Small business is anything but small in our economy.  Small businesses represent over 99 percent of firms with employees.  They generate almost half of the total private payroll in the United States and have generated sixty to eighty percent of all new jobs per year for the last ten years.  It is also interesting to note that fifty-three percent of small businesses in the U. S. are home based.

These businesses need photography, particularly in this age of the internet.  Even if a business does not yet have a web site, it soon will.  It is rapidly becoming, if it isn’t already a stark necessity.  Over the next ten years it has been predicted that there will be over 15 billion more web sites.  That is a lot of photography!

Conceptual stock photos, or descriptive stock photos?

There are two basic different types of stock photos that will be needed, conceptual and descriptive.  Conceptual shots are useful for businesses that deal with such hard to illustrate themes such as financial services, insurance, banking and various non-product oriented businesses.  Realistically, most business can use both.  For example, if you run a dry cleaning business and you want to print out a flyer you might use a picture of a shirt on a hanger…or maybe something like a two people rolling out a red carpet…to indicate the service orientation of your business. 

If you shoot pictures of shirts on hangars to fulfill those needs you might license a lot of them to dry cleaners.  If you shoot people rolling out a red carpet your market suddenly becomes dry cleaners, bed and breakfast inns, even auto repair shops.  A picture of a red carpet representing superior service can work for large, medium and small businesses alike.  The market for your stock pictures becomes that much larger.  When the stock photo in question reads quickly as a small thumbnail, you dramatically enhance your chance of the image being chosen. 

You can shoot a shirt on a hangar for little cost.  To shoot two people rolling out a red carpet is probably going to cost more and take more time.  It will also be more difficult to shoot really well, and may need a lot more post.

Shoot the concept, shoot the story

A good way to approach this whole problem of what and how to shoot would be to shoot a shirt on a hangar (descriptive shot), a suit of clothes spread out on a bed (illustrating preparation), a model fixing his tie (again, preparation), similar shots with a woman model.  Perhaps even the two asleep in bed, waking up, turning off the alarm clock, getting ready in the morning, fixing breakfast, washing dishes, a close up of dirty dishes in the sink, and, eventually, rolling out the red carpet.  In other words, set up a shoot around a concept, and when appropriate, work through a story with your photographs.

Have a shot list, stick to it

To prepare for your photo shoot visualize each shot, each step.  What props will you need?  What wardrobe? How will you need to light it?  Allow plenty of time for each shot, for the transitions between shots, and for wardrobe changes.  Wardrobe changes can dramatically increase the number of selects you can get.  But such changes can slow you down too.  I always print out my shot list and check each one off as I complete it.  If there is a clothing change I stop and review my list.  I always have enough extra shots built in that if one shot just isn’t working, I can move on to the next.

Get the shot, but don’t over shoot

There is a fine line between moving on too soon, and not shooting enough.  The trick is to know when you have your shot and it is time to move on.  I have improved the efficiency of my shoots tremendously by slowing down and paying more attention to each shot rather than just firing away and then firing away some more because I haven’t paid enough attention to really know if I gotten what I wanted.

Take time to check your work

At least two or three times during a shoot, if at all possible, I will stop what I am doing and check a few shots on my laptop to make sure that my photos are in focus and the details are looking right.  I’d rather find out problems during the shoot than after the models have gone home!

Slowing down yields more

Take the time to plan your shoot, create a comprehensive shot list, visualize the process of each shot, plan carefully for props and wardrobe, take your time, review your work, and reap the rewards. You will be glad you took the time and whether they know it or not, the small business that needs your work will be glad too.



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So AIG is looking to pay $165 million in bonuses and compensation.  There is a good PR move!  Have the government bail you out and then pay millions in bonuses.  Talk about a ready made public relations nightmare.  Perhaps the company figures that it is mitigating some of the well deserved national outcry by identifying banks that received chunks of the company’s billions in federal bailout funds last year.  But what does that accomplish?  That’s not so much transparency as it is sharing the blame.  AIG was recipient of at least $170 billion in federal bailout money (that’s billion with a B) and received an $85 billion loan from the Federal Reserve. 

 If there had been no bailout and no loan, there would be no company and thus no bonuses.  The bailout and bonuses should have come with that caveat – no bonuses.  Bonuses are incentives that are paid out for jobs well done.  Or at least they should be.  No small business would exist or function under this type of framework.  That’s why I’m more convinced than ever that small businesses are what can, and hopefully will, turn the economy around and set the country back on course.  Because there is not a huge bureaucracy in which to hide, small businesses, by their very nature, are forced to be much more transparent.  Because there is little or no fat to absorb poor decisions, small businesses must function properly and turn a profit in order to survive, much less thrive.  We have seen that big is not always better.  In fact if recent history is to be our guide, it seems to be a ready made recipe for failure.  This is not always the case, but seemingly more often than not.  So, if the small business community takes the lead and makes its voice heard, perhaps we’ll look back at this economic mess we find ourselves in and see that it served a purpose.

