Welcome to ecphotolife.

We are ecphoto, and this is our journey.

The purpose of this blog is to document our adventures in growing as a photography business. At the time of this blog entry, we are based out of Honolulu, Hawaii, and are composed of two people - myself plus one assistant. We are not trained in business, but what we do have is a passion for our craft, and a desire to grow our minds and talents through experience. We hope that you are able to use our experiences starting our business in your personal endeavors whether they are photography related or not.

Among other things, there are a few main topics we will focus on in our posts:

• Marketing, for one, will be a major point of interest for our business. Covering everything from composing a portfolio to print and web advertising, we need to present our business as a brand - something that our clients will recognize as ecphoto. Without marketing, all we have is our hopes and dreams.
  

• Networking is another key element in our practice. In the world of small business, it is imperative that we make connections with the community - not only with future clients, but also with other working professionals. We do not intend for our business to take an unfair share of the market, but rather to find our place within the industry. It would be fantastic to build lasting relationships with both colleagues and clients alike. In addition to real-world networking, we need to understand Web 2.0 and use it to our advantage. We will have to learn the ins and outs of social networking, which has proven to be an invaluable tool for other photographers in the industry. We realize that this is a huge undertaking, and that there is so much that we can learn from the community!

• Budget. It's easy to get carried away "investing" in your business. Drawing from our experiences, we will attempt to create a guideline for spending for gear, marketing, travel, personal projects and other expenses in order to keep from overextending our budget. The difference between a successful business and an expensive hobby is the ability to cover all spending while keeping out of the red.

• We will also keep you up to date on any personal work we have going. While this is not in line with the other major topics found above, we would love for you to also make a connection to the people behind ecphoto and the projects we create to keep ourselves fresh and motivated. From pro bono portraiture to our participation in public works, we hope that an insight into the more intimate lives of ecphoto will not only entertain, but bring this blog to life.
  

It is our goal to enlighten our readers in some way with the lessons we learn, but we would love to learn from you, too! We would love to hear your thoughts about our progress, and in addition to your comments, it would be great to know if there is anything you'd like for us to touch on in future entries.

We know that this will be an exciting journey, and we're looking forward to sharing it with you!

Thank you for your continued support.

Elliot