Disqus - Latest Comments for Taylor Davidson

Re: Review: Within The Frame, David Duchemin

Taylor Davidson — Tue, 19 May 2009 06:44:18 -0000

Great review of David's heartfelt book; the only thing I wanted to add is that is that it's more than just a "rare glimpse" at David's heart, but instead an extended look to add to what David shares in his blog. Thank you...

Re: A Child’s Desktop

Taylor Davidson — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 12:30:44 -0000

Perhaps the cost to to our own self-image; testing new styles invites failure that not everyone has the self-confidence to accept. The odd thing is that one of the most important things for a photographer is to define "their style", but at the same time not let "their style" define or limit themselves.

It's a funny game of balance we play...

Re: A BR and 5D MKII update.

Taylor Davidson — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 01:37:32 -0000

Wow, I can only imagine the combination of bemusement and happiness when you found out it works :)

I love my BlackRapid, but I use an extra bit of string to tie in the swivel connector to my tripod mount because I don't trust the gate. To each their own, I tend to be a bit over-protective about things like that.

But I would love the new swivel locking ConnectR-2...

Re: Guest Post: Wedding Clothes

Taylor Davidson — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 18:00:32 -0000

I've encountered the exact same problem with events in India and Lebanon. It can be pretty uncomfortable to step outside our comfort zones and wear another culture's traditional dress.

I've always depended on friends to pick out the right clothes for the events, but even if everyone is wearing the salwar kameez I'd still prefer to wear a suit, simply because a suit is "me". Many will probably disagree, but part of me feels that wearing another culture's traditional dress is a bit disrespectful to them.

I know that it's important to be respectful of other cultures and adopt behaviors and dress to fit in, but I find that it's not and either / or question: all cultures have to make room to accept others' traditions.

Re: Conversational fluidity: using the FriendFeed river

Taylor Davidson — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 11:19:48 -0000

I know I'm returning to an old post, but it's been a subject on my mind for awhile, and with a recent crop of articles on the web about the value of user-generated content and our current processes for filtering and deciphering the noise, I found this to be an interesting discussion.

We constantly hear the refrain that there is too much "stuff" being created on the web, that blogging is dead, that real thought is being pushed behind the noise of daily trivial conversations. So what? How is that different from how we've ever interacted? What's different now is that our localized, trivial, ephemeral conversations are no longer localized or ephemeral, but permanent, stored, logged for everyone to see, index, search. They are still trivial :)

I've been having a conversation close to this topic with @bryanlanders about how to present our data to other people; how do we present information and hold conversations in methods and manners preferred by the users and not the creators (site owners)?

There is no monolithic right answer and probably never will be. Some will want to dip into the stream at times, others will want to be constantly engaged in real-time, while others will want to come back to things they may have missed, and those different interaction methods create the need for different filtering tools and processes. We have different levels for "too much", "too public", "too private", "too trivial" et. al.

We each create our own filtering systems for our own lives, and while there is great scope for innovation in the area of conversational tracking and management, the key will be less about creating the "right" method but in making sure that all our filtering methods and conversational tools work together.

Re: How To Use Social Networking To Get A Date

Taylor Davidson — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 14:16:26 -0000

But think if Twitter could match up substance better; everyone that uses the web (including Twitter) creates a lot of information about themselves that could be very powerful to use in matching up people.

We don't need to replace the serendipity of life, just add to it...

(an old thought: http://twitter.com/tdavidson/status/1000937745 )

Taylor Davidson's last blog post..Be Undeniably Good

Re: Time for something new in online advertising

Taylor Davidson — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 17:02:29 -0000

Continuing down the path of existing advertising models is simply throwing more and more money at less and less attention. "VRM" is a criminally under-invested opportunity. The industry needs different, not new...

Re: For Android’s sake Google should push the operators harder

Taylor Davidson — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 14:16:28 -0000

It's interesting to note that this is a multi-turn game, an ongoing negotiation / arm-wrenching, not a static, one-time decision.

