Steven Pam says

Life is like riding a bicycle

2008-09-01T18:48:00.002+10:00

Albert Einstein is reported to have said, "Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving".

Not one to turn down the advice of someone of Einstein's intellect, I've decided to move Smartshots WHQ (World Headquarters) once again.

WHQ in Richmond has served me well for two years, but a number of factors have converged to make right now the perfect time to move my business back to the kitchen table at home in Preston:

Landlord and co-tenant D&D Global Group have shut their business down.
The vast majority of my work is on location - having a swanky studio is nice, but I really can't justify the overhead
Working from home massively reduces my carbon footprint on non-shooting days

How does this affect you?

Well, it doesn't, really. It's business as usual. My contact details remain the same, apart from the land line telephone. It's usually best to call me on my mobile (0412 206 437), or you can skype me, if you're that way inclined.

If you have a job for which we need a studio, there are a number of excellent hire studios around Melbourne.

And for those important production meetings, I'm happy to come to you - or your favourite cafe :-)

If you have any questions about all this, please drop me a line.

What photographers do

2008-07-24T20:58:00.016+10:00

(Warning: this post is kind of long. But it's mostly pictures. So while your scroll-wheel finger might get tired, your eyes and brain should be fine. Reading time approximately 2 minutes)

Ever wondered what photographers do? Probably not... it's pretty obvious - they take pictures. Well, I have been taking a stack recently, and I went on a little road trip (with my family), too. So I thought you might like to see the evidence.

First up I went to see long-time clients Davies Collison Cave to update some of their profile shots:

I caught up with my old buddy the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, John So, at a little birthday celebration (85 years of the Lord Mayor's Charitable Foundation):

Then the CFMEU summoned me to photograph Vice President Noel Washington, who faces a jail term for not talking to the ABCC:

But I wasn't finished with unions... AMWU asked me to go down to the Waubra wind farm and shoot one of their guys with his handiwork, to illustrate a story about what the union is doing about climate change:

(funny how those two shots are kind of the same)

It had only been a week or two since I had seen John So, but I was missing him already. So we got together again for "Melbourne's Biggest Community Lunch" at the Royal Exhibition Buildings (complete with "Christmas in July" theme). I got to mix with bigwigs like Mike Brady, police commissioner Christine Nixon, and the entire Melbourne Football Club:

My last bit of work before our little family road trip was for Amphibian Creative, who commissioned me to shoot a bunch of portraits for a staff incentive program:

After all of that work and what with the school holidays and all, it was only fair that we take a nice family road trip. First port of call was my Mum's place near Merimbula. We managed to get a trip to the (beautiful but rather cold) beach in, as well as a visit to Potoroo Palace animal park:

Finally we stopped in Canberra to spend some time with the family of my beautiful bride, Jen.

All good things must come to and end, as they say (come to think of it, who does say that?), and now it's back to work... as always, if you need me, you can find me at smartshots.com.au

See you around!

Cheers,
Steven

Do a photo shoot with me - and save the world

2008-04-01T06:53:00.011+11:00

Well folks, Easter is over, and the school holidays will be finished soon too. So I guess it's back to work until Anzac day or something.

As you're probably aware, "Earth Hour" took place on Saturday night and so I did some thinking about the way we do things around here. As a result I have some big news for you!

Now I like to think I'm a bit of an "early adopter", and I embraced a fully digital workflow fairly early on. In fact it was around 2003; so while I certainly wasn't among the first to change over, I still remember distinctly having to explain the benefits of digital to a lot of clients.

But like I said, I did some thinking during Earth Hour (there was nothing much else to do with everything switched off - and the children still up), and got to wondering about my "carbon footprint" as a photographer.

It seemed to me that digital was definitely ahead of film from an environmental point of view - I mean, think of all that film and all those chemicals. But then I started to think about all the power my equipment uses - not just the camera, but also the lights I use and of course my computer, which is integral to the image-making process these days.

