Matt's Biz Talk posts

My first iPhone app is out!

After 9 months of work shooting and editing images, writing the essays, working with Burning Man on permissions, learning to write iPhone apps, actually developing the application, and dealing with the insanity of the Apple approval process, my first iPhone App is finally available in the iTunes store!!!

Burning Man 2008: A Photo Essay by Matt Freedman http://www.silentcolor.com/projects/burningman2008/

Think of the app as a coffee table book for the iPhone. It contains over 300 extraordinary Burning Man photos, packaged in an easy-to-use full screen photo viewer.

• View the whole set, or browse by categories (People, Art, Art Cars, The Man, Dust, etc.).
• Mark photos as favorites, for quick retrieval.
• Every image has an informative caption, which can be displayed, or left hidden.
• Slideshow mode, or manual "flick" paging.

In addition to the photographs, you will find essays:

• A foreword, by Marian Goodell, Burning Man's Director of Business and Communications, explaining what exactly Burning Man is.
• An introduction describing my own personal 10 year journey with Burning Man, along with my views on the evolution of the event.
• My 4000 word Photography at Burning Man how-to guide, which gives you detailed information on how to take better photographs on the playa. What gear to bring, how to carry and protect it, when and where to shoot what, and perhaps most importantly, rules and etiquette.
• My own annotated Burning Man packing list. What to pack for your own visit, and why.

You can visit my site to see sample images, excerpts from the essays, and a complete version of the packing list. If you do get the app, PLEASE go back to the app store and enter a numerical rating, and if possible, a brief written review. This is absolutely crucial for its success.

Please share this link with anybody and everybody you know who has an iPhone or iPod touch, and/or an interest in Burning Man (if you could post it to your Facebook newsfeed, twitter, etc. that would be great!)...

http://www.silentcolor.com/projects/burningman2008

Burning Man 2008: A Photo Essay by Matt Freedman has been reviewed and approved by the Burning Man Organization, and a portion of the proceeds from every sale goes back to the organization as a contribution to the community it supports.

Some advice on starting LLC's in Seattle?

I have some basic questions about how to go about starting businesses in general, and in Seattle in particular. If you have any input on any/all of them, that would be great.

First, if you are involved in multiple different ventures with multiple different people, does it make sense to start a new LLC for each of them, or would it make more sense for you to just have a single personal LLC which can have partnership agreements with other people/LLC's? In my case, I really should put a formal business structure together for my own photography work (http://www.silentcolor.com). But my main photographic project (http://www.lafigaproject.com) is with a partner, and we have been discussing making some kind of formal arrangement. In addition, I am talking to somebody else about starting a software development venture, and that needs to have a business structure as well. So should I just start a single LLC for myself, then figure out arrangements/contracts with my partners (or their personal LLC's), or does it make more sense for me to start three LLC's – one for myself, and with each of my partners?

This leads me into the next question – once you go through the paperwork of initial formation of an LLC – which as I understand it means registering the LLC with the Secretary of State for $175, then getting a state business license, then getting a Seattle business license – how much work/overhead is involved in keeping each one going? In particular, what if an LLC is not actually earning any income at all? Do you still have to file city and state taxes just to say you do not have an income? If so, is yearly enough? And what is the deal with the King County personal property tax affidavit? According to this page: http://www.kingcounty.gov/business/licenses/PropTax.aspx every business in King County is supposed to pay tax on all of their property? I had never even heard of this one until yesterday. Does everybody here do this? It is not even clear to me what it would mean for my LLC to own property.

Any information/opinions/resource pointers on this stuff would be greatly appreciated.

Feedback on new photography website?

I just launched my new website for my photography business... www.silentcolor.com

I would appreciate any feedback on the site. Obviously what I really want is oohing and ahhing, but reports of typos, broken links, browser glitches, confusing navigation, awkward writing, etc. would probably be even more helpful.

Wordpress Recommendations and Best Practices?

I am building an entirely new site for my photography, and it includes a custom installation of Wordpress, which I have up and running in its standard form. But I really don't know the first thing about Wordpress, except that there are infinite possibilities of things you can do with it. So, does anybody have:

Recommendations on important configuration options that I might want to change?

Recommendations on must-have plugins?

Recommendations on best practices for actually using it?

Pointers to good resources talking about the above?