PinUp Bride Studio

Week 6: Me times 3

2012-02-13T15:47:00.000-08:00

Purchases are an important part of our lives and really define who we are from food to clothing. One major purchase I have made recently that is an example of this is my car and truck.

I own a wedding planning and photography company that caters to high-end brides and I formerly drove a Dodge and my wife drove a Hyundai. These are not bad vehicles by any means but when your charging big money to high-end brides you need to look like you are making the money that you are trying to charge. My wife now drives a Mercedes and I drive a Cadillac Escalade and these cars really do define what we are. The Mercedes has a personalized plate that MS PIN UP and the Escalade says MR PIN UP, which portrays that we are doing very well and will attract higher end client pulling up in this than a Hyundai. Another major purchase that has defined who I am is my camera equipment.

As a photographer the number one thing that changed my overall perception of being an amateur to being a professional was my camera. I spent more than ten years as a amateur photographer using a consumer camera and never was asked to leave somewhere for taking pictures. Less than a week after purchasing over ten thousand dollars in camera equipment I was thrown out of The Cosmopolitan. The reason I was thrown out is by seeing my camera the management automatically assumed I was a professional, which is the exact reason I purchased it. If I were to walk into a wedding to take pictures with a $200 camera I would look like a joke, but if I were to walk into that same wedding with a $5000 camera I must know what I’m doing.

Week 5 EOC: Social Networks and Job Hunting

2012-02-06T14:59:00.000-08:00

“More companies are trying to tap Facebook Inc.'s 750-million-plus user base to find new employees, threatening traditional job boards and competing with LinkedIn Corp., which has dominated the online professional networking arena”. Joe Light Wall Street Journal. With that being said this article still seems very unsure of the future of finding employees on Facebook and for many good reasons. Many say already “"The antibodies kicked in pretty quickly. They thought it was very invasive," Joe Light Wall Street Journal. Facebook having over 750 million users is going to have an impact in the other job search sites. Even only having 1% of the hires that is still a large number of hires. The only disadvantage I could see to job searches on Facebook is keeping your personal and private life separate, security and most of all access to employers. By access I mean if you have a Monster, Job spider or career builder account employers can go on it and check you out all in one place. Facebook will make this much more difficult for many reasons, many peoples pages are private, employers would have to search through millions of people to find someone and facebook has no way to add resume work history etc. Overall I agree with this article that there is room for huge growth with job searching on social media but there is still is a lot of changes that need to be made before everyone will get on board.

Week 4: There's a App for that

2012-01-30T16:14:00.000-08:00

IBride

Brides are always seeing wedding ideas, venues, dresses designs and so on, and need a way of recording the idea. There’s a app for that, or there will be and I will call it IBride. I Bride will be a free app that will offer vendor placement for a charge, meaning vendors will pay a monthly charge to be listed on I Bride. Brides will be able to search and save their favorite vendors on IBride. In addition to searching for vendors, Brides can type in their ideas that they have or see and IBride will search the vendors and match the Bride with the vendor that best matches the idea. Brides can also take pictures of ideas and keep them on their phone and have access to share it on Facebook and by email. I Bride has a mobile web page attached that the can create and design her wedding on, with the ability to add pictures, change colors and add their wedding story. Brides can connect with other brides to see different ideas and designs. Once a Bride has saved a vendor that she likes the vendor gets her info so they can contact the Bride. Vendors can also post full profiles, specials, pictures and design ideas. Ibride will be attractive to advertisers because Brides always see new ideas and designs they want and some way of putting them all together. With IBride being a free app Brides will have this place to do this without having to spend any money. Advertisers or (Vendors) will want to be involved because the brides will be on the app searching for their services. IBride will have a report that shows what brides have searched what and the Brides that have searched the vendors company.

Week 3 EOC: My Demographics

2012-01-23T16:27:00.000-08:00

My demographic is Millennials which is very fitting. “Born between 1977 and 2000, these children of the baby boomers number 83 million, dwarfing the Gen Xers and larger even than the baby boomer segment. With total purchasing power of more than $733 billion, the Millennials make up a huge and attractive market.17 One thing that all of the Millennials have in common is their utter fluency and comfort with digital technology. They don’t just embrace technology, it’s a way of life. The Millennials were the first generation to grow up in a world filled with computers, cellphones, satellite TV, iPods, and online social networks. A recent study found that 91 percent of Millennials are on the Web, making up 32 percent of all U.S. Internet users. According to another study, 77 percent of Millennials frequent social networking sites and 71 percent use instant messaging. “ Marketing An Introduction, Armstrong & Kotler, age 17.
When I read the description of Millinials I feel like it was written about me. Being a Professional photographer, digital technology is a huge part of my everyday life. It says that technology is a way of life , to me that means if I’m not on my I Phone or my I Pad, I’m on my I mac at home. I grew up on the web and now with Facebook, Twitter and all my business related websites I’m always online. Social media is a major part of my day to day functions, for my business and personal life. I think this demographic description for me is right on the money.

