Heather does WHAT?!?

When I've looked into the business side of photography thinking of licensing, taxes, and insurance are the hurdle that ends up stalling me.  It is both interesting and motivating to be guided through the processes with the tools and information needed to not get overwhelmed and stalled.  Photography is my passion, and this part of starting a business has always been just a way to get to where I need to be and with my lack of knowledge, it was frustrating and difficult.  I have enjoyed learning about various legal structures and what kinds of professions require licensing specific to the profession.  Who would have ever thought that animal massage was a thing?  Or that being an auctioneer required licensing?  What for besides being able to talk fast?  Obviously, there are aspects to various businesses I know nothing about and this has been an informative week. Also slightly overwhelming working on Project 2 because of perfectionism, but I'm letting that go.

I'm loving that we are through with case studies.  I know I learned things through those weeks but case studies aren't my favorite when compared to practical applications.  Creating the buttons and choices with PayPal was exciting.  Of all the times I've played with websites and self taught web design it has been a lot more disjointed.  I would want to do something specific and I'd search how to do it then spend days and hours trying to make it work.  Definitely not effective or even in an organized manner. Then technology came faster than I was able to keep up and I got lost as CSS came around and web design changed while I was busy taking kids to school, softball practice, and through beginning band instruments.  When life leveled out I didn't even know where to begin creating a web site and my self-taught via google method was even less effective because I often didn't even know the name for what I was trying to do.  Building on that small amount of knowled

Each week I’m learning things I didn’t know I didn’t know. So many considerations for hosts and site builders depending on the business model different specifications are more important. I can better navigate my way through various packages and analyze exactly what I need to make the website run efficiently. I also had plans of making this blog less generic and maybe I will figure out more of what I’m doing things will go quicker with the site builder but I’m finding myself getting hung up and stuck on small details that in the big picture don’t matter very much. Every web page I’ve ever tried to build I’ve used base pricing packages and they have never worked how I wanted them too. It’s never been anything set up for e-commerce but something always didn’t work how I wanted and now I know why. Learn more you do better.

I have learned a lot this week regarding drop shipping and affiliate programs.   In the photography world having prints drop shipped to customers not local to you is a hot topic with very few people changing their minds because of quality control etc.   Considering affiliate vs drop shipping isn’t something I have ever considered because affiliate programs don’t have much of a place in the photography world until you branch into education or have a substantial following of other photographers who are looking for recommendations on equipment or services. An affiliate program seems easy, but the reality of having any substantial income from an affiliate program in a timely fashion is unrealistic and drop shipping products from unknown suppliers possibly overseas there is a potential for quality control problems.   In the case study I solved that by finding a wholesaler within the US who is well established with both drop shipping and selling to storefronts avoiding the problems tha