Copyright © Anthony Mora 2009



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Good News for Small Businesses

An exciting new media service has recently launched, Jazel design. This web design company truly is different from the rest as it specialises in web design for small businesses. Their mission is plain and simple; they want to help small businesses grow by getting them online.

With the growing concerns over the credit crunch and the main government attention going to the big players in the world of commerce, it is essential that all small businesses support each other to survive this economic gloom. For those who acknowledge the impact the economic downturn can have Jazel Design may be the answer. They can take your business online and open up new business channels for you.

Traditional web design agencies have catered for all organisations large and small; however this web design agency understands that the requirements of a small business are substantially different from the requirements of a large organisation. With this in mind they provide a tailored service which accounts for small businesses budgets too.

Offering brochure sites at discount prices Jazel Design also offers services such as Flash animations to set your websites apart as well as blogging software for the more ambitious business owner.

If one requires a logo for their new website or offline business, Jazel design can do that too.

Jazel Design  is an expert web design company specialising in effective web design for small businesses. Contact today for your free affordable custom quote.



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Enforcing basic levels of security seems to be something small European businesses have mastered, especially those that use the Internet as the main medium to conduct their business.  Spyware and viruses are the first terms that come to mind when someone asks for talks about Internet security but the fact of the matter is that there are many more threats that can compromise the valuable data small businesses in Europe rely on.

The recent security survey conducted by Symantec Corp. has revealed some interesting information about the level of security European small businesses put in place and how their data may become compromised by e-mail spam tactics known as phishing.

Spammers and fraudsters seem to be moving away from high tech tools such as viruses or spyware and have begun to focus on methods that require less work (as far as technology) and are more cunning in order to get valuable information from small business owners and use it against them.  E-mail phishing is nothing more than an e-mail that appears to be official and has a set of instructions that will ultimately lead to a data leak.

In order to detect phishing scams one needs to take a hard look at the e-mail address that was used to send the message, the language that is being used and the links such e-mail has.  As a European small business owner you should never assume that an e-mail is legitimate only because it appears to come from an established business.  Copying the images and appearance of a site and applying that “theme” to an e-mail is not hard to do, if a small business owner assumes that an evil message is legitimate just because it looks like the website of a trusted financial institution or business partner to risk being taken is very high.

Phishing e-mails will often contain hyperlinks that will take the reader from the message to a website, paying attention to the URL of the page where you are being redirected can help you identify potential scam.  The Symantec Corp. has revealed that small business owners may not be as vulnerable to viruses as they are to phishing scams, especially when to phishing e-mail targets an employee in charge of the accounts payable or receivable (known as minnowing) or when targets the small business owner and people working in important positions (also known as whaling)

In order to combat such problem it is recommended that European small businesses train their staff in order to make them fully aware of the threats and security breaches that can be caused by a simple phishing e-mail and how to recognize a fraudulent message when it arrives at their inbox.



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It seems like times are always tough for small businesses, but no time is worse than during a recession. During a recession, many businesses try to cut back on as much as possible, but when does cutting back start to hurt the company? One of the places this question is most often applied is to the question of SEO. Should a small business pay for SEO when money is tight?

Unfortunately, many small businesses axe their advertising budget first. While this can be a good place to save a little bit of money, if businesses completely cut their advertising, they will not be able to attract new clients. Without new clients, there’s little they can do to make more money. While word of mouth may help somewhat, it’s not as effective as a marketing blitz.

While web marketing is cheaper than doing offline marketing, there are still costs involved. However, you may get a much higher return on your investment since you’re able to more deeply analyze how well your marketing is doing. Since websites allow users to track where their traffic comes from, it’s easier to identify and cut any online marketing that is not working. To this end, small businesses should not immediately cut their SEO budget when times get tight.

Some small businesses may not have even invested in SEO yet, and these businesses may be asking why they should spend the money. However, those small business owners may not recognize just how great a return they can get on their SEO. A huge return on investment is everything in a recession, and doing SEO is ranked as one of the top ROI solutions.

By selecting specific keywords and phrases, you’re very specifically targeting your audience. While ads in magazines may get a lot of attention, you never really know if your target audience is viewing the ad or if it is being viewed by someone who will never purchase your product. SEO, however, makes certain your website is being viewed by those who are looking for what you offer. It brings in more than just quantity; it brings in quality visitors and provides them with information about your website right away.

When it comes to dealing with SEO, small businesses have a few choices. They can either handle the SEO themselves or they can hire a professional SEO company. The first is obviously the most budget-friendly; however, if you and your employees don’t understand the basics of doing SEO, you may end up wasting your time. Fortunately, you can learn the basics of SEO fairly quickly.

