Category Archives for "Reposts from others."
10 months ago
- in Reposts from others. , News by Pascal Depuhl
Service matters: Q & A with Community Member Pascal Depuhl on QBCommunity
What’s on your mind right now? We know folks who work for themselves have plenty to say about the business of doing business. That’s why we want to share your insights, ideas, and best practices. Today, we’re spending a few minutes with Pascal Depuhl, a photographer, and videographer who’s also an active member of this community.The last time we spoke with Pascal, he explained why his professional title at Photography by Depuhl is “Chief Mindchanger” and why he believes we all have a moral and professional obligation to give back.
Given Pascal’s focus on doing good, it was no surprise we caught up with him as he was recovering from jet lag after a whirlwind trip to Nepal. That’s where he’d been working with an organization dedicated to helping remote mountain communities get access to life-saving medical services. Pascal tells us why and how he got there. He also shares an unexpected realization that changed the way he thinks about and provides customer service.
Pascal, tell us about your film project in Nepal.
Follow my IG feed for more photos from Nepal.
I was filming a documentary about a non-governmental organization (NGO) in a remote region of the Himalayas. When I say “remote,” I‘m not exaggerating. People in these villages have to trek for seven days through insanely rough mountains and valleys just to get to a bus stop. From there, it’s a 15-hour ride to the nearest hospital. Given these conditions, it’s no wonder the life-expectancy of a child under eight is just 50%.
This NGO organizes helicopter evacuations for villagers with medical emergencies and sets up outposts offering basic medical treatments and service. The group also helps villagers navigate the hospital system in Kathmandu.
What led you to offer your services to this inspiring organization?
I believe all of us – visual content creators, accountants, you name it – have innate abilities and skills. When we’re lucky enough to do something we love, and we’re good at, we must give back. I love being involved in projects like this one every few years. I arranged this trip to coincide with an assignment I was on in Asia for a different client. Since I was already on the ground, I knew my travel expenses would be minimal. I found out about this NGO and offered my services in exchange for covering basic costs.
For me, the goal is to balance commercial clients with projects like making this important documentary. Of course, when I’m shooting in Nepal, I’m not marketing my business or working for a paying client. But I think the trade-off is really worth it.
You’ve been running your own business for 25 years. What are you doing different these days?
I don’t believe in change for the sake of change, but a recent experience has made me think about my customers in a whole new way.
I was behind the camera during a presentation at a medical convention by Horst Schulze, the former president of the Ritz Carlton. He explained the most important thing every great company does is not finding new customers. The number one thing is to keep the current customer.
When I was at the Ritz, I experienced the hotel’s amazing customer service myself. After the talk, I thought about what I do to keep my clients happy. I realized it’s never been my top priority. So, I started thinking about the small gestures I could make, things that don’t cost a lot of money or take much time but really add up.
Not long after, I had a shoot with a client who was driving in from two hours away. I knew she had to get up at 4 a.m., so the day before, I asked her how she likes her coffee. When my client arrived on site, I greeted her with a hot cup, made just the way she likes it. This gesture took zero effort on my part, but my client was so pleased, she couldn’t stop talking about it!
That’s a great story. How are you continuing to incorporate this new approach to customers?
Now I keep service at the forefront. I find myself constantly thinking ahead so I can anticipate the need of my customer. This kind of thinking helps clients engage better with my brand. But fundamentally, it’s not about making money. I want my customers to know I genuinely care about them.
Here’s an example. Recently, I was sharing the Ritz Carlton story with someone over lunch and saying how much I’ve learned by reading about the service culture at the Ritz-Carlton, The New Gold Standard: 5 Leadership Principles for Creating a Legendary Customer Experience Courtesy of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company. After lunch, I immediately ordered the book online and had it shipped to my friend’s home the next day. It just felt like the right thing to do.
Another shift is the way I work with the contractors and freelancers I hire for a shoot. Now, before each job beings, I let the crew know my philosophy about making great service a priority. I tell them the client needs to be blown away. Since everyone on my team represents my brand, it’s important I set clear expectations so we’re all on the same page.
None of these changes is huge. But simply being aware of the importance of customer service really does make a lightbulb go on – and then it stays on.
Before you go
What changes have you made in the way you think about, and offer customer service? We’d love to hear your story!
This post was originally published in Quicken’s Quick Books Community.
last year
Freelance as a Career Choice
By: Marcia Gomez / Miami International University of Art and Design
Younger generations of workers are now choosing to steer clear from the traditional employer/employee work environment, to a less traditional, freelance career or what some call “micro-entrepreneur”. This trend seems to be a lot more common for the millennial generation. According to research commissioned by the Freelancers Union, 53 million Americans now freelance in some capacity. Of that, 38 percent are millennials, compared to 32 percent of non-millennials (i.e., people over 35).
