My girlfriend, Julie, is a substitute teacher. She recently taught at a high school where one kid really caught her attention. He was carrying a Nikon DSLR with a matching Nikon bag full of lenses; this was abnormal for a high school student’s budget.

“That’s a nice camera, John! Do you carry this around all of the time?” asked Julie.

“Yeah, I love shooting pictures.”

Julie chided, “I bet everyone frequently asks you to take professional pictures for them.”

“Yeah – yearbook, sports, portraits, dances, the works! I’m known as ‘the guy with the big camera!’”

Indelible Impressions

John made an image for himself at school – he was the guy with the big camera. This elusive impression can be good or bad.

In a positive approach, try to leave an indelible impression with all of your clients and their friends. So that in the event that any of them need a photographer (pet, portrait, wedding…), they will think of you!

Shopaholic – Girl In The Green Scarf

For those of you who watched the movie or read the book, Rebecca Bloomwood used the title as “Girl In The Green Scarf” for her publication columns.

This enigmatic name caused curiosity amongst the readers. On the flip side, Rebecca will always be branded as the girl in the green scarf. What happens if she decided she doesn’t like green anymore?

Rebranding

The green scarf will always be a reminder of Rebecca Bloomwood. Take me for example now.

Most recently I pushed strongly on SEO (search engine optimization) and strategic blogging. I later felt the repercussions.

Repercussions

I was branded as an SEO expert (and only that) when in actuality, SEO and blogging strategies are only some of the many tools that I employ. What I really am is a marketing consultant for the wedding industry.

For example, a few months ago, I had the pleasure of working with WPPI and did some coaching on social media and software integration. Anyone notice any subtle changes?

Now, I am working with Grace Ormonde Wedding Style Magazine on some strategic marketing. The first step I did was redid their website and started her off with a fresh Twitter account. There hasn’t been much activity recently because she is working on her new book.

Lastly, for those who attended last month’s LA Smug, I dabbed a little on effective usages of social media.

WPPI Booth 1240

All in all, I am here at Las Vegas for WPPI. My setup is at booth 1240 – schedule here. If you have any burning questions, come on by and ask me. I will be offering on-on-one coaching, so everything will be private.

Who’s coming to visit me? My worst nightmare is crickets chirping. If anything, come play Nintendo (the old school one) and reminisce the good times.

Sincerely,

Lawrence Chan
Tofurious
Wedding Marketing Consultant : )

P.S. Party hard, but sleep hard. You don’t want to get sick.

P.P.S. Follow @tofurious if you want to track where I am – cheers!

P.P.P.S. Do you all know what you’re known as? Or are you all just dime a dozen photographers?

Peace of mind is a luxury.

Some believe that ignorance is bliss. To a certain extent, that statement holds true. According to Buddhism’s Four Noble Truths, suffering is caused by craving. And craving only increases as we are exposed to new realms of materialism.

Take the following circle for example. As we advance in worldly exposure, ring-1 will no longer satiate our desires. However, notice how ring-2’s circumference is larger than ring-1; this is the same for ring-3 respectively.

What’s The Point?

At my SmugMug presentation last week, someone asked me whether it was appropriate to increase her prices dramatically. I suggested only under two conditions:

1. if you are ready for the change (strategy, portfolio, website, business cards, etc.)
2. if you have the financial cushion to survive the transition

Financial Cushion – imagine if you were ladened with bills and overdue payments. How can you think about anything else? Let alone, strategize for your business.

Shopaholic Lesson #5

Yes, I will be referencing to fictional books a lot. Rebecca Bloomwood’s (protagonist) father taught her one thing about shopping – it’s okay to be a shopaholic except that…

…you must either make more or spend less.

Bottom line – don’t bite more than you can chew. Growing or starting a business requires capital. Do it slowly. Give it time.

The moment you enter the negative (red zone), you will be so busy trying to not drown that you will lose sight of how to expand. Either

• make more money so that you can have peace of mind
• spend less money so that you can have peace of mind
• or a combination of the two

Again, peace of mind is a luxury; cherish it.

