How To Break Out of a Creative Rut

I've found that to succeed as an entrepreneur, it's critical that you consistently develop solutions to solve your most difficult challenges. Being stuck in a creative rut will jeopardize your ability to lead effectively and grow your business. This is particularly problematic since no one is "on" 24/7. At some point, you will find yourself in a fixed routine that just isn't working. So here's a look at 4 ways that successful business people have found to break out of the rut they find themselves in from time to time.

Create a New Routine

In many ways, maintaining a consistent schedule is your best friend in business. A sleep expert might tell you to wake up at the same time every day. Elite athletes maintain identical habits before they throw a pitch or shoot a free throw. While routines are great, and probably necessary in many areas of our lives, they can also inhibit our creativity. Sometimes, all you need to boost your creative juices is to change it up a bit. Cancel your first meeting tomorrow, and get an extra hour of sleep. Perhaps all your mind needs is a little rest to access untapped ideas, or you could try reading something new. Do you always visit the same news & information websites? Or watch the same morning news show? Instead, try a different site and change the channel. A fresh take and a different perspective may allow new thoughts and visions to come to the forefront of your mind.

Stop Shelling Out Free Advice

As the boss, you're likely bombarded throughout the day for your opinion. That may be flattering and prove that you have a track record for making good decisions. However, constantly doling out responses can also lead to a creative drain. You may be tempted to do what you've done before. Decisions may become predictable and uninspired. You give so much advice that you have little time to formulate new ideas, and you just observe and take in the world. Instead remind yourself that the best way to learn is to listen and watch. Allow your thoughts to ruminate and see the added benefit of empowering your team.

Challenge Yourself to Find New Ideas

When I find myself with a shortage of ideas, I'll make a list of 10, 50 or 100 ideas on a sheet of paper. The number is irrelevant, as long as it forces you to really stretch to reach that number. Any time I've sat down and utilized this process, I've quickly scribbled down a number of my usual suspects. The concepts often aren't new, original or particularly impactful -- or else I wouldn't be doing this exercise. After I exhaust my initial wave of thoughts, I am typically at a loss for more creativity. However, the key is to keep charging forward and not overanalyze anything you've written down. Nothing should be too crazy, unobtainable or nonsensical. Just write, and move on to the next concept. By sticking with this exercise and not stopping until your target number is achieved, you build creative momentum. When you're finished, stop and evaluate your list. You'll be surprised at how often this process unleashes ideas that wouldn't otherwise have been unearthed.

Get Out of The Office

What often puts us in a rut is too much repetition. We have the same schedule, including seeing the same people, taking the same route to work and eating at the same restaurants. The beautiful thing about travel is that it takes us out of our comfort zone. Exposure to new cultures, people, sights and even languages causes our mind to expand and adapt, tapping into new mental resources. If you can afford to take the time, hop on a plane, and explore the world for a week. Should the thought of a week away make you shutter, try a quick weekend getaway accessible by car. Even a couple of hundred miles of distance between you and routine may be enough to spark some fresh ideas.

In Summary

The key to getting out of the monotony is to take action. Change up your daily rituals. Force yourself to brainstorm ideas. Travel, or just stop talking, and start observing. Don’t let the rut stop you... rather, let it inspire you!

RAW Photography Now Available with iOS 10 Update!

Pictures snapped from an iPhone took a major step closer to professional status yesterday, and you don’t even need to buy the iPhone 7 to take advantage.

For the first time in the nearly decade-long history of iOS, Apple brought RAW image files to the Camera app in iOS 10 thanks to a new AVCaptureOutput that will also allow third-party apps to snap Live Photos along with RAW. While Android users have had this functionality for over a year, those with iOS devices (specifically the iPhone 6S, 6S Plus, SE, 7, 7 Plus, and the 9.7-inch iPad Pro), now have the same pro-level option in their hands.

Apple's official platform notes state that, “The new AVCapturePhotoOutput class provides a unified pipeline for all photography workflows, enabling more sophisticated control and monitoring of the entire capture process and including support for new features such as Live Photos and RAW format capture.”

For many years, most DSLRs have offered RAW image capture which allows for greater manipulation of a photo’s properties when editing because no information is compressed, unlike JPEG files which record 256 levels of brightness compared to the 4,096 to 16,384 levels of brightness in RAW image files. That gives you a lot more “headroom" for your image editing, thus giving you more creative freedom.

