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Being me, I decided that if I was going to get into the photography business, I’d go the whole 9 yards. Here are the steps I’ve taken to become recognized as a business (it’s not 100% official, but I’m working towards it!)
- Registered to get a free Employer Identification Number with the federal government a.k.a. the IRS. It was an online process and rather painless. I opted to receive a one-time PDF download that contained my EIN number. This number is great because it allows you to do business without putting down your social security number (SSN) every time you do business with a vendor who requires an EIN or Tax Identification Number (TIN).
- Registration with the state is surprisingly more painful and I’m not completely clear on what needs to be done to be recognized by the state. I did visit the State Tax website and registered to pay taxes on whatever income (which is not existent at this point) I may earn.
 Registration with the county in which you are operational. What you actually need is a trade name application or a “fictitious name” application which allows you to ‘officially’ call yourself “J and J Photos” or in my case, Jane Ullah Photography. Thankfully, my county’s website was much saner than the State of Georgia’s so I have the paperwork and know what I need to get submitted i.e. 1 form indicating your operational business name which costs $30 and apparently, I’ll have to run an advert in the newspaper for 2 weeks which will also cost $$! Overall, I expected that I’d run into these administrative fees so I’m keeping meticulous records and planning on including these expenses on my Schedule C form for the tax year of 2010.- Rented a P.O. Box that will serve as my ‘official’ mailing address to receive correspondence. Mail meant for Jane Ullah Photography (fan me on Facebook!) should be addressed to: Jane Ullah Photography, P.O. Box 943 Athens GA 30603
- Designed and ordered business cards for my business! I’m pretty proud of the work I did on my business cards. I heartily recommend that you use UPrinting.com which gives you a chance to preview what your card will look like called a “proof” in the PDF file format! I can’t stress how helpful that free feature was and they ship the cards promptly too!
It’s clearly a work in progress, but I look forward to becoming a small business owner/sole employee! Of course, I *still* have my day-job which I like and will be keeping, thank you very much. 
Overall, it’s not as painful as I anticipated, but I’ll surely keep you informed if that viewpoint changes!
Wow! Everytime I promise to keep this blog updated, I end up not posting at all. So, I’m done with promises. Deal?  Good.
What have I been up to? Well, a LOT:
- At work, I have my hands full and while I love being busy and I love my job, but at time, how I long for the slightly-less-hectic days of fall. My year-end evaluation was great and reflected what I felt about my job/bosses and coworkers. I *am* blessed to have a job that lets me thrive and allows me to be able to leave the job at work & come home to do whatever else strikes my fancy like blog about technology, blog about my photos and work on my business (Jane Ullah Photography)!
- I inked my first contract to shoot a wedding this February. It’s my first wedding flying solo and I’m understandably nervous, but in a very good way! I want to exceed her expectations and get a good review too. So, wish me luck! I’ll be renting a backup camera, lens and dedicated flash from Borrow Lenses. I’ve never experienced any deal-breaking issues with lighting or camera, but I won’t jeopardize my job by not have a backup plan. I intend on attending her rehearsal for free in order to get acquainted with the church, etc.
- I purchased a new HP dv7-3080us laptop at a ridiculously low price ($200 for a laptop that’s worth $1499!). I participated in a penny auction site (Swoopo.com is like eBay meets gambling) and I initially paid $150 for the laptop ($50 actual price I won the auction for, but I spent ~$100 in bids). Being a lousy gambler, I ended up losing $100 more on the site so I tell people I paid $250 for the laptop counting my $100 loss in. Read all about my penny auction win here and remember that my results are not typical. Matt has inherited my HP dv9700t customized notebook and he’s absolutely loving his increased productivity and our old desktop computer will be inherited by his dad (to replace his ancient 2000-era desktop computer).
- Matt and I will be pet-parents! I adopted a 5-year-old mutt named “Ellie” and we are going to be moving in order to accommodate the need for a pet-friendly apartment! We will miss our old place, but now is the time for a new chapter in our lives: pet-parenthood! lol
- I’ve been learning about using social media to my business’s benefit and here are the steps I’ve taken towards to that:
- starting a twitter account dedicated to highlights samples of my work (@janeullah)
- starting a photo blog (powered by Tumblr and it also autoposts to the twitter account above) that showcases samples of my work and keeps potential clients/visitors abreast of events/developments in Jane Ullah Photography
- registered my business with the IRS: Getting my Employer Identification Number (EIN) number was surprisingly painless and don’t get suckered into paying money to ANYONE for getting your EIN number from the federal government. I’m currently filling about forms to register my business with the state and my county as well as opening a business checking account for photography related purchases. In order to open a business checking account, you have to be registered within your state and have your DBA (“doing business as” or fictitious name registration form submitted to the state/county). Even if you don’t have employees, it’ll be smarter to use your EIN for business related issues versus your personal Social Security number. I’ll keep you posted on my progress with getting registered and all. It promises to be interesting to learn about my small business tax obligations, et cetera.
