Fall Convention 2008

Paul Lorei - Who’s Afraid of Running a Successful Business?

The Streets are paved with the bones of talented photographers who never learned how to run a business.

Most photographers are pretty good at making attractive, salable images.  They often work long hours, make little money and hope one day to be discovered. Over time, they can become frustrated, depressed, even in debt.  What they fail to understand is how to run a business.  This seminar will introduce a very simple and yet effective method of creating a vision.  It’s not rocket science.  It’s a strategy for organizing your dreams into a cohesive business plan—a strategy that can make you wildly successful if you’re willing to devote twenty minutes a day.  And it works.

Hi, I’m Paul Lorei and I’ve been at this business for over twenty years.  We started small and grew quickly at first, then more gradually.  Along the way, we made many mistakes. We reached an income plateau and stagnated.  I was working long hours and Saturdays, with a sense that I would be on an endless treadmill shooting weddings every Saturday until I dropped.

So, I tried something different.  I took a weeklong seminar in 2001 on how to run a business.  That’s when I discovered the power of planning.  From 2000 - 2007 our business more than tripled.  To be honest, I am shocked, amazed and grateful—because it’s not that hard to do what we’ve done.  Not anymore.  We’ve cherry-picked ideas from an elite group of authorities, mixed in our own ideas and developed a solid method for making you a better photographer, a better person and running a better business.  It’s developed by a photographer for photographers.  So, no matter how long you’ve been in business, this plan will improve you, your business and your bottom line.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

·        Five reasons businesses under-perform

·        Why successful artists are successful business people

·        Why creating a vision for your business enables you to go farther

·        How to be more efficient with your time

·        How to improve your marketing/advertising

·        How to control your costs

·        Ten reasons why you need a business plan today

·        How to start (or improve) your business plan

·        Why 20 minutes/day equals $20K

·        How to become confident/happy and still love photography

“The ingredient that turns an everyday picture into a timeless portrait is passion. Paul Lorei is a photographer with passion. I have always admired Paul's ability to create extraordinary images from ordinary everyday locations and circumstances. The same passion that he brings to every client he also has brought into the classroom. I gained priceless information from Paul's unselfish teaching of vital techniques and procedures that have made him the success that he is today. More importantly he has inspired me to create with greater passion and vigor.”   Mike Priestap, Photogenesis Photography

Visit Paul’s website: www.lorei.com

 

Paul Lorei - Bio

Paul Lorei, the fourth of ten children, began his photography career in the advertising business.  He worked for Young & Rubicam, a large New York agency, then on to several small agencies in Texas as a client liaison, copywriter and photo art director.  In 1986, after moving back to the sunny shores of Lake Erie, he got behind the camera and began working for his father, a much loved school photographer. 

In 1990, while in graduate school and teaching English & History at Gannon University, he started his own business in a tiny room in his house.  Within a few years, what started as a part time diversion became a full time profession.  Paul Lorei Photography has become a regional powerhouse in family & beach portraits.  Paul’s images are warm, natural and beautiful.  His adventures have given him the rare privilege of photographing a president, a governor, an olympian, a rock star and the pope.  Yet, perhaps his favorite images will always be of family and children—often outdoors.  

Paul is a Certified Professional Photographer, a member of Professional Photographers of America, Wedding & Portrait Photographers International and National Association of Photoshop Professionals.  He has a Marketing degree from U. of Dayton and a Masters in English from Gannon U.  Paul is an avid cross country skier and cyclist. He and his lovely wife, Gretchen, have five children.