Week 3 EOC: Boston Consulting Group - Video Games

2012-01-23T15:54:00.000-08:00

Video games are a big part of our culture, even if your like me and never play video games. It is a big part of my life because my children play the so every month I’m buying a new game or controller. A few years ago I purchased The Nintendo DS for my son and so did a lot of people . “The handheld system Nintendo DS has sold more than 47 million units in the U.S. since the first model launched in November 2004 through the end of 2010, Nintendo says, citing internal sales figures. The company says that makes the DS the best-selling videogame system in the country of all time”. (http://www.forbes.com/sites/oliverchiang/2011/01/04/nintendo-claims-best-selling-videogame-system-in-us-history/). Then came the Play station 2 and 3 that they had to have “which According to figures released today by Sony, cumulative sales of PlayStation2 systems reached 150 million units worldwide as of the end of January 2010”. (http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidewalt/2011/02/14/sony-playstation2-sales-reach-150-million-units/) . And finally the XBOX 360, the gaming system that every kid that I know has with “Xbox 360 has now surpassed 50 million units worldwide, and online network Xbox Live now has over 30 million members”. (http://www.forbes.com/sites/oliverchiang/2011/01/05/microsofts-gaming-figures-xbox-360-50m-units-xbox-live-30m-members-kinect-8m-units/). According to Figures in Forbes magazine, my BCG analysis for gaming systems is Play station 2 and 3 by Sony as the the star, the X Box 360 by Microsoft the cash cow, The Nintendo DS is the dog. As for the question mark I think the online gaming such as Xbox Live and Play station online will be the areas to watch. Online play is popular because you can buy games, upgrade games, steal games, chat with friends, and even check your Face Book all While online gaming. When the gaming companies learn to fully tap this vast market of online gaming I’m sure it will make it unnecessary to ever buy new gaming consoles.

Week 1 EOC: Great Customer service experience

2012-01-09T16:52:00.000-08:00

If you are in the Market for any thing camera related I suggest going to B & C Camera on West Sahara in Las Vegas Nevada. I recently was in the market to purchase around $10,000 in new camera equipment. I spent months online researching and browsing so when it came time to buy I was ready. So I finally got a check from an investor for $12,000 and I went to a few local looking at gear. To put my it in a nice way the were far from pleasant, rude and unknowledgeable sales people were all I could seem to find. B & C Camera was the first Store I walked into that greeted me with a smile and offered me a bottle of water. The entire process continued on great the salesperson was a very knowledgeable working professional and treated me like gold. B & C Camera like Zappos Know the way to run a business is when “customer service so good that customers not only come back but also tell their friends “ Marketing an Introduction, Armstrong/ Kotler page1. Not only was the customer service great I knew I could trust them there were many things that the told me I didn’t need which strongly impressed me.

My Voice

2012-01-09T16:26:00.001-08:00

I am a Las Vegas Wedding professional, with a passion for creating and capturing dream Weddings. I own and operate The Pin Up LLC together with my wife Deborah James. The Pin Up Bride is an award wining wedding company for couples seeking a unique experience. I run the photography and marketing division of the company and also assist with all planning and design for all weddings. My unique advantage over other wedding photographers is by owning a wedding planning, design and photography company I know the whole experience from every angle. Knowing the business from every angle means I know Brides no longer want “the standard Wedding pictures” they want pictures that stand out. Couples want people to look at their wedding and say WOW and my pictures will give the wow factor. I create wedding art, no two pictures are alike and I’m not afraid to step way out of the box to capture the couple personality. From Betty Paige to Dita Von Teese Pin Up and Vintage styles are a big influence in my style. In addition to Wedding photography I also do Boudoir, Pin Up, event and family photography. The Pin Up Bride LLC is currently expanding into a new Office with a full design and photo studio.