I received an email during my time at Winter Institute from Lauren Wiser, marketing and publicity manager of Left Bank Books in St. Louis, Missouri. Well, I was one of many who were blind-copied (will I show my age if I tell you I want to say blind-carboned?) on this message:

“Attached are updated stock photos of the Left Bank Books storefront. Please use these updated exterior photos in all subsequent media that includes Left Bank Books. If you have any questions, please email me at lauren.w@left-bank.com.”

Attached to the message, as promised, were five high-resolution images of the bookstore, shot from different angles.

I thought this was such a great idea, so I chatted with Lauren through email, and with co-owner Kris Kleindienst at Wi11. They told me co-owner Jarek Steele wanted to send updated images of the bookstore to media sources when he saw an old photo used in a piece, especially because the store had had a makeover since the original photo had been captured.

There are several 300-second projects waiting for us here, but we’re going to focus on one: creating one location for ‘official’ store files.

I recommend creating a folder on the desktop named Photos, Bios & Logos. If you’re worried about removing it from your desktop, call it SAVE! Photos, Bios & Logos.

After you create the folder and as you have time, locate the stock images of your store and place them in the desktop folder. Also include any ‘official’ images of key staff along with their bios. And while you’re at it, include logo files for the store. As you place the files in the folder, determine if they need to be updated. Do you need seasonal images of your store? Does your owner no longer have long hair? Does a bio need to be updated with a recent board appointment?

You don’t have to do all of these updates today, but get them on your to-do list. With an updated folder on your desktop, you’ll be ready with a quick reply when the request comes before that speech to the Chamber of Commerce or feature in the newspaper.

And if you do update the images of your store or staff, take Left Bank’s lead and send the current images to your media sources for their files. It might be a nice reminder that you’re available as a resource.