Ladies and Gentlemen, at long last I am very, very happy to announce that we are now taking Pre-Orders on the Photography Business Crash Course. I am extremely proud of this DVD set because it, by far, it has been the hardest and most demanding to produce. I am confident there is nothing out there like it, and I also know why. Attempting to teach most of the Core Business Skills a Photographer would need in just a few hours was as ambitious as anything I have ever tried. The gist of it, is taking nearly 10 years of my business experience and cramming it into a 7 hour DVD set.

Much of the material was filmed at a 3 day workshop in Memphis last year. I knew many people would not be able to attend that workshop and would still like access to it. Over this last year I added as many valuable insights and tips as I possibly could. I would estimate that if the principles are applied, it would take a good 3-4 years off the learning curve, assuming one could be successful and didn’t go out of business before then.

The Pre-Order special price is $199.95, which is $50 off the final list price of $249.95. All those who Pre-Order will also receive a FREE LIFETIME membership to the Business Forum (which is invisible to the normal part of the forum). These lifetime memberships will be good for as long as the Business Forum is up. Once you pre-order, sign up in the forum if you have not already:Michael’s Photography Forum, then shoot me an email and I will activate your account. This is only for those who Pre-Order.

If you are one of the over 100 workshop attendees, you will receive 50% off your purchase. All you need to do is contact me, let me know you would like to purchase the pre-order and I will send you the coupon code.

If you are one of the several who attended a 3 Day workshop, this DVD set will be free to you. All you need to do is send me your current mailing address and I will make sure you get a copy once they are stocked.

Estimated delivery date is around the 20th-21st of December, which means most of you in the US should receive it just in time for Christmas. I am also being a little cautious on the estimation as usual, there is a good chance they will arrive up to a week sooner. For now, I am also limiting the number of Pre-Orders to 50. Once they are gone, they are gone and we will have to wait to stock them on the 20th.

I realize this is my most expensive DVD training set, and with very good reason:

1. The production cost on this set was about 20 times more than any other DVD, it will be a long time before I break even on the investment, if ever.
2. I list and describe most of my competitive advantages on it. These are essentially my trade secrets and I do not want everyone to have them. I want to limit this information to only those who are ready to invest in the training.
3. This training is ONLY for those who are serious about pursuing a Photography Business, it is not for the everyday shooter.

If the price is too steep, then I can also tell you that a Photography Business is not for you. With the cost of gear, websites, advertising, production, etc. this is an extremely reasonable offer.

Topics Covered (In No Particular Order)

  • Basic Business Terms
  • Business Strategy
  • The Importance of People Skills
  • Competitive Advantages
  • Workflow
  • Analytical Skills
  • Marketing
  • Michael’s Secret Marketing Strategy Analogies
  • Branding
  • Legal Setups
  • Supply and Demand
  • Marketing & Branding Mistakes
  • Creative Drive
  • The Blame Game
  • Pricing
  • Arrows in Quiver
  • Online Delivery & Ordering
  • Recommended Vendors and Suppliers
  • Why Making More Money is not always good
  • Differentiation
  • Michael’s 4 Pronged Attack
  • Contracts
  • FLOW Based Marketing (Michael’s Secret Marketing Technique)
  • Cost / Benefit Analysis Crash Course
  • SWOT and how to use correctly
  • Business Investment and Grow Strategy
  • Fresh Markets
  • “Word of Mouth” Fallacies
  • When you should and should not meet with Clients
  • Marketing Filters
  • How and When to Use Business Cards
  • The Difference between Upsell & Squeeze
  • Offering Package Discounts and Incentives
  • Negotiating Tactics
  • Personal Time Value
  • Honeymoon Phase
  • 1st Paid Job
  • Niche Photography
  • Opportunity Cost
  • Analyzing Job Opportunities
  • When to Farm out Work
  • Measuring Ad Success
  • Ad Projections
  • The Gause Principle & How it Applies to Photographers
  • Michael’s Workflow Secrets
  • Giving Digital Negatives to Clients (who should and who should not)
  • Work for Hire
  • Creative Drive
  • Customer Service
  • Naming your Business
  • Second Shooters
  • Websites, URLs, Hosting
  • Search Engine Optimization
  • Best SEO Company and Their Special SEO Offer to Michael’s Students
  • Blogging
  • Using Facebook to Market
  • Rule of Clicks
  • Photoshop Hypnosis and How to Conquer it
  • Good Customer / Bad Customer
  • Placing Print Ads
  • Why the Customer is “Almost” always right (and when they are not)
  • Porter’s 5 Forces
  • And much, MUCH more!
  • DVD set also includes:



  • “Our Man Nate” Animation – Michael’s Own Business Parable
  • Secrets of an Expert Fisherman Videos
  • Michael’s Custom Business Crash Course Workbook PDF
  • Michael’s Recommended Website and Reading List PDF
  • Sample Wedding Contact PDF

  • The Photography Business Crash Course DVD is now available for Pre-Order on the store. Thank you for your support!