Business School 2009 - Wednesday 14 & Thursday 15 January

Wednesday 14 January 09

Be the boss and push the business to success – Kick Start the Year! (Catherine Connor)10.00am till 12.00pm

One of the greatest aspects of the SWPP convention is the ground that can be covered in a short period of time and the opportunity you have to explore and exchange so many refreshing ideas, not only the photographic aspects but also the business issues that keep us awake at night! The first session is the most fundamental as it deals with and the core of every business’s success, the driver within. This very inspiring session will arm you with ideas and a lot of ‘know how’ into how to direct your business to your ultimate destination far more successfully. During this seminar you will not only learn new aspects of how to be a better and more effective entrepreneur and manager, you will also learn how to control the elements that are significantly important to the business. This seminar is going to prepare you and the business to market more effectively, sell more creatively and inspire others to WANT to connect to you and your business.

Being in business can be a difficult game to play, especially when you are alone at the top of the tree looking a long way down! This very enlightening seminar will give you the direction and the pathway to move yourself and your business forward. This is the perfect method and approach to kick starts your business and YOU!

Lunch 12.00pm till 1.00pm

Successful Sales - (Jane Breakell )- CPT 1.00pm till 2.30pm

Maximising the sales potential from your clients comes from more than just a good experience in the sales room. This seminar will tell you how the journey your clients take through your business can have a powerful and positive impact on the bottom line, giving you techniques to improve your sales potential from each new client.

The approaches and methods explored during this seminar have already successfully trained and launched some of the best in the business. Jane has a wealth of experience and is not a ‘fly by night.’ She will inform, motivate and educate leaving you with the knowledge and the right answers for you and the business.

Building a successful Wedding and Portrait business (Doug Gordon) - 2.30pm till 4.00pm

American sharp shooter Doug Gordon will be sharing his wealth of business experience to help you grow your business into the new year. His vision as an entrepreneur will give you the insight to develop a business strategy that will power your business forward.

Business Coach (Rachel Mallett) -4.00pm till 5.30pm

Rachel Mallett works at the core of a number of highly successful businesses as a business coach and financial guide. If you know that one of the most delicate aspects of your business will always be financial management then this is the lecture for you. It will have both a motivational and a financial impact. Rachel’s training approach is no nonsense and practical and many of the tips she will give you could be implemented straight away, some within days and some within months. She will explore YOUR role, the accountants role, the banks role and how you work in harmony. This is not about the boring stuff it is about the stuff that will inspire you and the future of your business! This day has been designed for the determined, those who are going to be the success stories of the future, those that will be ahead of the game and still enjoying the business game for years to come.

Wake up and smell the cheese!!!! - What shape is the business in!! (Catherine Connor) - 6.30pm till 8.30pm

The final session of the day will leave you inspired and ready to take on the world! This motivational lecture will heighten your brand and your brand’s performance, as this session is all about REPUTATION. You will not be able to sleep after this lecture as it will awaken your appetite for the business and the potential it has in the marketplace.
Every business needs a reputation and every business needs to be in shape and have the power to attract.

Thursday 15 January 09

Marketing and PR - Business development in a nut shell! (Catherine Connor) - 9.00am till 10.45am

Marketing and future planning are often areas put on the back burner by most photographers. Most creative network without knowing it and take a very natural approach to progressing with their business, this seminar will give you more of a strategy without losing the personality that is driving the business.
This no nonsense approach to business development will inform you how to:
Attract the right clients
Where and when to campaign
What do you need to campaign effectively
Monitoring and improving the approach

If you have listened to Catherine lecture before you know she will have a marked impact. This NEW seminar will leave you armed with ideas and the confidence to market the business well. You will be given new ideas as to how to attract new clients and how to guarantee loyalty and repeat business from your existing clients. When and where to campaign and how to create a viable strategy for the year ahead, whether your business’s focus is portraits and weddings with commercial thrown in, marketing all arms with synergy is the key to making sure the business is active at all times.

Getting the most out of your brand and website (Howard Butterfield) - 11.00am till 12.30pm

Internet marketing expert Howard Butterfield will show how you can maximise on the World-Wide-Web revolution. The internet is now your shop window to the world and the importance of having a strong internet presence is paramount to having a successful business.

Lunch 12.30pm to 1.30pm

Squeeze The Juice (Mark Cleghorn) - 1.30pm to 3.00pm

You won’t need coffee to stay awake in this session.

Infectious is one word to explain a Cleghorn seminar and this new marketing presentation for the SWPP Business School will be no exception, as he plans to rip the flesh of the bones of marketing and getting straight to the bones of the matter.

Squeezing every penny out of a client does not have to be a hard sell, you just need the right client for the product or better still the right product for the client, in this session he puts forward ideas for future selling and to keep the client coming back time after time.

After running successful studios for 25 years Cleghorn as well as being a consultant to many top portrait studios is still a working photographer, shooting and selling in the real world instead of some fantasy land far far away. Renowned for his teaching skills in Lighting and in Digital he very rarely talks openly about his marketing and business strategies that he implements into some of the UK’s leading studios.

Does your business need CPR? (Rita Chandarana from Maz Mashru studio) -3.15pm till 4.30pm

Rita Chandarana, Managing Director of Maz of Leicester and now Maz of London has spent just 4 years in the photographic industry. Unusually, she is not a photographer but has re-energised and helped to breath new life into long-standing business run by award-winning photographer Maz Mashru which was at a stage in business seeing flat sales. She has worked with UK's leading brands including Rexel, Philips, Waterford Wedgwood and Merry Hill Shopping Centre and with this experience has taken Maz and his team on the scariest roller coaster ride where she has challenged the status quo, broken all rules, asked the most challenging questions which has resulted in massive sales growth and heightened brand awareness. Rita looks at all aspects of an established business and gives her CPR tips:
- to help new and established businesses develop simple and cost effective models that aid the business development
- Develop visions and attitudes that are positive for business growth
- Through workshop activities play with new idea's that might just prolong your businesses life!