misol
TPF Noob!
- Joined
- May 17, 2009
- Messages
- 128
- Reaction score
- 1
- Can others edit my Photos
- Photos OK to edit
Well I have had it. Lately I have been doing alot of shoots. I only do a couple shoots a week tops because I am a full time mom and dont have any desire to be a full time photographer at this point. Once the kids are in school, then i will expand. But this is working out well for me. What isnt?
Sales.
Why?
Well it isnt my work, its my accessibility to my work. I put up smug mug galleries for people to view and place orders. I make them small, watermarked and protected, but leave them large enough to be able to see well. Well people are loving what I do. They are sending links to their gallery to grandma and grandpa and all the aunts and uncles. The clients rave over my work and send me plenty of referrals. They look at the photos online 1000s of time! But then they dont buy or buy only a small amount.
I have come to the conclusion that it is so easy to look at and show these pics to people, why buy them? By the time they are ready to order, they are maybe even a little tired of them. They dont need to buy several for grandma because she has already seen them 40 times so they get maybe one for her. They dont need to buy files for their facebook (I offer the service) because they can just link it.
It is so annoying!
So I have decided after the new year I am going to be charging a base price for my work. They will get the CD and I will get money. I figure, yeah, I am losing some potential big profits and some quality control. But I am also getting rid of some very big headaches. I will be able to charge what I think I should be paid for the amount of work I am doing and take out that guesswork and save money on printing and time from having to meet with the client again to go through the prints. I am also going to also offer the standard sitting fee plus buying the photos directly from me. But I am going to give them a small tiny proofing sheet and push the one price deal as my primary service.
But I think that giving files is pretty much the wave of the future anyways. its like how the music industry had to adjust after Napster. I am just adjusting.
I wanted to get feedback. I know some people are going to have strong negative feelings on this and I don't mind hearing them in a respectful way. But I would also like to hear from people to do this already and some successes and pitfalls if you would like to share.
Thanks!
Sales.
Why?
Well it isnt my work, its my accessibility to my work. I put up smug mug galleries for people to view and place orders. I make them small, watermarked and protected, but leave them large enough to be able to see well. Well people are loving what I do. They are sending links to their gallery to grandma and grandpa and all the aunts and uncles. The clients rave over my work and send me plenty of referrals. They look at the photos online 1000s of time! But then they dont buy or buy only a small amount.
I have come to the conclusion that it is so easy to look at and show these pics to people, why buy them? By the time they are ready to order, they are maybe even a little tired of them. They dont need to buy several for grandma because she has already seen them 40 times so they get maybe one for her. They dont need to buy files for their facebook (I offer the service) because they can just link it.
It is so annoying!
So I have decided after the new year I am going to be charging a base price for my work. They will get the CD and I will get money. I figure, yeah, I am losing some potential big profits and some quality control. But I am also getting rid of some very big headaches. I will be able to charge what I think I should be paid for the amount of work I am doing and take out that guesswork and save money on printing and time from having to meet with the client again to go through the prints. I am also going to also offer the standard sitting fee plus buying the photos directly from me. But I am going to give them a small tiny proofing sheet and push the one price deal as my primary service.
But I think that giving files is pretty much the wave of the future anyways. its like how the music industry had to adjust after Napster. I am just adjusting.
I wanted to get feedback. I know some people are going to have strong negative feelings on this and I don't mind hearing them in a respectful way. But I would also like to hear from people to do this already and some successes and pitfalls if you would like to share.
Thanks!