When PPA’s Imaging USA national convention is held in New Orleans on January 15-17, attendees will learn what some of the top-earning studios in the nation already know: Charitable Marketing is one of the best ways for all photographers — from rookies to veterans — to connect with the kind of consumers who are willing to spend disposable income on photography. So mark your calendar NOW for this can’t-miss program:

The Power of Charity – Sunday, January 15 — 9:00 – 10:30 A.M.

What You’ll Learn . . .

The program will include the following speakers who will explain how charitable marketing is a key strategy for keeping their businesses in the public eye and for driving qualified consumers to their door:

Sarah Petty enjoys a worldwide audience of boutique studio owners whom she helps to grow their small businesses through her keen insights and enthusiasm for marketing. A highly acclaimed speaker, author, MBA and coach who has literally inspired thousands of photographers, Sarah will show you how to generate publicity through charitable marketing. She’ll discuss how to build your brand and have your market fall in love with you while also helping your favorite charity. Her expertise is based on over 20 years helping build the Coca-Cola brand, meeting the marketing goals of a top regional advertising agency’s clients, and building her own successful boutique photography studio into one of the most profitable in the country within just five years in business.

Beverly Walden is known internationally for both her photographic artistry and her sales and marketing expertise. She explains how charitable marketing fits into the high-end studio: “The Mission of Walden’s Photography is ‘to leave others better than we found them.’ What we have discovered is that we are changed for the better as well.” Beverly will explain how their work on behalf of Daniel’s Care, the pediatric division of Hospice of the Bluegrass helps to fulfill their mission by providing portraits of critically ill children and raising money for the indigent fund, which helps with medicines, supplies, gifts, car seats or whatever these families need that insurance doesn’t cover.

Mary Fisk-Taylor owns and operates two busy and successful studios in Richmond, Virginia. As President of PPA Charities and a proud wife and mother, her days are consumed with sessions, consultations, carpools and homework, but she still makes time for charitable marketing. Mary will discuss some quick and fun ways to create year-round charitable marketing promotions in your very own studio. These great tips are designed to keep sessions on the books, orders in house, and a great resource to fund their charity savings account. Mary and her team make it a goal each year to save as many smiles through PPA Charities and Operation Smile as they can, this year they are well on track to impact the lives of more children, all through the art of charitable marketing.

What You’ll Hear . . .

Former PPA President Ann Monteith will introduce a new nationwide charitable marketing promotion “Celebration of Smiles,” set for April 21, 2012, which is available to all PPA members. Be among the first to sign up for this vibrant charitable marketing event that is designed to:

• Gain the personal satisfaction that comes from knowing that you have taken a leadership position in your industry by standing together with like-minded professionals who have made the world a better place through their art.
• Establish your business as one that chooses to benefit a very appealing charity. Many well-qualified consumers prefer to do business with those who care about others, especially children.
• Attract new clients and encourage repeat business from existing clients.

Why You Will Be Inspired . . .

PPA is honored that Wiliam P. Magee Jr., DDS, MD, humanitarian and co-founder of Operation Smile, will be on hand to explain the impact photographers have made on the lives of children served by Operation Smile, the charitable partner of PPA Charities. Dr Magee is a leading plastic and craniofacial surgeon who founded Operation Smile in 1982 with his wife, Kathleen S. Magee, and serves as the organization’s Executive Chairman. In 2005, PPA Charities named Operation Smile as its charitable partner, noting that the organization is a perfect fit for photographers, whose daily business is creating smiles for their clients: Operation Smile’s mission is repairing childhood facial deformities including cleft lips and cleft palates through its network of global volunteers. To date, Operation Smile has treated more than 160,000 children worldwide and currently has programs in more than 50 partner countries, and Dr. Magee himself has trained thousands of physicians worldwide. A featured guest on many network television programs, Dr. Magee is also a keynote speaker at many corporate and national meetings.

Dr. Magee received the D.D.S. degree from the University of Maryland; the M.D. degree from George Washington University Medical School; served his general surgery residency at the University of Virginia Medical School; and received his plastic surgery training in Norfolk, Virginia. Awarded the Hays-Fulbright Scholar Grant from the Franco-American Commission, he studied in France with Dr. Paul Tessier, the father of craniofacial surgery. He has been published in numerous medical journals and medical texts and was honored by the American Medical Association and the American Plastic Surgery Society. Dr. Magee has received honorary doctorates from six universities; the American Medical Association honored him with its 2000 Pride in the Profession Award; and he received the Distinguished Service Award from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

Dr. Magee maintains a private practice in Norfolk and is Co-Director of The Institute for Craniofacial and Plastic Surgery in the Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters. He is an Associate Professor of Plastic Surgery at the Eastern Virginia Medical School.

In 2007, UNICEF presented the Magees with a special recognition on behalf of Operation Smile.