camforbes

[camforbes]

Oh.... I wanna build one of these! Could you imagine the kind of trouble you could get into with this?!

[camforbes]

Happy Mother's Day

[camforbes]

Very cool video showing a bike being made from steel, by hand, at Soulcraft Bikes up in Petaluma. Awesome camera work, killer music... great vid.

[camforbes]

A few photos from old town this weekend. 

#hot rods, #Canon 5D #canon5d mkII #kustom kulture #rat rods #von dutch #rod run #temecula rod run

[camforbes]

Unwritten Law’s new album “Swan” hits stores March 29.

[camforbes]

Shoulda Known Better by Unwritten Law (Scott Russo), performed at a private party at The Nest on Nightingale on 03.11.2011. Thanks to Pitchers Poison for the invite. 

#nest on nightingale, #rock, #acoustic #iphone video #iphone4 #punk #unwritten law #pitchers poison

[camforbes]

I Like The Way by Unwritten Law, performed at a private party at The Nest on Nightingale on 03.11.2011. Thanks to Pitchers Poison for the invite. 

#nest on nightingale, #Canon 5D #acoustic #iphone video #iphone4 #punk #unwritten law #pitchers poison

[camforbes]

Starships & Apocalypse by Unwritten Law, performed at a private party at The Nest on Nightingale on 03.11.2011. Thanks to Pitchers Poison for the invite. 

#nest on nightingale, #rock, #acoustic #canon 5d #iphone video #iphone4 #punk #unwritten law #pitchers poison

[camforbes]

Token Dude.

I've been putting off this post for a few days because I still can't seem to find the words... Well that and a pair of 13-hour days earlier this week back at the office. 

Wendy & Tyler are Blue Lily. 

I had the opportunity to spend some time learning from them this past weekend with 9 "chicks" from all over North America. I was the token dude... which was actually kinda fun.

(Of course I had to tone down my brutish ways and not scratch myself or unleash any earsplitting burps... which typically refrain from in polite company anyway... usually.)

So I submit to you, my fellow GoPros... 

Kelly, Nikki, Debbie, Cynthia, Trish, Megan, Crystal, Dana, Me, Wendy & Tyler (front)

A few years back I bought my first dSLR camera and fell in love with it and the images that spilled out onto my computer. I loved it so much I upgraded, thinking a better camera would probably take better pictures. But as I started learning more about the craft I knew I needed more... more knowledge... more skill... and a better all around understanding of photography. You can only do so much reading, so I started asking questions of the people I admire the most. JoeyL, the Bluelilies, John Riedy... 

But I knew I would learn the most in a truly immersive experience, and when Wendy & Tyler told me about their GoPro workshops I jumped in with both feet. 

Yes it seems weird to have a photography workshop in a beach house with floor to ceiling windows overlooking the mighty Pacific alongside 10 other people... seemed kinda like an AA meeting at first... or a bible study. But as we got into it all the awkwardness faded away. 

By the end of the first day my head was spinning. I got home that evening and was gushing to Jewels about all the stuff I learned. In her words I was "glowing". 

At the end of the second day my world was rocked. When I got home that night I didn't even know what to say. How can you explain it to someone who wasn't there? 

Ahhh... pictures. What is it they say? Every picture tells a story? 

Duh! The whole reason we were there, right? 

The most photographed bowl of M&M's (working on my depth of field)

Meg - Rockstar Blogger

Nikki - The Muse from Seattle

Group shot caught in awesome morning light

The Nikon Grrrls.... 

Wendy, demonstrating the proper "Arctic Butterfly" technique... (don't ask)

Tyler, my new Senpai... (how's that for an obscure reference!)

I was eager to try out my new skillz, so I ran the family through Old Town on Sunday for a Speed Shoot after going to the movies. 

too. much. fun.

Looking forward to GoPro2... which should probably be called "WentPro"... no? 

All for now. 

#blue lily #meg duerksen #oliverblue #crystalb #canon 5d #canon5d mkII #bunglaow56 #daisys & dots #enlighten gopro #icalltheshot #arctic butterfly

[camforbes]

sick.

[camforbes]

Julie and I hanging out in the pool.

[camforbes]

Coffee That Doesn't Suck.

Coffee. One area where Americans still suck.  

er, shall I say "Good Coffee". We just don't do it right.  

I know, I know... our culture turned coffee into fast food with Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts, Gloria Jeans and the rest.  

Now before I got all "coffee snobbery" (which is NOT my intention) allow me to elaborate. 

When I was in Europe last, I had some of the best coffee I've ever tasted.

Ever. 

Here in the US, we're fascinated by SPEED - usually (but not always) at the sacrifice of QUALITY. 