Lawrence Chan

P.S. My rule of thumb is to have enough capital to survive for an entire year without making a single penny (two years for me).

P.P.S. I still drive an ‘04 Honda Civic because my peace of mind is more important than a fancy ride right now. I’m not suggesting that we all be misers — because I do go a little wild when on vacations — but just to plan accordingly.

P.P.P.S. Shopaholic lesson numbers are random so don’t try to look for lessons 1-4 lol!

Yesterday was my first SmugMug presentation! Peter Garr was the gracious leader who invited me to speak.

It was the second time I used this presentation; first time was at SD Photog Shootout. As I was weaving through the attendees, Anastasia asked if I was going to cover pricing and packages.

“Didn’t plan to, but I can add that in…right now.” People kept asking, so I kept modifying. By the end of the evening, Tamara Young can attest that my slides were nothing like San Diego’s presentation.

Image courtesy of Lucia Isabella

Core Focus: Understanding And Marketing For Your Target Audience

The following are two slides out of the presentation. It should give a general idea as to what I talked about.

Everyone’s answers were unanimous. Yet a lot of our efforts were catered for the wrong audience. I am not encouraging that we dismiss peer approval; just saying that efforts should be distributed equally.

Before crafting a blog post or spending advertising dollars, think about where your marketing efforts are placed.

Ask yourselves questions like:

• would I buy that?
• would I pay for that
• where would my target audience get their exposure? TheKnot, Grace Ormonde?
• what is it that they fear most?

And etc…

Sincerely,

Lawrence Chan

P.S. Today I decided to skip 24 Hour Fitness to hike. Hopefully I won’t be breathing on the same level as LA’s infamous smog.

It was a frigid morning. Weeks have passed since I had a warm meal. After scaling the snowy white mountain tops of Mt. Versace, I finally arrived at Gucci – holy temple of coolness.

I was greeted with hospitality. Despite not speaking Prada, we communicated effectively with hand gestures. Finally, a translator approached me, “what is it that you seek, Lawrence Chan of Los Angeles?”

I cringed as my tongue burned from the hot tea, “I seek Milan – the wise one.”

A man with what I assumed was a handbag acknowledged my request. “I am Milan. You’ve traveled far. This must be important.”

It was very important. Time was fleeting. I needed an answer. “Milan. Many of my peers use mediums called Twitter and Facebook. They tweet and update day and night. In fact, I just tweeted about meeting you whilst talking! I did not mean to be impolite, but I’m addicted.

Ultimately, how is all this social media going to help our businesses? Is success equated with friends/followers?”

The wise sage stepped in a circle as he pondered. Occasionally, he would rub his chin as if the friction caused some form of kinetic brain juice.

When he was ready to speak, the room fell silent. Even the birds knew not to chirp. Everyone closed in.

Milan said in a deep deep voice, “being busy does not mean being productive…”

“Obviously, I know that!” I rebutted with haste.

“Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh,” everyone chimed in at once. Uh oh. Taboo. Before I had a chance to apologize, a kid zipped through the crowd and kicked my shins.

Turd. I will get you!

“As I was saying,” Milan continued paying little attention to my injury, “it is a two part process.”

I quickly whipped out my notebook.

“The first step is to understand your target audience. The second step is to understand your business model. Combine the two and you will be able to ‘tweet’ — you called it — effectively.”

It was like playing sudoku. I finally got the missing piece and things are just falling into place.

“Come, Lawrence. Let me show you my laboratory.”

I followed without hesitation.

Three Days Later

“You are armed with my wisdom. Now share it at the next coolest hangout meet-up. If it isn’t cool, don’t speak for it will tarnish the brand of Gucci.”

“I understand.” How fortuitous – LA Smug is coming up this Thursday, February 18th. I will remember this indelible journey and now must spread Gucci’s good graces.

