When I first started this blog my focus was to write about people, places, and things that let children play. This was to be a place not only to talk about the children’s products that I was developing, but share small business stories from which others might learn as well as find little nuggets online (and offline) that foster a child’s development.

If you’ve read the blog at all, you’ll know that impact of the rules of the CPSIA put an end to the children’s products business and Words to Sweat by took its place. And from the date stamp of my last post, it’s been a while since I’ve taken ‘residence’ at this blog especially since I’ve been regularly posting to the Words to Sweat by blog.

So I don’t know where this leaves things and I’m left at a crossroads. There are still a lot of small business-related drafts in my queue that I feel would help people learn from my experiences but then I figure someone else has probably captured the concept just as well on a business-focused blog. There are a lot of great children’s activities that need promoting – but that niche too has a whole host of sites and blogs.

I have some new projects in the queue in addition to running Words to Sweat by – so this blog may be a place to discuss how that progresses, get feedback, etc – I just don’t know yet.

Is it time for a new adventure all together? Only time will tell.

How have you tackled this kinds of quandry? I welcome your insights.

Recently, we had another tragic event here in the Bay Area involving an abducted child being found only after it was too late. Upon learning the news, I was a bit shaken up and started talking to young woman I know about the situation.

She reflected on a speech class she took a couple of years ago (she’s still in college). At that time, a different abduction (and tragic death) of a child was also at the forefront of the news and a classmate used this event for one of her speech assignments. Apparently, the speech involved a very passionate argument that in order to protect children and not have an abduction like that happen again, a ‘law should be created that prohibits children from playing outside without parental supervision.’

And CPSIA-related bells started ringing in my head so I took a deep breath and politely asked her, “Do you speed when you’re driving sometimes?” She smiled and said, “yes.” I went on to explain that it’s against the law to go faster than the speed limit, yet we do it anyway therefore legislating everything in the hopes that people behave the way we want doesn’t ensure that it will happen.

I went on to say that we’ve had a breakdown in community and wouldn’t it be better if we related to each other instead of regulating as a means of control?

She thought about it for a moment and nodded.

And as I walked away thinking more about the topic of our conversation, a new CPSIA mantra was born: Relate, don’t regulate.

The Facts

Name: Joanna Sutter
Business Name: Fitness & Spice Marketing
Product(s)/Service: Strategic Marketing, Results-driven Public Relations, Real-time Social Media Marketing
Years in business: Just over 1 year

The Business Challenge

To blend corporate marketing, product management, and new business development expertise with a personal brand to build a new business venture.

Joanna’s Story

When and why did you first engage in using social media tools?

My job was eliminated during a corporate layoff just over a year ago and while exploring career options I decided to use the time to add new tools to my marketing toolbox, namely social media. I went home and started blogging, jumping into Twitter conversations, and hopping on as many free-webinars as I could.

What venues did you find most successful while building your personal brand?

I find that networking both online and offline are critical in building a well-rounded brand.  To keep in touch with my business-contacts and keep my tools sharp, I rely heavily on online newspapers, marketing, and social media sites as well as LinkedIn and LinkedIn groups.  To keep in almost-daily contact with my “fans” I rely on Facebook. To keep the conversation going, I look no further than Twitter. Outside of the web, conferences are king!

Which tools do you use to monitor your social media successes?

I gauge my success by how people, clients, and prospects react to my message. Sure, I have Google analytics built into my websites but what matters most to me is the number of word-of-mouth referrals and real connections I make along the way.

What top three factors do you take into account when assessing your efforts?

1. Personal growth and satisfaction.
2. Client Satisfaction.
3. Income!

What lead you to branch out and start a new business using your existing brand?

I have a passion for fitness and nutrition and that’s what I write about on my personal blog, Fitness & Spice. After making connections with some of the brands I’ve written about, and learning they needed marketing and public relations support, Fitness & Spice Marketing was born.

What does this business entail?

I provide marketing strategy, public relations, and social media support for healthy-living brands.

How have you been able to use your existing network to build the client base for your new business?

My clients , some of my biggest fans, and people I now call my friends that I’ve met along the way, are very gracious to refer me to brands in need of marketing, PR, or social media support.

How has your online community responded to your new venture?

I don’t “over-expose” my business with my personal brand, but I don’t hide it either. I think my online community respects that I am sincerely interested in them and not just about my company.

Having already built a successful personal online brand, how do you keep from getting discouraged as you build this new company?

I am blessed to have a network of entrepreneurs that are either a few steps ahead of me in the business lifecycle or who are right there with me. I learn from their experiences and am motivated by their success.

What advice do you have for people considering a similar approach?

To be very, very blunt: Charge what you’re worth!  Your clients don’t work for free (or at a cut rate in most cases) and neither should you.

It wouldn’t be a series on small business without talking about the world of Social Media. I was having a hard time deciding what to write, though, because many cubic tons of information are already available. To start, you need only search on small business social media and you’ll have reading material for days.

When I first started, I read many of these posts to get a sense of things and found that they fall into many categories:

• Category #1 includes posts that discuss the different social media venues and the elements of social media that are most important.
• Category #2 includes posts that enumerate the top 5 or 10 things you should be doing with social media.
• Category #3 includes posts about how to have an “authentic” conversation, engage your customers, or create your personal brand.
• Category #4 includes posts that provide studies, data, and infographics about the ROI (or lack thereof ) of social media.
• Category #5 includes posts about why [enter social media venue here] is or is not the best thing since sliced bread.

