Julie Johnston Photography

Exciting Times

Time really does fly!
Seems it was just yesterday I posted. Since the last post I have a local flower and gift shop carrying my work. She has taken several framed prints as well as notecards. It is very exciting to walk into a retail establishment and see MY images hanging there for folks to buy.
Also, last week we had a photo emailed to us at the newspaper to be used as we could. It ran in yesterday's paper and gave me some free publicity. The photo was of a local man presenting the framed piece he commissioned me to do to the director of Cultural Affairs for Iowa. This will be hung in her office.
I have taken Alyson Stanfield's www.artbizcoach.com advice and done some shameless self promotion. However, these exciting events occurred because I took another piece of her advice, or was it 2? Anyway, I gave some of my notcards as gifts at Christmas which led to me getting in the store, and sent a thank you to the man who commissioned the piece he gave away. The thank you was not for the commission (I did that later), but for purchasing 25 of my cards which he used as thank you cards to donors. I believe taking the time to send the thank you to him led to the commission.
You just never know when it will pay to be nice.
This week my major assignment at work, other than the daily photos, is to take photos of springtime in Iowa, agriculturally speaking, although it isn't too springlike. We will be assembling and publishing a Spring Ag Report which will require several photos. If I can get a really good one it will become the cover. We are in an area where agriculture is the mainstay of the economy, so about 4 times a year we publish a tab directed toward Ag. This is in addition to the 2 (1 preview and one post-fair) we publish about the county fair, which is also primarily agriculture, 4-H and FFA.
As soon as the Ag one is done, we will publish a tab (a tab is a 13"x16" newspaper inserted in the regular daily) honoring 2 seniors from each of the 19 high schools in a 3 county area covered by our news service. Then, following that will be one directed toward good health.
One thing for sure about this job is that there is never a dull moment!

posted by Julie Johnston @ 5:02 PM 0 comments

Arriving in the 21st century

Now that I am blogging I suppose that means I have joined the 21st century! I just think of it as journaling where anyone who wishes to can read my thoughts, random though they may be.
As a photographer I spend a lot of my time out of doors in all kinds of weather. Although I enjoy people, my day job requires me to be around people all day, frequently taking their photographs, and I treasure my time to myself. Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong century and wish I didn't live in such a busy, busy world. Tonight it is sleeting, cold and dark-a good night to be in my cozy home with a hot cup of coffee and some chocolate!
Most difficult for me is marketing my work which requires not only being around people, but letting them know who I am and what I do. While I have some recognition locally because of my work at the newspaper, doing the self-promotion is tough. I have had some help in this area from Alyson Stanfield http://www.artbizcoach.com or I would probably still be wondering why no one knew about my work. Her classes and emails are really beneficial.
Another person who deserves credit for dragging me into the world of the internet is web designer Pat Velte http://www.WhiteWingDesign.com . Both of them have encouraged me and given me the push I needed.
My immediate goal is to sell enough of my work to be able to quit the day job which would allow me more time to do the creative work (play) as well as take (better) care of business.
Working with Alyson I expect to soon have a marketing plan in place which will allow me to reach that goal.
It seems that most artists have difficulty in this area. If you have any helpful hints I would like to hear from you.
For diversion I read, knit, sew and spend time with my Red Hatted friends and an 8 year old grandaughter. She and I just returned from visiting my youngest child in Ohio. Abby had never flown so it was an exciting trip for both of us. She took her disposable cameras and was busy shooting (or telling me I should take this or that photo). The apple really doesn't fall far from the tree.
I also have a cat and a dog and feed my feathered friends. This morning I had a robin eating seeds on the ground under the feeder. I guess that means spring in Iowa can't be too far away.

posted by Julie Johnston @ 12:33 AM 0 comments