Date: Thursday, February 18, 2010
Time: 7:00pm – 10:00pm
Location: The Global Cafe
Street: 11002 Ventura Blvd
Studio City, CA

RSVP! Facebook | Meet-up

20 Questions

Peter Garr – LA Smug Leader played 20 questions with me. You can entertain yourselves here until Thursday.

You’re all going, right?

Lawrence Chan

P.S. You could probably tell that I’m a sucker for designer stuff. I can’t justify the value, but for some reason the price dictates my perception. Interesting…right? So if someone’s rates start at $12k for photography coverage, he/she must be be pretty good, right? Ruminate that thought…nom nom nom.

P.P.S. Writing this article as a story was a whim concocted at midnight. Do you guys like it when I mix it up or just keep it straight-up-down-the-throat-style like, “I’m speaking here on this date and this time. See you all there!”? Thanks for your feedback

Even though I spent hours reading, what a pleasure it was to sift through the many entries! It was very difficult to deliberate.

I did want to iterate some items:

• this full registration pass is only for one person; not a couple
• this full registration pass does not include air fare, hotels, accommodations, etc.

Kristine Neely

http://kristineneeley.blogspot.com/2010/02/why-why-wppi-personal-reflection.html

Yep. It’s true. There’s a photography scene…whether I’m a “cool kid” or not. Because really, at this point in life, who cares? And isn’t cool just relative term anyways?

I really enjoyed your story! I can relate. Funny you bring up cliques because that is part of my new marketing presentation.

Alicia – No Eye Has Seen

http://noeyehasseen.com/testblog/a-little-jingle-for-wppi-and-lawrence-chan/

Sing, dance, learn!

Stacy Hughes

http://stacyhughesphotography.blogspot.com/2010/02/why-i-want-to-go-to-wppi.html

Send your husband my best in RE schooling! Life is all about endless learning. Hope to see you in Las Vegas now!

Kalli Barker

http://kallibarkerphotography.blogspot.com/2010/02/oh-please-please-please.html

You’ve got to HAVE money to MAKE money…lacking in the worldly aspect of moo-la.

I’ve been there, done that. The part that sucks is that it’s true. I like your inexorable determination. See you around in March!

Angel Gray

http://angelgrayphotography2.blogspot.com/2010/02/send-me-to-wppi-please.html

Your kids deserve high fives! My goal with Tofurious is to help photographers succeed in their businesses. So rest assured, the photo booth software is for free! Hopefully that will supplement your services offered.

Dennis Vargas

http://dennisvargasphotography.blogspot.com/2010/02/viva-las-vegas-wppi-here-i-come.html

Hope you have an amazing time [and a chance to drive-thru again]!

Dave and Ashley Hawkes

http://www.jadalovephotography.com/blog/?p=71

“permission to MOVE FORWARD and just BE the person I want to be…

‘The successful always has a number of projects planned, to which he looks forward. Anyone of them could change the course of his life overnight. –Mark Caine’”

Interesting how sometimes we create our own roadblocks and, at the same time, we create our own opportunities. Live in the now because the person you want to be might change in the future.

Valerie Ackerman

http://valerieackermanphotography.com/blog/?p=561

I’ve actually made a psuedo schedule of the classes I would attend…nerd alert! …and let’s face it, mama needs a break from 2 little boys!

I love your comedic reliefs! I appreciate the cupcakes, but I’m training to be a Spartan (not going so well). You would make my day with a simple visit to my booth

Jamie Ray and Richie Staggs

http://96.30.18.20/~jaggphot/2010/02/please-send-us-to-las-vagas-for-wppi-pretty-please/

Life is full of happy surprises! I’m glad my email was auspicious.

Nancy Mitchell

http://www.nancymitchellblog.com/blog/?p=424

2010 is going to be a good year!

For the many others who submitted…

…I still enjoyed your entries very much. I wish I had enough tickets for everyone, but I still encourage you all to go…seriously. I will have a Nintendo for everybody’s delectation!

