HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I cannot believe 2008 is about to come to an end in a matter of a few hours. This has definitely been a year of change for me, completing my college degree, and then starting my own business in a very crazy economy. The coming year promises to bring many changes in my life once again, and one of which is going to be this blog. My new Kramer Creatives, LLC website will launch very soon, and with my site, will be a blog for my business. Since I have a dedicated business blog with the site, I have decided to change my Pam's World blog over to my personal blog. Please feel free to continue to visit to keep up on what my family is doing, what I am reading, things I love, and who knows what else.

Thank you for keeping up with me and I look forward to more posts this coming year. Have a safe and happy new year!

Negotiating for Photographers

My most recent read is the Photographer's Guide to Negotiating, which was a bit elementary, yet worth reading. Most of the book talks about the basics of negotiating and could be used in any industry. The remainder is focused on negotiating skills for photographer's specifically. One of the last chapters provides interviews from negotiators in the photography industry, which if you don't read anything else, this chapter is definitely of value.

If you are a seasoned photographer, student, or just emerging in the industry, this book is one you should include in your library. Stay tuned for more photography industry reads.

Little Red Book of Sales Answers

For those of you in a sales position, and never formally trained in sales, read this book and keep it as a reference! Jeffrey Gitomer is one of those motivational speaker kind of guys that goes around telling people how to sell anything. He may be a bit over board, but his book is worth keeping on your desk. Easy read, simple 99.5 real answers to selling, and a book you can read in one night if you wanted. There are some good tips in this book, but there are also just as many obvious sales processes. If you have been thrown into a sales position and just can't seem to get any closing sales, this book will motivate, inspire, and simply feed you easy facts.

Eye of the Beholder

Milwaukee Lifestyle Magazine recently showcased the work of several Milwaukee photographers, and Tom Fritz, whom I represent was one of the photographers they interviewed.

Tom grew up just outside of New York City, but has called Milwaukee home for over 25 years. Tom appreciates the many benefits Milwaukee has to offer in the photography industry, but also the great community events and attractions Milwaukee has to offer.

When working with Tom, you find he does not need much art direction, as he is a visionary himself. The photo shown in M Magazine was shot on Plankinton Avenue of Harleys in front of the Wisconsin Hotel. This was part of a series of shots done around town in an effort to get used to the 8x20 banquet camera which was going to be used as part of a larger project. Tom wanted to test the process out first, in an effort to shake down any issues, prior to shooting the next day.

A Fabulous Food Stylist

Food stylists are an important factor when it comes to photographing food for a package, ad, website, cookbook or anything food related. Unfortunately, the food styling industry is not well-known, and particularly in the Midwest. If you have a passion for food, and understand how to make food look appetizing through the camera lens, then you may have potential as a stylist. A good food stylist friend of mine was recently interviewed for an article in www.OnMilwaukee.com. Check it out at On Milwaukee.com.

Tomorrow's Leaders-Today

This Tuesday, September 16th, I will begin a nine month journey with about 30 other adults, in a program which develops community leadership skills. The program, named Leadership Racine, was founded on October 23, 1996, during a meeting of community leaders. By September, 1998, the first leadership class was formed, and the history of Leadership Racine began.

The program is nine months in length, from October through May, and begins with a two day orientation for all participants. The goal of the program is to build community trusteeship through development of strong, diverse, and knowledgeable leaders in the Racine community. The program recruits individuals which have a strong interest in volunteerism and display leadership skills. The program further develops leadership skills and prepares participants for positions of public influence and decision-making in the Racine area.

I look forward to this new journey, and the great friendships, I will make in my community. Continue to watch the local Racine Journal Times newspaper for updates on my class, as well as check my blog for updates on projects, and valuable information I learn along the way.

Happy Anniversary

Today is my 14th wedding anniversary to my husband Matt and we had the best day ever. Believe it or not, we decided to spend the day as a family, in lieu of spending it alone together. Matt works a ton of hours and finally took the day off to spend it at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois. We spent most of the day in the water park just relaxing while the kids were off running around in the wave pool and lazy river areas. The weather was perfect, and even though the park was super packed, we would not have traded today for anything different. So happy anniversary to my husband of 14 years and thank you to my family for an absolutely delightful day!

