Winter Thoughts...
Monday, February 15, 2010 at 04:03PM As many of you already know, those of us from the "East Side" have been dealing with just a little too much of that fluffy white junk called snow during the past few months. 18 inches at the end of December, and 30+ inches in February. Needless to say, most of us are ready for some warm weather so we can start shooting more. I've definitely got cabin fever and I can't wait to get to Vegas in a couple of weeks for WPPI. Over the past few weeks, I've had the opportunity to see just a few good movies and one that has really had an impact on me was the movie called "Food, Inc." The movie is basically about the advantages of organic eating and I'm not gonna go all Al Gore on you about the "inconvienient truth" that is our environmental state. But, I have been trying to think more globally and how I can be more environmentally friendly in my business life. To be honest with you, I've pondered this question before, but haven't really done much about it. Lets face it, the wedding photography business is alot about luxury and thats great!! We all want to offer our clients the best and they truly deserve it. But the luxury lifestyle doesn't exactly agree with the environmentally friendly lifestyle. Now, I honestly feel that everyone is entitled to live their own life and do what they want as long as they don't harm me, but I still want to be responsible and do my part to make this a better earth for my kids.
So.. how can I do this with my business? I have a few ideas.. First, I've been basically running a 90% paperless business for a year or so. I email all info (Quotes, Contracts, Price lists, etc.) to my clients and I take notes on my iPhone's note pad and email them to myself. Then when my clients choose their package, the contract is printed signed and scanned so I can create an archival copy. The benefit?.. less paper used, less paper thrown away. Second, I offer "Green" albums to my clients as an option. Couture Book offer an album called the Earth Book that is manufactured in a totally "Green" manner. For more info on these books, click on the link above. They are very unique and they look awesome!! Of course I still offer those beautiful leather albums that I always have, but I wanted to offer a "Green" option. Finally, I've been toying around with the idea of doing away with traditional business cards and replacing them with digital business cards. Sure, there are "Green" card options, but it still leaves more junk in the trash can. My prefered method of exchanging contact info is the VCard format or using an iPhone App called "Bump". You and another person with an iPhone just bump knuckles and the info is transfered to the other persons phone and address book. Pretty cool!!
So here is the "Million Dollar Question"... How do you feel about this issue and what ideas do you have to be more "Green" as a business. I really want to hear your feedback. Please leave a comment below so others can see it and/or send me an email at paul@psquaredphotographic.com Until next time...




