Reading the many submissions sent shivers down my spine. There are hurdles that every entrepreneur must face, but know that you are not alone.

This industry has a wide array of sincere and giving people. I was fortunate enough to have my fate converge with many of them.

Learn

Before WPPI, I will be making a presentation at LA’s SmugMug. To some, marketing a business may seem arcane, but I will try to help demystify that a little bit on Thursday…or at least how I did it.

Date: Thursday, February 18, 2010
Time: 7:00pm – 10:00pm
Location: The Global Cafe
Street: 11002 Ventura Blvd
Studio City, CA

Reservation via Facebook | Meetup

Have a wonderful week,

Lawrence Chan

P.S. Did you know that Sunday was Chinese New Year? It’s the year of the Tiger — meow.

P.P.S. If you won, I will send out email soon [or you can email me]. It’s 2:30am now and I’m tired… zzzZZz…

Amidst the organized chaos of eager photographers poking into every booth all trying to get the host’s attention simultaneously, I decided to go a different route.

To my right, there will be a plasma tesla ball. To my left, there will be a kitchen timer. In front of me, I will have a 5-minute one-on-one consultation with anyone in queue.

Feel free to ask me any question within that time frame (including food recipes), but my forte lies with marketing a wedding business. Just one question though, so plan ahead lest you will have wait in line again.

Anyone is also welcome to hear me speak at the SmugMug booth and WPPI VIP Business Panel.

Monday – SmugMug
02:00 pm – 02:20pm
Understanding social media and SEO
to strategically cater for target audiences

Wednesday – SmugMug
10:00 am – 10:20am
Understanding social media and SEO
to strategically cater for target audiences

Wednesday – WPPI VIP Business Panel
02:30 pm – 04:00pm
“‘Backstage pass’” into the brains
of some of the most successful
photographers in the world”

My Booth 1240 Guest – Code Name: GO

My guest’s reputation precedes her. This woman will “grace” [no pun intended hehe] me [and everyone] with her presence and extensive knowledge of fashion and platinum weddings.

She is *drum roll please* Grace Ormonde of Wedding Style Magazine – industry’s premier luxury wedding benchmark — @grace_ormonde.

With over 24 years in the industry and editor-in-chief of an international luxury wedding magazine, one might say that she knows a thing or two about what good imagery is and what goes into publications.

Tuesday – Booth 1240
11:00am – 12:30pm
Live Q/A about what an editor-in-chief
looks for in magazine editorials

Wednesday – Booth 1240
11:00 am – 12:30pm
Portfolio review by Grace Ormonde
Bring at most two photos
(I suggest physical prints in case you want her to autograph or something tee hee)

Here’s The Real Kicker

Grace Ormonde feels that the wedding photography industry has really elevated due to all of the inspiring industry leaders and tools that they offer.

Therefore, she is offering everyone an opportunity to submit one photograph to be considered for the next Grace Ormonde Wedding Style Magazine cover! *faints – now that I mentioned it, I just made more competition for myself*

Don’t worry for those not attending WPPI. I will have details about this posted after the convention. NOTE: even if you feel reservations about your work, it never hurts to submit, so DO IT!

Schedule if you want to save onto your iPhone or something:

Other Things

Touch Screen / Live View Photo Booth

Same as last year. Well, guess what? I’m going give the software away for FREE. At WPPI, feel free to come by to play with it, take pictures with friends and etc!

DO NOT email me about it. I am still in the process of making tutorials for it. If you cannot make it to WPPI, you can subscribe to the mailing list for updates.

Nintendo

I will have lots of bean bags and chairs for people to just hang out. Additionally, I am bringing out the original Nintendo for your entertainment! I have Mario Bros, Contra, and more! Let’s face it, it doesn’t take 3 days to walk the convention floor, so kill some time there.

Internet Access

Are you addicted to your blog or video stream? I have a Bloggers’ Lounge in the main convention room for your internet cravings. Enjoy!