My bet is that Google knows they have to start prying open the carriers' control over handset applications, and that this arrangement is just the first step. Perhaps showing operators, developers and consumers the potential of a true open market will open their minds and eyes.

Remember the game Google played with the C-Block licenses in the US spectrum auctions...

Re: We live in difficult times - but keep your eyes on the prize

Taylor Davidson — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 12:18:37 -0000

Less opportunity for the mediocre to ride the bubble, but just as much opportunity for the great. The fact remains that startups are created to solve problems and problems still exist during recessions: in fact economic turbulence creates a multitude of problems to be addressed.

Re: Where music has gone movies and books will follow

Taylor Davidson — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 17:23:39 -0000

I would argue photographs are digital goods that reached a level of creation and distribution digitally far faster than music.

The bigger question around digital goods is how they can and will be disaggregated and recombined in short and long form mediums...

Re: How to Surf Life: Attorney Turned Surf Guru

Taylor Davidson — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 02:58:53 -0000

Life is an adventure if you make it a priority.

Managing priorities is more important than managing time, a point you've proved (and am continuing to prove) to many,,,

Re: The Economy is Falling Apart, Should I Travel?

Taylor Davidson — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 06:56:39 -0000

Think about it: it's a great time!

I'll admit that most of your individual situation in your job is probably unaffected by outside economic variables, but you probably won't be giving away much upside potential while being unemployed in a downturn.

Most of the upside potential (raises, promotions, new jobs at higher salaries) would come during better macro-economic times as companies use external variables to justify changes like that.

And then once (if?) the recession pasts, it'll be easier to fund a job anyway...

Re: Traveling the World: Getting Started

Taylor Davidson — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 13:18:05 -0000

Planning ahead of time is perhaps the most important point: but it's also the biggest holdup. Finding the balance between planning everything out and being open to serendipity is tough, but fun.

Right now I'm having fun convincing my parents to keep my unused (but needed at some point in the future!) stuff in their garage...

Re: How Travel Mexico for Under $45 a Day

Taylor Davidson — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:32:57 -0000

I'm with Matt: $45 is pretty easy, even staying in hotels (outside of the urban centers like Mexico City).

I agree with all the points on how to live and get around. My parents (who are by no means "backpackers") travel in Mexico for months at a time and live pretty easy in that range. Which shows how easy it can be...

Re: The Psychology of Coming Home

Taylor Davidson — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 18:35:01 -0000

Bouncing between cultures, between bubbles, even between cliques or groups of people with ingrained, inflexible shared values and beliefs, is always tough.

Perhaps the only group we really "belong to" is that group of similar travelers...

Re: A Look at the Life Less Planned

Taylor Davidson — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 23:47:37 -0000

Christine: Oddly enough, I think I did the exact same thing when I got to Puerto Vallarta last year: I took the right bus the wrong way from the airport and ended up in some small little town in the mountains rather than old town Puerto Vallarta. When the bus stopped in the small town and everyone got off, I tried to ask the bus driver if they were going back the other way, failed, and just waited until a new driver came in, shook his head, and started driving. There was a couple anxious minutes :)

The full story: http://www.taylordavidson.com/writing/2007/05/1...

Amazing...

Re: Quit your Job. Travel the World. Then What?

Taylor Davidson — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 19:47:32 -0000

When you're traveling long-term, it's no longer a trip, it's just life; and that simple difference changes your entire approach and frame.

Actually deciding what you want to do every day and doing it has an enormous impact on forcing you to determine priorities and figure out if those wishes are really nothing but wishes; it's not easy, but it's worth it.

Re: Want to Sail Around the World? Save Your Pennies.

Taylor Davidson — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 03:10:45 -0000

Cruising can be a great lifestyle; some people only do it for a couple years, for others it is a life. I've seen the life first-hand: my parents took my brother and I to the Bahamas for a year on the family sailboat when I was in middle school and I sampled the cruising life as a child, perhaps the best life experience I have ever had. People talk about the equipment, but it's the attitude and mindset that is far more important.

Someday I'd like to cruise for a bit myself...

