This month we launched the video podcast version of our show, "F-Stop Beyond." These are personal interviews with top photographers where we go "beyond" the business talk and delve into the heart of the artist.

This month DJ shares ways to help you grow your business and succeed in these tough times by utilizing the Butterfly Effect, making small changes to create big results.

So I have this obsession.  And it comes in the form of athletic wear called, LuLuLemon ( www.lululemon.com ).  I can’t ever get enough of the reversible pants, lycra tops, and, yes, even the sweat bands.  I practically live in these clothes and I’m afraid my husband thinks I’ve made a solemn oath to don nothing else.  Indefinitely.

Join David Jay this month from Bend Oregon  where  he challenges you to  get out apen and paper and write down what makes you different from your competitors? This is a great exercise to find out why your clients should hire your instead of your competitor.

I’ve recently had a conversation with a group of photographers and the crux of the dialogue focused on branding.  The idea of trying to brand your business in the most effective ways.  Different notions were tossed back and forth—as if we were playing verbal badminton—but it wasn’t until the conversation progressed that I realized the cornerstone of branding is this: Figuring out who YOU are and what YOU like.  It isn’t until this happens that you can brand your business.

Last month I wrote about how to get your video content into the iTurnes store using a popular video distribution resource, blip.tv. This month, I'm going to give more detail on using blip.tv specifically. I'm seeing more and more photographers using blip.tv to post their video podcasts or even individual videos.

With WPPI now behind us, I want to share the key to our success.  We submitted 5 wedding albums and took 1st place, a 3rd place.  The remaining 3 albums placed in the top ten.  This placement confirmed to us that what we had learned the previous year was really something special.

More photographers are starting to realize the power of video podcasts to help market themselves or extend their brand. One of the best ways to distribute your video podcast is via the free service blip tv (www.blip.tv ).  We use blip both for ourselves and for our clients. This month I'll address how to distribute iPod compatible videos via blip. In fact, if you want your video podcast available for download in iTunes with videos playable on iPods and iPhones, blip.tv is one of the easiest routes to go.

You’ve made some beautiful portraits, now what? If you’re like me, composing the image, chit-chatting with your clients (so they feel at ease), then clicking the shutter is the easy part.  After the click you run through your workflow and voila, you have some sweet images and that’s why your clients hired you, well for that and your good looks.  But, what are you going to do with those killer images now?  How are you going to turn your pixels into profit?

I often get asked what kind of marketing and advertising I did to start my business. The truth, is when I started my business I had no money to pay for design work, printing or advertising space and by the time I did have the money my focus was more on what I was saying rather than how or where I was saying it. Initially I had to do all of my own design and printing and I also stumbled around trying to make a logo that expressed my photography and who I was. Let me be clear that I am a photographer not a designer… and it showed.

The last two articles I wrote dealt with the power of video to market yourself and spread awareness. I thought this month, since WPPI is just around the corner, I'd share with you the case study on our making of the WPPI comedy series "Diary of a Washed Up Rock Star Wedding Photographer."

So often I visit a new blog and notice long time lapses in between each post.  Now, I’m not talking about two or three days, I’m talking about two or three WEEKS!  When the header entry is already a few weeks old—and the preceding entry is three weeks older than that—I know it’s not a blog I’m going to stick around to read.  Why?  Because the content is old!  When is the last time you picked up a month-old Los Angeles Times’ Sports section for a good read?  Yup, I didn’t think so either…