"It’s a LIFESTYLE business, right? So get a life."

"It's a LIFESTYLE business, right? So get a life." 

During my last business course that quote that really grabbed me. It was about why I created the business in the first place. My lifestyle. 

I'm sure my life style is much like yours- kids, significant other, house, cooking, cleaning, pets, work. It is hard to find time for the "ideal lifestyle" that you dream of. Days are filled with dreams. Not dreams like when you were a kid- but dreams like "when I'm done with this, then things will be easier."

Is that why you stared your creative journey? To constantly work? To half-ass every dinner because any energy you have NEEDS to go into your work. Right? If not you feel guilty. Guilty for not having time/money/energy and once you make it BIG all of the guilt and time will be worth it. Right?

What are the things you love to do. Not just randomly- but every day.

What would you do if you had an extra 7 hours.

Would you sip your coffee in the morning, instead of chug it down while reading e-mails.

Would you go jogging? Hiking? Riding horses? Gardening? Painting? Take bubble baths or just take a freakin nap?

For the last 4 years (I am SO not kidding) every couple of months, I go " Ya know what, I'm going to wake up an hour early, so I can drink my coffee, do yoga, mediate and actually put real clothes on and do my hair and make up- all before everyone gets up."

At no point in those 4 years have I done that. Even once. 

Why? Because I'm tired, I stay up at night to finish up work, and considering that 9-12 PM is my "high traffic" time on the website- you do too.

So I am not longer going to attempt to wake up super early, but create my lifestyle today. Right now. I want to go to lunch with friends, do yoga and not look like I rolled out of bed before talking my daughter to school. Take time for me AND my family.

Where to start? Stop giving people who don't deserve your time and energy, your time and energy.

• Is there a reason someone isn't begging you to be their photographer? Drop them. Gush on your current clients and make each one value your business. 
• Make sure people "pay to play," you aren't Walmart- you are a hands on, custom photography service. 
• Stop trolling Facebook groups for "deals, sales, DIY projects." Sign up for newsletters and sales will be hand delivered to you so when your ready to shop, shop. (this is the link for my newsletter, should you not be a part of it already :) 
• Invest your time as well as you invest your money. Your business takes away from your life, time with your children, family and fun. If you aren't going to make that time worth it, no one is.

I want to hear your thoughts on this. Are you feeling guilty by spending too much time working? What is your biggest "Time Sucker?" I want to hear and we can all get our priorities straight! 

Quality Props for Quality Pictures and Creating Amazing Relationships

Image by: Gabriela Bauerova - Photography
Baby Bear and Bonnet Set by ReiLynn Designs

A few weeks ago, I was on a site that was bickering back and fourth about the best way to get professional photos for vendor's shops. This bickering went on for days and while I didn't partake int, I watched the drama unfold.

There are SO many issues with the prop trade for photos ordeal- I know- cause I've been there. And what do I say?

~BUILD LASTING RELATIONSHIPS~

Creating lasting relationships with photographers is something very near and dear to my heart- after all, I am a prop creator!

After a few months in the photography prop business I realized a couple of things:

1. My photos were horrible!
2. While I followed all of the patterns perfectly- I never really had feedback on sizing, texture, or quality on my props.

I also realized that both of those things can be fixed with one or two AMAZING relationships with photographers! 

Image by: Jennifer Nace Photography
Stocking Hat by: ReiLynn Designs

I have tried almost every way to get professional photos of my props and starting out wasn't easy. 

Six years ago, I literally posted "Hey! I have a couple of props that I am looking for images of! Who would like to get them in exchange for some photos?"

I can not express what a bad idea that was. 

Messages came flooding in- from TONS of very inexperienced photographers. I found a few that were "okay" and sent them products. I am still waiting on said product images- 6 YEARS LATER. 

I went back to the drawing board. 

I started up with a modeling company- I read a profile that had the professional photographers name that she would be using and 

OMG THAT PHOTOGRAPHER WAS AMAZING AND THIS WAS GOING TO BE MY BIG BREAK! 

After sending products- and waiting a month- I got images back with this adorable little note

"So we haven't had the chance to get professional photos done, so I did them last night with the flash, I hope you like them! She didn't really want to sleep and the hat was too small." 

I don't have a copy of those images- because I deleted them that night. They were horrible, and no, my hat didn't fit on a 3 month old when it was supposed to be on an 8 lb newborn. UGH!

Drawing board anyone?

By that time I had sent over $3000.00 products and had not gotten a single usable image back. Which is a VERY common complaint among vendors.

So I started messaging photographers- which, if your a photographer- is the last thing you want in your inbox.

Note to Vendors: 

Vendors begging for photos is JUST as bad as photographers begging for free props! 