(although I have to admit, some people do take it a bit too far!)

Case in point - we have a Keurig coffee maker at home. Plop in a capsule, hit the button, and you have a good cup o' joe right away. Not bad. 

But coffee is supposed to be a process, a routine... a ritual. 

We simply take it for granted. Hit a button and "poof!"... coffee. 

As a gadget lover I think that's badass. A triumph of technology over ground beans!

So this afternoon when I went into Williams-Sonoma I had the opportunity to sample this little gem: 

Nestle's "Nespresso". 

Same concept as the Keurig, just with Espresso... or as I like to call it - "REAL COFFEE". 

The shopkeeper, Shannon asked if I'd like to try one.

("duh! yeah!") 

She plopped in the little capsule and BAM! a few seconds later I had a Cafe Americano that rivaled anything I consumed anywhere in Paris, London or Germany. 

...in seconds. 

Oh, I want. 

#coffee

[camforbes]

7 yellowtail, 1 dorado & 1 pacific salmon

that's not my sushi order, but what we caught off punta gorda today. yep, we were in fish all morning. good times!

[camforbes]

Elegant Simplicity

You may have heard the term "Elegant Solution" before. In math, science and engineering it's when the maximum desired effect is achieved with the smallest or simplest effort. 

It's time to find the elegant solution for our businesses. There's no reason why selling online should be difficult - in fact, it isn't... unless you allow it to be difficult, that is. 

Over the past year I've been striving to find simplicity in my business, and life. So far, I've failed miserably. Things have gotten overly complex, scattered and held together with duct tape and popsicle sticks (which are not part of an elegant solution unless the problem involves taping ducts or frozen juice!)

Here's just a few brief examples of the mess I've created... 

I've got minisites spread across 3 different hosting accounts (Media Temple, Bluehost and WestHost)

I own 78 domains - 5 domains at Network Solutions and 73 at GoDaddy

My business can take payments via check, Square, Authorize.net, PayPal and/or Amazon Payments

I'm running sites built in plain HTML, the BFM script, Rapid Action Profits, and Amember

I belong to over 27 affiliate networks!

But it all started out so easy! 

When I first started selling online I had 2 accounts - eBay and PayPal. 

Then I added ClickBank and a hosting account. 

...and of course a few more domains. 

...then added a few affiliate networks, and aweber account, and tons of software products. 

It snowballed to the point where it's almost unmanageable. 

You won't hear this from the guru's - it suits their image to have you to think that everything's under control and wonderfully orchestrated from start to finish.

I'll tell you it's not. Running your web business can be a tangled skein of software, hardware, hosting, plugins and more... way more. 

Sure, I'm making money online. That much is great. I wish it was more! 

However, running these little e-businesses has gotten to a point where I can no longer focus enough of my energy on my core consulting/IT business - and that's the one that really brings home the bacon for me and my family. 

So here's my plan. 

Over the next 30-60 days (after I get back from Cabo, that is...) I'll be making some major changes. 

First, I will eliminate or cancel my accounts at affiliate networks that constitute less than 20% of my affiliate revenue (80/20 rule). 

I'm going to consolidate hosting accounts and remove sites that are not actively contributing to my online income - again using the 80/20 rule. 

I'm going to rebuild and relaunch a few of my best-producing products. Namely the Consulting Startup Kit, Marketing in Minutes, Niche Dominator, 5 Minute Minisites and Minute Sites. 

Additionally, I'm moving away from Infusionsoft, which I only started using a year ago this month. 

Infusionsoft made some great promises - handling autoresponders, list management and segregation, ecommerce shopping carts and order forms, and many other things. In all, it's a great tool - but too complex for what I need.  

If it's too complex, it doesn't fit with the new regime and must be eliminated. As an autoresponder, I've moved to MailChimp - it's super easy to manage and I was able to get an unreal deal on per campaign pricing. 

I'm also getting rid of Authorize.net. Again, too complex. 

Instead I'll be sticking with PayPal, ClickBank and Amazon - using each to the best of it's abilities. 

I started this web business for fun, as a hobby. I'm blessed that it's grown well beyond my wildest imagination, but I need to bring it back under control. 

What about you? Got any ideas? 

#life, #business #consulting #simplicity

[camforbes]

Last year Ben Pluimer interviewed for a TV job, and was asked if he'd ever directed or shot car chases. He said yes, went home, shot this, and sent it back to them. He didn't get the job.

[camforbes]

Very cool video shot with 2 Canon 5d MkII's one overexposed and one underexposed. The results are pretty damn cool.

#5dMkII, #5dvideos #canon

[camforbes]