I remember my Environmental Science teacher back in high school, Bill Cleveland, saying that "if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem". Which has given me a bit of a complex ever since. I mean, I feel kind of responsible for the whole Middle East business, because I have to admit I've done bugger all to fix it, personally.

But that's beside the point. What I'm getting at is that I decided to change the way I operate the photography practice, so that you and I can be a part of the solution.

So what actually changes, and how does it affect you?

Well I had a look in my equipment cupboard to see if I could do any recycling. It turned out I have a perfectly serviceable Olympus 35RD rangefinder film camera from the seventies, and a 1958 model Kodak Box Brownie.

The Olympus takes great pictures but does use a small amount of electricity from a small "button" battery for the light meter. The Brownie, however, is fully manual (well, technically, it's not even manual - there's just nothing to adjust on it) and power-free, and is therefore my "enviro-camera" of choice.

So from now on I'll be shooting all corporate portraits and headshots, events, and that kind of thing on the Brownie. Don't worry, the quality is top notch - the pictures are a bit kind of - blurrier - than you're probably used to now, and the exposure is a bit hit and miss, but the effect really grows on you.

If you're after something a little sharper, I'm happy to get the little Olympus out. But because it uses some battery power for the light meter, I'll need to add a small "carbon offset" charge of one cent per photograph to your bill. This money will go directly towards planting trees in my backyard.

As I mentioned, the other big power guzzlers are my electronic flash units. So it's strictly "available light" from now on. This may necessitate slower shutter speeds at times - so if you have a booking for corporate head shot portraits, I recommend that you advise all personnel to avoid coffee before the photo session. If people have "the shakes" while posing, they may end up with a rather fuzzy portrait.

The new setup may take a little getting used to, but hopefully you're as excited as I am about changing the world in our own little way. I look forward to our next shoot!

Cheers,
Steven

P.S. I know it sounds a little extreme - and I was hesitant at first myself - but to further reduce my environmental impact by lowering water usage, I have placed my "old" digital SLR camera in the cistern of my toilet.

P.P.S. What are you doing at your workplace to reduce your carbon footprint or save the world? Please add your own environmental suggestions in the comments.

The best summer holidays in the world ever

2008-01-22T18:33:00.000+11:00

Well, the last week of January is here, so you're probably back at work by now, doing stuff like this:

2007

I thought it would be a good time to reflect on 2007, talk about a few nice things that happened over the holidays, and start thinking about how you and I can have a 'bumper' 2008 together!

First and foremost - thanks for everything in 2007. It was awesome working with you all... I had a blast! Particularly memorable highlights:

Serving on the board of ACMP (Australia's industry association for commercial photographers)
"The Sopranos" influenced shoot for Centurion Metering Technologies
Meeting and photographing MYOB co-founder Craig Winkler
Flying to the Coonawarra and Mildura to shoot the Katnook Estate and Deakin Estate wineries
Traveling to England to visit my daughter Louise
Going for a ride in not one, but two King Airs

The 'Holiday Season'

I kicked off the holidays by starting (another) website! It's called "Woop Guy" and it's completely pointless but I enjoy it. Try and stop me :-)
We spent Christmas at home for once, and our families trekked in from Canberra, Sydney, and Adelaide.
After all that we were ready to escape the heat in Melbourne and take a quiet relaxing family holiday. We spent a week in beautiful Inverloch, where as well as getting plenty of beach time, we got together as a family and wrote down our goals for the year (see also this article by my lovely bride Jen for more about new year goals).
As if that wasn't enough holidaying, Jen and I managed to sneak away to Coffs Harbour for a few days without the kids. A friend was getting married and twisted my arm (very hard) into shooting the wedding. Who could resist staying at a resort right on the beach?
And to top it off I went for a ride in a Tiger Moth last Sunday, including some aerobatics! Jen had bought me the ride for my birthday back in November, and I finally got to take it.

