Melissa Jill Photography

martin zuckermann - LIKE the question Melissa! Mmmm, so many I have, but I have 2 main ones for now: 1. How do you charge your clients?, do you have several ways or just one. What's your procedure? 2. How do you get your clients to sign any "personal release" contract to avoid getting sued later...I know it's uncommon but it could happen some sad day. Of course we should always strive to protect their identities, like you do, you never reveal their last names and I have follow after that silent advice :) Hope this helps in your survey Melissa martin

Truc - I'd love to hear about the marketing side of business, getting your name out, etc. It's the aspect of this business I struggle with most.

Ashley Munn - I would also be interested in hearing you speak on the business aspect of photography. Like Alice, all that is necessary from a financial point, legal, and organizationally what it takes to run a successful business. :)

Karen (Mikols) Bonar - Probably back-end bizzzness stuff. Employees, how/when/why to outsource, what to keep in house, why? those sorts of things

Alice - I would be interested in an in depth hour of preparing a business for taking on employees... all that is necessary from a financial point, legal, and organizationally.

Desiree - Well, I have done a few weddings, and one of the things I have the hardest time with is how to deal with the family that is taking a ton of pictures while you are, and doesn't respect your space. At the last wedding, I stepped back to get a wider angle of the bride and groom at an outdoor shoot, and I literally stepped on someone foot. The foot of someone who was trying to take photos themselves. I really had to bite my tongue. How do you handle this?

Jeff Cleveland - I am so interested in the documents you've created to detail your workflow. What things you've detailed, how you created them, and how they're used. Or you could just give them to us and we'd do nice things for you for an hour to thank you! ;)

Jim Blanco - Hi Melissa, ...Congrats...love your work. If I attend to a conference I would love to hear tips about workflow (best practices) and marketing (weddings). Thanks.

Alicia - I'm not a professional....yet!...just really got started and got my feet wet last year, so I can't answer this just yet...maybe in a few years once I grow into my big-girl photography shoes! : )

denise karis - where you draw your inspiration from / how you work with your surroundings - I hate looking through other photographers blogs sometimes because I get super jealous of all the green plants! That or photo coaching - how you make your clients look so natural :)

yadira - oh Melissa, only one hour and any topic. That is so hard because you are amazing,...... hmmm it would be how do you get so many amazing shots?

R. J. Kern - Melissa, you've become a staple on the speaking circuit, so it is great to see the interest continue. I would enjoy hearing about the nuts and bolts of moving full time, and how scale your business to work smarter, and discuss an exit strategy.

Thresha - If I was at this conference, I would love to hear more about how you manage to get everything done - sessions, blogging, marketing, etc. So my official answer is organization/time management.

Liz in Oklahoma - I'd like to know about your tips and suggestions for marketing and getting your name out there... especially for a new photographer. I'd also like tips on how to interact with your clients and create a laid back and trusting relationship without being too over zealous, awkward or creepy... especially if you're naturally an introvert. Essentially, how do I become comfortable as an extrovert and still be myself? Thanks for asking! Wish i could be there to hear you speak. Good luck!

James - How to get a business started.

Ravyn - I would LOVE to learn more about really creating you niche in your area. There are so many 'photographers', but how do you set yourself apart from all of them. How do you apply these elements to appeal to a client base who really appreciates quality photography and is willing to pay the higher price point for it.

Martin in Quebec - I'm not a professional photographer, but what I like when I attend to a conference and what I expect to hear, is someone speaking about his/her passion. I don't like technical stuff or straight stories with lessons even worst, tons of catch phrases without link or reasonning behind. I would love to hear you speak passionatly about photography, no matter what gets out. Just let your passion for photography slip out of your speech. Pick an aspect of photography you are the most passionate about right now and share it. But hey, your terribly good at that on the blog, should translate easily to a conference.

Ang - I thought of another question! I'd love to know ways of getting your name out there. Of course your work is amazing but there are a lot of great photographers out there. How did you make yourself stand out in the beginning. Was it advertising, free weddings, word of mouth? Thanks!

Millie - I think the subject is as important as making sure your audience has real, valuable, and tangible tools that they can walk away with to better themselves as artists and entrepreneurs. So many photographers give talks, and all that was given out what empty encouraging words without the tools to really apply those words to their lives.

Ang - I like Mellissa's question. On average how many photographs do you get rid of out of how many photographs you take. Also do you do table shots at a reception, have a second shooter do it, or omit altogether. I'm a photojournalist style photographer so I take photographs of people at tables if they are cute and candid (not eating) but I don't go ask everyone at the tables to pose. Thanks love your work!

Jimmy - Marketing and getting a strong pipeline of wedding inquiries.

