Recently in Benchmark Financial Survey Category

Russell and Paula Jensen of South Dakota and Babe and Arlene Sarver of Arizona have a few things in common. They own photography studios, are PPA members, believe in the power of the PPA Benchmark Survey resources...and are the 2011 PPA Benchmark Survey's grand prize winners of the all-inclusive trips for two to Imaging USA!

The Benchmark Survey Pays Off
Both the Sarvers and Jensens have used the previous Benchmark Survey resources to help their businesses, and this all-inclusive trip is an added bonus.

For example, the Jensens used the Benchmark resources to build their studio's budget. "These are essential tools for photographers who actually want to make a living doing photography!" says Paula. "They help studios understand how much money should be coming back to the photographer and where they should be budgeting."

"Rather than plan in a vacuum, the Benchmark resources enabled us to compare our status to other PPA home studios. And for the first time, it was easy to identify our strong and weak areas," add the Sarvers, who used the Benchmark as a blueprint for their planning process. "It showed us where we were out of range from the norm and gave guidelines for improvement."

Heading to Imaging USA
The trip the Sarvers and Jensens won will help them continue to push their art and businesses forward--that's one of the purposes of Imaging USA!

"Imaging USA lets us see what is working for other studios and marketplaces and then decide how to implement the best aspects into our own business," says Paula. For example, she's looking forward to the "Business Breakthroughs" pre-convention class, and Russell is eager to "get the nation's pulse in photography" (along with seeing his first Loan Collection image displayed in the International Photographic Exhibit)!

And the Sarvers are doubly excited for Imaging USA. "After attending our first Imaging USA, we decided it was the conference not to be missed," they say. But it wasn't looking like a viable option this coming year...until they won the all-inclusive trip! Now they are looking forward to "taking back to our studio those important elements that will set us apart," from artistic and technical elements to business know-how.

Grab that business know-how yourself--join these winners at Imaging USA and check out these Benchmark resources.

Have you read the "How We Did It" and "Ask the Experts" columns in Professional Photographer? Heard success stories from PPA's Studio Management Services clients? Many of those photographers' turnarounds happened in part because of information from the Benchmark Survey.

After all, the Benchmark Survey is what SMS bases its financial and business guidelines on. It's helped hundreds of photographers! And we need YOUR help to make it even better this year.

Help others. Help yourself. Participate in the 2011 Benchmark Survey!

1. Complete the Participant Demographic Questionnaire.
2. Gather a few financial documents.
3. Send them to PPA by October 31.

If you have questions, just call Melissa Kriest at 800-339-5451, ext. 227. She'll walk you through it.

Participate by Oct. 31 to Win:

• Drawing for TWO all-inclusive trips for two to Imaging USA 2012 in New Orleans
• Personalized financial analysis of your studio compared to the 2011 Benchmark results.
• Benchmark webinar to guide you through the results
• Advance copy of the survey report

Have you read the "How We Did It" and "Ask the Experts" columns in Professional Photographer? Heard success stories from PPA's Studio Management Services clients? Many of those photographers' turnarounds happened in part because of information from the Benchmark Survey.

After all, the Benchmark Survey is what PPA and SMS base their financial and business guidelines for photographers on. It's helped hundreds of photographers! And we need YOUR help to make it even better this year.

Help others. Help yourself. Participate in the 2011 Benchmark Survey!

1. Complete the Participant Demographic Questionnaire.
2. Gather a few financial documents into a folder on your desktop.
3. Upload those documents and file to PPA by October 31.

Participate by October 31 to Win:

• Drawing for TWO all-inclusive trips for two to Imaging USA 2012 in New Orleans
• Personalized financial analysis of your studio compared to the 2011 Benchmark results.
• Benchmark webinar to guide you through the results (including a free download of the PowerPoint and other materials used during the webinar)
• Advance copy of the survey report

You asked for more time, and we listened. We've extended the deadline for participating in PPA's Financial Benchmark Survey until October 31.

Many PPA members say that PPA's Financial Benchmark Survey results have helped them make smarter, more profitable business decisions. And as if that isn't enough of a reason to participate, you still have over a month to win prizes! Participate by October 31, and you'll be in the drawing for TWO all-inclusive trips for two to Imaging USA 2012 in New Orleans. Plus, everyone who takes part by that date will get a free, personalized financial analysis of their studio compared to the 2011 Benchmark Survey results, a webinar about the results, and an advance copy of the survey report.

As with any survey, the more who participate, the more accurate the results will be. It's good for both you AND the industry, so join in by October 31! Get started now...

"I believe it is important to know how our industry is doing," says Susan Hoermann, M.Photog., CPP, of Evergreen Studios in Texas. She believes in that so strongly that she has participated in every single Financial Benchmark Survey PPA has offered. And this time, she also received an additional payoff...in the form of a free iPad!

But that wasn't really the reason she participated, although it's nothing to scoff at! Instead, she refers to how being a survey participant has helped her see how her studio compares to others nationally. (All participants receive a free analysis of their studios compared to the Benchmark Survey results, a webinar about the results, and an advance copy of the results.)

"Although different types of businesses in different locals vary, the Benchmark Survey has been a good way to measure our costs to an industry standard. It gives us an overview snapshot of where our industry is headed, what is an acceptable cost of goods sold and where other businesses are," Susan says about how she's used the PPA benchmarks in the past.

"It also lets me see how the market is changing," she adds. "I have a retail business and expenses have gone up while net profit has gone down; whereas, in home-based studios, the last Benchmark Survey showed just the opposite was occurring. I will remain a retail business, and it helps to see where the expenses changed so I can address those changes."