While iOS 10’s RAW image capture is only available via the rear camera and you can’t use image stabilization when shooting RAW, Apple has added the ability to shoot RAW+JPEG with a single click and bracketed shooting. It’s exciting that Apple has finally given iPhone users the highest image quality possible straight out of the default Camera app, because as I’ve said for years, "the best camera for you is the one you have with you in the moment”, and since most of us carry a smartphone with a built in camera, getting these professional-level capabilities really opens up the creative space for “mobile shooters”.

The only real drawback about shooting in RAW is the files are big. Weighing in around 30MB per file, shooting in RAW will eat through your iPhone’s storage quickly, so Apple has included an option to turn this functionality on and off.

Five Fun Facts About Labor Day!

Here is the USA, Labor Day is the first Monday of every September. And while for many that means an extra day off from work and the chance to party and picnic with family and friends as we say "goodbye" to Summer, there are also some interesting facts about this holiday that you can share as you gather around the grill or at the beach today... enjoy!

FUN FACT #1: 

Sponsored by the Central Labor Union, the first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in Union Square in New York City.

FUN FACT #2: 

Labor Day weekend is considered one of the busiest weekends to travel. According to AAA, travel growth for this particular holiday weekend continues to grow each year. Last year, over 35.5 million people hit the road, 85.8 % by car... and you thought today would mean "no traffic" on the expressways! 

FUN FACT #3: 

There’s a bit of controversy as to who started Labor Day. Some say it was Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners. Other say it was Matthew Maguire a member of International Association of Machinists. The controversy continues with no declared official winner. What we do know is that President Grover Cleveland signed it into law as an official US holiday in 1894.  By the way, Labor Day came about more than two decades BEFORE the US Department of Labor was formed within the Executive Branch!

FUN FACT #4: 

According to trends, there will be thousands of moms who will go into labor on Labor Day resulting in about 10,829 babies being born, according to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

FUN FACT #5:

The average work day in the 19th century was 12 hours long, 7 days a week and sometimes children as young as 5 were working in factories! And we thought we had long days on the job now!

Drone Imagery… How To Find The Right Resource!

Now that Curtis Newborn Photographic and Obscura Companies has expanded it’s service offerings to include aerial imagery, I’d like to share with you the key factors to consider when researching and hiring a drone operator for your visual marketing project. My goal is to help you build and maintain a strong visual presence on the web and in print by using “aerial” as a unique, cutting-edge style that will resonate with your target audience.

This content of this post is meant to help anyone who is in need of hiring a commercial drone operator for aerial photography or video.

Look at A Portfolio

Before hiring any marketing and advertising professional, you should look through their past work and be sure that you like what you see.  Why? Because you can expect that your final results will be very similar. This isn’t a scientific process, it is very subjective. Look over a portfolio and compare it to others.

SEE EXAMPLES OF OUR TEAM'S WORK IN THE VIDEO BELOW!

When you find one or more that you like, you’re ready to make contact with the drone company. Remember that just like with regular photography and video, anyone with the money to purchase equipment may run out and start selling you their services. For this reason, there is an enormous variance in the quality and professionalism of the work out in the market and it makes good sense to look at their portfolio before wasting any time communicating with them.

Check Their FAA Certification

Unlike regular photographers and video professionals, a commercial drone operator must be certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to operate legally. The operator must hold paperwork known as an FAA Section 333 Exemption to conduct the drone operation. Hiring an FAA certified drone operator is important in order to help insure that they operate legally and will not expose you or your company to any unnecessary risk or liability. To find out whether the company you’d like to hire holds an FAA certification, just ask for a copy of their FAA exemption certificate… if they can’t produce one, move on!

Make Sure the Drone Operator is Insured

While not yet required by the FAA, it is important that any drone operator you hire holds drone insurance. General liability policies and umbrella policies do not cover drone operations unless it is stated on the policy expressly. Chances are your policy will NOT cover a falling drone either, and so it is important that someone hold coverage for this particular type of operation. Over the years I’ve been flying drones – I’ve seen drones drop out of the sky due to various failures a few times. If the drone operator is uninsured and an accident occurs, both the drone operator and you as the hiring party could be held legally responsible for any damage or injury. So the main question to ask is: Why would you expose yourself or your company to increased risk by hiring an operator who is uninsured? Professionals carry insurance… again, ask to see their insurance certificate, and if they cannot proceed one, walk away.