Let's have a bumper year, you and me

Is 2008 going to be your big year? My objective is to help your wildest dreams come true (seriously!) by providing you with outstanding, engaging photography that helps you meet your goals. I hope we get to work together soon. Happy new year!

5 years later... I'm learning how to blog

2007-12-22T11:02:00.000+11:00

Mark Joyner, creator of Simpleology (a system for, like, getting what you want out of life - which I have dabbled with with some success) has a new product out which is a blogging course.

As a previous user of his stuff, I'm on his e-mail list... so I found out that if I post this on my blog:

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I'm evaluating a multi-media course on blogging from the folks at Simpleology. For a while, they're letting you snag it for free if you post about it on your blog.

It covers:

The best blogging techniques.
How to get traffic to your blog.
How to turn your blog into money.

I'll let you know what I think once I've had a chance to check it out. Meanwhile, go grab yours while it's still free.

----

... then he's gonna let me try the thing out.

Now I've had a blogger account since 2002, and this blog has been going since early 2006... but it's never to late to learn.

It's easy to think you know too much about something to do a course for beginners - but you never know how you may discover a new tactic which could transform your results. Starting from a beginner's perspective can be an excellent way!

So I'm planning to get my copy of the course and check it out. I may even learn something :-)

Fitness photographer

2007-11-30T13:36:00.000+11:00

I just did another shoot with my friends Matt and Monica of Fitnesskick.

The last time we worked together was in May 2006 (and I blogged about it then, too)

The main purpose of the shoot was to photograph step-by-step illustrations of the exercises for their new book.

But while they were here at the studio, we shot a few portraits, too, and I even challenged Matt to an arm wrestle :-)

I think we all had a good time - we worked through the exercise shots quickly and with determination, and then enjoyed letting our hair down for the portraits.

All in all we took over 600 shots, so we needed to be fairly organised about what we shot and how. Of course having a controlled, distraction free studio environment helped too.

Side note: Matt was smashed up badly when he was hit by a train five years ago.

Hot news: Picture tells way more words than previously thought!

2007-09-12T07:12:00.000+10:00

We've all heard the old adage that "a picture tells a thousand words". And of course it's one that we photographers in particular love.

But it turns out that far from telling a measly 1,000 words, a picture tells nearly eighty thousand!

How do I know this?

Small Business Marketing blogger John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing told me so with his link to this picture of his book.

But seriously... It does go to show that the right photograph can make a big difference to your message! Contact me to discuss how we could work together to make yours more effective.

PR photography

2007-05-17T16:10:00.000+10:00

PR shoots are fun. The challenge often is getting a newsworthy story out of something which doesn't initially appear to be that exciting.

On Monday afternoon I did this shoot at an old house which has just been thoroughly renovated, with careful attention to energy and water saving features.

To add to the fun, construction was not finished, so we had to work around that.

Fortunately we had perfect weather (again), so that was one less thing to worry about.

Welcome back; and building facade number 943

2007-05-11T19:31:00.000+10:00

Oh - hello again!

You know... I've been meaning to 'revive' this blog from it's dormant state for a long time now (like, 5 months), and I've been agonizing for the last little while about how I'm gonna start it up again and get you up to date with all the interesting shoots I've been doing.

But* you know what? Today I decided I was done with agonizing, and I would just continue blogging as if I had never stopped.

So today I'm going to tell you about the shoot I did this afternoon - and if I have some quiet patches coming up, then I can use them to tell you about some of the other shoots I've done going back a few months. So there.

Anyway, welcome back... I hope you find something here of use, whether you're a commercial user of photography; professional or student photographer; or just arrived here by accident :-)

*I'll start my sentences with conjunctions if I feel like it - it's 'conversational'.

Building facade number 943

Well, I'm not sure if I've shot that many.... maybe it's less, maybe it's more! (who's counting, anyway?)