This choice was the subject of a recent workshop, The Business of Freelancing that took place at Miami International University of Art & Design in collaboration with CollabMiami featuring six panelists from different industries discussing their experiences in making freelance a career choice. The panelists included:
• David Verjano, Social Media Consultant, Verjano Communications, www.verjanocommunications.com
• Amanda Abella – Millenial Financial Expert and Blogger, Make Money Your Honey, www.makemoneyyourhoney.com
• Julio Galindez – DJ and Musician, AtellaGali, www.atellagali.com
• Pascal Depuhl – Photographer and Cinematographer, Photography by Depuhl, www.depuhl.com
• Friks 84 – Callingrapher and Illustrator, www.friks84.com
• George Cuevas – Graphic Designer, Creative Director and CollabMiami Founder, www.georgecuevas.com
[photo by: Collab Miami]
Top 10 Freelancing Tips
(…)
Read the top freelancing tips we shared on Marcia’s post: “Freelance as a Career Choice“
This article was published on the Miami International University of Art and Design website and is written by Marcia Gomez.
last year
- in Reposts from others. , Branding , News by Pascal Depuhl
How Do I Grow My Photography Business? Use SEO to Shoot for the Sky
How Does OWN IT Gold Ambassador Pascal Depuhl Grow His Photography Business? Use SEO to Shoot for the Sky
Photo by Gilberto Salazar
Meet our more recent Gold Ambassador here in OWN IT — Miami-based photographer Pascal Depuhl! [Achieving that has much to do with how I use SEO.]
After falling into shooting images on a whim as a teen, Pascal honed his art over a number of years before starting his own company about a decade ago. Now he boasts an impressive lineup of clients, including National Geographic, SeaRay and Mars thanks to constant hard work and dedication to his craft.
We chatted with Pascal about the first big job that launched his career, how he learned to stand out in a saturated industry and the secret sauce for keeping your happy customers coming back for me. [Much of my success has to do with how I use SEO.]
Read on to hear his story!
Name: Pascal Depuhl
Business: Photography by Depuhl
Started: 2004
How did you start your business?
I’ve been getting paid for my photography since my late high-school years. I began assisting and apprenticing after college for four years [Read more about that in “This phone call made my career.” BTW a blog post is a great way to use SEO.] and got my first full-time job in 1996, but I only launched my company in 2004. I honestly don’t know what first drew me to photography! I was saving money to buy a mountain bike and ended up walking into a store and picking up a camera instead.
I opened up my own shop out of necessity. I had gotten laid off from two full-time photography jobs in 12 months and didn’t want to have to rely on someone else to earn my livelihood.
Who was your very first customer?
A friend of my dad had an ad agency that needed photos for one of their clients. I was a senior in high school when I got that job, and the budget for the whole thing — including travel expenses, food, lodging, film, processing, my time and equipment — was a little over $1,750 dollars.
My dad’s friend told me he didn’t care how long I stayed in Israel to photograph, as long as I didn’t go over budget. I was there for a month!
When did you know your business was going to work?
I got an unsolicited email from a company that provided a retouching service to photographers. I realized that they found my business online and were looking to sell me their service [To be honest at that time I did not know much about how to use SEO]. I was so excited, because I’d spent absolutely zero money on advertising, yet someone who didn’t know me figured out I was a photographer based on information that was out there online.
Today, what is your most effective means of getting new customers?
Everything I do, from writing a blog to keeping an active social media presence on sites like Instagram and Twitter, from putting on workshops to volunteering and being deeply involved in the local small business community [all good examples of how I use SEO to build my online brand], is done with …
last year
Why you should not delete images on your memory card using your camera – and other memory card tips!
Are you using your memory card correctly? If you’re not sure check out what Jeff Cable (@jcable12) wrote in a great post about the use of a memory card. As the former director of marketing at Lexar, he knows a thing or two about the do’s and don’ts of memory cards:
As many of you know, I have been writing this blog for 8 years now, and I also spent many years of my life as Director of Marketing at Lexar dealing with the ins and outs of the memory card business. And in all that time, I have never written a blog about the do’s and don’ts of memory cards. Now that I have left Lexar and not on that side of the business any more, I feel that I can write this objective piece for you without any conflict of interest.
And if you are taking digital photos on a memory card (and you probably are), YOU WILL WANT TO READ THIS!
First, let me explain the memory card in simple terms for you.
Most people look at a memory card as a piece of plastic or metal, and they don’t think much about them. But inside those covers, there is a LOT of intelligence. There is flash memory, a controller and much more. The quality of that memory and controller often determines the speed and quality of your card.
Your memory card has something called a File Allocation Table, otherwise known as a FAT Table. Think of your memory card as a book and the FAT Table as a Table of Contents. When you format a memory card, you are not actually erasing the card, you are just clearing the FAT Table. So…you have removed the Table of Contents, but the chapters of the book still remain. Yep, all the images will remain on your card until you shoot more and overwrite them. This is why you can use a program like Lexar’s Image Rescue, SanDisk’s Rescue Pro or other data recovery software to recover images from a card even after it is formatted.
And now for the tips, which I am going to write in the order of importance:
1. DO NOT erase images from your memory card in your camera! Clarification: What I mean by this is: Do not go through your photos and delete them one by one using your camera. I see people (including professional photographers) doing this all the time and it is a REALLY bad idea. Your camera is awesome at taking photos, but it is not very smart at managing the data on your memory card. Deleting individual images from the card using your camera is a great way to scramble the FAT Table. DON’T DO IT! And heck, memory cards have gotten so inexpensive and large, that you should not have to delete images to save space. Just pop in a new card and keep shooting. Once you have downloaded to your computer, and backed up the images THEN format your card to use it again.
2. Format your memory cards in your camera, not on your computer. I have seen countless web sites which tell people to format their memory cards on your computer. This is just bad information! You want to format the cards in the camera. And you should do this on the camera your are shooting with. I am currently shooting with the Canon 1DX Mark II, Canon 1DX, Canon 5D Mark IV and Canon 5D Mark III, and I format the card in the camera I am using. You are reading this correctly…I do not format in one Canon camera and move it to another. Will they work?