I’ve been working with the creators of StartUpNation since 2001 when I was hired to shoot Rich Sloan doing yoga on the conference room table in the Birmingham Michigan office of the up and coming StartUpNation.  I was recently offered the opportunity to blog about photography if I thought I could contribute to entrepreneurs and start ups. I think I can so I’ll give it a shot.  I’ll be talking about all things photography, from how to do a shoot in the office, to what’s the best stock agency for what your needs are, to rights and usage contracts.  I’ll be answering questions about any thing relating to the business of photography and photography in your business. If I don’t know the answers I’ll look to the vast knowledge base of my peers and will share what I learn with you, so post your questions and comments about you’re photographic quandaries here, and I’ll help you along the image driven super highway of successful businesses.

I should tell you a bit about me.
I began my career as a photographer early in life.  My brother had a darkroom in a closet at our house when I was a sixth grader.  It didn’t take long for my teachers at school to see an opportunity to recruit the next news paper and yearbook photographer.  That’s when I learned that you can have fun and provide a needed service at the same time.  I could get credits for graduation if I work on the year book and news paper staff!  Life was good.  Then one day I was handed a press pass to cover the cheerleaders for a story for the news paper, that was all the motivation I ever needed to pursue my career.  When I was a senior in High School I was introduced to an advertising photographer in my home town of Detroit named Ameen Howrani.  He let me watch him work one day, he was shooting a news crew for the local ABC affiliate.  It was very glamorous, they had food there!  I was face to face with the local anchor man!  That’s when I decided that advertising was where it’s at.  Fast forward 25 years.  I have photographed some really great people, some incredibly beautiful places, and some of the most interesting stuff you’ll ever see.  I picked up a few professional sports teams along the way as well.  Namely the Detroit Red Wings, Detroit Tigers, Detroit Lions, and currently Tampa Bay Ray’s as well as the NHL, NFL, MLB and other editorial venues related to sports. I’ve had unprecedented access to closed door behind the scenes events in the NFL, NHL, and MLB to name just a few. I was given the opportunity to shoot a book for the Detroit Red Wings called “48 Hours with the Detroit Red Wings”. Its a chronological documentation of what happens in forty eight hours in the world of the Red Wings Hockey team.  I was able to travel with the team to photograph players, coaches, and staff. We took two days to shoot the book so we could show the travel aspect of how the team lives on the road (and above the clouds).  During that shoot I was given access to coaches meetings that had never been photographed before.  One of the best experiences I had with the Red  Wings was Flying on the team jet to Washington DC to the White House to meet President George W Bush.   I was given an assignment by the Detroit Tigers Baseball team to shoot an eighteen page photo essay of Tiger Stadium during the final home stand ever to be played there.  The parting shot was Al Kaline in his nineteen sixty eight world series uniform (it still fit), pondering his days playing in that historic stadium.  The cover shot was of the stadium from the corner of Michigan and Trumble on a Friday night with fireworks lighting the sky.  I was able to get images never before captured, such as the neon Tiger Stadium sign from the roof of the press elevator.  I’m currently team photographer for the Tampa Bay Ray’s Baseball team, and have a nice client list of local and national companies and agencies as well.  I live in the St Petersburg area of Florida where I’ve lived for the past six years.  Before that I lived mostly in the suburbs of Detroit with a few years in New York city.  Please feel free to see some of the photographs I mention here at www.kovich.com

Rieva Lesonsky was Editor of that magazine at that time, and so, it’s an incredible thrill and honor when StartupNation collaborates today with Rieva on new and helpful advice for entrepreneurs.

I’m writing today to share with you that Rieva–now running her own business–and StartupNation have just released a new eBook for 2011.

26 Hot Businesses To Start Right Now! is the second annual kick-start, jump-start, fire-you-up, open-your-mind, take-action-now, whip-crackin’, break-on-through, fertilize-your-mind, start-it-up, breeze-to-read downloadable eBook that will leave you rich with ideas and inspiration for a business that fits you perfectly and equips you with the specifics to get started.

By reading this eBook, [click the image to see it] you will learn 11 hot trends and 26 hot businesses that you can start today. For example, you’ll gain insights like:

• Make it personal. Millennials (60% of all weddings by 2012) are demanding their wedding experience be more distinctive, opening opportunities for personalized wedding décor & accessories businesses.
• Make the world come together. Open a translation services business, and capitalize on a market that has experienced average annual growth of 22% since 2004.
• Sell plus-sizes. Sixty-eight percent (68%) of all U.S. adults (age 20+) are overweight and about half of those are obese. Make their lives easier by selling plus-sized products and apparel.