The client phoned me yesterday afternoon. They had received an unexpected request from their head office in the US for a high-quality image of the front of their building, to go in a book about the company history.

- And they needed it, like, yesterday.

Fortunately Melbourne's autumn weather was kind to us, and the site was fairly tidy. I shot a couple of dozen frames; set up my laptop in a spare office inside, and got to work on the shots. In the end I selected half a dozen, tidied up a few little things, and delivered them to the client on the spot.

That's a wrap!

Plain, overcast skies can create quite a challenge when there are no other options about when the shot can be obtained. I'm sure I'll have a story to tell you about that another time!

Technorati Tags: photography building photography architectural photography commercial photography professional photography

Group photo - "Who Blinked?!"

2006-11-17T14:12:00.000+11:00

Until digital cameras and Photoshop came along, 'blinks' were the scourge of the group photograph.

Nowadays, if you've taken a few captures of a group, it is possible to 'fix' blinks by playing plastic surgeon and replacing someone's closed eyes in one picture with (the same person's) open eyes from another.

The problem with this approach is that it takes a lot longer than just getting a blink-free shot in the first place.

Now, us pros know that more shots generally equal better insurance against problems of many kinds - hence the number one lie of photographers, "one more please".

But what if you're worried about annoying your group by parroting "one more" a few dozen times, and want to know the minimum number of shots needed to get a blink-free capture?

Well, fortunately science has come to the rescue. CSIRO physicist Dr Piers Barnes and writer Nic Svenson went to the trouble of mathematically working out how many captures you need for a given size group to get a 99% chance of a blink-free shot (and they even drew a pretty graph).

For their efforts, Barnes and Svenson were rewarded with a prestigous (?) Ig Nobel prize. Ig Nobels are awarded to scientists who do unusual research just like this.

Other recent award winners were Schwab & May for "why woodpeckers don't get headaches", and Halpern, Blake & Hildebrand for "why people dislike the sound of fingernails scraping on a blackboard".

If you haven't already checked them out, you should: Improbable Research.

So how many exposures do you need to make to get that perfect shot? Well of course that depends on the size of the group... but if you can't be bothered reading the orginal article (please, what is with you?), the rule of thumb is:

for groups of less than 20: divide the number of people by three if there's good light and two if the light's bad

Good luck!

"My name is George. I'm unemployed and I live with my parents."

2006-11-16T07:18:00.000+11:00

This post on Seth Godin's blog about honesty immediately reminded me of George's famous pick up line from the classic Seinfeld episode, "The Opposite" :-)

...at least I can laugh about it

2006-11-03T07:08:00.000+11:00

To 'celebrate' the fact that this is the first post in five months, I added an entry for blogfade to Urban Dictionary (it may take a while to appear while it is being reviewed by humans).

So what's news?

Well, the main news is that we have moved to new World Headquarters (mwuahahahaha).

For just over three years we were located in a Business Incubator - which served us well - but thanks to our wonderful family of clients, suppliers, and friends (that's you), we outgrew it.

The new place is just 4km from the CBD and has a purpose-built studio with all the good stuff.

Here's our reception area and client lounge (with a proper espresso machine!):

And our 400 square metre studio:

How did we manage all of this? I'm glad you asked. We've joined forces with the lovely people at D&D Global Group, which also means we can now help you with your high quality offset printing, as well as digital print and design (want to know more? ask me!)

Well, I'd better get to it - got clients coming in for some corporate portraits!

Technorati Tags: photography studio, photographer melbourne

Lights, camera, FIRE!

2006-06-09T13:08:00.000+10:00

In an unfortunate bit of PR, HP have recalled their Photosmart R707 Digital Camera because of a fire hazard.

According to the recall document,

"The digital camera can cause certain non-rechargeable batteries... to overheat when the camera is connected to an AC adapter or docking station, posing a fire hazard."

