and frustration. Some are loving this time and others - well, it's getting long in the tooth.
So this year why not take the time (which we all have more of now,) and get a one of a kind gift for Mother's Day. (Feel free to forward this email to drop a not-so-subtle-hint.)
Small Businesses Surviving COVID-19
Don’t ask me what number day of quarantine (shelter-in-place) we are on. I’ve completely lost count. I think I’ve gone through the gamet of emotions in the past few weeks. This year, has simply been completely unpredictable. It started off great, then I got sick with the flu (or was it COVID-19 - I'll never know,) then this worldwide pandemic.
I find myself back working at my kitchen table. I really miss my studio office and people! So many distractions at home. The first half of my day is productive while my teenager sleeps off her disappointment at missing out on all her senior year.
So what are we as small business owners to do? PIVOT.
I’m listening to podcasts, taking educational webinars and trying to find a way to serve others. Here’s some of my ideas on how to spend this newfound spare time:
Start creating a family portrait gallery wall. I know you’ve got hundreds if not thousands of pictures on your smartphone and computer, why not print those memories (you can do this online and have them sent to your home.) Go through the boxes of pictures that you’ve stored away for a rainy day.
Find old photos you’ve inherited that might be damaged or perhaps you want them in a larger format. I retouch old photos and depending on the size, I can product a larger print of it as well. Email me - I love this type of work!
Search up old memorabilia from the same era as those old photos and plan to have them all framed together. I did this for my great grandmother and great uncle (see photo below.) I had her passport and old photos and found old coins and even an old postcard of the ship she came over on from Sicily! Ancestry.com has loads of photos too.
Small businesses are the backbone of our economy. Help your local businesses by buying gift cards to provide critical cash support during the COVID-19 crisis. We have had to cancel all of our scheduled photo sessions in order to do our part to help reduce the spread of the virus. To all our customers waiting for their albums, wall art and print products, our professional photography suppliers here in the US and Italy have stopped all production activities until further notice. If you are waiting for your prints, I will contact you directly as I receive updates. I look forward to getting back out there and capturing your special life moments!
"Porchtraits" During COVID-19 Shelter-in-Place
ETA: THANK YOU for everyone’s interest, however, we are no longer scheduling PORCHTRAITS at this time.
Like all things in history, I believe they should be captured in a photo. I'd like to come around the tri-valley and do "porchtraits" of families in coronavirus quarantine to help our community.
I'm bored. My cameras are lonely so let's make this as fun as possible!
5-minute family photoshoots from the curb in which you and even your neighbors can get outside and have some fun from the safety of your own porch or front yard.
These sessions are free but donations are accepted.
Sessions available in Pleasanton, Livermore, Dublin and San Ramon.
Please tag and share your friends and familly.
Before you Hire a Branding Photographer, What's Your Why?
I talk about this a lot with my Personal Branding clients during their Branding Strategy. There are some things you really need to think about before hiring a photographer to take your branding photography. You’ve made the decision to invest in yourself and your business so let’s get started!
START WITH YOUR WHY
What’s this all about? Well, when you have a deeper sense of purpose, your message will resonate with more people. To help you really define your why, here are some questions to think about:
What would you do even if you didn’t get paid to do it?
What makes you forget to eat lunch?
Who inspires you most?
If you had a year to live, what would you do?
What did you love to do when you were 10 years old?
What would you regret NOT doing in your life?
What makes you smile?
What makes you angry?
What do other people ask you for help with?
What are you naturally good at doing?
What are the challenges you’ve overcome?
What causes do you strongly believe in?
If you could get just one message across to a larger group of people, what would you say?
Before you launch that new website, print that new brochure or book a speaking gig, you want to get clear on what you want to be known for. That way, the clients you attract are strategic.
COVID Productivity Plan: Tame the Squirrel!
How To Stay Productive
Current situation: Home all day with a 17 year old #shelterinplace #sendwineandchocolate #nowiknowwhyidontworkfromhome
If you’re working from home now, you know there’s a distraction around every corner - meals, laundry, pets, urge to nap, etc. It can be really hard to be productive.
I have to get really intentional with my time.
As techie as I am, I still have a calendar/notebook.
Here’s how I use it daily:
Themed Days
3 Must-Do’s
SATs
Tracking
SO LET’S START WITH THE THEMED DAYS.
Theming your days is CRUCIAL. The most effective entrepreneurs I know only do specific tasks on certain days of the week. Meetings only on Tuesdays, social media posts only on Wednesday, etc. Theme your days and stick to it. So here’s what my week looks like in terms of theme:
Monday:
SATs
Editing
Tuesday:
Meetings/Calls
Photoshoots
Wednesday:
Photoshoots
Writing
Thursday:
Bookkeeping
Editing
Friday:
SATs
Photoshoots
Depending on your line of work, you’s modify this to accomodate your most frequent tasks. The key it to make sure you plan your week around your themes. Don’t schedule meetings on days that aren’t slated for them. It’s ok f you have to make an exception once in a while, but be sure to get back on track. Have you ever noticed how fast a “quick” coffee meeting can end up taking 2 hours? Not productive. Consider scheduling back-to-back meetings at the same coffee shop or even at your office. This will also keep you on schedule.
