RAE LEYTHAM PHOTOGRAPHY

So those of you who have been following our blog for a while  know that I like to do my annual January rant.  I don’t have a lot to rant about this year though which is one reason this is six weeks overdue.  2009 was a good year to us.  This blog had over 64,000 hits last year.  We photographed some really great weddings, met a lot of nice people, and finished up a couple of things that had been weighing us down for the last 4 years.  The wedding industry is booming, and we started 2010 with more bookings than ever.  We consider 30 weddings a full year, and we already had 24 retainers for 2010 on January 1, with a few more since then.  We are actually going to have to expand this year and hire some help for the first time ever.  We are very blessed to do what we love so much and have so much fun doing.  I cannot imagine our life any other way at this point in time.

The only thing I can really complain about for 2009 is that we noticed a lot of bad business out there.  I’m not sure if it’s the economy just making everyone sour, or the fact too many spoiled brats are working their way into powerful corporate positions now.  I am absolutely shocked at how immature and nasty a lot of people, especially business owners seem to be these days.  We had a couple of situations last year that would make you stand back and go “Wow”.  I had a couple of people lie to my face while I had proof they were lying to me.  We were extremely disappointed in how much we had invested in these  companies to be treated so poorly and basically told they didn’t need our business.  The days of “The customer is always right” seem to be long gone.  That is exactly how I choose not to run our business.  Like Conan said on his last Tonight Show recently, I believe that if you are a good person and treat people with respect and kindness, you will achieve great things.  That is how I hope every one of our clients perceive their relationship with us.  We appreciate all of you and know what a huge investment your wedding photography is.  We DO NOT take that for granted, and we want you to have no doubts that our services are above and beyond what you expected from the beginning.  We started this business because we knew there had to be a better way for our jobs to be satisfying every single day while treating people better than we were being treated at work.  While that now equates to 55 hr work weeks and a couple of all-nighters weekly to get things done, it is worth it to me to make sure I am not “that guy” or “that business” who just doesn’t care.  I’m very non-confrontational (my friends may say otherwise), but I’m encouraging everyone this year to hold businesses accountable for their actions.  If you know you returned that movie on time and the spoiled 20 year old guy at the video store wants to argue with you, smack him around a little bit.  If you know  your car payment was paid on time and the bank says it wasn’t, smack them around a little bit.  If you’re having trouble with a business and they won’t return your calls or e-mails, smack them around a little bit!  Stand up if you’re right!  I’m tired of common courtesy being something from the past and a computer on the other end of the phone line or some guy from India telling me there’s nothing they can do.  It doesn’t have to be that way……So feel free to call on us, where Rae’s warm southern accent with a pleasant attitude will be glad to tell you what we CAN do for you.  Because we appreciate you, and our promise is to make sure you know that