PhotoPro Expo Kicks Off; Imaging USA Wrap Up; Upcoming Webcasts; No More Workflow; Come To Italy With Me?; and More!

Good Afternoon Everybody,

We were up bright and early his morning - 4:00 a.m. wake up call - headed to the airport and arrived back in Cincy about 2:00 p.m. We could use a break but we head right into our PhotoPro Expo Convention tomorrow through Sunday. It's going to be great convention chock full of outstanding speakers. The learning opportunity is endless.

We should have about 250 excited photographers attending from around 6 states in the Midwest! I'm convention chairmen because I have so much spare time on my hands – right ;~) Anyway, it's fun and we're looking forward to being part of of this exciting weekend!

PhotoPro Expo Kicks Off In This Friday!

Hey, good news - you can still register for 10 fantastic speakers, 3 info packed days, 1 exceptional educational opportunity. Here is the link to register at the super great price of only $149 ….if you hurry.

We have over $8500 worth of door prizes were will be giving away over the three day event. Due to the number of door prizes we're giving away, you'll have a pretty good chance to win.

Coming in from out of town? Our convention is being held at the Marriott RiverCenter, one of the nicest hotels in the city and we've secured a room rate of only $99! Like they say on TV - Come on down!!!!

Imaging USA Wrap Up

Hey gang, this isn't a normal wrap up report - you can get all the latest, greatest news at the Imaging USA website right here. What I want to do is give you the low down on a few of the interesting things that happened at the show.

Bruce Hudson In Upcoming Webcast: Groupon - Making It Work For You.

That's right, my buddy, Bruce Hudson, who you saw earlier this week shooting the bad guys has agreed to do an hour long webcast on how to add the phenomenally successful Groupon mania to your marketing plans. Stay tuned as we lock down times and dates. It's going to be a great program!

Taking the Work Out Of Workflow

My good buddy and president of Zookbinders, Mark Zucker,  has also agreed to come on DPT and tell you about what I think is one of the greatest workflow time savers in the world.  What is the thing photographers hate to do most? For most it’s getting stuck behind their computers with album design instead behind their cameras shooting. It takes too much time. It pulls them from they're already too busy schedule. The chain around most photogs neck is workflow that takes way to much time in our digital age.

Zookbinders just introduced they're new Zookie book. I know, you're saying, "What in the world is that." Right? Here is the deal. Zookbinders will design, print and bind your clients favorite images into a beautiful album in less time than you can. I saw it happen in person at the show.

Zookbinders had a few customers drop off images at the first day of the Imaging USA show on Sunday. Sunday evening, Jen, one of they're designers went to work on the albums, got the final design looking great, FTP'd the final album design JPEGs up to Zookbinders in Chicago so they could get the album printed, bound, and shipped by Monday.

I was standing at Zookbinders booth on Tuesday when Sandra Ortiz - sandraortizphotography.com, took delivery of the album from Mark. She was ecstatic! I looked through the album and it was beautiful - color balance, density, binding - everything was perfect. I'll tell ya' - designing, printing, binding, shipping, and then delivering an album in 48 hours was an amazing thing to see. With Zookbinders new Zookie album service you just may to able to take an extra day or two off during the month. Wouldn't that be nice!

The Monster Lives!!!

Sandy Puc, a good friend and a person who has more energy than most people I know just introduced her brand new Ukandu website where you can bug a complete marketing plan for only $20 bucks! It includes templates, copy, and an entire marketing plan to help you increase your business. Here is the link.

Here is the cool thing - she's got lots and lots of marketing plans that you can choose from AND they are only $20. I can't wait to check out a few myself.

Sandy, by the way, puts on one of the best lecture tours every year. This year she is touring with the indomitable, Jerry Ghionis, an outstanding wedding photographer from Australia. They're tour, Power Of Passion is coming to a city near you very soon. I sure plan to catch them when they get near Cincy. Here is the link to their Power Of Passion tour for more info and to register. It will be the tour not to miss for 2011!

Lumapix:FotoFusion On A Mac Right Around The Corner!

When we do programs we are constantly asked when Lumapix is going to run on a Mac. Well, finally the good news - Mike Sheasby, the president of the company was showing the Mac version at Imaging USA. OK, it was the latest beta but it sure looked good to me.

Mike assures me that things are looking good for a release very, very soon - I can't wait. Mike and I also talked about him doing a webcast together when the new release ships. That should be a good time too. Once again, I'll keep you posted. THANKS for your patience to everyone who purchased during the Captured By the Light Tour. We are getting so close to delivering.

A Few More Highlights Of Our Visit

Like I said in an earlier post, part of the reason we attend these conventions is because we get a chance to see our friends whom we haven't seen throughout the year. On Sunday evening, we enjoyed a wonderful evening Bohanan's restaurant with our friends at Peachpit Press, the publishers of my book "Captured By The Light".

It was a nice discussing my new book and how to bring even greater value to my next book possibly by adding a bonus DVD with added content. Think Blu-Ray DVD with bonus features - way cool.

On Monday we had a great time at the Animoto party at the Enchanted Springs Ranch. From shooting six guns to riding the bull and everything in between, it was a hoot! Here's a shot of all of us who enjoyed the party. Remember, Animoto = Great Slide Shows. 

Last night we had a delightful Mexican dinner at Rosario's, a wonderful restaurant in San Antonio, with our friends Jeff and Ross. Jeff Medford and his business partner, Ross, had just finished their convention programs at the same time as ours so we decided to grab dinner together.

Jeff has been twisting my arm to do a week long workshop in Italy! He has organized it many times for the legendary Monte Zucker and thinks I should so the same. We would reserve a villa in Tuscany for about 15 photographers and spend 5 days shooting around the area, enjoying fine wine, and soaking up the culture.

Hey gang, what do you think? It sure sounds like fun to me. Why not hit the Comment section below and let me know if you would be interested. We are definitely thinking about it.

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Hey gang, that's it for be today. We are off and running getting things ready for PhotoPlus Expo. We have print competition happening tomorrow and the programs starting on Friday. I sure hope to see some of our DPT readers at the show.

Check back tomorrow for another episode of Business Day Thursday. I'm planning to hit my Top 10 favorite business posts of 2010.

Hope to see you then, David