No Sales. :(

Guido44 · Sep 16, 2009

Hi All,

I spent the better part of last weekend shooting photos of a baseball league and a local soccer league.

I passed my card out to at least 50 or 60 parents during the games. (I should have handed out more)

Anyway, I was very optimistic about getting a FEW sales from the whole effort. But, nada. Not a one.

Here's the Photos:
Centerfield Sports Academy - Dan Farina Studios.com

and Soccer:
Northern Illinois Soccer League - Dan Farina Studios.com

I emailed the league's website before hand and I will keep sending, a few more tries anyway.

Anyone have experience with this type of situation?

Thanks,

Dan

Big Mike · Sep 16, 2009

Just handing out cards and hoping for sales from something like this...is usually going to be a very hard sale. There have been discussions around here about trying to set up a mobile office where someone could be editing and printing the photos as you shoot. That way, you have a product to sell right then & there.

bigtwinky · Sep 16, 2009

I'm not sure I would spend the time, unless specifically asked, shooting something like this and trying to sell the pictures after, specially of a kids game.

Your pictures are really nice, crisp and clear. But I would think most parents don't want to pay for something they are happy taking with a P&S (or even a dSLR with kit lens) to put on facebook or send to grandma.

Guido44 · Sep 16, 2009

I have a scheduled girls softball tournament this coming weekend. Big tournament 15 teams.

I will be taking "portrait"(posed) shots and team photos this time.

I don't plan to print on site. I hope that doesn't stop people from ordering.

I will have order forms ready for them to fill out, and another sheet for me, to keep track of "who's who", if you know what I mean.

Printing "on site" is a lot more expensive for photo paper, and ink cartridges.

Thanks,

Dan

Derrel · Sep 16, 2009

Your web site is briefly flashing up, and then reverts back to this TPF forum thread--how odd!

I once spoke with a young woman who was shooting beside me at a relatively big track meet...she said that the company she shot for did about five to as much as ten times the revenue by selling on-site than they did through their web site. Their on-sit proofing and print-out was a two-table, three-person operation, but I don't think it's possible to generate more excitement for a customer than to have a print in his hand in say, 10 minutes, as opposed to a "five day wait".

CSR Studio · Sep 16, 2009

If you are going to be really successful at this you have to print on site. A parent has a hard time resisting a print of their child that is right in front of them.

ScottsdaleImages · Sep 16, 2009

I agree that you will make more money if you can get them printed and have the images waiting for after the game. I also agree with Big Mike, just handing out cards isn't going to it. Especially if this is just a regular game. No matter how good the images are. It usually has to be a special event type game. My son played high end competitive club basketball, where all the D 1 coaches came to watch. And even then, the photographer had a hard time selling spec images. What did work was selling a package where the kid was followed around for a game or two and the photographer focused on the kid. That way mom and dad didn't just get random images.

Guido44- You might want to rethink some of what you are planning for the Softball Tournament. If the tournament is scheduling you in for the photo session, then you will get some orders for the posed pics. But I highly recommend action shots, printed quickly or even on site. Sell 4x6/4x5 size images in a little magnet style frame, for like $5. If its a multi day- multi game tournament, even having Costco print them quickly could work. I did a Babe Ruth World Series once, I thought everyone would want action trader cards and such, which needed to be ordered. WRONG!!!!! We made a ton selling the 4x6 action shots in a cheap little frame. This was back in the film era, so I partnered with a local 1 hr shop. The teams would come to watch other games and the parents would shop our tent. It had to be like $2k profit for 5 days work.

max3k · Sep 16, 2009

mind sharing your equipment. I do a lot of the same type of photography and love the crisp shots

schumionbike · Sep 16, 2009

I worked at baseball stadium and we would take pictures then hand out cards, we do generate sales and the pictures are so-so, it's possible that you get sales but you have to hand out cards, we hand out like 250 cards a night per person. With 250 cards hand out, probably average around 10 sales/ a night which could equal to about 200 sales during a busy month and that could generate around 3000-5000 dollar per month on average. Just my experience. Sixty cards hand out, you might get 2-3 sales. And you might have to direct them to their exacts pictures because they might not look through the whole thing. We usually direct them a gallery with the 36 pictures and they could look up their own within that 36 pictures.

Derrel · Sep 16, 2009

With a newer d-slr that uses SD memory cards, all you need is a Wi-Fi enabled card to send your images directly to a computer that happens to be onsite and connected wirelessly to the web...no need to wait for card dumps "after" each quarter or each inning....the images will be transmitted as they are shot,and particularly good images can be "tagged" by your assistant, while clunkers can be foldered out and set to an also-ran directory.

If your dslr uses CF card and not SD card storage, you can buy Canon or Nikon wireless transmission add-ons,which look like battery grips, for several Canon and Nikon d-slr bodies, and you can have an assistant showing and selling proofs at a booth or table on-site, while you are still shooting the event...

Something to think about if you are wondering about the how-to behind selling on-site.

KmH · Sep 17, 2009

CSR Studio said:
If you are going to be really successful at this you have to print on site. A parent has a hard time resisting a print of their child that is right in front of them.

Next best is to have 4x6 prints for them to see at the next game.

damonb · Sep 17, 2009

Is this a regular type of event for you at the same places? If so, perhaps the one thing you could do is give one free print (4x6?) to parents that has your site and contact info on the back. The card alone probably isn't going to seal the deal.