Compare Pricing

This is a given when hiring any contractor! Many individuals shop solely on price when quality is not a primary concern. The search for the lowest bidder happens in every industry and we encounter it all the time with drone operations. As an aerial imagery professional, I of course, would like to be paid as much as possible for my time. So I hold a heavy bias on this topic. Some old crusty photographer stated to me once “They’ll ask you to come out with $10k worth of equipment to shoot, and then offer to pay you a few dollars.” Realize that a professional drone operator – like any freelance photographer or videographer, has significant operating expenses as an individual or small company. These expenses include equipment, liability insurance, travel, merchant fees, data storage, web hosting, advertising, and health insurance — to name a few. Those expenses don’t mean anything regarding value for the client, however. What’s important for a client to look at is the balance of final output, expertise at their craft, customer service, professionalism, and good, solid communication which a visual media professional provides.

Ask For a Contract

It is incredible to me how many aerial imagery providers operate without contracts. A contract is designed to protect both parties for the business transaction itself. In the case of photography and video it is essential to have everything in writing from the professional you hire so that there is no question regarding the deliverable you receive once the work is completed. Regarding drone operations, it is extremely important for the client to secure a written contract so that the work to be completed is outlined, and additionally – so that any parties needed to give permission for over-flight of property are listed on that contract.  A drone operator may not fly over property for which over-flight permission is not given! Putting this information in writing protects both the hiring party and the drone operator from liability. For example, the drone operator must agree to keep the drone flight over the area which the client has control and ownership of. Should the drone operator deviate from that airspace and crash the drone into a neighboring property, causing damage – a written contract would provide the client with some protection from liability.  A drone operator may not expose random persons or property not involved in the operation to risks that they are unaware of!

If you'd like to learn more, please fill out our contact form and we'd be happy to do a free, no-obligation phone consultation with you.

Add Video to Your Marketing: Top Ten Reasons

It’s a proven fact that “video" in content marketing is on the rise by companies of all sizes. Consider this fact: YouTube is now the second largest search engine! But many companies and brands still think of video as an afterthought, but the awareness (and sales) that it can drive for your business means that it’s time you made it a key component of your marketing strategy. Need more convincing? Check out the “Ten Reasons” listed below that highlight the importance and value of video.

#10: Improved SEO

First off, utilizing video in your content marketing efforts will no doubt improve your SEO. In fact, according to Comscore, adding a video to your website can increase the chance of a front page Google result by 53 times when properly executed as part of an SEO plan.

#9: Higher Engagement

We’ve heard over and over that visual content is the key to great engagement. Video is no exception. So when you’re considering what types of posts to schedule on social networks in the coming weeks, think video: audiences are about 10 times more likely to engage, embed, share, and comment on video content than blogs or related social posts.

#8: Stronger Consumer Attention

Videos have been proven to demand more consumer attention than any other medium. And while we’re in the midst of what some might call a content-overload for consumers, capturing attention is particularly key.

#7: Greater Optimization Opportunities

How much of your latest blog post did readers consume? Did they re-read parts of it? Or come back to it later and read it again? Did they share it with friends? The truth is, it’s pretty hard to answer these questions on text-based content. Video, on the other hand, has this feedback loop built in. Measure click-through rate, drop-off points, or number of times watched. You can even drill this down to an individual level. It all boils down to this: the feedback loop for videos means you know what’s working and what’s not. Now to focus on more of the stuff that’s working!

#6: More Video-favored Technology

With the increased consumption of video and the resulting rise in production, technologies are leaning more and more towards favoring the video-marketer. Consider Facebook’s addition of the auto-play for example. It’s hard to argue that a status update or link to an article demands as much attention as a video in your newsfeed.

#5: Better Email Click-Throughs

You slaved over that email copy for days and it contains important information for your customers! But does it resonate? Will it drive results? Will recipients even read it? Enter: video. The use of video in emails has been shown to double click-through rates.

#4: Higher Retention Rates

65% of viewers watch more than half of a video, which is more than we can say about the typical text-based content out there. So if you have a message to get across (and why wouldn’t you if you’re creating content?), video might be the way to go.

#3: Rise in Accessibility

While creating a video used to take many months and many thousands of dollars, the production of great video content has become much more affordable in the last few years. Companies like VideoMakerFX, GoAnimate, and Sellamations make the creation of video as easy as writing a blog.

#2: Stronger Emotional Connections

Video is the most powerful way to evoke emotions online. It’s king because it offers a slew of attributes above and beyond traditional content like tone of voice, face expressions, and music, to name a few. While you may not have feel the immediate need to run out and buy a product from an emotion-filled video, they will likely be at play later on in a more subtle and subconscious way. Evoking emotion in marketing has been proven to positively impact consumer decision-making, even in B2B markets.

#1: Increased Customer Conversions

The number one reason for using video in your content marketing plan? Video converts more customers. Simple, right? Recent research shows that 71% of marketers say video conversion rates outperform other marketing content. So what are you waiting for?