The Creative's Corner

Do you like the Old West, weathered buildings and history? If so, you can help to preserve all of these, and receive a copy of my photography book on Jerome, Arizona. Head on over to http://www.indiegogo.com/The-Vanishing-Old-West-Jerome and check it out.

Have Fun,
Jeff

Hi Everyone,

My photographs are in the New Frontiers Natural Marketplace in Sedona. I have six of my gallery wraps and eight framed prints in their deli. New Frontiers rotates artwork from local artists, and now it’s my turn. My photographs will be there until April 1st. If you’re in the area, drop on by and take a look.

Here’s what the display looks like.

Have Fun,
Jeff

What a great night. On Friday, February 3rd, we went to the Phoenix Art Museum for the showing of the selected photographs for the Iconic Arizona program. This included my photograph of a double rainbow in Sedona, one of 60 photographs chosen from the 585 entrants.

Rainbow in the Red Rocks of Sedona

I met a lot of nice people that evening, and had a great time telling them about my photograph, and answering photography questions.

Me standing next to my photograph

Here are people checking out the photographs. I spent a lot of time watching the people to see what photographs attracted them the most. It was like being in a psychology and sociology class, and was a whole lot of fun. While some people were drawn to photographs with interesting subjects and great composition, the majority seemed to be interested in photographs with pretty colors or showing places they have visited. I kept hearing, “Those are pretty colors,” and “I’ve been there.”  While it’s not what I’d hoped to observe, it was informative.

Crowd checking out the photographs

Here I am outside the Norton Photography Gallery next to one of the two monitors showing all of the photographs that were sent in. These monitors will display the photographs through March 4th. I’m carrying my portfolio, which I showed to several people.

Upstairs at the Norton Photography Gallery

A special thanks goes to my girlfriend, Linda-Ann Stewart, www.Linda-AnnStewart.com, who took most of these photographs. She had the challenge of shooting without a flash, using only available light, and she did a great job.

If you get a chance, head on over to the museum and check out my photographs. Oh, and while you’re there, you can also see prints by some photographers who’s names may sound familiar to you, like Ansel Adams and Edward Weston.

Have Fun,
Jeff

Greeting cards are a great way to promote your company. Let’s be honest, who doesn’t like getting a card? And cards always seem to come from friends. That’s a nice way to build a relationship with clients.

Cards are a blank slate, and have unlimited design potential. They can be:

• Horizontal
• Vertical
• Any size
• Have one, two or three folds
• Display artwork, photographs, text or any combination
• Can express humor, excitement, or any other emotion

You have a few options when it comes to cards. You can go to your local stationary or paper supply store and buy a box of preprinted cards that are blank inside. Then just include a personal note before sending it out.

You can also design your own cards and order a box of them. There are many places online, or locally, that can provide either of these for you. I use www.visaprint.com for this kind of project.

You can even leave the front blank and attach a photograph. I like to attach them with Glue Dots. They hold the photo on well, and are easy to remove. This lets the client remove the print to put up on a bulletin board or somewhere else. Be sure to print something on the back of the photograph, or attach a label. I use a large supply of floppy disk labels that I purchased years ago to label my then huge collection of diskettes. What the heck else can I do with them now? In the least, have your name, website and e-mail on the back.

However, technology provides other options too. You can buy blank greeting card stock at an office supply store, and print up your own cards as you need them. There are also companies that let you create one card at a time, and will mail them for you. I know several people who use www.sendoutcards.com to do this. It lets you send out a custom card, which will really impress a client.

When it comes to using the cards, there are two approaches to consider. First is to use the cards like everyone else does. That usually means holidays, birthdays and similar events.

The problem with doing this is that you will be one of many, and your message may be lost in a sea of cards. But there is a way around this. Send out cards on lesser-known holidays. Especially if you can tie in a holiday with a product or service you offer.

If you go to www.giftypedia.com or www.angelfire.com/cantina/shamansanchez/holidays.htm you will find such holidays as:

• National Gumdrop Day. Does your company make candy?
• National Battery Day. Does your company offer products that use batteries?
• White Tee-shirt Day. Include a compress tee shirt with the card.
• Rubber Eraser Day. Put an eraser in with the card, imprinted of course.
• Limerick Day. Make a limerick about your business. There once was a salesman from McMillian, his customer service was killen, ….

And don’t forget to put things into the card to make it stand out even more.

• Always include 2-3 business cards. One for the recipient to keep, and the rest to pass out
• Discount coupon
• Gift certificate
• Tickets to some local event
• Gift card

Put on your creativity hat and start to think of all the fun, creative ways you can have greeting cards promote your business and increase sales.

Have Fun,
Jeff

Hi Everyone,

I just put up the February computer wallpaper calendar on my site. Head on over to http://www.JeffColburn.com/wallpaper.html to get your free copy.