Chivas USA vs Chicago Fire

My son is a huge soccer fan and has played soccer since he was five years old (he is now 10). He claims he wants to be a professional soccer player and social studies teacher when he grows up. Unfortunately, dad knows nothing about the sport and only understands football, so has convinced our son to try football this season. The good news, if he does not like football we plan on having him tryout for a team like the Red Stars. Personally, I am crossing my fingers, and dad is holding on to hope, but also coming to the conclusion he might have a soccer player instead of a football player. I think if dad would have been able to come to the professional soccer game last night at Toyota Park outside of Chicago, he would have a new appreciation for the game of soccer. My brother knows Jesse Marsch of Chivas USA and was able to get some great tickets for us. My son was in his glory watching the game, but the best part came after the game. We hung out with Jesse's parents and friends after the game and later Jesse came out for a visit. Ian had his very used soccer ball ready for signing with grandma's ballpoint pen (we needed a Sharpie). Later I took a photo of Jesse with our son and Jesse was kind enough to sign his ball again with a Sharpie. The funny part about it is that my son has always been a huge fan of Beckham, and of course for you soccer fans, Beckham and Marsch had that huge fight some time back. I think my son might have a new hero. He is grinning ear to ear and has retired his old, worn out soccer ball to the football display stand. The football has been thrown aside. Thank you Jesse!

Lemonade Stand

As a child you begged your mom to let you have a lemonade stand. Now, as an adult you can create your own lemonade stand too. I found this great site called Lemonade and I have been creating my own stands promoting the products I stand behind and recommend. All you have to do is create an account, then set up your lemonade stands, find products you like, add them to your stand, and promote your lemonade stand. Whenever someone clicks on your stand, one of the products, and purchases an item you get money in your account. How cool is that? Talk about word of mouth marketing! You can link directly to my lemonade stands if you want --

What is an artist representative?

For two years I held the position as a marketing director for a commercial photography studio located in Racine. Late in 2006, I attended a seminar on promoting photography, which was given by two very influential artist representatives/consultants -- Suzanne Sease and Amanda Sosa Stone. I have always been intrigued by the consulting industry and had already been representing the one studio I worked in. In 2007, I was joking around with a Milwaukee photographer about becoming his rep, and began to realize there could be potential to do so. After all, I was already representing the one studio I worked for, and so there could not be that much difference being an independent.

I have officially set out on my own as an artist representative as of this month and I get questions all the time asking what an artist representative is. Basically, I am an agent for creative individuals, but I am currently representing strictly commercial photographers. My main responsibilities is to sell and promote my photographers and consult with them on trends in the industry when it comes to how it might affect their business. A major part of my job is also to bid and invoice projects as they come through.

One thing to keep in mind is that artists are busy. They are creative-thinking individuals and they don't want to spend a lot of time promoting themselves or coming up with their sales and marketing strategies. When time allows, artists should be creating new work, and not putting energy into sales. I take care of the sales, marketing and some of the project management aspect. The artist completes the projects and can focus on building their portfolio.

More Beer

Left Hand Brewing Company is located in Longmont, Colorado and creates a milky brew called Milk Stout. Although this is not one of my favorite beers I have tried, it is one that grew on me. With a creamy texture and milky flavor this is definitely a brew to enjoy in an ice cold mug on a hot summer day. It had an at home flavor kind of like a comfort food. At first I found the milky flavor a bit odd but after enjoying a few more swigs became accustom to the flavor.

If you get a chance, check out their web site, as it is very well designed. Go into their beer section and click on any line of brews. You will see a beer bottle on your screen and with each brew you pick the label changes. Pretty cool flash design.

CreateAthon

Keeven White, of White Space Creative, presented a seminar at the last BMA function on partnering with non-profits in the creative world. The main focus of his presentation was how important it is for creative firms to connect with non-profit organizations as an effective way to build business. So many creative agencies are asked to provide "free" services to non-profits every day. Many creative agencies turn the work down because they don't see free projects as being profitable for their organization. I somewhat agreed with this fact until listening to White's take on helping build relationships with non-profits as a way to build profitability through press.

White, in an effort to give back to non-profits, found a manageable approach to helping complete free projects and grow business at the same time -- CreateAthon. CreateAthon began as a local event, founded by RIGGS, a marketing and advertising agency, and has grown to become a national event. The event is held for a 24 hour period, where an agency takes on as many non-profit design projects as they wish, and the designers have complete creative control.

