Starting a Photography Business: Part 40 – What it Says on the Tin
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Whilst I was at the agricultural show last week, (having a fantastic time incidentally, taking shots of cows being given a shampoo and set), I had a wander around some of the business tents. Amazingly, these places are a fantastic opportunity to make some great contacts.
One stand made me stop and question what the business was all about. On their advertising hoardings they had graphics of pools of water beside each bullet point, yet the statements were talking about self-esteem issues. The name of this company is The Water Project; I couldn’t make head nor tail of it. They were in a marquee that was dedicated to companies helping the environment and so I assumed, wrongly, that they were in some way helping this country or others with water shortages.
I was a little groggy from tiredness but it took a couple of minutes of explanation from the stall holder before I fully understood that the water was a metaphor for purity and actually they weren’t a conservation company, but a community charity encouraging people to all work together. A really worthwhile cause but I was left baffled by the company name.
I walked around for the next couple of minutes trying to work out if there is anywhere in my business where I’m being ambiguous and expecting people to understand what I’m doing whilst actually confusing them and giving mixed messages. Is there anywhere in your company that you might be doing similar?
I’m just in the process of setting up a second company that is exclusively aimed at helping people, through photography, who are suffering with physical and mental illness. Now to me, it will do what it says on the tin; though I am re-visiting this from different angles now, just to make sure it does clearly state what it does.
Recently I was listening to a restauranteur talking about how every day he walks up to the front of his restaurant and tries to see it with fresh eyes; how a new customer would see it. He takes in the decoration, the plants, and the signs, and then continues that inspection throughout the inside of the building; the tables and tablecloths, the carpet the flowers on the tables, the menus and the staff. Since then I have been trying my best whenever I visit my website to look at it as if for the first time. Is it clean and fresh? Are the words still relevant? Is the layout clear? And after this week, does it do what it says on the tin?
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Photo Credit: © 2010 Ruth Bayley
Living in the beautiful rural county of Yorkshire it was perhaps natural for Ruth to have an affinity with the countryside and its wildlife. Creativity is Ruth’s driving force finding an outlet in television & radio she worked for many years as producer for BBC & ITV.
However a love of photography and for being surrounded by nature called her to go back to her photography training and bring pleasure and joy to people through her connection with our planet.
Staying in the moment when taking her images allows her to experience the natural magnificence unfolding before her eyes. It is this moment of mediation, of gratitude, that she evocatively conveys through her images.
Company: Ruth Bayley Landscape Photography
Website: http://www.ruthbayleyphotography.co.uk
Twitter: @iaminthemoment
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ruth-Bayley-Landscape-Photography/134360899943964
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