I'm pleased to announce that here at Steven Pam Photography we use only "non-incendiary" camera equipment. Oh, and in the extremely unlikely event that something does catch fire, we have insurance for that :-)

(via geek.com)

Technorati Tags: Digital Photography, digital camera, product recall, HP, fire hazard

Cover of Australian Anthill #16

2006-06-06T16:27:00.000+10:00

Just got my issue of Australian Anthill #16 in the mail today.

This is about my fifth (sixth?) cover for them and the novelty hasn't worn off at all :-)

Technorati Tags: Photography, Commercial Photography, Magazine Photographer, Cover shoot

Build muscle by osmosis?

2006-05-29T16:21:00.000+10:00

Build muscles by osmosis? I wish.

On Saturday afternoon I had the pleasure of meeting and photographing fitness champs Monica Wright and Matt Thom, as well as Kerry, an instructor from their gym (Fitness Kick Flemington).

Competitive fitness is an interesting sport - and the effect on practitioners' bodies is a lot more useful (and arguably a lot more attractive, too) than that of bodybuilding!

Just being in the room with these guys made me feel fitter... but unfortunately that was only in my mind :-(

Technorati Tags: Commercial Photography, Photography, fitness, muscle

Why I love being a corporate photographer

2006-05-15T10:33:00.000+10:00

The Gulf Times reports that ten people were injured during an Israeli protest rally, including an AFP photographer who was shot in the hand with a rubber bullet.

Obvioulsy news/war photography would be extremely rewarding - or at least an incredible adrenalin rush at times, but I'll stick to my corporate photography gig, thanks.

Photographing guys (and gals) in suits may sound boring, but it's actually (surprisingly?) interesting. I get to meet people at all lelvels in all industries - and some of them even smile for the camera.

...And if I ever need an adrenalin rush I can always stand in front of a bus :-)

Technorati Tags: corporate photography

Photographer Melbourne

2006-05-14T09:41:00.001+10:00

Brunetti

One of the funnest things (yes, I know 'funnest' isn't a word, I'm just writing the way I speak, OK?) about being a Melbourne photographer is, well, being a Melbourne Photographer.

What the?

No, really. I get to see a huge variety of bits of Melbourne - from abbatoirs to Collins Street offices - and the people that work there. And I get to photograph them!

Here I am in Brunetti's 'secret' store high within the 101 Collins Street building. This particluar outlet is just for Macquarie Bank staff... the words 'employer of choice' spring to mind :-)

I've actually got quite a collection of photographs of myself grinning like this in different locations - testing my lighting before the real subjects turn up.

Technorati Tags: photography, photographer melbourne, corporate photography

How to get a job as a photographer's assistant

2006-05-06T17:23:00.000+10:00

I get a fair few e-mails from people asking about how to get into the photography business.

I got this one recently and thought that since I went to the trouble to write a proper answer, I may as well share it with the world:

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I have recently become crazy about photography, I have just bought a Canon EOS 30D, which is producing (in my opinion) awesome photos. I'm then finishing them off in Photoshop CS2 which adds to the touch as you already know.

I'm currently working as a chef & am wanting to change to a career in photography. My interests are food photography & aviation photography, I don't mind a bit of nature as well.

I wonder if you can suggest any food photographers that exist in Melbourne.

Also how to get work as a photographer in this specific industry. I know I will need to do a course on the principles, but I have found in life that you learn better & faster when you are thrown in the deep end, I guess you either sink or swim (is it easy to get work experience in this industry, in other words work for free) I would prefer to do work experience rather that learn out of a classroom

Any help would be great

Thankyou Kindly,

Stewart

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Hi Stewart,

Good choice with the 30D, I think you'll find you'll be very happy with that. It's quite capable of taking professional-quality pictures - you won't need to upgrade for a while.

Sorry, I don't know much about the food photography scene. Best way to find food photographers to approach is to look through the food sections of the lifestyle mags, newspaper colour supplements, etc, and note their names from the photo credit. Then get to work on Google! You'll find that most of them are in Sydney but if you're persistent you'll find some here in Melbourne, too.

