Ever since I started my own business in video production & photography 4 years ago, I quickly realized that business sense doesn’t come easy to me. I didn’t really know where to start and what to do! I only knew how to create art – the work itself. But anything related to marketing, finance, advertising, client relationships… they were all new to me. Over time, I realized that I wasn’t alone in my struggles. After some discussion with the rest of the RedNinja.TV group, we decided to run a business series for photographers.

And the best thing…?

It’s free!

Our first topic will be “First impressions: The art of business card design”. Early on in my career, I knew that one of my weaknesses is design. Even though I was involved in the creative line, I did not really know how to come up with good designs. So why did I even bother designing my own business cards in the early days?

“No money to hire a designer”
“How hard can it be?!”
“I can shoot good photos, why can’t I design my own business card?”

When I attended the WPPI conference in March recently, I met many photographers who gave me their business cards that had terrible looking designs. It was then that it occurred to me that photographers are not necessarily designers. If you are a wedding and portrait photographer (or run ANY business for that matter!), first impressions are soooo important. And your business card is the start to creating that impression – whether your potential client has seen your work or not.

This business series will be conducted in a discussion format. In 2 hours, you will hear from different people – whether they are experts in that field, a couple about to get married or just another photographer sharing his thoughts. The point is to learn from one another – discuss and discover new things together. We do not claim to be experts in all fields, but hopefully, each of us has different experiences to share with each other.

Soooooo…..

For the topic of business card design, we will have 4 people on the discussion panel – Michael Lian (senior art director at Integricity) who will give his ideas on what good design is, Kris Wong from Weddings Malaysia, and Chen Hoe & Shirley (an engaged couple who are getting married in January 2011). If you would like to participate, please bring along your business card for critique, and we will help you improve on it. We hope that you will take all forms of criticism as constructive! Even if you decide not to submit for business cards for critique, do come anyway!

Please rsvp on our Facebook page by clicking on the link here.

Looking forward to meeting all of you!