10 Free WPPI Full Registration Passes

Thank you everyone for submitting your stories. Some are very touching… If you still want a chance to get 10 full registration passes, the deadline is tomorrow – Saturday 11:59pm. So make a blog post! Details here.

Am I missing anything?

Lawrence Chan

P.S. I might have coffee meets, so follow @tofurious for updates!

P.P.S. For those who attended my nationwide workshop, you will have priority during my one-on-one consultation. I want to check up on things!

…until WPPI (not Disneyland, but it is a Disneyland for photographers). For those of you who are going – kudos! For those of you who are not – how come?

As a sponsor of WPPI, they offered me 10 FREE full registration passes! This is applicable for only those who have not registered. There are no refunds offered for those who already have. Before we get into the guidelines for this giveaway, let me share with you my story.

When Tofurious Was Just An Itty Bitty Baby

Every year around this time, I would hear on Facebook and Twitter about this convention called WPPI where photographers from all corners of the globe convene in Las Vegas – booze, drugs, sex, shows, buffet, lights. Seriously, WPPI at that time was just another excuse to go to the entertainment capital of the world.

For those of you who don’t know, WPPI (Wedding Portrait Photographers International) is a giant convention where many vendors show off their latest stuff. Don’t feel bad, I didn’t have a clue as well. It was about two weeks away from 2009’s convention, and Tofurious was only three weeks old or something, I said, “what the heck, there’s one 10×10 spot near Shootsac and I have a few thousand dollars to spare, I’ll take that spot!”

At first, I thought I was just going to have a table and sit there like some of the ugly local bridal conventions here, but I was totally wrong. Everyone had giant hanging displays, custom carpet (apparently MGM’s golden brown was yuck), ridiculously-large-fill-up-my-peripheral-vision-type-televisions, cool bags, and the works.

Fudge.

What did I have? A photo booth…uh, a table, hrm…a few chairs. Yeah.

Here’s the flip side – it opened my eyes. It’s a great place to meet new people – follow the amicable Becker because he always tweets things like “Meet me at the lion at 10am and let’s get coffee,” or something like that. It’s a great place to learn about new products – album companies, proofing stations, workflow management, etc. It’s a great place to do portfolio shoots! The list goes on and on!

Tofurious is Now 1 Year Old and Walking

I’m attending WPPI again this year – booth 1240 (next to Shootsac and ShootQ – two companies I adore). I also have a Bloggers’ Lounge in the main building with free WiFi for your internet convenience.

What will I be presenting? I’ll blog about it this week.

Free Passes For WPPI

Details about passes here – http://www.wppionline.com/storage/lasvegas/home.html – $400 value for non-members

Guidelines:

1. You must not be registered already
2. Make a blog post (on your own site) as to why you want to go to WPPI – make sure to include your email in there somewhere
3. Send me a link to your blog post for consideration
4. Submissions are due this Saturday, Feb 13, 2010

I will announce the winners next week. Good luck!

WPPI is seriously worth going,

Lawrence Chan

P.S. For those asking about the photo booth software, it will be given away for free this convention (courtesy of MBS).

This is an update for previous Tofurious wedding album template users! I was just informed by Kiss Wedding Books that the layouts have changed. They are no longer accepting files that are 24″x12″ (12×12).

Album Templates

Anyone who has the following templates (be it premium or free) has to make a simple change.

Simple and Minimal

Most popular – 220 pages! Click here.

Starters Pack

Click here.

Keyline

Click here.

Directions

Resize the existing files to 20″x10″ from 24″x12″ in Photoshop (PSD). They are still accepting 12×12 books, but the upload format is changed.

Also, change the trim lines (bleed) to 0.25″.

Cheers,

Lawrence Chan

P.S. Why is everything that is tasty so bad for us? Drink coffee vs. staining teeth – sigh.

