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Two of my goals for 2011 are to expand Hawaii School of Photography and to attract higher end clients to Stephen Dantzig Photography. We have unveiled our intermediate level courses, expanded our professional lighting, and introduced some Photoshop workshops. Will they be successful overnight? No, but I am looking for slow steady growth so I'll let it develop as I increase the ability to market the school.

Sadly increased visibility also invites the scammers. We have all seen the scam where you get an email asking for your rates for a wedding/event "in your area." All you have to do is cash their check and wire back the overpayment and all is good, right? Wrong. Their check is bogus but the money you wired back is very real and very much gone by the time their check bounces.

I have begun to receive what I find to be humorous alterations of the scam. I now have people asking what my rates are to teach an underage son or daughter photography for one to two hours a day. The most recent one was funny. It actually almost sounded legit: it was written fairly well and indicated that they lived in Hawaii (rather than the dead-give-away "we are coming for 6 weeks and want to keep little Joe busy..."). The "We live in Downtown Hawaii" raised a red flag (There is a Downtown Honolulu, but not Downtown Hawaii!) However, I, like all of you, have to track down every possible lead that might remotely be legitimate. I replied saying that my school was only for adults so I would not be able to "tutor" her 16 year old. I did say that I had an online intro class available for $95.00 and expected that I would never hear from her again. She did reply to my surprise. Her response had me laughing out loud! She totally ignored the part about adults only and said that she liked my prices and couldn't wait to meet me. She then went on to say that the last tutor had stolen things from her house (why is a stranger in her house with her 16 year old unsupervised in the first place?) and would I mind going to to this little website that "she trusts" and submit to a background check before coming to her house? It's a good thing that I didn't have any coffee in my mouth at the time! I think the website was www.areyoureallythatstupid.com! I wrote back reminding her that I was offering an online class, I wasn't going anywhere near her house and there was no need for a background check! In other words: "How 'bout NO!" Do pursue those leads, but stay vigilant. They are out there.

My other major project is exciting. I've attached some photos as a "teaser." We are using this shoot on a beautiful yacht in the Honolulu Harbor as a major promotional piece for all of us involved with the project. One aspect of the promotions will be a full ebook (along with some videos) detailing who was involved and how the images were created. I'll make the ebook available to anyone who wants it at no cost. Stay tuned!

So, 2010 comes to an end and a new year begins. Set those goals and get to work! Hau'oli Makahiki Hou!

© Steve Dantzig