Michael Donovan Was Here…

Hey everyone! I’m heading to Chicago later this month and San Diego/LA early August. I’ll be visiting some friends and doing some work. There’s also a good chance I may be in Vegas to visit an old High School buddy who just started his business there. Email me if you’ll be in the area(s)!

info@michaeldonovanphotography.com

I haven’t announced the updates on my twitter, tumblr or facebook. I’ve made updates to my website tonight and will be tweaking it throughout the day on Wednesday. Take a look:

http://michaeldonovanphotography.com/

I did a little marketing and sent out my editorials this first year in NY and had a very mild response. The problem was: I wasn’t sending enough out as frequently as I should.

This year that will change.

I’ll still keep running personal projects so everyone can see updated work, but I’ll focus a little heavier on getting clients and editorials published. It’s time.

Priceless: The Myth of Fair Value (and How to Take Advantage of It)
by William Poundstone

Since I was never given a job description when I started shooting, I decided to make my own. Here it goes:

JOB DESCRIPTION OF MICHAEL DONOVAN
• Make people and products look bad ass, rad, and totally cool
• Have fun
• Inspire others to work their hardest, experiment wisely, and to inspire others
• Smile
• Always be awesome
• Always turn a better profit than the previous year
• Make art that counts, matters, and excites people!
• Clean up after yourself
• Help other people achieve their goals
• Learn something every day; apply the new knowledge to make life more exciting
• Be accountable
• Do the right thing
• Help others
• Admit when I make a mistake and fix the problem as best I can as quickly as I can
• Frequently set and reach goals/objectives

I’m sure I’m missing a few things, but that is the base of the job description.

It feels awkward at first then it feels right!

PS, don’t forget to share this site with your friends: http://MichaelDonovanPhotography.com

Since i’ve been riding my bike I’ve been carrying nutrition bars so I can get a boost of energy when I’m in the middle of nowhere. My favorite bar are the Lemon Zest Luna Bars. My beef with them is: their packaging clearly says “nutrition bar for women.” Really, that is just plain retarded. It’s not like they’re pumping it with estrogen and it doesn’t come with a break-away tampon.

The thing is, they’re distributed by Cliff Bar (who also makes great tasting bars). There is nothing that makes them gender specific. It’s just food!!! I can’t recall a single fruit in the world that only markets itself to women or men. But some genius at Cliff said “Hey! This has less calories! Let’s sell it to chicks!” (The website says it was an idea of the women at Cliff… so it appears Goodwill isn’t the only group hiring retards)

If anyone knows of a lemon flavored bar that is made “just for men,” please tell me. Until then: I’ll eat the Luna bars and say “Fuck you, Luna, for your shitty marketing strategy.”

Situational Leadership has been my favorite way of making progress and developing people in my teams. I haven’t applied Situational Leadership to my work in several years and, to be honest, I have NO idea how I would even do it at this point with creative individuals who are already strong and enthusiastic about learning/growing but I figure I’ll probably start using it again and should brush up on it in advance.

You’ll never save a rainforest by holding up a picket sign… but you WILL save one the day you BUY one. Anyone who expects others to bend over backwards to fight for their cause is a complete idiot. If you want something you need to work for it.

Let’s rewind: March 9th was the day “Flash Delirium” from Congratulations was released by MGMT. Within 24 hours I spotted “Congratulations” on a blog and saw it was deleted within another 24 hours. Last night the entire album was leaked so MGMT decided to present the songs on their website. A quick google search lead me to the entire album in several zip files. Now twitter is starting to light up with the notes as well. The album is still suppose to be released on April 13th (but the members of MGMT have said they would like to just give the music away for free… which makes sense).

This is a great example of how the current music industry REALLY needs to change shape. We don’t listen to music on vinyl anymore. The songs are going to be harder and harder to track and contain. Comedians manage their intellectual property much better: they create some jokes, quietly practice them at some open mics or in the middle of a larger set, and add them to their repertoire. Then, just before they are about to dump all their old stuff, they do a live recording and write a book. Then they sell that album (they usually only charge $5) and books while using these vehicles to create buzz for their new shows. They sprinkle in the old work through their new work to keep fans happy. In the end: they make their money on the live performances NOT on a few album sales.

The difference between a comedian and a musician is… well… nothing. They both provide new ideas and audio entertainment to carry around in our skulls. There was never a comedy industry because comedians were smart and able to work on their own with very little help.