The download is jam-packed with a simple, easy-to-understand analysis of the market landscape and specific recommendations for businesses you can start now that have the highest probability of success in 2011.

The great thing about 26 Hot Businesses to Start Right Now! is that it can be read in a day, immediately empowering you to select a new business to start and to take the first steps in building your future as a business owner.

The eBook is a launching pad for your business with links to more than 20 additional resources.

By reading this eBook, you’ll tap into the insights necessary to create a small business blockbuster.

About Rieva, the author: Rieva Lesonsky, CEO and president of GrowBiz Media (www.growbizmedia.com), a content and consulting company specializing in small businesses and entrepreneurship, and SmallBizDaily.com, her daily blog. Lesonsky has been covering America’s entrepreneurs for nearly 30 years. She has appeared on hundreds of TV programs and radio shows, including the Today Show, Good Morning America, CNN, The Martha Stewart Show and Oprah, and can be seen regularly on MSNBC’s Your Business.

LEARN MORE HERE

… and START IT UP!!!

Employees want to do a good job. And what the boss often needs to do is get out of the way and let them perform. Of course, when I became a business owner, I fell prey to the kind of thinking that trips up so many entrepreneurs: You have to work endless hours, you have to micromanage every aspect of the business, you have to make every decision. Ack!

I don’t know if my businesses would have survived if I hadn’t come up with what I call Go Theory. (”Go” as in “just go away”.) Go Theory is not about where you go or what you do while you go away from the office. Go Theory is all about what you don’t do:

• Don’t send your employees lots of little reminders by email.
• Don’t keep checking your smart phone.
• Don’t miss the spectacular view or the interesting presentation or the quality time with friends because you were stressing out about what might be going on back at the office.

Instead, enjoy your time away. Because you’ve got great people taking care of the business while you’re gone. If that last sentence just sent a chill up your spine (“But…no one can possibly take care of my business except me!”), read on.

The first element of Go theory, its absolute essence, is hiring great people to work in your business:

• Fire quick and hire slow. Invest the time and money required to make the best choices. I don’t rely on just myself to spot the right person — I make sure that at least two other people whose opinions I respect interview the candidates.
• Hire smart. I hire people who are smarter than me.
• Pick people with a track record for doing their tasks and accomplishing their goals. You don’t want to deal with excuses.

The second element of Go theory involves what you do with those great employees once you have them:

• Give people a great place to work, including real benefits.
• Trust them to handle problems and give them room to succeed or fail.
• Get in the habit of throwing issues back to employees — otherwise, you’ll be chained to your business 24/7.
• Make your business a vibrant and healthy system and you’ll find that employees work better when you’re gone.

The third element of Go theory is at once the easiest — and the hardest:

• Give employees clear directions or goals, and leave them alone to do their jobs. A quick check-in early in the project to make sure they are on track is OK, but then…go away!

The idea is for you to work on your business instead of in your business. This forces you and your staff to create good systems that can run without you. As the CEO, you want to be useless in the day-to-day business activities so you can be proactive and reactive to markets and opportunities. Keep in mind that what puts your business ahead of the competition is not logging lots of hours at the office — it’s creativity. Ask yourself: How can you be creative if you’re spending all your time making sales calls?

Go Theory provides a lot of rewards, including a “real life” for the CEO and a stronger, healthier bottom line for the company. I find that in my absence my business thrives. Projects move forward, problems get solved, and new ideas emerge. All this — just because I learned to get out of the way and work from a beachside cafe two hours a day.

At this time of year, interest in finding a franchise is at fever pitch. People seem to come out of the self-reflective New Year and holiday period charged up and on a path to finally get into business. With so many people out of work and not having previous entrepreneurial experience, a good number are seriously considering becoming a franchisee, using a proven formula type of business.

A new article at our site by a true authority on finding a franchise, Richard Simtob of Franchises For Sale, has just been uploaded. If you’re interested in choosing a franchise and want to know the process to getting that franchise from “interesting” to “open for business,” definitely walk through the steps in Simtob’s article.

The steps outlined include:

1. Find a Franchise Concept that Fits
2. Submit Request for Consideration/Application
3. The Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD)
4. Training and Support Overview
5. Franchise Disclosure Review
6. Franchise Due Diligence
7. Celebration or Discovery Day

They’re all detailed and fleshed out in the article. 

No excuses, folks! Start It Up!!!!

55% of Americans are not happy with their work and wish they could be doing something else, according to the latest study by The Conference Board, reflecting the highest dissatisfaction level in the 22-year history of the study. In just one year (from 2008 to 2009) satisfaction with jobs decreased 10% from the previous year.

