To complete the branding...

Maybe you cant afford to take all the steps towards giving your business a solid brand from the get go, take one thing at a time, and decide which pieces will play the bigger role in the beginning.

I really like this complete package from this pet portrait studio, it really gives them a polished professional look. A look that that their customers are sure not to forget.

From Professional Photographer magazine

Life after the Wedding Publicist

I recently had a photographer ask me... How did your clients benefit from you? How did they grow in the years working with you? Very good questions, and I'd like to blog a couple answers to that from two of the most well known and well noted photographers I've been blessed to work with.

LaCour Photography, Atlanta Georgia

As LaCour grew rapidly and began photographing upwards of 50 weddings per year, we decided it was time for some soul searching and intensive brand maintenance. We knew we couldn't sustain a 50-wedding-per-year workload and we hoped to be more selective about which wedding commissions we accepted. But in order to limit LaCour to 20 or less weddings per year, we had to expand our client base beyond our hometown of Atlanta, Ga. While Atlanta could bring us a handful of premium priced events, we needed more than a few to be a successful and profitable studio.

We decided it was time to add a publicist to our team. We wanted to partner with someone who was well-connected with media outlets, tenacious enough to pursue editors and unflappable in the face of deadline pressure. Hermes & Associates Creative Consultants fit the bill with grace and a stellar track record! Rita, at H & A knew the power of the pitch and found magazines that were perfect outlets to spread LaCour's brand name. Within one year, she had increased LaCour's brand value and truly gave us the elusive caché of fee worthiness. After adding her to our team, we compiled an excellent press kit with various articles she pitched to publications on our behalf.

We thoroughly enjoyed working with Rita. Her professionalism was matched by her persistence. We were successfully published in a major national publications, and every time we needed a boost of confidence, she would email us advice. Her vision and sincere desire to build the LaCour brand encouraged us to seek a broad, international clientele.

Hermes & Associates CC is more than a publicist - she is a loyal advocate for photographers who represents them to editors and caters to their individual artistic vision.
- Rachel LaCour Niesen

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Joe Photo, Orange County California

A local photographer introduced me to Hermes & Associates Creative Consultants in 2001. He had raved about her publicity services. I knew very little about publicity in national magazines, though I knew I wanted it. My ego loved the idea that I could have a publicist. In fact, it was terrific for my ego and my success. I got published in magazine after magazine. I thought I was hot stuff. My star was rising and I began receiving the national attention that came with such exposure. I was thrilled.

It's difficult to express the magnitude of the effect that H & A had on my success in the industry. I was encouraged to meet a major East Coast publisher who was in town on business. The situation was unique and Rita saw it's potential, so she set up a meeting for me to meet her...

Having Rita on my team took my business to a new level of success. Her faith in my ability and her targeted promotion of my work has changed my life. She is one of a handful of people who have dramatically contributed to my business success. She is the best investment I have ever made. Thank you, You Rock!

- Joe Photo

If it works, dont fix it...

This is a post I should have done awhile ago. How, where, and with who I got started long ago. The wedding industry was introduced to me by my mother. I was helping her with her small boutique style gift business. When I became interested in mixing my new found love of publicity with photography, I went to approach the best, the landmark Barber Photography to let me try to generate press for his already well known business.

I had no expectations really, honestly, he should have kicked me out the door! Who was I at the time? I had no experience, no reputation, no recommendations, nothing under my belt really specifically in the wedding photography field. Keep in mind 10 to 12 years ago, there was no such thing as a wedding publicist per say, I was coming to this hot shot photographers door with this idea and how it might work for him.

He knew about my mothers business, and decided to give me a chance to prove myself. I ended up handling publicity for 6 years for him, and learned more about photography and how to appreciate it as an art form from Jon Barber than any other photographer I have worked with, and Ive worked with my share of fabulous shooters. If I didn't get my start with him, I wouldn't be where I am today. Thanks Jon.

This is an image by Barber Photography that dates way back to my days with him, and its still on the front of his website! Why? It's timeless, and evokes such feeling from a bride of any age! Hey if the image works, don't mess with it... yes it does..

From Barber Photography

To inspire, or inspired by?

I saw this at Simply Modern Weddings, and the question just popped in my head. To inspire, or inspired by?

Photos by: Pure by Lindsey

Stellar Image of the Month

It's back to work, and I'm ready to roll out the Stellar Image of the Month! One of the hardest ideal images to capture at a wedding, is on the dance floor. There are so many elements working against you, like crowds of people, lighting, etc..

When I'm putting together a wedding submission, its always the dance floor shots where I lose interest. This image by Zen Todd is my idea of what a fabulous dance floor shot looks like, perfect composition!

From ZEN TODD