- Getting listed in several search engines (Google, Yahoo Local and Bing (pending) as well as directories online like Wedding Wire, Gathering Guide, and Eventective. To increase visibility, I took advantage of a $100 Google Adwords credit which didn’t last long (surprisingly) and I ended up spending ~ $63 on Adwords.
- Creating a Facebook Page for Jane Ullah Photography and using that as another avenue to spread the word! Tip: get over 25 fans for any page you create and you’ll be able to create an easy-to-remember username for that page. For instance, to visit Jane Ullah Photography on Facebook, check out http://facebook.com/janeullah. My personal page on Facebook uses my other handle: http://facebook.com/janetalkstech.
- Registering for a “Fundamentals of Photography” class which counts towards the earning of a photography certificate! I can only go so far with the manuals. I think having deadlines and class assignments will take my creativity up a notch.
- Matt’s kicking butt and taking names at his classes. He is currently on track to earn a certificate in Geographic Information Systems and will put those courses towards earning a degree in that field. It’s a LOT of work, but he is committed and I’m glad he’s letting me tag along to some of his IT-related classes! We’re such a quirky couple and I wouldn’t have it any other way!
- So, I could rattle on and on, but the point is: good things are happening in Jane’s world. I’m in love with life and I hope you are too!
Enough of my horn-tooting. Duty calls! Ciao.
So, I’m very late to the recapping game, but it’s safe to say that I have the best. ever. thanksgiving break thus far. Matt & I, the 3 musketeers (J, J and B), Matt’s dad and his friend rented two log cabins up in Northeast Georgia and we went spelunking! This activity is relatively safe, but is physically tasking as I found out the next day after spending 2 hrs in Howard’s Cave! I was urged to take my precious Nikon D90 into the cave and I was understandably nervous about possibly dropping & breaking that expensive toy! Nevertheless, some things in life can NOT be quantified such as the experience of being in the cave. In addition, I knew that I’d be able to get some kickass pictures from the event and attain eternal fame & glory. Not really, but going caving is definitely one of those things that was on my bucket list and I don’t plan to stop doing it anytime soon. Without further ado, here are the pictures from the event below. For more photos of Howard’s Cave, please visit my online gallery of picture at Jane Ullah Photography (and the album is titled “Howard’s Cave” under the “Nature” category.). Continue reading Thanksgiving 2009 and Howard’s Cave in Trenton, GA
Where do I begin? This year started on a so-and-so note. Personal reasons mostly and unrelated to marriage (so you can stop worrying, Mom. lol), but I was both hopeful and yet down. However, several things have happened to turn that frown upside down. In not particular order, here’s what’s happened:
- The biggest change that happened this year was that Matt and I have become more spiritual. By no means am I a bible thumper nor can I recite bible verses longer than 2 lines, BUT I’ve found a church that appeals to my core and I can’t wait to become a full member of this church. I’m SO looking forward to nourishing my soul with the Word of the Lord tomorrow (God willing).
 I got an award at work for being so helpful during the use of the facilities at work by a government agency. Hopefully, little things like this will translate to a pay raise although this recession pretty much guarantees that I’ll be at my current pay grade for a year or two. It’s not too big of a deal, but it was nice to be recognized for my hard work.- Sometime in June, I quit biting my nails. I backslid twice, but never back to ground zero (i.e. as bad as it used to be) so I was always able to bounce back and I recently posted pictures of my hard-fought battle on Facebook which is what you see in this post. That picture signifies the personal, figurative and literal growth that is my life. I wish you the same.
- Back in June, I submitted my application to the USCIS to remove restrictions placed on my permanent residency because Matt & I were married for less than two years. I can appreciate the reasons this limit was instituted, but for couples together for genuine reasons, it can be a nerve-wracking time. We filed the application without the aid of a lawyer because they charged over $1,000 for their use. In an amazing turn of events, our application got approved in less than 4 months and as I write, I am in possession of my 10-year permanent resident card, more commonly called the green card! This is awesome news and what this means for me in practical terms is that Matt & I will have the freedom to plot our travels. Continue reading 2009 so far
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