People with jobs, who we refer to as “cube farmers,” under 25 expressed the highest level of dissatisfaction. Roughly 64% of them say they were unhappy in their jobs. The recession has hit their wage levels and has made their work seem like drudgery.

We at StartupNation, including myself and my brother as founders, and also including the many tens of thousands of our community members who made the leap last year to run their own businesses are already experiencing the much-improved, much more fulfilling and exhilerating lifestyle of being entrepreneurs.

So, to those stuck workin’ for the man and not too happy about it… we say, START IT UP!

Here’s a good place to start: 10 Steps to Open for Business

Click on the image here to view the interview or select “Play ABC Video.”

I was able to mention these winners in the quick interview:

• Haralee Weintraub’s Haralee.com
• Joe Hansen and Cristy Stewart-Harfmann’s PricelessProfiles.com, and
• Christine Perckett’s Perkett PR

I wish I could have mentioned more of you, but not to worry, we plan to “spread the love” in upcoming media opportunities!

This kind of coverage is inspiring winners to send us emails like this one from Haralee Weintraub, winner in our Boomers Back in Business category in this year’s ranking:

 Hi Rich,

Well finally I have time because I have been so busy to tell you how winning the Boomer Back in Business Category has impacted my company. In one word FANTASTIC! Since I am e-retail it could not have come at a better time, that being the Holiday season. When the story of the winners went to the MSN home page, orders were coming in on line like crazy. The phone rang with questions and we were wonderfully busy. Many men, more than normal, ordered my product for their wives and girlfriends because they read about me. I could not be happier. It is truly an honor to have this honor, which I am working on incorporating into my email signature.

Sincerely Cool,

Haralee

Haralee Weintraub
CEO Haralee.Com
Cool Garments for Hot Women

Onward, home business heroes!!!! and Congrats again!

More press to come in the days ahead!

Lisa believes that the Night Helper Watch is the answer that millions of sufferers need now more than ever, since it is the only device like it in the world.  Worn like a watch, the wearer can set the alarm for multiple times during the day and night, not just once or twice, but as many times as needed. This design patented ability is important as it draws the wearer’s attention. When the alarm goes off, a special customized tune can be programmed to play. It also vibrates, while the multi-colored display lights up the watch face. The Night Helper Watch isn’t just for children and adults who suffer from Nocturnal Enuresis.

The Night Helper Watch gives back the user’s dignity, peace of mind, self sufficiency and control over bed-wetting problems. Used as a training medium, Nocturnal Enuresis can be completely eliminated. That is Lisa’s and Carl’s vision, to free sufferers from a life of worry and indignity. As a long time health care worker and a caring individual, Lisa Charleston has a strong desire to aid and support sufferers from a disturbingly frequent malady (that will become more widespread as the LIS population grows). More than seven million children are born every year and with Americans living longer than ever before the need for a real solution is now, and the answer is the Night Helper Watch Time Pieces, for both Medication Reminders and the Potty Watch system.

Two asks Lisa has of the community:
-          Marketing How To’s
-          Funding How To’s; She is currently accepting donations through paypal

EMAIL: charleston@netzero.net
WEB: www.nighthelperwatches.com
BLOG: www.nighthelper.blogspot.com/

Here is a bit from my interview with Lisa from NightHelpWatchers.com….

How do you define success?
Setting up goals and achieving them would be defining success.

How did you fund your business in the beginning?
Seeking funding help now. 

What’s the happiest moment you’ve ever had in your business?
Seeing my business reach certain goals. Websites, CAD drawings ,  product animations etc.

Do you ever think about giving up and getting a job?
Never…giving up would be to easy… You see A Dream Is Only As Big As The Dreamer, I’m A Big Dreamer!

Are you happy?
Yes, Even when days look bad I still carry a positive attitude for having positive energy helps to bring positive results.

Where will your business be in a year? In 10 years?
In many retail stores serving all the millions of users who suffers from incontinence. 

If someone who was about to start a business asked you for advice, what would you say?
Never give up no matter what the challenges may be, always seek professional advice from many sources.

What makes you get up in the morning?
Determination and the Grace of God!

Tell me about a time when what you do made a difference in someone’s life?
When many parents email me seeking advice about bed wetting  and I’m able to help.

What’s important about that to YOU?
Well knowing that I can  give a parent and a child a little comfort about bed wetting is Priceless to me!

When or how did you know that this is what you wanted to do?
I knew this business was what I wanted to do after I became disabled from a serve back injury. As they say God may close one door but he always opens up another!

