The State and Future of Fast Focus
The only constant in this world is that things are always changing. As cliche as this statement may be, it is no less true. And so I am once again writing to you about some big and exciting changes we have already begun and some that are still in the works and will be coming very soon!
Before getting into the changes we will be making to our business I would like to first mention what will be happening to our business as the Covid-19 situation continues to change our world and business as usual. The safety of our customers and employees is paramount and so, as directed we will be temporarily shutting down our business to all foot traffic. Jane, our studio manager and photographer for Forever Memories Photography will be working from home and taking only limited photo sessions that allow for her to maintain self isolation / social distancing such as commercial & product photography or real estate photography where the property is unoccupied. The photo lab will be managed by myself and will only be accepting online orders for ship out only. All shipping will be free on orders of $15 or more.
We hope that these extreme measures we all will be taking can help to curb the spread of this virus. We also hope that you will take this time to reflect and find peace in among the chaos, as we all collectively come together under a common goal. I think we we as a country and a community will come out of this stronger than ever. We pray for all those who are in essential functions who can not isolate especially those doctors, nurses, and first respondents who will be seeing the worst of this situation.
Through all this we still look towards the future. Towards a time when we will be back in shops, theaters, and life returns to a semblance of normal. And so with that in mind here are some of the changes we will be making to our business over the next few months.
The first major change is that we are moving our shop to a new location! After 30 years in southern Salina, we will be heading North, and then north just a bit more. We will now be operating at 737 N. Santa Fe. Though our new location takes us out of prime retail location, we look forward to this new space and the new and exciting changes that we will be making as we develop the space to suit our business.
As more and more business continues to be done online we will be following suit and focusing most of our retail efforts into improving our online shopping experience. We will be extending our online product selection as well as attempting to be as competitive in terms of pricing and product delivery in order to compete with the larger online shops. We will continue to operate our consumer printing services at fastfocusprints.com, with a special emphasis on developing and offering interesting and unique products such as our canvas and metal prints and we will also be looking to offer an extended line of home decor products. As we alter the way we do retail with a focus on doing more online we will be taking the opportunity to expand our business in other ways as well. Expect exciting things from our online storefronts!
Next up, we will be expanding our business to be more than just printing and camera retail and developing into a full service web and marketing agency. This is one of the areas I am most excited for and so in this regard we will be adding a number of services to our business with a renewed focus on our strengths and adapting to a changing industry and world. Some of the new services we will be offering include:
- Website Design and Development
- Graphic Design
- Logo Design
- Social Media Management
- Digital Advertising Management
- Business Print Advertising (direct mail, brochures, flyers)
- Commercial Photography
- Backup Solutions
If you or someone you know needs any of these services we would love to be of help and would be extremely grateful if you were to pass on our information!
Finally, I am excited to tell you about a project I have had on the back burner for a long while but think now, with the current situation, it would be good to bring the project front and center and ask for help in building it up. The project is called Salina Shops (salinashops.com). The purpose of Salina Shops is to be a local resource where you can search for a product and find a local store that sells that item. We know there are many great Salina establishments and it is likely that the item you are searching for online can be found locally or sourced by a local business, often at competitive pricing. My hope would be that for at least some people this would become a first stop before doing the same search on a site like Amazon. Our ultimate goal with the site is to promote local Salina shops and instill a sense of community by helping people find the products they need and want, and keep the purchasing local.
Before this can become a reality though we need much more information on the site! We will be adding shops as best we can but we hope that you will tell your favorite shop to get in contact with us so that we can add them and start to promote them! It is free to have a business listed and we will not be charging for any of our planned premium features during the crisis and the shelter in place order so we hope many businesses will take advantage of this and we can create a great resource for finding local products.
Despite the challenges we are all facing in this moment, we are hopeful for the future and look forward to serving you. We hope to see you in person sooner rather than later, but until then we hope you will keep in digital touch. Find us on our social media pages, email or call us anytime! All email comes directly to me and I love to hear from you all!
Photo by Igor Kasalovic on Unsplash