Is this a good idea?

[jowensphoto]

Lately, I've been trying to figure out some marketing for

My sister in law owns a baked goods/catering business. I thought of doing some free test shots for her. In exchange, I'd ask her to set my card out along the display photos at her booth (farmer's market). If the photos are up to par, I thought I'd take them around to local restaurants/bakeries and offer to do some photos for them.

Of course, I'd post the photos here to find out if they were good enough to use as a sales pitch

[Ads]

[paigew]

are you wanting to do mainly food photography? I think its a great idea! Practice makes perfect...or at least closer to perfect

[jowensphoto]

For commercial, yes.

I have a basic understand of food photography, So I am confident that I could create a sell-able product.

It's the marketing that scares me... Not just with food, but portraits as well. I guess the same principle could be applied.

One of our local eateries also had a teen night on Saturdays. I thought of offering a photo booth with cheap prints.

[paigew]

yes marketing is scary! I think its a great idea to take pics for free. If people like what they see they will buy prints! Then maybe they will start asking about sessions! I take my friends photos for free and of course post to fb. Since I started doing that I have had a few inquiries about family sessions and have booked 3 people this fall for christmas cards. If you provide a service people want they will call you Everyone starts somewhere!

[KmH]

There are a lot of people you can sell portraits to, but only a handfull of places you can sell food photography to.

The pricing and business model for the 2 are different, because portraits are most often made for personal use, while food photography is mostly made for commercial uses.

While portrait buyers get a print release type of use license, that should specifically prohibit commercial usage, commercial users get a much more restrictive use license that more specifically describes how, where, in what media types, and for how long, the photos can be used.

For commercial type business info on pricing and licensing, visit American Society of Media Photographers and click on 'Business Resources' to access their tutorials.

[jowensphoto]

Thank you! Silly me, thinking commercial would be "easier"

[gsgary]

For commercial, yes.

I have a basic understand of food photography, So I am confident that I could create a sell-able product.

It's the marketing that scares me... Not just with food, but portraits as well. I guess the same principle could be applied.

One of our local eateries also had a teen night on Saturdays. I thought of offering a photo booth with cheap prints.

Have you got lots of lighting and shapers because you will need them, food photography is one of the hardest things to shoot properly

[jowensphoto]

I have the lights I use for everything else. I know that I need more, and while I can't afford to purchase at the moment, I have several friends willing to lend equipment.

As far as modifiers, I have 2 white shoot-thrus and 2 reflective umbrellas. Also have a snoot.

[davisphotos]

Putting your card out at a retail store and hoping the right people take it is not a very effective marketing technique. Now, if you wanted to do weddings, a technique that I have used is to print out custom cards for the bakeries, caterers, venues, florists and other wedding vendors I have worked with, with a gorgeous photo of their work on one side, and my contact info on the other. That makes it a marketing piece for them and me, and something they will want to give to couples they are working with.

If you want to work with local businesses, offering a free shoot could be a good way to get your foot in the door, but bear in mind that most small businesses are not going to do very frequent photo shoots, so you may be waiting a long time for them to call you back for a paying gig. It can also be very difficult to transition from the 'free' photographer to charging a decent rate.

The photo booth is a good idea-I've done a booth for a few local charities, I charge $5 a print, and give all the profits back to the charity. It hasn't led yet to any work, but I have gotten a few leads, and it's a good way to do something good for my community.

[KmH]

Free shoots establish that you don't charge for your work, and lead to unproductive WOM (word-of-mouth) advertising that passes on the fact you didn't charge.
When you shoot for free, you are giving away your time to do - the pre-production, the shoot itself, the post production, and what ever work product you committed to give to the client.

IMO, shooting for free is not only an unprofessional mistake, but a mistake that is almost always irreparable. The first rule of holes is - If you suddenly discover yourself with a shovel in your hand, standing in a deep hole, quit digging until you're able to understand how you wound up in the hole.

Instead of working for free, I recommend using a loss-leader, limited time, "Introductory Offer" type pricing strategy where you can show a customer your normal pricing on your invoice, followed by the limited time, "Introductory Offer" discount you are giving them.