Have Fun,
Jeff

I will have one of my photographs on display at the Phoenix Art Museum (1625 N. Central Ave., Phoenix, AZ) during the  First Friday Art Walk (February 3rd, 6:00 pm – 10:00 pm).

I entered several images in the Phoenix Art Museum’s Iconic Arizona: Celebrating The Arizona Centennial With Photographs From The Center For Creative Photography contest. A total of 585 photographs were entered, and from these a museum committee selected 60 images. One of these images was my Rainbow in the Red Rocks of Sedona.

Rainbow in the Red Rocks of Sedona

I was really surprised when their e-mail arrived today telling me about this. I thinks it’s very cool!

Tempe Camera will print the winning images and put them on display at the museum for the Art Walk. The photographers are invited to be present, and I will be there to answer any questions about my photograph.

During the Art Walk, the public is invited to vote for their favorite photograph. The winner will receive a $100 gift card for Tempe Camera. The three images that receive the most votes will be displayed in Tempe Camera’s in-store gallery.

I hope to see you there.

Have Fun,
Jeff

I just added over 20 photographs to my Fine Art site. There are new photographs of leaves changing color, night shots of Jerome’s Hogback Cemetery and more. Check it out at http://www.JeffColburn.com

Have Fun,
Jeff

Hogback Cemetery after dark

Veit Springs, an Old Growth forest

If you like my photographs, you’ll love this! I’m now offering free desktop wallpaper of my photographs for your computer, and the wallpaper contains a calendar too. Check it out at http://www.jeffcolburn.com/wallpaper.html

Have Fun,
Jeff

Bookmarks, almost everyone has a few lying around. You can use them to mark your place in books and magazines and to promote your business.

The most natural tie-in is for businesses that work in the publishing of books and magazines, or if you’ve written your own book. But that’s not using your imagination. Any company can successfully promote themselves with these little billboards.

People can use bookmarks in many ways.

• Display beautiful photographs
• Put a great recipe on them
• Used as a ruler, if a ruler has been printed on one side
• Offer useful information about medications, health, first aid or some interesting fact about your business
• Offer coupons; cut off the coupon printed on it, and bring it in for a discount or free gift
• Promote an upcoming event

Your imagination is the only limitation you have when it comes to bookmarks. Some unique things you could do include:

• Attaching small gifts to a bookmark, such as a toy (in a bag) or temporary tattoo
• Make them out of dry erase material, with your information on one side, and the other side blank so people can write notes, and pass them out with a dry erase pen
• Design them like a puzzle, where several bookmarks must be put together in the proper order to make a complete picture or message. Give people a bookmark every time they visit. Finish the picture and win a prize.
• Provide entertainment by putting mazes or crossword puzzles on them
• Have them cut into any shape. You could make a bookmark shaped like a camera, wrench, dragon or anything else.

I still have a bookmark I picked up over twenty years ago from a Japanese store in California. It’s die cut metal that’s gold in color and has a nice red tassel. They passed them out with every purchase. Some of my other favorite bookmarks include comic book art, lenticular images, samples of my favorite artist’s work and inspirational sayings.

Last week I even bought some bookmarks from two young girls who were going door to door, raising money for an upcoming class trip.

Bookmarks offer advantages in that they are:

• Inexpensive
• Easy to carry
• Light weight
• Small
• Come in many sizes
• Can have a perforation applied, for the above mentioned coupons

They can be distributed in a wide variety of locations.

• Pass them out at your office
• Have the sales staff give them to clients
• Freebies at trade shows and special events
• Anywhere you would pass out a business card, or even use these as your business card
• Don’t forget to offer a pile of them to local bookstores, libraries and schools

Think about where your clients are, and what tie-ins other businesses may offer. A photographer could give a stack to local photography stores and schools; an exterminator could put bug facts on them and give them to schools and gardening stores; an art gallery could pass them out to art supply stores and schools. Do a little thinking about how your products and services impact your community and you’ll have lots of places to hand them out.

Who would have thought that the humble bookmark could do so much?

Have Fun,
Jeff

Hi Everyone,

I’ve made the jump to the international market. I have an article in the current issue of Photography Monthly,  a publication in the United Kingdom.

This month they’re doing a retro issue, dealing with the days of film. Black and white photography, adapting old lenses, and my article, “Digital Photography Is Not Free” are all part of this look back at photography before digital.

An editor from the magazine e-mailed me and said he had read my blog post, “Digital Photography Costs More Than Film Photography” and thought it would be great for the retro issue. He had me expand the article, and they loved it.

This blog post was very popular too. Besides having my blog hits increase 15 times above normal, that post had:

• 42 comments
• 163 Facebook likes
• 38 Tweets
• 17 LinkedIn shares
• 110 comments on a LinkedIn Group

Check out my article and let me know what you think.

Have Fun,
Jeff