Paying a company to do SEO, especially if the company is thorough and completely redesigns your website from the ground up to be fully optimized, may be out of your price range. Many small businesses simply can’t afford this. However, having an expert in SEO look at your pages can be helpful. Outsourcing only part of the SEO process can be helpful. For example, you may want to hire a professional SEO writer to create content for your website after you determine the keywords yourself.



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Michael.t.brian asked:


People in small businesses are often in need of money to run their business smoothly. So taking a business loan is unavoidable for them. However some business people with bad credit tag may find a loan harder to avail. Such business people should apply for Bad Credit Small Business Loan. A lender providing small business loan to bad credit business people usually approves the loan without many enquiries as the loan is especially meant for them.

Bad credit small business loan ensures required amount of loan to those business personas that have credit problems like late payments and arrears mentioned in their credit report. Or they may have defaulted on payments and have county court judgments. In these days of high competition amongst lenders, lenders usually prefer seeing repaying capacity of the business person rather than bad credit. So if you are now in a good position to return the loan than you should be proving it through your income and bank statements. Also the lender would like to see the type of business you are in and how it is fairing. Hence you should show all documents of your business in order to convince that your business is capable of earning decent income.

Bad credit small business people can get loan under secured or unsecured option. Secured bad credit small business loan gives you greater loan amount against a commercial or residential property and carries lower interest rate. Also you can choose to repay the loan in 5 to 30 years. Unsecured bad credit small business loan provides loan without collateral, making it a risk free loan for bad credit people. But lenders charge interest at higher rate on the loan. You would be approved smaller amount for shorter repaying duration of 5 to 15 years.

You should first take rate quotes of bad credit small business loan lenders to compare them. This way you will find out a suitable lender for your circumstances. And clear the loan in time to improve your credit score.



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Michal John asked:


Starting your own new and small business is on your hands on now. There is no need for you to ask your friends or someone else to help you out in the expenses. Just apply for the small business loans, get an adequate amount and get started with your new business. Why only new, you will even be able to improve your old and dying busyness too. Just make a proper plan of your small business, find out the required amount and then apply for it. These loans will help you in anything you want to have in your business.

Though these are ideal for small businesses only still you can classify it as loans that offers big amount and loans that offers small amounts. For big monetary help you will get secured loans in it and for small help the unsecured loans are there. These will not dissatisfy you by any way. For choosing the right loans you must know about these too. The secured loans are for those borrowers only who can place their valuable assets as collateral. Others cannot get these loans because placing a valuable asset as collateral is must in it. You will get a good amount with a very low interest rate.

The unsecured loans will facilitate you with a small amount. The rate of interest of these loans uses to be high in comparison to the secured loans. Those who want to avoid it can opt for other loans. The unsecured loans will prove to be helpful in another way. For getting it no one will be required to place collateral. So the non-homeowners too will be able to have a business of their own.

The same facilities prevail for the bad credit holders as well. You will not be turned down in spite of going for it with credit records like arrears, defaults, bankruptcy or CCJs. The small business loans will prove to be the best for you.



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Michael.t.brian asked:


Starting a new business is very easy if you can manage the required money for the business related expenditures. The amount required for starting a business depends on the type of the business. The bigger it is the more money will be required. For small business not much will be required but still you have to be appropriate about the total cost before going for any loan. In such conditions, the ideal loans to be approached will be the small business loans.

Though these are for small businesses still are being divided into the secured and unsecured forms. The money offered in the secured loans will be a bit more than the unsecured loans. For getting the secured loans you must place collateral and the benefit of doing so is that lower interest rates will be charged on you. The repayment term too is good. While in the unsecured loans the offered amount is small and the rate of interest is high. But in one thing you will get relief that security will not be required here.

The bad credit holders too can enjoy the freedom of getting these loans and setting up their own new business. Not only for new businesses even, these are ideal for renewing your old business too. The poor records which are allowed in these loans include:

o County Court Judgments

o Arrears

o Late payment

o Skipping of installments

o Defaults

o Bankruptcy

The small business loans are ideal for any type of business. Each and everything that is generally required while establishing the foundation of these businesses will be provided by it. Through it you will be able to buy the land, can build your office or can buy an office, decorate it with the required furniture, hire people, buy the required machines and can also buy the raw materials. Thus, the all basics for starting a business are being provided by it.



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NorthwesternU asked:

See how students at Northwestern University’s School of Law are helping small businesses and non-profits in Chicago communities launch their dreams through the Small Business Opportunity Center. Northwestern University regularly produces News@Northwestern, a television news magazine, in conjunction with Hess/Hoffman Productions of Chicago.

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webmarketingtoday asked:

John Marshall (formerly of ClickTracks now with MarketMotive) explains how small business users can make their use of web analytics intensely practical by answering business questions. He recommends ClickTracks, Google Analytics, and IndexTools for small businesses.

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