The Fast Track Photographer Business Plan: Build a Successful Photography Venture from the Ground Up Review

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(More customer reviews)Unlike any other, this book is about fitting "YOU" to the market place! Sub Titled Build a Successful Photography Venture from the Ground up by Dane Sanders. I consider this a Revolutionary and much needed book in the Photography Industry with these ever changing current times of internet and social media.
As Dane says in this book there is, "no one size fits all business plan". Emphasis is on defining your business vision and having it tied to a sound business plan of which he details through out the book. Included are step by step exercises and charts to help one get clear with their business goals.
What I really like about this book is that Dane starts the first 3 chapters on vision alone. And how important that is! I needed this book as I sometimes get side tracked from looking at the "Big Picture" as I am constantly dealing with the ever increasing technology that is now available for my photography business. Its practically a full time job in itself! I have many books on how to be a specific photographer but currently have been changing my goals, and needed a book that does not presuppose a direction. This book fills the bill!
Along with Vision Dane introduces new concepts in, Finding your Sweet Spot, Sales and Marketing, Focusing on your Strengths, Systematizing your work, Creating the right team and much much more! All the nuts and bolts of how to figure the numbers and creating an actual business plan that fits you are included.
On the back inside cover of the book is a code that you can punch into his web site to take a Business Stress Test (BST) test for free (which is normally $15.00). I'm looking forward to taking that test to see how my business shapes up!
CONCLUSION:
I highly recommend this book to anyone, photographer or otherwise, that is interested in starting, or restarting, a service based business!
Thanks Dane!
Dave Likes
L. David Likes Photography

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NEW RULES FOR A NEW BUSINESS WORLDThinking about starting a photography business? The first thing you need to know is that the rules have changed. Yesterday's business models have collapsed. Creating a successful business in today's "Digi-Flat" era requires a sharp new approach, one that Dane Sanders has practiced successfully and taught at Fast Track workshops and seminars all around the world. Some of the things you'll learn in this book:How to turn the very technologies that are "killing" professional photography—such as the Internet—into your tools of success-How to lead your business, not let your business lead you -How systematizing, scaling, and outsourcing are critical concepts even for a one-person business-How to radically rethink marketing, sales, and customer service for the 21st century-How to hone a creative vision that works—the most powerful step you can take as a businessperson The Fast Track Photographer Business Plan is not about building a "traditional" business plan that looks good on paper and impresses investors. It's about creating a vibrant, living business plan that will help you thrive in today's digital "Wild West," where creative content is freely distributed, where no one plays by the rules anymore, and where customers have unprecedented freedom in choosing what to buy and whom to hire. It's a groundbreaking look at running a creative business. Whether you're an amateur looking to go pro or a professional whose business has stalled, Dane's practical, on-the-ground advice will launch you on the fast track to business success. Includes free access to Dane's online "stress test" to diagnose your business's strengths—as well as where it needs help!

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eMarketing eXcellence, Third Edition: Planning and optimising your digital marketing (Emarketing Essentials) Review

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(More customer reviews)e-Marketing eXcellence, third addition, covers the entire scope of e-Marketing:
Objectives - Do you want to sell? build a brand? talk to and or serve customers?
e-Models - e-commerce, communications, online revenue, web2.0.
e-Customers - Who are they? why do they/don't they buy online? how do they buy? how do you build relationships with them? how do they communicate with each other?
Tools - Not just the internet! iDTV, Digital Radio, Mobile etc.
Site design - Establishing the purpose of the site, best practice design, navigation, structure and copywriting.
Traffic building - SEM, display advertising, e-mail, viral, PR.
CRM - Developing lasting relationships with your customers - database marketing, profiling and personalisation.
e-Business - From value chains to value networks; an analysis what's involved in setting up and managing an e-Business.
The main body text is well written, and the depth of coverage for each topic is just right for a book this size.
Throughout the book you'll find the following boxes:
e-Marketing Excellence - Real world case studies of how large corporations have used the topic being discussed in that part of the book.
Practical/Best Practice e-Marketing tip - Specifics on how you can use the topic being discussed in your own e-marketing campaigns.
e-Marketing Insight - Views from corporations, technology providers (e.g. Google), e-Marketing experts to get you thinking in multiple directions.
The book is also littered throughout with high quality charts, graphics and screenshots of actual websites, all in colour, to give you actual examples of how these techniques are being used.
This third edition of the book has extensive coverage on the latest trends in e-Marketing - viral marketing, web2.0 approaches such as social networking and online PR.
One of the highlights of this book, for me, is thorough coverage of the SOSTAC® approach to e-Marketing planning. Created by Paul Smith (who is a co-author of this book), the model provides a structured framework for building your e-Marketing plans. The model can be applied to projects from small to massive. The book concentrates on how to apply the SOSTAC® model specifically to e-Marketing. Essential reading for anyone involved in writing e-Marketing plans.
This book has broadened my knowledge of e-Marketing in a way that I would not have been able to do so without it. I found myself constantly thinking in new directions when reading it. I now have an appreciation of many more aspects of what's involved when planning for, implementing, and testing e-Marketing campaigns, and I would not hesitate to recommend this book to anyone involved in all aspects (strategizing, managing, implementing) of e-Marketing. The book also serves as an excellent resource for the e-Marketing student.

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eMarketing eXcellence third edition has been completely revised and updated to help you create effective and up-to-date customer-centric e-marketing plans. A hugely successful practical guide to creating and executing e-marketing plans, it combines established approaches to marketing planning with the creative use of new e-models and e-tools. It is designed to support both marketers who are integrating e-marketing into their existing marketing and communications strategies and experienced e-marketers looking to optimise their e-marketing. Written by two highly experienced eMarketing consultants, the book shows you how to:* Draw up an outline e-marketing plan* Evaluate and apply e-marketing principles and models* Integrate online and offline communications* Implement customer-driven e-marketing* Reduce costly trial and error * Measure and enhance your e-marketing * Drive your e-business forwardEstablished marketing concepts such as customer relationship management, the marketing mix and widely adopted SOSTACplanning system, are re-examined in the new media context - and new approaches explained including blogs, search engine marketing, viral marketing and E-CRM.Offering a highly structured and accessible guide to a critical and far-reaching subject, eMarketing eXcellence third edition provides a vital reference point for all students and managers involved in marketing strategy and implementation.*Learn how to create a digital marketing strategy and get better campaign results* This jargon-free, understandable and applicable text is proven to help marketers maximize the potential of online promotion* Each chapter is structured with the following fantastic features: Introduction; Chapter Summary; References; Further Reading; Web Links; Self-test; eMarketing practitioner interviews

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