Fuggedaboutit

Oct 7

I find it hard to believe that anyone living in New York City cannot find any motivation or inspiration to find success in whatever it is they do during their respective work hours. One of the things I like to do when I’m beginning a new project or if I get a retainer (do the definition on that if you don’t know what I mean) is I like to just hit the NYC streets and walk. There are so many different parts of Manhattan alone to feel the energy, the excitement, the adrenaline, and more importantly, the character drive. Like, I don’t think Glamours Edge could work in any other city BUT New York, because you just can’t re-recreate NYC personalities in another city like Miami Beach.

One of the easiest things to get caught up with living in NYC is the whole celebrity thing. You see photographers, blah-gurs, and even models-who-think-theyre-publicists can the whole bottom line of starting a brand just for the right to yap that they have celebrity credit under their belt, despite the fact that they didn’t flip that credit into either a retainer or another gig that resulted in a retainer. I was at a meeting the other day and ran into a photographer who’s a pretty big name within NYC circles and primarily brags about his celebrity-laced portfolio book (FYI: I haven’t updated/used my portfolio book in nearly 5 years, clearly showing its about who you know in NYC, haha), and although he has all of these “hot” celebrities and such, he also whined about his economic downturn and unofficially explained he’s begging for business who will pay.

This is why that R word matters right now: retainers.

More importantly, if you are only fueling business based on celebrity credits and NOT your actual brand, you will have a hard time trying to drum up business after those celebrities name value drops down the line.

Simply put, it makes no cents in the long run.

With a city like New York and its 8-9 million people alone, there’s more opportunity to just get “plain jane” money than it is to get “right now but not good for next year” money. Any other option? Fuggedaboutit.

Speaking of which, I was finally able to leak some new work after months and months of shooting with restrictions for allowing the photos to be viewed. This was something I did the other day for one of my boutique clients who sells handbags, clothing, and accessories.