Last week I attended a phenomenal workshop. It was called “Fight Club” (@cxofightclub) hosted in Denver by Jeff Jochum (@jeffjochum). Entry was by invite only. It was axiomatic that I was both humbled by the offer and humbled even further when working with the other invitees –

• David Jay and Todd (ShowIt)
• Rachel Lacour Niesen and Andrew (ShootQ)
• Bob and Dawn Davis (Studio)
• Me Ra Koh and Brian (Soar)

Amongst the myriad topics discussed, I wanted to share with everyone something that Jeff Jochum said that I found to have trouble with – stepping away.

Finding Balance

I don’t have balance, but I’m working on it. I mentioned previously that I am even willing to forgo my health when in my “business” mode.

There are days when Jeff is besieged with work. He has a simple solution. On your very busiest day, do the following:

1. Cancel all meetings
2. Turn off the phone
3. Go watch a movie – he prefers Avatar (watched it four times now)

Of all options, he chooses movies because one is forced to shut the phone, sit in the dark, let the mind drift and be entertained. This allows for two things.

1. Realize that even when one returns from Pandora and back to reality, the world hasn’t crumbled yet
2. Allows one to step away and clear his/her mind

A clear mind is dire in any business. More importantly, having balance is essential for any business; this includes health and recreation.

Application

Today started like any other day where I woke up super early and listed all of the things that needed to get done. So Julie and I got dressed in our workout clothes and went to the post office to drop off our employment taxes. We were about to go to the bank and gym when Julie was hit with an inspiration – Universal Studios.

Although hesitant, Jeff’s advice echoed in my head. Still in our running shoes, my girlfriend and I zipped off to Universal Studios.

I’m really happy we went! There have been so many changes since we last came here as tots. Most importantly, I haven’t seen you genuinely laugh in so many years. Thank goodness for Simpsons! – Julie

The last statement came to me as a sad realization. Am I that robotic and calculating now? Have I been so focused on business that it changed my character? I probably sounded like a monotonous drone on illegal meds at “Fight Club”.

I used to always make up excuses like “this is a great opportunity” or “I’ve got to finish this first,” without realizing that there will always be new opportunities and I will never ever finish my work.

In conclusion, it’s healthy to step away. Restore balance in your life. Times are tough, I know, but a movie ticket only costs $12 and it can shed some new perspective [on life or on business]. Consider it a write-off.

Sincerely,

Lawrence Chan

P.S. Thank you Jeff for inviting me. Thank you Fight Club members for supporting me.

P.P.S. Thank you Julie for coping with me for all these years. I will try to remember to smile and laugh more.

P.P.P.S. I will be speaking at LA Smug Mug on February 18, 2010!

Date: Thursday, February 18, 2010
Time: 7:00pm – 10:00pm
Location: The Global Cafe
Street: 11002 Ventura Blvd
Studio City, CA

P.P.P.P.S. So what do you all think of my HDR? Getting better?

Yesterday, I had an amazing time in SD where I participated at the San Diego Photog Shootout. There were a number of photography leaders coordinating their respective stations. I just hoovered around and took a few pictures here and there.

These two models had the best chemistry xoxo

Despite the male model’s masculine appearance, he snorts whenever he laughs, which makes him super endearing. “Woosah,” he would remind himself while rubbing his ear lobes.

Don’t get deceived by Roxanne’s (Pixel2Canves) sweet demeanor. When she’s serious, she’s serious.

Confessions of a Shopaholic

In the evening, I was graced with the opportunity to share with everyone my brand spankin’ new presentation on understanding our target audience and maximizing social media for generating business.

During my talk, Amber Fox asked me an interesting question – what book would I suggest to read to better understand marketing.

“Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella,” I quickly responded.

While everyone chuckled, no one asked why. After returning home, I realized that I should have said something.

Rebecca Bloomwood (protagonist) is the true epitome of a consumer. While she humorously delves into her reasons (or non-reasons) for compulsively buying things, the better we understand how a consumer’s mentality works, the better we can create a marketing campaign for that specific audience (or any audience for that matter). Plus, it’s a really fun book to read!