What have you learned from failure?
To just get back up and start again seeking better ways to improve in my life and business.

Before starting his own business, Spalding worked as the online marketing director at Grooveshark, a music streaming company out of Gainesville, FL. He met co-founders Quang Tran and Nathan Thompson. Nate was his first intern and Quang and Steve had been working on various entrepreneurial projects for about a year before they buckled down and decided to throw themselves into Crossing Gaps. The opportunity to work in a startup helped prepare him for the challenges he could expect to see in his own endeavor.

“Blogging about entrepreneurs before joining Grooveshark gave me some idea of what having my own business might be like, but there is nothing quite like being in trenches. ” – Steven Spalding

Enjoying the coaching aspect of consulting the most, Spalding enjoys seeing his clients move to the next level in their marketing. He works with large and small organizations but the most satisfying work he does is with their smaller clients. “To see people who didn’t know anything about marketing on the web three months before be able to do effective, creative things without any prompting from us is really fantastic.”

Spalding recently authored a book named All The Little Things. Centered on creativity, building great ideas on the web and keeping yourself sane in the process. He is releasing a version for free, (http://atltbook.com) and selling a PDF “Final Edition.” For some inspiration, give it a read.

Here is a little more of my conversation with Steven:

What is the biggest challenges you’ve had to overcome to start your business?
We started our little enterprise right in the middle of the economic downturn. We have had to deal with everything that entails. No one has money, everyone is tightening their belts and you have to work better and smarter to survive. When I reflect on it, I know it has made us a stronger firm. We’ve needed to be really realistic and really -good- to push through and when things turn around it will pay dividends.

What would you do over again, if you could?
I would be better organized. The biggest issue you have when you get three entrepreneurs in a room is that everyone is working on 50 projects at once and no one wants to write anything down. This is a fantastic way to create ideas, but when you start dealing with schedules and deadlines it gets to be really stressful. Over time we’ve built up systems to deal with that problem but it has been a lot of trial and error.

Has running your business been what you expected it would be? How?
It has been harder than even I expected it to be, and I had no delusions going into it. What it boils down to is responsibility, responsibility for people other than yourself. What I didn’t expect was that it never really “turns off.” When you run your own business, you live it, 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

Are you happy?
I wouldn’t do this if I wasn’t. I am extraordinarily happy because I get to do something few people ever get to, wake up every day and know that I have control over what is happening next. Sure, we deal with clients, deadlines and all the other stuff that comes along with working with people but we make those choices and accept the consequences of them. It’s a great feeling. 

What makes you get up in the morning?
Before I gave up caffeine I would have told you three cups of coffee and a migraine . . . Really, what makes me get up in the morning is knowing that I am one step closer to accomplishing my goals. As important as tangible success is to me, I know the most important

Have you ever failed?
I fail everyday and I think that’s a part of the point. If you aren’t failing you aren’t growing, and you can’t survive entrepreneurship without growth. The trick to failure, if there is one, is to admit it to yourself and try to take the lesson from it. It’s absolutely fine to fail, but it’s not if you are constantly failing and not learning from the scratches and bruises.

Before opening Visible Logic, Emily worked at several successful studios in the Chicago & Boston area. At these full-service studios she completed a broad range of design work, including B-to-B marketing collateral, annual reports and identity projects. Early in her career Emily worked in print production and as a print buyer in the book publishing industry. This foundation in print management allows her to troubleshoot the production side of projects.

“I always knew I’d start my own design firm, but I had to get the right experience before going out on my own. I got laid off in the summer of 2001 and decided it would be better in the long run to start my own business rather than search for another design job.” – Emily Brackett

What interested me most about my interview with Emily is her authenticity in reflecting that she didn’t start out with a plan to land where she did. She had always enjoyed art, color and type—but didn’t know what to do with it. Like many people, she wasn’t really aware of what a graphic designer did. So, I took the long route getting to where I am. I have a liberal arts degree, then I worked in book publishing. That’s where I realized exactly what graphic designers did and finally figured out where I belonged. Then, I went back to school at Massachusetts College of Art to get a degree in graphic design. Best decision!

Here is a bit from my interview with Matt… 

When or how did you know that this is what you wanted to do? 

Funny question, I actually studied journalism and political science in school, then found myself in a PR job soon after graduating.  As I worked through PR, then tactical elements of marketing, then learning sales and business development and beyond, I kept realizing more and more that a complete picture of a company’s go-to-market strategy – not just individual components – was necessary to truly understand and capitalize on growth opportunities.  I wanted to be able to see that entire picture, and help my employer – and now my customers – take advantage of market opportunities in the most leveraged, successful way possible.

