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Frivolous: playful, lighthearted, trivial; the little things in life that should be savored.
Favorite Outfit of the Week: Dress: ASOS. Belt: Urban Outfitters. Cowl neck scarf: Target. Jacket: Anthropologie. Boots: Nordstrom. Grey tights: GAP. Earrings: Charming Charlie.
Getting ready to welcome 13 MJ2DAY attendees to my home Sunday night! Can't wait to get to know them all! This coming week is going to be crazy-exhausting and crazy-awesome!!
Sara and I both came down with head colds this week. Head colds that could not be more unwelcome or have worse timing. I've been force-feeding Sara vitamin C and decongestants in hopes that we kick them before the workshop. If we're not successful, the combination of mucus and video cameras may be disastrous.
Highlight of the week: Great time with God every morning. Trying to resist the urge to check email first thing and instead, read the Word and rest in God's presence. This is a huge challenge for me -- the night owl and productivity addict -- because it means having to get to sleep at a decent time AND when I get up -- ignoring the computer which, I swear -- audibly calls my name. SO worth it though.
Planted some flowers. Might be a little early -- and I'm hoping there's no overnight frosts coming up -- but wanted to make things cheery around here for the MJ2Day-ers. I'll have to post some photos of the prettiness next week.
Yes, I did this:
1 -- Dropped a bag of groceries on the floor when I got home. Of course it was the one with the eggs in it. Three of the six eggs suffered fatal injuries. Par for the course -- I'm a huge klutz.
2 -- Laughed while eating a fortune cookie. This resulted in a very unattractive coughing fit. Never a good idea to laugh while eating anything crumbly.
Celebrating: Booked a wedding in Angola, Africa later this year! SO excited! This will be my first wedding in another country!
Great, productive week in the office. Sara and I worked on processing last week's wedding, publication submissions, networking, our monthly newsletter, blogging, prepping tax stuff for our CPA, bookkeeping and workshop prep. And people ask me all the time what I do during my "time off" from shooting :).
Feeling Blessed: Loving the January Phoenix weather. Walks with Dixie everyday and sitting by the fireplace at night. O, Arizona winters, how I love thee. |
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This is the top of my monthly e-newsletter that just went out yesterday. We send these out at the end of each month to re-cap what has happened in the past month at Melissa Jill Photography. If you're a photographer, I would highly recommend that you do the same. I've been sending out monthly newsletters for 5 years now and I still get people commenting on a monthly basis that they receive them and love them.
For me, the real beauty of the monthly newsletter is keeping you and your business at the forefront of people's minds. And not just any people -- the 50% of Americans who don't regularly read blogs.
I blog four times a week. I put a TON of work into it. And it's well worth it -- blogging has done wonders for my business. I've taught entire workshops on how valuable it is. But what about the people who don't read blogs? Statistics show that about 50% of Americans still don't read blogs. The monthly e-newsletter is the answer. It's my way of delivering the goodness of my blog in a pretty little package straight into their inbox.
If you're a photographer, it may seem like just one more thing to add to your list of things to do. But here's the secret: There is no unique content in my newsletters. It's all basically copied and pasted from my blog posts that month. So people who read my blog on a regular basis will be bored. But, it's not intended for them. It's intended for the people who DON'T read my blog.
Throughout the newsletter, I give small teasers along with beautiful images, all intended to entice the reader to click on the links that direct them to the full posts on my blog. My hope is that they catch up on my blog once a month and then find themselves checking in on the blog on their own -- without the nudge of the newsletter. It's all about creating blog readers and customer evangelists out of those who have shown interest in me and my business.
So, who do we send the newsletter to? Initially, I added my family and friends to the list. We add any clients, vendors and wedding consultants we work with along with wedding guests who sign up on little half sheets of paper that we put out at receptions indicating they want to see the photos online. Individuals also have the ability to sign up to receive my newsletter here. So we get a good number of photographers signing up there as well. Over the years, our newsletter database has grown to 4000+.
There are a number of great e-newsletter services out there. We have used Constant Contact in the past, but currently use Emma -- and really love it. The great thing about Emma is that you can easily format your email newsletters to fit your branding. All of these services help you organize your database and also make it easy for people to opt-out of receiving your emails if they'd like.
If you don't already do so, I'd highly recommend sending out a monthly newsletter. It's a great thing to do to maximize the reach of your blog, build your brand and increase and solidify your network. |
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I'm so excited -- Eric & Kari's album design is DONE! These two were married Friday at Villa Siena and the day was absolutely lovely.
