Sweet Smell of Success

9/22/2007 02:18:00 PM

Suzzanne's POV:
Let me just say, I am a big fan of perfumes, a big big fan. There isn't much I haven't tried and my all-time favorite is Child by Susan Dowens. I ordered Child the other day and in the package was a beautiful bookmark. Now, you might be asking right now what in the world does perfume and bookmarks have to do with Colin's photography. Bear with me, I'm getting there....

The bookmark was made out of a very interesting material. It had this cool kind of rubbery, velvety feel to it. Just plain sexy. Well I decided I wanted that material for the new business cards I'm designing for Colin. But, without knowing what it was, I really didn't know how to outsource for these cards. So I emailed Susan Dowens directly. I didn't really expect a response from her directly, but why not give it a shot? And guess what? She personally responded to me and offered to see what she could do. I couldn't believe it. We begin to chit chat via email and of course, I shamelessly promoted Colin's work. Later that day she emails me to say she went to Colin's website and that she "loved, absolutely loved" the "Shipwrecked" image (see below) and that it moved her. Now that's the sweet smell of success....

Labels: business cards, child, design, marketing, networking, perfume, pictures

Networking Fun

9/17/2007 11:51:00 AM

I just poured myself a tall glass of milk and added some Strawberry Quik. Terrible, I know, but sooo good. Mmmm. I keep stirring it to get all the goodness up to the top as is settles a bit.

Awesome things that are happening around the growth of my photography business. Watching the sun go down outside my bedroom window, I just took a picture of it and am including it here for your enjoyment.

Today's blog is about an experience I had at the Dwell on Design Conference in San Francisco last Sunday. As I passed by Concrete Works , I noticed their striking cement pieces and the large format photographs up on the display wall. Something prompted me to ask an important-looking guy about their photography. He winced and said it's an area in which they are lacking. I made the connection and look forward to sharing some of that work with you in the near future.

Then I went outside to catch up with my friend Adam Wise, and he's talking to the owner of the Evergreen Lodge in Yosemite . It's a secret that now appears to be out of the bag: the place was booked solid all summer. Turns out he used to lead backpacking trips and still does on occasion, so I told him to contact me if he ever wants to do a backpack photography workshop. He responded by asking me if I'd like to lead workshops at the lodge!

Then I went over to the Picture Wall booth and met the owner, Erik. I inquired about getting into his image bank, and he said "Maybe in 6 months, but what kind of work do you do?" I pulled out my iphone and showed him some examples of my work. As he slid through the images, he asked, “Do you know Deborah Ayerst ?” When I said No, he said, “You should.” Turns out she's an artist rep located in San Francisco.

Once I connect with her, that will be an awesome 4 contacts in just 1 hour. Not bad for a Sunday afternoon stroll.

Labels: artists, backpacking, design, iphone, marketing, networking, pictures, yosemite

Talking It Up

8/31/2007 08:57:00 PM

Yesterday I went to the launch party of my friend Joel Templin's new company HatchSF. The party was really enjoyable, especially the delicious cabernet I found myself going back for again and again.

Always one to share, I recommend the cabernet to the couple standing next to me. The gentlemen smiles and then promptly introduces himself as Craig MacLean, of MacLean Wineries. Yes, I had been silly enough to suggest he try his own wine! He was very gracious about the whole incident and appreciated the fact that I enjoyed his wine. Needing to shift the focus off my faux pas, I promptly introduced him to Colin and began showing him pictures on Colin’s i-phone. Needless to say they loved the photos and suggested Colin shooting Craig and the MacLean wineries in Napa. How exciting!

Labels: cabernet, hatchsf, maclean, marketing, napa, pictures, wines