What is your passion? 

I love learning, discovering new things, and applying those ideas to both my business and to my customers.  There are so many sources of great ideas all around us every day – the trick is finding enough time to listen, filter what’s important, and taking the time to apply those ideas in a testable, measurable manner to foster growth.

hat’s the biggest challenges you’ve had to overcome to start your business? 

It’s probably a similar learning curve to many small businesses – balancing the need to 1) work with existing customers; 2) constantly look for prospective new customers, and 3) run my own business.  Over time I’ve figured out how to balance these more effectively, but doing these three things while still prioritizing my growing family (first child was born April 29^th) is an ongoing challenge.

What would you do over again, if you could?

I absolutely would have started actively networking as early as I did, if not earlier.  Over two years ago, I figured I would start my own marketing agency some day.  I immediately started better tracking and keeping in touch with everyone I met professionally.  One of the tools I’ve used is a monthly newsletter, Heinz Marketing Insights.  It started with just 60 or so recipients, but now goes out to ~1,700 recipients each month and growing.  It’s been a great way to stay in touch with a lot of people at once, and now also keep Heinz Marketing’s name in front of them whenever they’re ready for help.

Any regrets? 

None.  I love what I do, love working with my clients, and love the freedom of running my own game.

How do you define success? 

For Heinz Marketing, I have specific goals for annual revenue and client retention.  But with clients specifically, I define success by how well I’m able to help them grow revenue.  Sometimes that’s by increasing customer loyalty and purchase frequency.  Sometimes it’s about accelerating new customer growth, opening into new markets, researching and launching new products, etc.  But if the client is happy and growing their business, that’s success for me.

What are your sources of inspiration? 

In life, it’s my family and my faith that underline everything.  For the business, I’m constantly inspired by people I talk to, read about and hear from every day.  Sometimes it’s industry leaders such as Seth Godin (permission.com) and Andy Sernovitz (damniwish.com/).  Oftentimes, it’s fellow entrepreneurs, business leaders and innovators who are taking risks, trying new things, and achieving their own success. 

What’s the worst thing about running your own business? 

Anything that takes me away from focusing on my customers, which basically means the operations of running the business.  As a small agency, I can run things pretty lean which is nice, but I still have vendors, taxes, legal things to attend to, etc.  Those are all important, but I’m happiest when I’m wrestling with a customer problem or opportunity.

What’s the biggest dream you have for your business? 

It’s too early for me to accurately define that.  I know what I want the business to look like at the end of this year, and have a few different visions for where it could be in 2-3 years.  The methodology I use for helping customers think about, define and execute their go-to-market strategies has been relatively consistent across different customers – size, industry, etc. – so I’ve been exploring ways to better productize and expand the impact of that methodology.

What’s the happiest moment you’ve ever had in your business? 

I wake up every day so excited to be doing what I’m doing.  That may sound cheesy, but I love my job and the impact it has on our customers.  The happiest moment may have been my earliest, literally waking up that first day I was making Heinz Marketing my full-time focus.  The freedom and unpaved path in front of me was exhilarating.

Do you ever think about giving up and getting a job? 

Not really.  There are days when I wonder if the steadiness of a regular job might be less stressful and more predictable, but those moments are fleeting and infrequent. 

What can large businesses learn from a small business like yours? 

I think any business – big or small – needs to be able to constantly listen to customers, re-evaluate their business, and make nimble, quick decisions that can quickly drive greater innovation and growth.  This is often organizationally harder for larger organizations, but there are plenty who do it and do it well.

Every company who gets big has, at some point, done the right things organizationally to be nimble enough to listen to and respond to customers, and do the right things to cross the chasm from small to large enterprise.  Those who stick with the values and culture that got them big typically continue to grow and thrive.

If someone who was about to start a business asked you for advice, what would you say? 

Make sure you have enough cash and/or funding to operate without revenue for at least 6-8 months, likely a year depending on what you’re trying to do.  Cash flow is the single largest problem for most small businesses.  Beyond that, I’d recommend creating a plan for at least the first year, but keep your eyes open to the opportunities you hadn’t anticipated that could help you deviate from the plan, but still maintain focus on your overall vision for the business.

Have you ever failed?

Absolutely.  I actually think failure is a requirement for innovation.  I’ve written about it many times.

“Look over your past month of work.  How often have you failed?  What have you learned from that failure?

If you can’t come up with many examples, think of things you might have done, or tried, but were afraid to do so.

Are they worth trying now?”

More…