Blog site / Photo Contest Help

[MLeeK]

I was weeding out my email and found something that I think you would really benefit from... http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...ebinar-get-fully-booked-free.html#post2755832

 

[MLeeK]

Mleek- you are right in many ways and down the road I want to become a professional. Right now I cant advertise as one so I am doing cheap hour sessions, I think you know that I am not on your level yet, far from it, but I m trying to learn the right steps of getting there. I do have my own website now so the flyer would need to be updated. I never thought about the entry level dslr, I figured the clients I am shooting right now (christmas family photos) have no clue what the difference is between a Mark III ad a T2i.

Show them what they are getting, not all of that cheesy stuff. Portraits. THey need to know what you are going to do.
Cheap sessions are fine, that's not a problem at all, however do you want to earn the Wal Mart name and then have to overcome it? Start with quality no matter what stage you are at. Think to the future not to the here and now. Go ahead with your cheap sessions, however sell it in a high quality manner.

 

[sactown024]

back to the drawing board, I am not that great with photoshop ugh...

I also have this one... before i decided I am unsure about weddings and before i made my website

 

[MLeeK]

I think you need to take a good long study. That doesn't have your best images on it, but at least it has images on it.
https://www.google.com/search?q=pho...tC8bm0gH2voHIDw&ved=0CB8QsAQ&biw=1360&bih=635

back to the drawing board, I am not that great with photoshop ugh...

I also have this one... before i decided I am unsure about weddings and before i made my website

View attachment 24598

 

[sactown024]

thanks leek, this was done awhile ago before I had any decent images, i see where your coming from.

 

[MLeeK]

thanks leek, this was done awhile ago before I had any decent images, i see where your coming from.

Begin as you mean to end. If you intend to be professional, high quality then BE it now. Yeah, you've got stuff to learn and a lot of it, but you are starting to create your image now. Create it RIGHT and don't go around combating a wal mart reputation down the line. KWIM?
My favorite business blog is Home - ...a Man to Fish.... You've probably seen me pass his blog around several times. Read it. Start to finish. It should keep you busy for a while! Todd and Jamie Reichman are pretty damn intelligent people and their information is awesome.

 

[Tee]

Sac-

With regards to the poster, the advertisement of all digital copies free is a slippery slope. Maybe something along the lines of either placing a firm number of images but I would suggest against advertising "all" or "unlimited". That may put you in a world of client hurt down the road.

I mentioned in your $8000 thread that you may want to invest more money into the business side than gear. Now that more credible members are saying the same thing, this may be the avenue worth pursuing.

 

[Tamgerine]

MLeeK is right.

The biggest problem I foresee when starting out cheap and dirty is that if and when you want to make this a sustainable business - as in you need to profit off of it and make a living, it requires a huge leap in target markets and a dramatic change in pricing structure.

So lets say you're charging 50 bucks an hour for the whole kit and kaboodle. You're attracting 50 dollar customers. You keep this pricing and two years down the line you quit your job and say, "Now I am a business, I am a professional!"

Then you realize oh fudge, in order to pay your bills you need to keep the same amount of customers but make 200 dollars an hour instead of 50, or you need to triple your volume of 50 dollar customers.

So now you're charging 200 for the same product you were charging 50 for just a week ago and all your current customers say WTF and leave. And what happened to those free digital files everyone was raving about? Now you have to sell them in order to just break even. But your 50 dollar customers don't want to spend more than 50 dollars. Now you have to jump into the market where the 200 dollar customers are and you're now competing with the people who have been in that market for a long time.

You can start cheap, but keep in mind your goals for the future. Adjust your pricing according to demand and increase it over time as your skill gets better. You will begin dropping off customers on the lower price scale and gaining customers on the higher price scale. As you go up that pricing scale though you have to match that market price with quality though.

 

[MLeeK]

MLeeK is right.

The biggest problem I foresee when starting out cheap and dirty is that if and when you want to make this a sustainable business - as in you need to profit off of it and make a living, it requires a huge leap in target markets and a dramatic change in pricing structure.

So lets say you're charging 50 bucks an hour for the whole kit and kaboodle. You're attracting 50 dollar customers. You keep this pricing and two years down the line you quit your job and say, "Now I am a business, I am a professional!"

Then you realize oh fudge, in order to pay your bills you need to keep the same amount of customers but make 200 dollars an hour instead of 50, or you need to triple your volume of 50 dollar customers.

So now you're charging 200 for the same product you were charging 50 for just a week ago and all your current customers say WTF and leave. And what happened to those free digital files everyone was raving about? Now you have to sell them in order to just break even. But your 50 dollar customers don't want to spend more than 50 dollars. Now you have to jump into the market where the 200 dollar customers are and you're now competing with the people who have been in that market for a long time.

You can start cheap, but keep in mind your goals for the future. Adjust your pricing according to demand and increase it over time as your skill gets better. You will begin dropping off customers on the lower price scale and gaining customers on the higher price scale. As you go up that pricing scale though you have to match that market price with quality though.

Tammy often puts things better than I do.
I am not big on caring if you do cheap shoots to start, but don't advertise yourself as cheap. Just know that if you do start with cheap shoots like that you will completely change your clientele down the line and you will start over almost from scratch-minus the education part you are getting now. That can be hell.
My main point is that you project an image of quality that you intend to personify later. .