In terms of approaching photographers you want to work with (or publications, for that matter), the key is polite persistence. I've got to tell you, we get inundated with requests for work experience or assisting jobs. I reply to all of them (eventually) and my usual answer is 'nothing at the moment, but feel free to stay in touch'. 99% of them I never hear from again, which could mean one of two things: (1) Soon after contacting me they landed a high-paying, full-time gig as a photographer or assistant, or (2) they were too lazy to stay in touch.

All it takes is to put the follow-up in your diary (a reasonable time might be three months later). The 1% that did bother to do this, are the people I work with when the opportunity arises. There are a few reasons for this. They are probably obvious, but for what it's worth: (1) I'm busy, I'm forgetful! - People who contact me regularly are more likely to be at the top of my mind. (2) It shows they are in the business for the long term. (3) It shows they are organised and professional enough to keep a diary and also to keep their word.

If you follow this simple process (and are courteous and professional in your attitude), I GUARANTEE you'll get a gig eventually.

Good luck, and of course - feel free to stay in touch and keep me posted on how it goes!

Cheers,
Steven

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By the way, I agree with Stewart about learning from experience. While it's definitely worth reading everything you can about photographic technique, style and history, ultimately you've got to get out there and find out for yourself. Of course if you want to go to uni for the social scene, that's fine too :-)

Technorati Tags: photography jobs, photography business, work experience, photography training

I'm on the telly!

2006-05-02T21:38:00.000+10:00

I'm on the telly!

Well, not me, personally... but my friend and client James Tuckerman, founder and publisher of Australian Anthill magazine. So that's almost as good.

There is a transcript on the ABC Inside Business page and the little video clip is at the bottom of the page.

Check it out!

Technorati Tags: Australian Anthill, James Tuckerman

BDO at Dusk

2006-04-28T16:31:00.000+10:00

BDO

A day in the life of a Melbourne photographer, part 2...

The Melbourne offices of 'Big Five' accountants/advisors BDO.

There's only a small window of opportunity for shooting at dusk; too early, and the sky is too light, too late, and everything is too dark! So it's important to plan your shot in advance.

Technorati Tags: photography, building photography, architectural photography, dusk photography, exterior photography, night photography, commercial photography, professional photography

Auctioneers

2006-04-28T16:27:00.000+10:00

Auctioneers

A day in the life of a Melbourne photographer, part 1...

Auctioneering involves a lot of showmanship - so photographing these guys was a lot of fun (even at eight o'clock in the morning)!

Technorati Tags: photography, commercial photography, professional photography, people photography, auctioneers

Winter - A great time to shoot building exteriors

2006-04-22T01:05:00.000+10:00

I know it's not winter yet, but boy are we getting some cold nights in Melbourne!

Which got me thinking - now is a good time to start planning to any photography of building exteriors you may have been putting off.

What's so good about photographing buildings in winter?

Here are three:

Foliage - there's less of it. Of course this will depend on the individual building and surrounding trees, but if parts of the building are normally obscured by deciduous (European!) trees, winter is your chance to see more of it.
Light - Dawn and dusk often produce the most interesting and/or beautiful light. And of course they both arrive at more civilised times in the winter - no need to set the alarm for four in the morning or to stay out late!
Air - Although cloudless, dry days are a little less common than in the other seasons, the air is often clearer and less hazy during winter. This won't affect the foreground subject that much, but if the picture is to include a city skyline or more distant landmarks, it is a great advantage.

Of course there is a downside, too - pack your gloves!

Technorati Tags: photography, exterior photography, building photography, architectural photography

Two weeks to shoot an ice cream?

2006-04-18T13:09:00.000+10:00

My clients are often surprised at how long it takes to photograph simple environmental portraits - for example, company staff at their workplace. "All this for one shot"?, they ask.