Becoming involved in such an event not only gives the creative teams ultimate control of their designs, it also reels in free press, and boosts team-building. Non-profit organizations benefit from the great work created, and according to White, many of the same organizations come back for more paid projects over time.

All Natural Shampoo and Conditioner

Is your hair dull and listless? Does your hair color fade quickly? Do you pay high prices for the best salon products? As far as I am concerned, you don't need to pay high salon prices for your hair care products. And yes, I was one of those consumers that thought I had to have the best of the best for my precious hair -- until I was given some of the Real Solutions hair care products to try for free from one of my coworkers at Design North.

Real Solutions hair care products are sulfate free. If you google "sulfate" and "hair color" you will see that sulfates are part of the cause of color fading. This line of hair care products also meets all of the "natural" ingredients guidelines. You can find Real Solutions in many food, drug and mass retailers. The SRP is $5.99, and currently, you can find some of the bottles with $1.00 coupons.

As I stated, I have always been picky about the hair products I use, and was purchasing all Redken products. I tried Real Solutions beginning this weekend -- I will never go back to Redken. My hair is more manageable, silky and the color is much more vibrant. I highly recommend giving any of the Real Solutions products a try and tell me what you think.

Graduation

This weekend marked the end of a very long journey for me -- I finally graduated with a BA in Business Management and Communications! I had always been on honor roll throughout grade school and middle school; however, when high school came along I decided life was to be enjoyed and socialized way too much. I somewhat knew what I wanted to do in life after high school, but did not want to put the effort into college. Back in 1991, I began an associates degree at Gateway Technical College in Racine, Wisconsin, and honestly thought I would complete that degree. When I decided to get married and start a family, school was pushed aside. As my children grew older, and I returned to work, I found out real fast how important a degree is if you want to get where you want to be. Almost three years ago, I made the decision to return to school, and was determined to finish a bachelor degree. While raising a family, and working, I finally finished. I attended Concordia University Wisconsin adult education program and loved it! Concordia has two campuses located in Racine and Kenosha for the adult education program.

As an added bonus for my graduation weekend, my nephew graduated from kindergarten, at the West Suburban Montessori School located in Oak Park, IL. So I not only was able to enjoy my walk for my diploma on Saturday, but I also was able to watch my nephew receive his kindergarten diploma on Sunday.

Google Trends

What is Google trends? Simply put it is the most popularly searched terms in Google since 2004 until present. I learned about this cool Google function, from Jennifer Howard, Head of BtoB Markets at Google's Central Region offices, while attending a BMA Milwaukee event this month. Google now lists the most popular daily search trends as well on their site. Fun tool to play around with and something functional for the marketing community.

Favorite Brews

It has been a bit since I blogged about any beers I have enjoyed so now is the time to play catch up. One of my favorite beers is Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy. This is a weiss beer combined with a lemonade flavoring, which is a great combination for a summer beverage. I am sure many of you have tried this brew as Leinenkugel is quite an easy-to-find brand. I generally purchase this beer at a local grocery store or liquor store.

Another microbrew I purchased at Uncorkt, was Abita Purple Haze, which is a raspberry wheat brew. This is definitely a female style beer thanks to the strong raspberry flavor. I would suggest drinking this beer with a light dessert or fresh dinner salad.

My next blog update will be some of my less than favorite microbrews. I would love to hear comments from my readers referencing some of your recommended brews.

Mama Dip's

In my previous post I discussed the food styling class I attended in North Carolina. Prior to leaving for North Carolina, I decided to go onto the Food TV Network web site, and check out if there were any restaurants any of their TV chefs had visited in the Durham area. I was in luck! Rachel Ray had visited four restaurants in the Durham/Chapel Hill area. My second evening in Durham, I decided to take a drive over to Chapel Hill and shop for a bit at the South Pointe Mall. A trip into Barnes and Noble would find me purchasing the cookbook of one of the restaurants Rachel had visited -- Mama Dip's. During checkout, I talked about Mama Dip's with the clerk, and she advised me to make sure I took a trip to the restaurant. So being the adventurer that I am, I decided to find Mama Dip's no matter what it took. About one hour later, and a tour through the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I would finally find Mama Dip's Restaurant!