Receiving that kind of knowledge and guidance made it more than worthwhile for Susan to gather her financial documents for the 2011 survey.  She calls it a "great measuring stick" for her own business, and believes it's extremely important for more photographers to take part.

Want to see the Benchmark Survey results pay off for your own photography business? It's as easy as 1-2-3...and you have until October 31 to participate!

Participate by October 31, and you'll be in the running to win an all-inclusive trip for two to Imaging USA in New Orleans!

Dear PPA Member,

Would you ever take an extended trip to a foreign country not knowing how much money you'll need to bring, what to pack, where you'll stay, or what you'll do once you get there? Probably not. That would leave a lot up to guesswork and plain old luck. Hopefully, you have a plan in mind--or a travel agent who takes care of it for you.

Even more than a long vacation, your business requires careful planning (not spontaneity). You don't want to just guess and go with the flow when it comes to running your business! Luckily, PPA's Financial Benchmark Survey is like a vacation planner for your business, and today's Vital Signs article will show you why. For example, it can help you make decisions about where you want to go, what you want to do, and how much money you'll need to get there.

Start using the PPA Financial Benchmark tools today to make your business a success, and you might soon head off on a much-deserved vacation to celebrate...

Cheers!
Christel Aprigliano
Director of Member Value & Experience

P.S. We've got a new Extreme Deal from Animoto for our members: Buy 1 month of Animoto Pro, get 1 month free. Deal is valid through September 30.

Dear PPA Member,

Lemonade stands--does that phrase bring back memories? They are often the first entrepreneurial adventure for many a kid. On a hot day, you could make a quick buck or two (or more than that if you were lucky!) and then head out to the corner store to grab an ice cream cup. You didn't have to worry about pricing for profit. Or expenses. Or factoring in your labor costs. (How much do you charge for stirring way too much sugar into a pitcher of weak lemon water?)

But you're not running a lemonade stand anymore. You're running a photography business. If you want to be successful, you've got to be profitable. This week's Vital Signs will have you dropping your wooden spoon and picking up a calculator, so you can afford more than ice cream at the end of the day.

Cheers!
Christel Aprigliano
Director of Member Value & Experience

P.S. We've got a new Extreme Deal from ImageQuix: PPA members get one year of Unlimited Uploads with ImageQuix for only $99 when they sign up by September 9 (a $249 savings).

Dear PPA Member,

What's your idea of making it to the "big time"? For some of you, it's having a retail studio and all the fixings (employees, cool gadgets, cappuccino machine). This may be your dream, but the reality is often different if you aren't being financially savvy. The first time I read PPA's Financial Benchmark Survey, I was surprised to learn that participating retail studio owners didn't hit the important goals as often as the home studio owners.

While there are benefits to being a retail studio owner, if it's not helping you reach your financial goals, you've got some decisions to make. This week's Vital Signs can help you with those, including some ideas for keeping your head above water in a retail space. As for what kind of cappuccino maker to buy? Well, you're on your own there.

Cheers!
Christel Aprigliano
Director of Member Value & Experience

Over the last few weeks, we've listed the steps to better understanding your business numbers, from organizing your sales to tracking your expenses. After all this work, though, you can't forget to be careful when considering your bottom line.

Step 4: Calculate your owner's compensation + net profit.
In order to accurately see how your photography business is doing, you need to calculate your owner's compensation + net profit (also known as bottom line profit). Measuring your bottom line in this way combines the amount that you have taken out of the business as personal compensation (salary, draw or distributions) with the amount of the business's profit or loss.

Viewing these amounts together helps you understand the reality of said bottom line, making it easier to recognize the dangerous practice of writing personal compensation checks above and beyond the ability of the business to support it. For example, if a photographer draws a salary of $60,000, but the business suffers an $80,000 loss, the photographer's bottom line "profit" is actually a loss of $20,000.

You can make even more sense of this calculation by comparing your owner's compensation + net profit number to the PPA benchmark (from PPA's Benchmark Survey). By doing so, you'll see where you should be aiming for a healthy bottom line!

• Get more help in making your numbers make sense by reading the latest benchmarks and findings from PPA's Benchmark Survey, including the PPA Business Handbook.


• Missed a step? Read these earlier blog articles on making your numbers make sense: Step 1, Step 2, Step 3.


• If you haven't already, now is the time to sign up for this year's Benchmark Survey. You can be a part of the only industry survey and analysis that helps photographers run better businesses.


• Remember: PPA's Studio Management Services (SMS) can also help you understand your real bottom line. 

Dear PPA Member,

If the stock market was a theme park, this week would be described as a haunted horror roller coaster. Stomachs across the world churned in unison with the dips and drops, and though I loathe saying it, it's not over. Please keep your seatbelts on, and your hands on the safety bar in front of you. It's going to be a long ride.

How will this tumultuous week impact the economy and our industry? More importantly, how will it impact you and your bottom line in the long run?

If you don't know what your true "bottom line" is, now is the time to find out.  In our continuing series on the PPA Benchmark Survey, this week we'll discuss how using the tools from said survey can help show you the real numbers and percentages of a profitable studio...and the goals you need to set for your own business.

While I love roller coasters in the real world, I'll stand in line for the kiddie choo-choo train when it comes to my own financial bottom line.  It's less scary on that ride (and you can eat cotton candy while you enjoy the scenery).

Cheers!
Christel Aprigliano
Director of Member Value & Experience

P.S. Don't forget to participate in the 2011 Benchmark Survey now. Do it by August 31, and you could win an iPad!