But spare a thought for Cincinnati food photographer Teri Campbell and his clients. According to an article in the Cincinnati Business Courier, they may be up for a two-week wait while he photographs an ice cream.

My favourite quote from the article?

"...it is the space between Campbell's ears that is most valuable to his clients."

The moral?

Next time you're feeling a little frustrated that it's taking me, like, twenty minutes to set up a shot of your CEO, think of ice-cream. And remember how much you're paying to rent the space between my ears :-)

Technorati Tags: photography, photographer, commercial photography, commercial photographer, food photography, people photography, location photography, photo shoot

How to increase your odds of getting in the press

2006-04-02T07:54:00.000+10:00

I promised somewhere (in my newsletter or here on the blog - or maybe it was just in the recesses of my twisted mind) to reveal the secret of getting your news release run in the newspaper (or a magazine).

You're probably not surprised to hear me say that it involves photography :-)

Now, I'm no PR expert (although I'll direct you to one in a minute), but I do know that journalists are desperate for interesting material (interesting being a key word - don't bother sending a sales pitch disguised as a news story, it will most likely go straight in the bin). And, like anyone, they want their job to be as easy as possible.

So, which is more interesting: A news story, or a news story with a picture? The picture wins every time, of course. Have you ever noticed that items that are virtual 'non-stories' run in the paper (or on TV) because they happen to have interesting pictures or footage to go with them?

Well, the (by now) obvious way of taking advantage of this is by sending an interesting, reproduction-quality photograph in with your media release. This will dramatically increase the chance of your story being run.

"But don't newspapers and magazines have their own photographers"?, I hear you asking. Of course the do. But there are at least three good reasons to send your own quality pictures with your news release:

Capture the editor or journalist's attention. When they pick up your release, it will immediately stand out from all the other boring pages of copy they receive. They will be able to see at a glance that it is something interesting that they may want to run.
They may run it as is, with your pictures. - Saving you the inconvenience of having their photographer come and tell you what to do - which brings us to the third, possibly most important reason:
You retain control of the content. Get your story portrayed the way you want. This makes your media release almost as good as good as running a free ad, probably worth thousands! Of course you can't guarantee that the story will be run exactly the way you want - but the first thing readers see is the picture, and if that shows you in a favourable light, that's a huge head start.

Of course there's no guarantee that your story will get run at all. But if you consistently send news releases that follow the rules, the odds are very, very good. In fact, if you do the numbers on it, it's a no-brainer. Think of how many news releases you could write and send for the cost of a single advertisement. Even if only one in five gets run, you'll be ahead (and with your story having much more credibility than in an ad).

Anyway, like I said, I'm no PR expert. So don't take my word for all of this. Listen to some experts. I have two favourite PR resources which I subscribe to:

Joan Stewart (The Publicity Hound) and Paul Hartunian.

Oh, and of course if you need help with that picture, you know who to call :-)

Technorati Tags: media release, press release, news release, publicity, PR, public relations

Good news for you, good news for me!

2006-03-17T16:40:00.000+11:00

This story appearing recently on news.com.au tells of how a study by financial services firm Grant Thornton found that 22 per cent of Australian businesses are in the 'Super Growth' category.

Wow! TWENTY-TWO per cent! That's a lot of fast-growing businesses!

So what does this mean for you and me?

If you're in a B2C/retail business: The people who work at these fast-growth companies (as well the new employees taking on), are confident and flush with cash. If you can find them and sell to them, that's good for you!
If you're in a B2B/wholesale business: Some of these fast-growth companies (and their entire supply chain, of course) need products and services like yours. That's good for you!
If you're in a non-profit organisation: There may be partnering opportunities with many of these fast-growth companies . That's good for you!

What are you doing to become a 'super growth' organisation?Is it time to take advantage of good economic conditions and ramp up your marketing & communications programmes?

That's going to be our strategy. And if it's going to be yours, we'd love to help you with that if we can :-)

Technorati Tags: economy, boom, marketing