Although I like to adventure, I do not like eating alone, but I did so. Am I ever happy I overcame my dislike of eating alone. The restaurant looks like one of the original homes from the area restructured into a restaurant. There is a wrap around porch filled with old rocking chairs. As I walked in the doors of the restaurant, there sat an African-American woman -- IT WAS MAMA DIP! Surprisingly, I did not run over to her, introduce myself, and ask for an autograph in her cookbook I purchased, but I regret that I did not to this day. The waiter sat me in a small booth, which I later found out is Mama Dip's favorite seat when she is in the restaurant. I was thrilled to be sitting there at that moment. That evening I enjoyed fried green tomatoes, fried chicken, BBQ pulled pork, corn bread, squash casserole, and greens. I also enjoyed their Country/City tea which is lemonade combined with iced tea. Everything was fabulous! My favorite was the fried green tomatoes. The fried chicken had a perfect coating with almost a sweet breading. The corn bread was fresh and full of corn flavor. I have not had many greens, but her greens were perfect. I could not eat another bite; however, could not pass up dessert, so I took a slice of pecan pie back to the hotel with me. About two hours later, I broke into the pie, and it was still warm. THE BEST PECAN PIE I HAVE EVER HAD -- buttery, full of pecans, buttery crust and a ton of gooey filling.

The next day I went to my class and could not stop thinking about the pecan pie. I had every intention to not go back to Mama Dip's the next night, but found myself driving there again. This time I tried her chicken and dumplings with corn bread, fried okra, and macaroni and cheese. Simply delicious! A home cooked meal made from the heart! Again, I packed up a slice of pie for myself and four small pies for the airplane trip home to share with family. I also exchanged the book I purchased at Barnes and Noble for an autographed book the restaurant carries in stock.

If you ever travel to North Carolina, I suggest you check out Mama Dip's, for a true American meal. The atmosphere is simply southern and old-fashioned, no bistro or high-end restaurant style. The staff is down-to-earth and the food is something you will crave to go back for again and again.

Food Fanatics Master Styling Class

The last weekend in March, I participated in a master food styling class, in Durham, North Carolina. Food Fanatics is operated by Denise Vivaldo and Cindie Flannigan out of Los Angeles, California. The two women are an absolute delight to work with in the process of the training program. Although I work in a commercial photography studio as a marketing director, the other portion of my job requires me to work on set at times. The studio does a great amount of food photography, and there have been many times, I have been thrown on set to style food. Even though I do have a background in catering, I always state, "styling food to make it edible is much different than styling food for the bright lights of a photo set". This class taught me all the shortcuts to making food look great in a photo and what the food advertising industry is really about. It was hard to believe I worked alongside chefs, stylists, photographers, and editorial staff. I also learned that Denise Vivaldo had written the book, How to Start a Home-based Catering Business, which I had read when creating my own catering business. Anyone thinking about catering, a personal chef business, or the food industry should really consider taking one of the Food Fanatics classes or reading their books.

Dansko Shoes

I recently traveled to North Carolina for a training program. While in North Carolina, I made sure I found time to check out the local shops and restaurants. One of my favorite stores was located on Ninth Street in Durham, North Carolina and is named Cozy. The shop is filled with all sorts of trinkets as well as women's clothing and shoes. I had seen someone wearing a pair of clogs a while back and had no idea what they were until I found Cozy. The shop owner carries Dansko shoes and they are extremely comfortable. Against my better budget judgement, I purchased a pair of the clogs, and I love them. I found out many women know of these shoes and many chefs wear them regularly. The shoes last a long time and are very comfortable if you work on your feet all day. If you go into their website at www.dansko.com, you can find stores that carry the shoes in stock.

Word of Mouth Marketing

I attended a Business Marketing Association speaker luncheon at the Italian Community Center in January. The speaker was Andy Sernovitz, author of Word of Mouth Marketing. Let me just say that this guy is extremely funny and interesting to listen to. If you have paid attention to my interests -- I LOVE MARKETING! I am a true believer in viral marketing and Andy lays it out in a humorous and sensible manner. If you want to learn more about Andy or his marketing theories you can check out his web site at www.wordofmouthbook.com. Or, check out his blog at www.damniwish.com. Make sure you sign up for his e-mail list so you don't miss out on any of his tours or marketing ideas.