Don’t stop at this book – read the entire series!

LA SmugMug Meet

Peter Garr is so gracious to have me as a guest speaker for LA’s SmugMug meet on February 18th, 7pm – 9pm!

Global Cafe
February 18, 2010 @ 7pm-9pm
11002 Ventura Blvd,
Studio City, CA 91604

So if you missed my presentation in San Diego, I will be giving the same one that day on understanding our target audience and maximizing social media

More details here. So, who’s going?

See you all there!!!

Lawrence Chan

P.S. Sorry for being MIA recently (even on Twitter) because I have been super busy with various projects; this includes next week.

P.P.S. If you are attending the San Francisco SmugMug in February, the Bui Brothers have a lighting workshop for $99 – details here.

P.P.P.S. I finally joined the gym! I was going strong for 3-days straight and then I cheated tonight at Island’s Burgers. @Bullysaurus and I are guilty dieters. It wasn’t my fault! She coaxed me into it. We’re trying to look fit for a wedding I’m shooting in Jamaica in May. Ahhh not much time!

So far 2010 is starting out pretty well. Although 10 days cannot be a testament to much, I will remain positive.

I’m guessing that many of you have made resolutions. I too have committed to some. Before I share with you all what I have in mind for 2010, I want to talk about something called “exit strategy.”

Exit Strategy

Exit strategy is one’s plan to leave a certain situation or circumstance (usually an unfavorable one). The exit strategy that I am talking about is removing yourselves from this wedding industry. For my sake, let’s pretend that you are all photographers (since I am one).

Ask yourselves these questions:

• At what age do I want to stop shooting?
• Do I still want to carry lots of gear around… at age 45?
• Would brides still hire me…when I am 45? If so, will I need to change my pitch from young and edgy to something else?
• Can I work 8-12 hours straight…at age 45?
• Can I still stare at the monitor for hours at a time…at you know…

Just to be clear, I am not making 45 some magical number. For some of you, it might be 60. I’m just using this scenario as an example. So let’s just say that by (whatever age), you want to get out of this industry.

Planning Backwards

Take into consideration your current age. At what age do you want to (blank – leave this industry, retire, change careers, etc.)? This is what I meant by planning things backwards.

1. What age are you?
2. At what age do you want to exit this situation?
3. Take the total amount of resources necessary to exit and divide it by the difference in ages (where you are and where you want to be)

The reason why I am writing this article is to remind everyone that, yes, the money can be good as a photographer, but it won’t last forever. We might not be as capable in the future. And even if so, we might lose interest by then.

Therefore, plan your exit strategy. Factor in retirement savings. As entrepreneurs, we do not have HRs to remind us to allocate funds to 401Ks or other deferred comps, so I am reminding you NOW.

Planning Forward

Now that we understand the importance of planning backwards, let’s plan forward! For 2010, I want to tone up. It sounds cliched, but you must understand that I’m pretty inactive when I’m not shooting weddings

As a distant goal, @bullysaurus and I plan to move to France within the next two years. We figured that life’s too short to stick with one area. Plus, we’re young and still have a lot of adventure left in us!

What are your plans? Do share!

Happy belated new year,

Lawrence Chan

P.S. That picture above was my view from Aria Hotel. I was working in Las Vegas during the week of the new year. It was my first attempt at HDR. If you want to check out more of my personal work, I intend to practice my HDR photography with a post every week.

P.P.S. ANNOUNCEMENT — January 25th — Jeffrey Neal is hosting his first workshop! He is the dude that taught me how to use a tilt-shift lens. For meat lovers, I think he’s offering steak as dinner

P.P.P.S. ANNOUNCEMENT — January 23rd — San Diego PhotogShootout is hosting a pin-up photo shoot with me as the guest speaker! If you want some portfolio images, these are great events to attend for a tiny fee.