Musicians have it all wrong. They need to be in more control of their work. Distribution is MUCH easier now. PR is MUCH easier now. Your IP is less about the album sales and more about your live venue sales.

The music industry can do more focus on wrangling in better performers (comedians, musicians, whatever) and promoting shows with bigger audiences and higher ticket prices. Give away free samples but keep charging when the music is used commercially and in arenas.

At some point in my day I read an article that said “80% of clients are requesting video to go along with their print photography.” It was compared to the early days of the web when everyone wanted web rights, even if they didn’t know how they’d use it.

The problem is: people aren’t thinking ahead this time. They’re investing time and money in to something that may not fit. Look at it this way: when the music video came out people said “this is the end of the radio! People will expect to see videos of music.” Fast forward 30 years and we have services like Last.fm, Pandora and iTunes where videos are pretty pointless.

Look, I like video just as much as everyone else. But can you imagine if everything went video? You would walk in to someone’s house and see a wall of videos showing every moment of a couples wedding, footage of a newborn sleeping, looped video of your kids at their birthday parties, and so on. Nah- that sounds like too much chaos. Video is a tool and people need to think about their customer. Forcing them to endure 30 seconds of video does not enhance their experience.

Enhancing the human experience may just be a poster of one word that clearly draws a line between your brand and your clients. Or it may be an illustration, an info-graphic, or a painting.

I have a map on my wall from the MTA showing me the NY transit system. Another wall has some of my artwork. And another wall has more artwork from artists I enjoy and the 4th wall has a mirror so I can look at my beautiful blue eyes. I can imagine a world where every wall was a display that could be changed in to whatever I wanted… but I don’t like the way that looks and feels so I’d rather imagine a world where 1 wall is a functional multimedia wall, another with a mirror, another with real art and the other can have a giant photo of my awesomeness. I like the texture of frames, I like seeing the way paint drips and collects, and I like the way paper folds a little.

Another way of seeing it: how many times do you or your friends kick back and watch a wedding video? Twice a week? Twice a month? Twice a year? Once a decade?! Now ask yourself: how many times do you look at a picture of your spouse? Think of the pictures on the fridge, the picture at work, the pictures on the wall, the pictures by the bed, and so on. Now think of a memorable music video (thriller by Michael Jackson is a good one). What image do you see? Do you see the entire video playing? Or could it be summed up with just an image of Michael wearing a red jacket in a line of zombies? Do you see what I’m saying here? Even when video is present, the still shot often trumps the minutes of action.

Photography isn’t dead. And clients: don’t waste your money on video, even if the visual image maker suggests it- get it if it makes sense but don’t force something that won’t fit. You can remember iconic covers to magazines but can you really remember the silent video advertisement that played on the side of the M23?! Some sucker actually paid for that video and usage!!!!

There are two types of people:
• Those who are molded
• Those who set molds
Mold Makers will always change the world and will always have the flexibility to make new molds as the environment requires. The molded will always have a place for a little while until they grow tired or until they’re useless to society- whichever comes first.

Not everyone should set molds- it is a lot of work, patience and requires a lot of effort. Mold-making can be lonely, back-breaking and usually requires little sweat & tears mixed with elbow grease. Decide early which you want to become because, once you decide, it will be hard to crack the molds that surround you.

One way I screen people is by asking them how they would handle simple things. “Would you prefer to get $20 today, or $100 tomorrow?” followed by “Which sounds better: I give you $20 tomorrow, or I give you $100 after 7 full days from today?”

The answers gives me an idea on how people think about rewards and investments. There is no right answer, it just helps when figuring out where people fit.

It’s clear I’ve made very quick and pronounced progress in the past 9 months of being in New York. I did this by having high standards for myself. I’ve started to push these standards on my team so the next 9 months will be beneficial to everyone I work with as well as myself.

10 ATTRIBUTES OF PEOPLE I WILL WORK WITH
• Positive energy
• Stylish product
• Has remarkable taste
• Desire to grow
• Always making improvements
• Excited to work
• Team attitude
• Maintains attention to detail
• Punctual
• Contributes great ideas

My tolerance for poor performers has dwindled to zero. Having a few of these attributes will get you in the door, having all of them will ensure you’re here for the long haul.

$104.3 million for Alberto Giacometti’s “Walking Man I.”

The art market is back on?!