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But every rule is made to be broken occasionally, and this is one of them. There are times when it may be best for your business to let voice mail get the call. If you’re in an office-based business, those times are rare – unless there’s a flurry of calls coming in all at the same time, you should strive to have someone available to answer every call. Even in this day of email and texting, most companies do a significant portion of their business over the phone. Missing a call is always a gamble – the person on the other end may be a new client, and if they don’t leave a message then you may have lost them. But for home-based businesses, or those that operate on the road, the situation becomes a bit trickier. There are times when answering the phone right away could diminish your credibility rather than enhancing it.

The sounds around me Before answering the call, think first about the background noise. If you’re in the middle of looking after your children when the phone rings, the sound of them playing or chatting or crying immediately tells the caller that you are working out of your house, and that you may be juggling work and home. The first question they’re going to ask themselves is whether you are going to put their project first, or whether you’ll be distracted while working for them. It immediately puts you at a disadvantage compared to your competitors. (It almost shouldn’t need to be said that you should never take a call when you’re in the bathroom. And yet we still encounter people who do. The background noises are unmistakable and can create an unfortunate mental picture in the caller’s mind!)

Central Ontario Business If you rely on B2B sales, then you absolutely need to be in Central Ontario Business. It’s the region’s only B2B magazine, a chance for you to get your message in front of 15,000 businesses throughout Simcoe, Muskoka and Southern Georgian Bay.

Your cell phone is perfect for texting, watching videos and making phone calls (yes, people still call each other), but these days it can also can take incredible pictures.  

True, you won’t be able to create professional-quality images like the ones you see in Dockside, but for 90 per cent of daily life, a cell phone camera works amazingly well. And with a few tips and tricks, you can take your shots up a notch.

Many Android and Google phones have great cameras, but for our purposes let’s just stick to looking at the iPhone.

Tip #1 - Just Swipe Left to Open We’ve all had that moment where we see something amazing and by the time we get our phone out and camera ready the moment has passed. A great timesaving trick to capture fleeting but memorable moments is the left swipe. Simply swiping left on the lock screen will open the camera so you can start shooting – you won’t even need your password or thumbprint. During family gatherings, sports events or just a cute moment between siblings, this will give you a much better chance of capturing that special moment rather than missing it. 

Tip #2 – Try Using Camera grid Another awesome feature is the camera grid, which divides the screen into nine equal parts and provides a visual guide to using the rule of thirds – placing your subject slightly off-centre. You can also match a horizon line easily. Using either or both elements in your pictures will provide a better composition. 

To activate the grid, go into your camera settings, and click on the camera icon. Then just turn the on-screen grid to on.

Tip #3 - Control the Focus A basic element of creative control comes from setting the focus point. It’s easy to do and you’ll get a professional-looking photo from it. 

All you need to do is frame your shot and then tap the part of the screen you want to have the sharpest focus. A yellow square will pop up indicating what part is in focus. Be sure the focus is on your main subject as this will often soften focus in the rest of the photo. 

Tip #4 – Control the Exposure Exposure is vitally important when taking quality photos. You don’t want your photo to be too dark or too bright. Once the focus point is set, a yellow sun icon appears next to the focus point. Swipe up slowly to make the image brighter or down slowly to make it darker. 

Tip #5 – Having fun with Filters Once your camera is on, in the top corner you’ll see three circles overlapping each other. Tap on them and you’ll then get a choice of filters you can scroll through. Experimenting with different filters can be fun and give you a variety of color tones to your pictures. Other iPhone camera features let you scroll through different camera modes, it’s as simple as swiping left or right at the bottom of your screen. Square and panoramic are joined by a variety of video modes for you to choose from. Using these few tips will get you well on the way to creating amazing photos you’ll be proud to share. And when you’re in need of professional quality photos for your business, give us a call and we can always schedule a shoot!