Wedding Albums & Prints vs Shoot-N-Scoot?

[Nicholas James Photo]

I think it depends what market you are in. I would never hand over a disc for $600, not in this life time.
I lay out clearly what the client will get for their investment, use top quality printing, top quality albums etc and if they are not happy, they can go else where.
This may sound arrogant but if you start giving things away, word will quickly spread, your rep will start to build as a cheap photographer and that is hard to climb out of.
Offer good value based on what you believe you are worth, and stick to it. I have no shortage of clients from using this business plan.
My job, as I see it, is to provide a service. I do that to an agreed level. If you want 80 pics in an album, then that is what you get. If you want parental albums, you can but the price is different. If you want framing, sure, the price is.... and finally, all other pics are available to you, your friends and family online at a cost of £???
However, as per the contract, the pictures will always carry my copyright.
I believe the growth of the so called shoot n scoot photographer is partly due to individuals thinking that wedding photography is easy money, finding out it's not, not wanting to fail having told family and friends that they are going into business, not having a client base or rep to build on so going down the cheap and cheerful route. I should imagine that this type business will close down before their second season.

 

[KmH]

why togs leave money on the table

What is a tog? Do you mean a photographer?

In my neck of the woods calling a photographer that to their face would get you slapped up the side of the head.

No disrespect intended Kieth, tog is just internet shorthand for photographer. Well only in photo forums that is otherwise people have no idea what you are talking about.

No problem Crhsitos.

 

[KmH]

I love photography and I also love making money. Therefore I'm always looking for new products and ways to make money.

The wedding photography business seems to be moving or has moved to what I call "Shoot-N-Scoot". I.E. - Shoot the wedding, hand over a CD of images, scoot and let the bride/groom print what they want.

Why do photographers leave print money on the table? If you're going to sell your services for the day, why not make more money selling prints? Why give up the print revenue by leaving a CD behind?

Let me know your thoughts.

I think it's because many photographers lack a full set of salesmanship and business skill. Because they have a deficiency in those skills they don't fully grasp the possibilities.

A successful photography business is much more about being good at business than being good at photography.

 

[JerryPH]

The wedding photography business is just that, a business. In today's market, it is becoming more and more common to give out a CD or DVD of the work, but the RAW files should never be handed out, only final products.

Now, I am not advocating giving anything away, but if someone is going to pay for your time AND pay handsomely for a DVD or disk, it would be foolish to turn down the sale.

I know photographers that add DVDs only to the mid and larger packages, leaving the low end packages without it... unless they pay a substantial amount extra (if they are business-wise, it comes out more than if they went with the more expensive mid-level package with the DVD included).

Think it over... do what is SMART for the business... and never ever give anything away.

 

[ragu0012]

The wedding photography business is just that, a business. In today's market, it is becoming more and more common to give out a CD or DVD of the work, but the RAW files should never be handed out, only final products.

Now, I am not advocating giving anything away, but if someone is going to pay for your time AND pay handsomely for a DVD or disk, it would be foolish to turn down the sale.

I know photographers that add DVDs only to the mid and larger packages, leaving the low end packages without it... unless they pay a substantial amount extra (if they are business-wise, it comes out more than if they went with the more expensive mid-level package with the DVD included).

Think it over... do what is SMART for the business... and never ever give anything away.

So how much is a DVD of high-res processed photos worth? In a wedding vs family portrait session? The equivilant of your highest possible sale? Somewhere in between? Figure the time saved designing an album if you just sell the CD...