Did I get replies? Nope!

Lets fast forward a few years to when life gets crazy. I work three jobs, have a toddler, divorced, moved AND started a local boutique. Need for professional photos? Not great. So I stopped worrying about it.

Image by : Shanna Rae Photogaphy
Mini Stretch Blankets by: ReiLynn Designs

Then I closed my boutique. All of a sudden I was online only again with my sad pictures.

I blasted 50% off in exchange for images all over Facebook. I got a TON of responses- so many that I ended up refunding a lot of people because there were repeat items, delays in shipping and an overall mess of how that happened. And THAT is the common complaint among photographers.

In this time though, I was getting a few orders here and there. Branding my name slowly and providing great customer service to regular customers.

Now I am SO proud to say that I work with all three of these methods, and that was accomplished my creating lasting relationships- not spamming- not Facebook blasting- but by taking the time to really talk with my customers and photographers I knew.

It took some time, patience and great communication, but I turned a few of my tried and true customers into photography prop partners. They get an automatic 50% off in exchange for photos on all the items that need images in my shop. When they are looking for something for their next session- I send them a list of items I can discount. Now- it isn't without it's set backs.

I also gift props to a few photographers and work with photographers though a modeling company.

In my experience I have learned that when communicating about photos or props- being 100% straight forward is important!

Tips for Props for Photos:

• GREAT communication is key! Make sure you know shipping time, sizes, image turn around time. Everything! There are instances where it takes 4-5 weeks to edit a gallery- make sure you communicate that to your prop vendors. 

• Don't SPAM people! A great way to get discounted props is to make a purchase- see if you even like the quality of them- and then offer an image, with no strings attached. Many vendors will give you a discount on your next order or ask to work with you more! 

• Stay organized! Make sure you are tagging your vendors you purchase props from- they love it and will share the love. If you don't know where you got what from and who- you can't start building that relationship. 

• Nothing is free- time for your images isn't and supplies to create props isn't- if you are going to build relationships for that type of trade BOTH of you need to respect each others time, energy and skill level. 

If you have any suggestions, tips, tricks or information you would love to add- feel free to comment! I would LOVE to hear your perspective or experiences! 

Extreme Crocheting and Fanny Packs!

"It's a little bit of a trill, but mostly, you could just take a nap." 

I just have to say this real quick- I LOVE the scrambler- and over the summer, I decided that it is because "It's a little bit of a thrill, but mostly, you could just take a nap," which is a pretty good description on what it is like to hang out with me on a daily. 

This year, I rode it probably 20 times at our local amusement park. It is literally the only way I will stop crocheting some weeks. 

On our first family outing we noticed an alarming amount of fanny packs hanging out with us. Being in southern Indiana, most people don't realize what trends are in or out so they just never really leave. So instead of ignoring the fanny packs- we started counting them. One day we got up to 8 fanny packs.... and not on workers- they have life saving devices in their fanny packs so it TOTALLY isn't cool to make fun of theirs. Plus, it is their job and there are very few people that get to look cool at their job. 

I "Googled" it- "fanny packs coming back in style 2014" and I kid you not, it was already in the search bar. Rihanna, Mathew McChaughey (who I suspect never stopped wearing one) and the Rock! Then before I could contain myself, I said (or yelled excitedly) "OH MY GOSH! I COULD WEAR ONE AND KEEP MY YARN AND CROCHET HOOKS IN IT" all in line at the scrambler.... for a second I thought of how perfect it would be to be crocheting EVERYWHERE.... whipping up little creations. Then I realized how excited I was and how many people were looking at me.... and how uncomfortably close they were. 

Amber never missed a beat "You could be an extreme crocheter- and do it in random places and take selfies of your hardcore crafting." 

I am now on a search for some awesome fanny packs for some fun "extreme crocheting."

Promotion for Fall {Referral Program}

Hello again!

There are a couple of new products and offers that I have been putting together for photographers all summer long- so it figures that they both debut in the same week! LOL! The more the merrier right?

The first thing I want to share is the referral program that I'm SO excited about! What better way to reward my favorite photographers than by gifting them free items? :)

Image by: Abba Color Photography
Henley Bonnet by ReiLynn Designs

Here is the very basic idea for the referrals:
For every 3 paying customers that you refer to us from, you will receive a complementary Henley Bonnet in a color of your choice.
To receive your complementary Henley Bonnet, make sure to send me the color of bonnet you would love along with the names of the 3 people that you purchased props.

So make sure you are sharing posts, links and status updates so you can get in on those referrals! :)

**This promotion is valid from 9-1-14 to 12-30-14. Not valid with any other offers or discounts. Henley bonnet color must be picked within 1 week of referrals sent or a random color will be chosen for you.