Advance Notes: "Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday." -Don Marquis. Here are some management tips that will help you avoid the dreaded "procrastination."

Photo Research is a business, and by applying the same management techniques that are used by successful businesses, you can master the monster. Here are some self-management principles for the small-business entrepreneur:

GET IT DONE. It’s easy to slip into the habit of narcotizing yourself with the evening news or a sitcom. Change your habits. Buy a $5.95 quartz alarm to beep the same time every evening to remind you, and others in your household that it’s “Photo Marketing Time.” (By the way, I haven’t watched a TV news program since 2001. I rely on weekly news magazines for my information on current issues.)

SPECIALIZE. Creative people often do themselves in because they are interested in many areas. Choose a select few of your high interest areas and specialize. You’ll become known as a valuable resource to specific photobuyers in these areas.

ASK AROUND. Don’t reinvent the wheel. There’s a goldmine of information waiting for you out there to tap, for example on PhotoSource International’s bulletin board, The Kracker Barrel. Or, with the entrepreneur next door who’s already been there. He knows the pitfalls and the obstacles, especially if he’s failed. Everyone loves to be an expert. Weigh his opinions against others, and then come to a consensus. If you don’t want to consult a local competitor, phone someone in another similar-sized city that is travelling the same highway.

ELIMINATE THE LOSERS. Take time to analyze what’s working for you and what’s not. Parts of your business are moneymakers, others are not. Don’t let sentiment or the tired phrase, “We’ve always done it this way,” drag you down.

LOOK LIKE A PRO. A “better mousetrap” will not insure your product’s success. Employ delivery techniques of the 21st century. You don’t get a second chance at a first impression. If you want first class treatment from your clients, give them first class treatment. Invest in deluxe stationary, labels, and (white) mailing cartons. Get into the digital era.

DO YOUR HOMEWORK. Jumping in with two feet and enthusiasm is fun and romantic, but unless you’ve checked to see if water is in the pool, you’re in for some disappointments. If your enthusiasm is still high after you’ve done your research, you’ve got a winner.

UNDERSTANDING MARKETING. Your product will sell if you position yourself effectively. Super umbrellas won’t sell on sunny day, but poor ones will sell easily in the rain. Your success in the next millennium will be built on not only the worth of your expertise to your customers, but your ability to find these customers’ needs and fill them.

RELAX. Some of your best self-management comes when you are not managing yourself. Develop a deep interest in some hobby or pastime that has no relationship to your professional picture business. You’ll find the time spent away from your enterprise will afford you a fresh approach and new insights.

BE BUDGET-MINDED. Mind your cash flow, to pay the office and Internet bills. Don’t fall into the Madison Avenue trap of buying a new car, new clothes, new office equipment, over the counter drugs, high-calorie ‘goodies’, and other creature comforts that are supposed to make your life fulfilling. If you donate your cash to these dollar-gobblers, you have no excuse to say, “the cost of operating a business is too high.”

FAIL BUT DON’T QUIT. Are you afraid you are not going to make it? Fear of failing is one of the greatest deterrents to beginners in the photo-marketing field. That’s why not too many succeed; they never get up after they’ve been knocked down. Most successful people in any field have failed many times. The difference between them and the ones who fail is that the ones who “make it” never quit. Many of the success stories are still in business not because they are extra good, but because the rest of the competition gave up and quit.

PLAY NOT WORK. There’s a saying; “The luckiest people sweat the most.” Yes, it’s going to mean long hours. But don’t translate that to mean work. If you love what you’re doing, it’s mostly play.

START TODAY. Most people spend their time preparing, rather than doing. “One for the money, two for the show, three to get ready, four to get ready, five to get ready…” Take the leap. Start today.

Rohn Engh, veteran stock photographer and publisher of “PhotoRESEARCHER Newsletter,” has provided on-line targeted information for photobuyers, photo researchers and editors for two decades. No other newsletter brings photobuyers such up-to-the minute, practical information from an experienced picture professional intimately familiar with both sides of the stock photo desk. For more info: http://www.photosource.com/photobuyer/.