Milwaukee Wave Game

Today we enjoyed a Milwaukee Wave game, which I have never attended prior, and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed. I was very disappointed that there were not more people in attendance though. The tickets are reasonable, the seating is great, food is good at the U.S. Cellular Arena, parking was convenient, and the Wave is awesome. I would love to see more local residents supporting a great team!

Good Eating

Saturday evening my husband and I finally had no children for a few hours thanks to my in-laws. I had the choice of cooking or going out to eat -- we chose dining out! Racine is not a hot spot for gourmet restaurants or really cool nightclubs; however, downtown is starting to attract owners of interesting food venues. Shogun, a hibachi and sushi restaurant, opened well over two years ago in downtown. I have experienced the hibachi show before and order sushi for lunch quite regularly. My husband has never experienced the show so we decided to go to Shogun for dinner. Although the prices are quite high for a restaurant located in Racine, it is well worth the price. I ordered the salmon hibachi which is melt in your mouth good. My husband ordered the steak hibachi which was awesome. We also ordered sushi because I cannot go to Shogun without eating their sushi. If you decide to go, try the Philadelphia Rolls and the Soft Shell Crab Rolls -- well worth it! Most of the hibachi chefs are Asian except our chef Saturday evening which is Mexican and he made sure we understood the difference -- he was hilarious. I don't know his name as his chef tag read "Chef ?", but if you go for the show see if you can ask for his grill. Shogun can be found in downtown Racine and they currently do not have a website.

World Water Day

One of my favorite brands, Starbucks, has teamed with other brands as a sponsor in World Water Day this March.

"In 1992, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly passed a resolution designating March 22 of each year as an international day of observance and action to draw attention to the plight of the more than 1 billion people world wide that lack access to clean, safe drinking water. With each passing year, the observance has grown larger and stronger."

"This year, Ethos Water, Starbucks and leading NGOs are working to bring even greater attention to the world water crisis on World Water Day. With events planned in 26 cities in North America, World Water Day 2007 will be among the largest organized observances of World Water Day ever." (information provided by web site for World Water Day)

Not close to a walk site? You can sign up to do a virtual water walk and your ticket will be carried by someone during one of the walks.

BzzAgent

I have been a BzzAgent for almost two years. BzzAgent was founded by Dave Balter and became an official idea of Dave's in 2001. Basically, agents will sign up to become word-of-mouth marketers for companies looking to promote their products through the program. I have been involved in campaigns for Folgers Simply Smooth, Aquapod, al fresco, Listerine Whitening Strips, Sonicare UV Sanitizer, Pledge Multisurface Wipes, and TheTrackShack.com. Agents receive a packet of information on each product campaign, coupons, a sample(s) of the product, and miscellaneous booklets when necessary. All you have to do is talk about the product, share coupons and samples, and report the buzz you created back to BzzAgent. You earn points and can purchase items or donate to charities listed on the BzzAgent site. I love trying new things and receiving the free products in the mail. Plus, I learn about new products and how companies are marketing their new, or improved, product lines in the retail environment. I recently found out several of my business contacts are also agents which makes it kind of fun to know you are part of this really cool marketing group.

Microbrew

One of my favorite wine stores in Racine is Uncorkt located on Sixth St. in downtown. This past year the owner decided to add microbrews to their wine collection. I happened to be down there this past weekend and tried one of the microbrews - Holzfass-Bier. This is a thicker brew with a caramel undertone. I would not say it is a terribly heavy beer; however, I was feeling quite full after one bottle. Definitely a beer women would enjoy as well as any man. This beer is imported by Swiss Cellars in Madison, Wisconsin.

Current Read

I love reading about networking, marketing, advertising, and business for today's viral marketplace. My latest read is Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn more about networking their way to success. Ferrazzi writes in a simple format which is easy and quick to read. The book gives you a concrete foundation to build upon in your search for clients or the perfect job.

Natural Beauty

A couple years ago I took a dark room photography course from Spectrum Gallery in Racine, Wisconsin. I did this to grasp a better understanding of how to manipulate photos captured in the traditional sense. I have since purchased a digital camera and continue to learn the general functions of the digital world. This photograph was one of my favorite digital captures. I cannot believe the color and detail quality of the image.