Jill - I also would like to hear about positioning clients to get a natural look....but still something unique and fun

Kelly Lawson - I would LOVE to hear more of your marketing ideas. Coming from a graphic designer background I LOVE your posts on marketing. Also making the leap from part time to full time would be awesome. I am finding it hard to set prices, charge for prints, marketing and having the confidence to sell myself. But who am I kidding, I would attend if you were just talking about that awesome puppy of yours! :)

Suzanne - Like others have stated, I would like to hear something geared more towards the part-time professionals and how to make that transition to full-time and how to effectively move your price point up as well.

Lise - Wedding day details, ins and outs, personal work flow, how to get your foot in the door as opposed to hiring models to get your portfolio going and things of that nature. And, THANK YOU for all you do for us!!

Selena Sorensen - I would like you to talk more about the business aspects of how you run your company. What works and what doesn't. How do you keep track of your workflow, ect. I feel like there are so many talented photographers that struggle with organization and running a business. I feel like you are very strong and talented at running your business in an organized and efficient way and I would love to here about the does and don't of business...

Brian Palmer - I like to hear you talk about your branding and approach to building the client relationship leading up to and after the wedding. You rock Melissa!

Ashley Myers - How to make the transition from part-time photographer to full-time photographer. I hope to one day in the near future be in that position. Also, I really struggle with putting a price tag on my work. I would love insight on setting a price and really feeling like I am worth that and not backing down.

larry reeves - I'd love to hear you talk about your love for mexican food...oh, and how someone like me can make it to where you are.

Melissa - My question would be, when you do a shoot how many of your raw images are good, usable, and bad and what's your process for sorting through them? At a conference I would want to hear about how you started your own business.

Amy Carson - I would like to learn how you go about maintaining your schedule throughout the day despite the difficulties with certain people. I sometimes have problems of being rushed because some people are not around for formal pictures when we're starting, or are just being difficult. I'd even want to have a skype session with you about this one if you dont get a chance to talk about it at a conference I can attend!!

elías ibáñez - About your awesome low sun light control. Here in Spain the Sun is similar to the one in Arizona :)

Angela - Hi Melissa! I would to know about packages and what to include in them for a non-begineer. I found that customers want to get all the high res files with their investment. How to include them? edited or not edited, fully high res or limited size? And how to make them purchase their print from us , instead of getting them printed around the corner. thanks for the help!

Eunice - I would have to echo what many have said about making the transition into full-time and an umbrella view of what that encompasses (marketing, equipment, studio set-up, employees) as well as how to know when you're really ready to make that jump. I would also love to listen to you talk about submitting images for publication.

Meredith Melody - Wedding day work flow - how you capture all of the details, get your lighting set-up squared away, getting awesome portraits in a short amount of time, etc.

Stacia Lugo - Good morning Melissa! I've been following your blog, which I love, as a fellow Gilbert photographer. I have also recently befriended a colleague of yours (Tami Proffitt) who has nothing but wonderful things to say about you and your business. To answer your question, I'd love to hear you speak about marketing ideas and photography business plans/management. From what I've seen you are wonderful at marketing yourself and your business and have some really great ideas to share. I love the 101 in 1001 ideas as goals for you and your business to accomplish as well! Keep doing what you're doing and thank you for sharing your tips, tricks and ideas with the rest of us!

Paige Butcher - I would say, how to make the transition from part-time photographer to full-time photographer. I am in that position currently, and I know a lot of other people who are!

Noa - I would love to hear you talk about workflow, post processing and upselling your product :)

Tira J - I'll raise my hand and ask the question! Where do you see the photography industry both wedding and portrait going in the next 5-10 years with the age of digital and the influx of photographers showing up every day.

Courtney - Tough to answer...but from top photographers, I'm always interested in hearing more on composition, evaluating light and using it to your advantage in a shoot, and interacting with your clients in a shoot.

Branch - I'd love to hear how you started your photography business and some of the bumps along the way that you learned from. Thanks!

Keith Powell - How to promote your business and build your brand by helping others instead of using traditional advertising.

Kristi - Since I'm a beginner, it would be helpful if you could think back to when you were starting out and tell the most important things you learned. I mean the groundbreaking discoveries that really changed your photography. That would be really helpful. Thank you!

Mike Olbinski - I think two big ones for me... 1. Your workflow...what you've learned is the fastest, most efficient way to process your photos...software, methods, etc. 2. How you learn to relate to the families and people you shoot...how you learn how to read them well enough to determine that kind of shoot you may try to do.

Holly - Business management: estimating jobs, communicating effectively with clients, record keeping, related Arizona laws, growing profit, etc etc etc. Applies to all types of photographers, not just wedding. :)

Lori - Do we have to pick just one? Okay then...probably business. Oh, maybe networking with vendors. Your one of the best I've seen at that.

Evie Perez - This is a tough question. I think I would like to hear about workflow and editing pictures.

Russell Martin - I would love to hear more tips on how to “pose/position” your clients to get that natural, un-posed look. Your client’s expressions consistently look relaxed and comfortable in front of the camera.

Tina - I would just like to hear you talk about how you built your business to the point it is today, where you're shooting amazing weddings at higher rates, and getting published all the time:) I hope I can get to that point one day!