Lessons learned in a good week

It’s been an exciting week in a number of respects, but the old adage of “you can please some of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time” has certainly come into play.

That’s a saying I guess everybody has heard, but little knocks act as a constant reminder of that simple fact of life and you have to use such moments as a learning experience. In my case, once the ranting at myself is out of the way, I tend to get on with things, remembering the lessons.

Having said that, this week’s knock only came about because I have had a successful time of it as far as my photography is concerned and that is what I will remember when I put my feet up this weekend.

On two days running, I had my photographs published in one of the North East’s top newspapers, The Journal. On Wednesday, a photograph of an Associate at a client’s firm was featured heavily alongside a story I had sent them about his promotion to that status – full colour, no less. While it wasn’t the first time I have had a photograph published in the regional press, it was a great start to the day, nonetheless.

On the following day, The Journal ran a double page spread on another client of our firm, with another photograph spanning the pages.

While I would love to tell you that both clients were overjoyed, the aforementioned knock of the week came from a couple of individuals at the firm in the first instance being unhappy at some of the content of the photograph. While agreed by the subject, this particular content was deemed to give a slightly stuffy image by others in the firm.

Due to their generally being a delight to work with, the knock was hard to take, but the lesson simple: communication and preparation are the key to customer satisfaction.

Back to positivity, and the week will also finish on a bright note this evening with the third heat of the Battle of the Bands being run by Shildon Rox at Shildon Civic Hall. Day job-willing, I’m looking forward to being able to get along and do some snaps; who knows, one of those performing tonight could be the eventual winner of the photo shoot with myself – one of a number of great prizes up for grabs.

Visit http://www.myspace.com/shildonrox for more info!

Paul