Answers to 4 Great Questions + Why I Love/Hate Coffee

Hey friends – Time is flying. We’re already at episode 10 of the new #cjRAW, and frankly speaking, I’m just getting warmed up.

Boom.

Onto this week’s episode where I’m AGAIN answering YOUR questions, just like Episode 02..AAAAANNNNDD…. While selecting questions for this episode, I noticed more and more questions coming in were starting with “Hey Chase”… So that got me thinking … what if you/everyone just tags their questions with #HeyChase it’ll be easier for me to find YOUR questions to answer them in future episodes. So, starting today, if you have questions, please use the hashtag #HeyChase and that’ll help me pull them for future episodes!. Ok then. Without further ado, let’s get to those questions:

Q: How did you get over the fear of taking street portraits without being too intrusive?

Thing #1 – Previously on the blog, I wrote a 5-step guide to street photography, and there’s a bunch of goodness there. So check that out first and foremost.

Thing #2 – Smile when you’re on the street. Not a creepy, stalky smile, but a warm one. Simply having your camera out and giving a nod and a smile gesturing that you’d like to take a photo is a great early step regardless of the language.

Thing #3 – If you are in a place where you speak the language, a short, tight, dialog like … Hi, my name is _______ and I’m doing a project on _______ (or I’m an aspiring photographer) Can I borrow 20 seconds to take your picture? This is a technique my pal Brandon Stanton uses for his project Humans of New York. We chat a bit about it on an episode of cjLIVE. The main thing is, don’t be a creepy stalker person that takes a photo and then acts weird when someone notices. Start with a smile, and that will go a long way.

Q: What do you think about coffee?

So first thing is first. I love coffee. Love it. I can even say that I think I have abused it at different times in my life. But…when a few of you asked this question from episode 07 on my morning routine I did not mention it. Why no mention? I did not mention it because here’s the real deal: I don’t think it should ever be a daily requirement. Keeping in mind that “should” can sometimes be wishful. Personally coffee is my preferred morning beverage (in addition to water), but I sometimes I have tea, and sometimes I have nothing BUT water…and say I get that same buzz from exercise and without the caffeine. I’m not trying to sound saintly here, but I know from personal experience, research, and others around me that coffee as a must have (anything for that matter as a must have) is not desirable.

Q: Can you talk about a time where you realized you could not fly solo and needed to hire a team?

First, if you’re an individual / independent artist, hiring people as full time crew is a huge step. I look at it as being personally responsible for the income of another and their family, so look at it carefully to make sure you REALLY need that person and if there is the income & flow to support that long term. If not, hiring crew members on a per project basis is a really great way to go. You can budget rates into your projects, see how it is working with them, and start learning to collaborate as a team.

If you do have the ability to keep someone busy full time, then make sure you’ve connected with the right resources to make sure you understand the various nuggets in payroll, taxes, and other rules & regulations. Sounds lame, but those rules are there for a reason. Once you’ve done that, create a job description to set clear idea of what you’re looking for. Source people you trust by using your network, narrow down candidates to those who align with you & your business values, and have gone through an interview process that demonstrates they are competent to do the job & are one the same page as you.

Q: What tools are you using for being productive, keeping ideas, and inspirations?

Thing #1 – I LOVE, love, love Evernote. It’s an everything digital file cabinet that’s always synced to the cloud. You can take a picture, take a screenshot, record something and tag it. I’ve been using it for YEARS, almost since the beginning of time. It’s a great tool that I carry with me on my computer and phone. You can type notes, upload photos, and it even turn graphic documents into searchable type. For example, you can take a picture of a business card and the text becomes searchable. I use it for notes, reflections on mtgs, agendas the next mtg, notes from the shoot, brand ideas from something I saw, etc. I use it 10x per day minimum. Everyday.

Thing #2 –– I still love a great notebook. Moleskin, Field Notes or similar. Something I can carry around to sketch in and draw.

OK friends. There you have it. Links and other goodness from this Episode are below. Cheers.

Links from the Episode

Money + Business for Creatives with Ramit Sethi
Evernote
Humans of New York
cjLIVE
cjRAW EP07 – My Morning Routine

What’s Covered

Tag your questions #HeyChase [0:29] How do you overcome the fear of [0:53] What I think about coffee [2:56] Transitioning from a solo artist to building a team [4:57] Tools I use for being productive [10:48]