BMP - Boller Media Productions

With Gratitude I have made 2 months of self employment. Symbolically, The red graph is going in the hole but thats the price for starting a business. This has been spent mostly on promos and advertising and oodles of trips to Staples and Photo stores.  As I study business start ups, I am grateful that all business goes this way when starting up. I am overjoyed at the networking that has been done in the last 60 days or so. Sometimes I feel the connections and opportunities feel like 6 months already.  We had two shows in the last couple of weeks - one at Camrose Fashion Show for cancer and the Camrose Bridal show.  I loved both of them as it was a sense of community there, of which I am familiar coming from small town Medicine Hat, Alberta.  I am grateful that the photo booths I am promoting, costs little to display and show. There will be big costs with the January Bridal shows at the Shaw and  Northlands, but the payoffs should be good. We have joined the upcoming group Bossy Mama who focuses on Female entrepreneurs.  They are true balcony people to talk to!  We also joined the Edmonton Chamber of commerce after researching the benefits of this organization.   This business is ALL about the networking and that means building relationships, not selling a product to them as the focus.  I look forward to when this area gets off the ground more and I can focus on my photography more and market that area.

Lessons learned - radio advertising is expensive and is not the best media for us at this time.  Hit the target market at the trade show with education and promotions. Volunteering our service at events is great at promoting to people and costs us little.  I have had countless businesses who suck at returning emails about needing their service. IE I am willing to give them money for their service, and they do not return my email. I make it a vow to return an email that day, even if temporarily from my blackberry. I have learned that automatic email returns are impersonal. I need a new website for the photo booths for website optimization. Flash websites can not accomplish this. My target market is females and they do their shopping on the net!   I will be busy now until Christmas and look forward to going into the New Year  with a bang!

Thank you God.