Theming your days keeps your focused. Task switching throughout the day is not efficient. When you are planning out your week, you already know which days to schedule which tasks based upon your theme. I do this on Monday mornings, you may want to do this on Saturday or Sunday evening. I take weekends off, so I do it on Monday morning. The goal is to try and plan my entire week on Monday.
I know that on Wednesdays, I write. So I will schedule Instagram, Facebook and blog posts for Wednesdays. It might be difficult to resist working on now, but I know that I have very little focus time so I have to stick to my themes. I schedule client calls and photoshoots for Tuesdays and make bookkeeping and editing on Thursdays.
3 MUST-DOs
Minimum should be three, but if you can fit more in then go for it!
The three things that you 'must get done' need to fall within your theme. If you have the luxury of working on your business all day with no interruptions you might want to pinpoint 6-8 things that must get done.
After you’ve decided what needs to get done that day, you need to assign a set amount of time to it and work hard to get it finished within that time.
For example: if I am working on writing and scheduling posts, I allocate an hour or two. Once I’m done - I’m done. This is critical in staying focused. Sometimes if I don’t get it done, I’ll allocate more time to it, but I schedule it. Get through the task so that you can move on.
Sometimes I plan 15 minutes to brainstorm social media and blog posts. I set the timer and brain dump. You’ll be surprised at what you can come up with when you are against the clock. Later you can refine and expand on your ideas.
SATs (small annoying todo’s)
SATs helps me tackle my squirrel brain. Before I started this system, I would be in the middle of doing something and another task would pop in my head and I’d fall down the rabbit hole. Now I use BRIGHT sticky notes to write down every thing that pops in my head so that I don’t get distracted. When I do this, I don’t task switch. I stay working on my task at hand, but know that I’ve written it down and I won’t forgot about it.
I schedule SAT tasks for Mondays and Fridays. These are the little tasks that aren’t urgent but need to get done. Things like dentist appointments, writing thank you’s, meal planning, etc. Then I block out an hour in my day on Mondays and Fridays to complete those small things. If necessary, I move these sticky notes from to week until completed.
TRACKING
it’s important to track each day so you can look back on it and check your progress. As business owners, you should be working towards a goal. Perhaps set up small incremental actions that can be done daily and tracked.
That’s it for today! I hope everyone is staying well, safe and inside. These are some strange times we are living in and look forward to the near future when we can say “remember the toilet paper shortage at COSTCO?”
Grow Your Business
Now that you're prepped for "shelter-in-place" and you have enough toilet paper, canned beans and wine to host a campout in your backyard (but you can't actually invite anyone over,) what will you do with all of your spare time??
Here's a few ideas:
1. Don't spend the entire time binge watching. Unless it's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. You should definitely binge watch that. Otherwise turn the tv off....especially the news! Listen to inspirational Ted Talks or podcasts.
2. Sit down with someone you care about and check out 36 questions to make you fall in love. These questions are a beautiful way to inspire deeper conversation.
3. Start meditating. It's a much better way to deal with anxiety or trouble sleeping than popping a pill. You can get started with guided meditations with the Meditation Oasis app.
4. Make a list of all of the crap you've told yourself you "don't have time to do" and do it. Clean out your closets. Empty your email inbox. Organize your pantry. HELLO Marie Kondo! Listen to her book on audible while your at it: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.
5. LEARN something new. About tech. About yourself. About the people around you.
6. Practice GRATITUDE. Start a journal and each morning when you wake up write down at least 5 things you're grateful for.
7. Have Zoom dates with old friends and catch up. It's okay to wine and whine a little but be sure to share some positive stuff too!
8. Calling business owners - use this time to work on ways to grow your business in the coming months! One of the best ways? Visibility! Let's set up a Zoom call to chat about how I can help you create a fantastic library of personal branding images for you to share with the world.
9. Be that POSITIVE voice in the world. Think of 5 local small businesses that have made you happy recently. Go write them a positive review! Facebook, Google, Yelp - wherever you think it will help them best and get the most exposure.
10. And finally be of service to others. Ask around and see if there are any elderly or young but immune-compromised and at risk people in your area. I promise you there ARE! You just need to find them. Offer to bring them supplies. Shop for them. Pick up their prescriptions. Even just leaving a card on their door letting them know you're thinking of them will mean more than you can imagine!
I hope some of these inspired you! We will get through this!
Pleasanton Chamber of Commerce Photographer
I love my town of Pleasanton. I live here, my studio is here and it’s an honor to be Pleasanton’s favorite photographer. Thank you for such a nice article about me and my business written by the Pleasanton Chamber of Commerce.