Re: Watching Someone Discover Travel

Taylor Davidson — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 18:54:23 -0000

Discovering travel is an amazing thing. I've been intermittently living that life forever; I probably discovered that life when I was 13 in the Bahamas, but I seem to "re-recognize" and value the experiences of travel in a new way every time :)

Re: Should, Should, Should I Travel?

Taylor Davidson — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 12:31:20 -0000

I'll second Matt; most people just want answers. But we all have different goals, commitments, value structures, backgrounds and experiences, there will never be a single answer to "should I travel"; thus thank you Christine for continuing to share many of your own questions and answers.

Re: The Traveler’s Grapevine: Trip Planning Via Word of Mouth

Taylor Davidson — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 11:41:33 -0000

Talking to fellow travelers is so ridiculously important. I always take advantage of the gossip at hostels, full of ideas of places to go. I've traveled without guidebooks a fair bit, and asking around (locals, travelers, etc.) has always worked out.

As other commenters have pointed out, creating plans that leave room for flexibility to take advantage of recommendations and word of mouth might be the most important...

Re: Your Photos Now Featured in Facebook Ads

Taylor Davidson — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 02:42:12 -0000

I have an odd feeling this won't be the last terms of service change that will upset users...

Re: Review: “Free: the Future of a Radical Price”

Taylor Davidson — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:10:01 -0000

Actually, you don't have to buy it: Chris released it free to the web. You can download it here: http://www.longtail.com/the_long_tail/2009/07/f...

Re: The Marginal Cost of Creativity & Free

Taylor Davidson — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 05:13:40 -0000

A small note: many of the costs you point out as marginal costs are actually fixed costs.

Once a photograph is created, the marginal costs of production and distribution are far more important in guiding market prices than the largely sunk costs of creating said photograph.

Agreed, a "marginal cost of creativity" does exist, but there is a huge difference in how fixed and marginal costs impact our business models.

Re: The Marginal Cost of Creativity & Free

Taylor Davidson — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 05:18:55 -0000

Freemium definitely has a place for an individual photographer.

Jim, isn't this blog essentially a freemium product? Is writing a blog, with thoughts, news and photos available to readers for free (with upsell opportunities to stock and assignments), a good business decision for you?

Re: The Marginal Cost of Creativity & Free

Taylor Davidson — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 09:54:30 -0000

Jim, agreed, you're not using freemium. But you are using free.

You're creating and distributing content and context with a price of free. Doing this creates reputation and markets yourself, and this creates opportunities for selling other products. You're using free as a pricing tactic as part of your business strategy.

I want to be clear: that's not a negative thing, that's how creating in public works.

I'll admit that doesn't make it a freemium product; I used "essentially freemium" too loosely, since one can use free pricing tactics outside of a freemium business model. Since your free product isn't the same as your paid product, I'll admit it's not freemium. But it's not far off.

"The concept of freemium as I’m sure you know is that 80% of a content/service product is accessed for free while 20% (paying subscribers) pay for additiona/lmore advanced content/services."

To be clear, the % split between paid and free products in a freemium business strategy is determined by the marginal benefits and costs of the free and paid products. No reason for it to be any particular %, other than the fact that we associate freemium as a high % of the free product supported by a small % of the paid product.

Re: The Marginal Cost of Creativity & Free

Taylor Davidson — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 10:14:46 -0000

I think we're getting a bit crossed on terminology, and missing the finer grain that I meant to draw out, but didn't.

"Photography" is a broad industry with many different products: assignments, stock, workshops et. al.

Each of those products has different cost structures with different key cost components (like the ones you laid out in this post). Each of those types of costs have fixed and marginal costs embedded in them.

For an assignment shoot, time is a marginal cost. For stock photography, time is a fixed cost, since the investment one makes in time is an investment that is amortized over future sales.

For an assignment, the cost to deliver the images is a marginal cost. For stock, the cost to deliver the images is fixed, the cost to get into an agency, on the web, available for sale, is fixed.