One of the things I'm most excited about is that Eric & Kari ordered my newest luxury Queensberry Duo Album. It is 18x10 inches in size and horizontal in format. This album fuses traditional matted and flush-mount digital images. The white pages are beautifully textured white mat within which images are pagemounted but you also have the option to include images that span flush to the edges of the page. Click here to see images of my sample to get a visual of how gorgeous their album will be when it is finished.
And click here to see Eric & Kari's full album design! It's hard to see the images because of how the horizontal format translates on the web, but just imagine them MUCH larger :).
Note to photographers: If you need help getting YOUR album designs done fast, click here to find out how you can purchase my templates! |
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It was the night of their first date. Kari was nervously getting ready - wondering how the night would go. Would she like him? Would they have anything in common? Would it be a relaxed, fun, easy first date... or one of those first dates that you hope someone calls with an emergency to get you out of it? As she took one last look at herself in the mirror, from outside her apartment she heard a familiar sound...
Country music.
She opened the door to see Eric climbing out of his Hummer with country music playing at full blast.
Every bone in that Missouri-born-girl's body began to sing and she knew it was going to be a good night.
It was a a few days later they were dancing at a Brad Paisley concert and decided to be boyfriend and girlfriend... Though Eric will tell you he knew, from the first time he saw her, that she would be the one he would want to spend the rest of his days with.
Eric and Kari were wed on Friday at Villa Siena in Gilbert. The day started out with Kari getting into her gorgeous Stephen Yearick gown: |
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| I love the drama of her white and black anemone bouquet next to the sparkle of her Steve Madden heels: |
| And her hair was a work of art! GORGEOUS! |
| Kari made an absolutely stunning bride: |
| And Eric looked very dapper himself. At the salon, I overheard Kari saying that she had asked Eric earlier that week if he was ready to marry her. He said, "I better be. It was my idea." Good man :). |
| I love both of these next photos, but especially the one of Kari's dad before the ceremony. You just know he was thinking about giving his little girl away: |
| The ceremony site was very warm and cozy. The perfect atmosphere for a January wedding: |
| The flower girl was so adorable being pulled down the aisle in a white wagon: |
| And Eric's expression as he saw his bride for the first time was priceless: |
| After the ceremony, we took some portraits of the newlyweds around the venue: |
| Then it was time for the party! Petal Pusher did a fabulous job as always with the flowers: |
| I loved the little photo coasters the couple gave their guests as favors: |
| And the first dance was so sweet: |
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Frivolous: playful, lighthearted, trivial; the little things in life that should be savored.
Favorite Outfit of the Week: (Still on the look-out for the perfect black blazer, which would have made this outfit better, but which I still have yet to find at a price that doesn't make my knees knock together.) Striped shirt: Ann Taylor. Cardigan: J Crew. Skinny jeans: Loft. Scarf: Lace Affair. Boots: Cathy Jean. Boot socks: Madewell. Earrings: probably Target.
Shooting my first wedding of the year today of this cute couple with this fabulous planner.
Finished this book that a well-meaning friend gave me in which the narrator is a dog who dies over and over again. Balled myself to sleep practically every night this week clinging to Dixie and telling her she is never, under ANY circumstances, allowed to die on me.
Highlight of the week: Recounting for the umpteenth time, the longest and most torturous first date ever, to my pregnant friend Sarah, who came to work from my office Tuesday. It was a doozie and that's all I'm going to say about that.
Threatened to turn the AC on this week due to Sara's overuse of the office space heater. It's stinkin' in the 60s outside and 72 degrees inside for goodness sakes and the girl is wearing three layers!
Yes, I did this:
1 -- Spent half an hour reading the ingredients on dog food in Petco. Had to find one without three specific things that may or may not be staining Dixie's whiskers brown. I WANT THEM TO BE WHITE AGAIN! Found one. Have yet to determine if it does the trick.
2 -- Drank from my water bottle while walking and overshot my mouth, spilling all down my front.
Celebrating: Ran outside with Dixie three times this week. Ran a mile straight the first time, a mile and a half the second time and a mile and 3/4 the third. Walked like I had just gotten off a horse during each subsequent day, but feeling pretty good about myself nonetheless.
Met with my financial advisor and got final "i"s dotted and "t"s crossed. He's brilliant -- don't have to pay him a cent but he's helped me save money. Let me know if you'd like a hook-up cause -- I got a guy.
Feeling Blessed: I have the best job, an amazing office manager who I adore, and green grass in my front yard in January. |
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