What many of these posts lack, however, is advice for people who are anti-social. In other words, people for whom the online repartee doesn’t come easily, yet they know it’s imperative for their business.

The Secret Password Is…

So if you fall into the anti-social category, this post is for you because I’m going to share a special word with you that should make life easier. The secret password is…integration.

The majority of the popular social media tools offer the ability to post information to the other sites. Some examples:

• Facebook will tweet your status.
• You can import your blog posts to your Facebook profile.
• You can embed YouTube videos easily into any tool that will allow you to enter a snippet of code.
• Use a snippet of code to insert photos from your Flickr stream virtually anywhere.

So where should you begin? Here is a simple process to help you participate in three of the most popular tools:

1. Start a blog even if no one reads it (at least at first). Here is some info on the best time to publish your blog posts.
2. Upload all of your blog-related photos to Flickr and embed the photos from Flickr into your blog posts as necessary.
3. Import your blog as Facebook notes so that each blog entry posts to your business page.
4. Set up your blog so that every new post creates a tweet.
5. Use a tool like Tweetdeck or Hootsuite to schedule relevant tweets or Facebook posts.

You Don’t Have To Be “On” All The Time

Many people may be asking, but what about being a part of the “conversation”? How do I stay engaged enough that people will know I’m not a bot?

My answer: the secret password is integration not automation even if you are literally automating some of the tasks. The above process is helpful to get you started because you are not only visible in more than one venue, but each of them allows people to converse with you via comments/responses. You are therefore able to see where people are most likely to engage with you and your content. You should also make sure to logon to Facebook and Twitter and correspond in real-time, but integration affords some leeway for those days that you don’t have time to be “on” and interact immediately.

Where Do You Fall In The Social Spectrum?

As a small business owner, the bulk of the work falls to you therefore it’s important to determine how to get involved in social media but not get overwhelmed. Integrating the tools you use will help you focus on your content and interaction with others.

Where do you feel you fall within the spectrum of being social and how does that impact your use of social media for your business? Leave a comment and let me know your thoughts.

Hi there. My name is Robin LeBlanc and I’m going to teach you about product photography.  Now don’t go thinking that this will be some kind of master class that involves me throwing out names like “jib” and “tungsten”.  We’re not going that far.

No, this instead will be about THE BASICS.  This will be about how just a little extra amount of effort can leave your site looking a little more professional. 

Not many people think product photos deserve much attention, but just some very simple details such as being mindful of how the picture looks before you take it and letting the colors pop can leave your product photos looking as clean and professional as I’m sure your site does.

What Not to Do When Photographing Your Product

So let’s start with what you SHOULDN’T DO first.

The following can lead to your pictures looking unprofessional. And leads to beatings by myself and my Icelandic Dwarf companion Olaf. They are:

• Putting product in front of a white background – Admittedly this varies on some products, but generally it brings forth a very uninteresting shot.
• More background in the shot than actual product – No one wants a product they can barely see. Don’t go wild with that.
• Putting up the photos unedited – I’m not a fan of this. Unless you’ve set everything up with great lighting, straight from the camera photos can be a bit washed out and in need of some touch ups to bring forth the attractive aspects of the product.
• Using the flash  – How many times have we seen product photos where the flash just made everything white and ugly?  Try to be minimal with that. A simple way of avoiding too much flash is to shoot outside during the day. Or, you know, turn it off. If your camera can do that.

And how about that, you’ve already learned something.  Now grab your camera and let’s start shooting.

How to Approach Photographing Your Product

So here’s what you should keep in mind when taking a product photo:

1. Make sure all of the product is in the frame
2. Make sure the background is more interesting than a blank surface, but not distracting. Later on you can choose backgrounds that are related to the product or feature people, but for now let’s keep it simple.
3. Make sure the product is in focus.
4. Aaaaaaaand SNAP!

Words to Sweat by "No excuses." towel

And there we go.  A simple shot with the product fully in the frame!  It was a beautiful autumn day outside and I decided to work with that. 

Now let’s edit this mother. (Sadly, I don’t own a PC, so I’m going to be referring to a Mac program.  If there’s a PC equivalent, go for that.)

If you open the image in the Preview application, all you need to do to start editing the color is click on Tools > Adjust Color.  That will take you to a menu where you are able to control all kinds of color factors of the image.

With this I’m not going to tell you what to do as I find the best way of learning color editing is to mess around with it.  But specifically for product photography I suggest not distorting the colors too much.  A photo of a green product that’s actually blue? I predict annoyed customers.
So for this photo I think I’m only going to bring up the contrast just a tiny bit.

Words to Sweat by improved photo

And there we have it.  A subtle change, but you’ll have to agree it looks less washed out than the original.  Such a small thing makes a big difference.

And now that you’ve learned the absolute basics, experiment!  Have fun!

Bio

Over the past year, Robin LeBlanc has made a name for herself as a photographer with a beautiful vision and great care for detail.  Her photographs have appeared in newspapers, books  and  magazines and have set the theme for musician publicity campaigns.  She lives in Toronto with a cat and a Ukulele.