Be careful that "capital expenses" is a term used to describe investments that are amortized over time or product use, thus they are considered fixed costs. But obviously some equipment costs are fixed (e.g. buying cameras, lenses to use over many shoots), and some are marginal (e.g. equipment rentals, film).

But these are just clarifications to your main point, which is that creating and delivering an image has many different activities with their own components of cost, and that it is important to think about the true marginal costs of all of our activities instead of simply assuming it will be free.

However, the market will not compensate us for all of these activities. Some of these activities, by the nature of competition in a highly competitive market, will be driven to prices equal to or near marginal cost (and for many activities, marginal cost = zero) unless we use highly differentiated assets to compete: experience, brilliance, ability to execute, ability to create something nobody else could create, etc.

I won't speak for you, but I think that is what you were trying to say in this post.

Just be careful with terminology :)

Re: The Value of Free: Where Is It?

Taylor Davidson — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 11:17:24 -0000

I have seen many creatives interpret free to mean that all intellectual property is meant to be free, and thus the only result is that everything should be given away for free, forever, to everyone. Obviously, that's simply wrong, and thanks for not perpetuating that myth :)

1) Could you clarify or expand on "art ... excels in a market of scarcity"? Could I equate art to "highly differentiated content"?

2) "your ability to make a profit using models outlined in Free are dependent on your ability to pursue a volume business model."

Not really. If you consider free as a marketing tactic and a pricing strategy, leveraging the principles of free is largely independent of scale or volume of the revenue-side of the business, and more important to the cost-side. Remember the issue isn't really scale to the entire market, just scale to one's addressable market: small and large companies need not play in the same, homogenous market.

The far more important part of evaluating how to use "free" in a business plan is determining *what* you sell, not *how much* of it you sell.

3) One issue with Cuban's argument: "free" IS one way to develop a customer base, if you use it as a marketing strategy and have other, non-free products to sell. "Free" is not a binomial "yes, I'll use it v. no, I won't use it" choice, but merely one tactic among many in one's business strategy.

4) You're spot on that the key is to evaluate the time, cost, and expected returns from strategies using "free" before blindly diving in. Too few creatives are thinking about the nuances of free and how trends largely beyond their control are changing their businesses. Fighting the "problem" of free won't get anyone anywhere.

Re: Think Tank Shape Shifter Review Part II

Taylor Davidson — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 06:42:41 -0000

Thanks for linking the design to one's style of shooting, it's a pretty important point when thinking about a product's value and worth.

(Btw, I like the video format. Perhaps you could also write down a couple points to highlight your main thoughts and help people skim? Just an idea.)

Re: Pillars of Social Media: Reputation, Trust and Influence

Taylor Davidson — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 06:13:56 -0000

"In 1, 3, 5 or 10 years the seeds you plant now may have a cascading impact to your reputation, perceived trustworthiness, influence and ability to convert online activity to revenue."

Exactly. Using a finance term, these "seeds" are called "real options", investments taken today without the obligation to continue indefinitely creates the right, not the commitment, to undertake a business decision in the future.

Real options have value, in both the strategic and measurable financial sense, in that investments in the present create the opportunities for future cash flows.

These potential cash flows have value, but it’s impossible to accurately predict or create them without making investments in the present.

Even though we may not know the exact returns today, this long-term "influence" will have value in the future. The only way to build long-term returns are to start now.

(also, note that ROI is often a poor metric for evaluating financial returns. I know we use it in a loose sense to mean "return on investment", but in finance it has a specific definition and is only one way of many to measure financial returns.)

Re: Pillars of Social Media: Reputation, Trust and Influence

Taylor Davidson — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 11:43:22 -0000

Really? I love how exposing conversations to more surface area brings in more people and thoughts. I've learned a tremendous amount from loose connections formed through eavesdropping via social media over the last couple years.

But it's a valid and important point: we will all use social media differently, with different goals, degrees of openness, etc. That's the beauty of the open-access, publication/subscription, asynchronous communication platform of the web; we can use the same platforms but define very different ways to use them, each of us finding and creating our own web.

(I know you know this, but if you're worried about companies/people "spying" on Twitter you can always make it private...)