"Do you have any deals..."

[nycphotography]

If you can't cover your costs and leave enough profit at $50 an hour, you need to rethink your business plan. So for $100 she gets 2 hours of your time. That can be 1 hour shooting and 1 hour post. Or it can be 2 hours shooting and then hand her a DVD.

The entire time, you can be talking about all the things you COULD do for her. Book. Prints. Galleries. Styling and hair and makeup. With examples laying around that she can pick up and hold and look at.

Most people will end up spending more than their budget, once they see what they can get and they decide they want it.

You take the sessions knowing that you have the opportunity to sell much more. And that "selling more" is the real trick in business. Every business. ;-)

What % of your customers only go for the dvd? and what % buy anything extra? I figure most clients that want a cd only wnat it to save money.

That's why sales is hard work and is a skill. If the stuff sold itself, then you wouldn't have to.

 

[GerryDavid]

If you can't cover your costs and leave enough profit at $50 an hour, you need to rethink your business plan. So for $100 she gets 2 hours of your time. That can be 1 hour shooting and 1 hour post. Or it can be 2 hours shooting and then hand her a DVD.

The entire time, you can be talking about all the things you COULD do for her. Book. Prints. Galleries. Styling and hair and makeup. With examples laying around that she can pick up and hold and look at.

Most people will end up spending more than their budget, once they see what they can get and they decide they want it.

You take the sessions knowing that you have the opportunity to sell much more. And that "selling more" is the real trick in business. Every business. ;-)

What % of your customers only go for the dvd? and what % buy anything extra? I figure most clients that want a cd only wnat it to save money.

That's why sales is hard work and is a skill. If the stuff sold itself, then you wouldn't have to.

Its my understanding that a shoot to cd/dvd photographer doesnt do a picture viewing since all the pics go on a cd/dvd anyways? When do you do the selling?

 

[pixmedic]

What % of your customers only go for the dvd? and what % buy anything extra? I figure most clients that want a cd only wnat it to save money.

That's why sales is hard work and is a skill. If the stuff sold itself, then you wouldn't have to.

Its my understanding that a shoot to cd/dvd photographer doesnt do a picture viewing since all the pics go on a cd/dvd anyways? When do you do the selling?

before they get the pictures on disk.
we do a sit down with the bride/groom for print proofing, and an online gallery for friends/family that are out of town that wish to purchase prints.
the bride/groom DO get the pictures on CD, but 60 days after the proofing is done.
could they all just wait until the bride/groom get the disk and make their own? sure. do friends and family usually buy some prints anyway because they want to send them to people right away? yup. Do we lose some bit of sales because there are holdouts that will just wait for the bride/groom to get the disk? of course.
its a balancing act. Print sales are best done in person. it gives you a better chance to make the sale, and there are almost always SOME people that just dont want to wait to get some pictures.

 

[nycphotography]

What % of your customers only go for the dvd? and what % buy anything extra? I figure most clients that want a cd only wnat it to save money.

That's why sales is hard work and is a skill. If the stuff sold itself, then you wouldn't have to.

Its my understanding that a shoot to cd/dvd photographer doesnt do a picture viewing since all the pics go on a cd/dvd anyways? When do you do the selling?

Every single minute you are in contact with the client you are selling something, whether you intend to or not. You can be selling them on an album, or another more elaborate shoot, or on other services... or you can be selling them on getting their CD and splitting as fast as possible. Really, it's up to you.

And for the record, I suck at selling. I find it distasteful and I feel icky afterwards. Which is why I choose to work for the man instead of for myself. But if I did work for myself I'd have to sell just like everyone else.

 

[GerryDavid]

That's why sales is hard work and is a skill. If the stuff sold itself, then you wouldn't have to.

Its my understanding that a shoot to cd/dvd photographer doesnt do a picture viewing since all the pics go on a cd/dvd anyways? When do you do the selling?

Every single minute you are in contact with the client you are selling something, whether you intend to or not. You can be selling them on an album, or another more elaborate shoot, or on other services... or you can be selling them on getting their CD and splitting as fast as possible. Really, it's up to you.

And for the record, I suck at selling. I find it distasteful and I feel icky afterwards. Which is why I choose to work for the man instead of for myself. But if I did work for myself I'd have to sell just like everyone else.

I dont really mind selling. I just put them in front of a screen and go through the pics with them and get them narrowed down to about 40 of their favorites *out of 150 to 300 depending on the session* and I hand them the price guide and let them decide what they want. the pictures sell themselves. I do point out that if they have a hard time picking their favorite few shots that the album or book is a great way to go. But my method wouldnt work if I were offering a cd of all the images. something I do need work on is selling wall portraits, I almost never sell them.

 

[Steve5D]

That's why sales is hard work and is a skill. If the stuff sold itself, then you wouldn't have to.

Sales is easy; I've done it for years. The hard work is getting good at it. Once you get good at it, sales is sales. I don't care what you're selling. Learn your product and, if you'r a good salesman, you can sell anything.

Hell, I could sell condoms to the Pope if I could get him on the phone...

 

[imagemaker46]

That's why sales is hard work and is a skill. If the stuff sold itself, then you wouldn't have to.

Sales is easy; I've done it for years. The hard work is getting good at it. Once you get good at it, sales is sales. I don't care what you're selling. Learn your product and, if you'r a good salesman, you can sell anything.

Hell, I could sell condoms to the Pope if I could get him on the phone...

Unfortunately the biggest flaw in most photographers is the sales side. I can sell other photographers just fine, and have had other photographers negotiate fees for me. I am the first to say that I suck at it, always have.

 

[kathyt]

That's why sales is hard work and is a skill. If the stuff sold itself, then you wouldn't have to.

Its my understanding that a shoot to cd/dvd photographer doesnt do a picture viewing since all the pics go on a cd/dvd anyways? When do you do the selling?

Every single minute you are in contact with the client you are selling something, whether you intend to or not. You can be selling them on an album, or another more elaborate shoot, or on other services... or you can be selling them on getting their CD and splitting as fast as possible. Really, it's up to you.

And for the record, I suck at selling. I find it distasteful and I feel icky afterwards. Which is why I choose to work for the man instead of for myself. But if I did work for myself I'd have to sell just like everyone else.

If you respected your work enough then selling someone a piece of it shouldn't feel distasteful, but should feel gratifying. If you look at sales like a bad thing, then you will never be good at it. I don't even think of sales as sales. You don't have to "sell" them. SHOW them. Show them your work! Show your albums. Show your coffee table books. Show your large vivid prints. Show your canvases. Show you metal prints. I had a session last night and it was 45 minutes away. I brought with me a few of my favorite things to show her, because I knew everything would be done online and I wouldn't have another chance to do so. People love to see things in person. They will buy it if they can see it. Also, another big sales trick is fast turn around times. I have found that if I make sure and get them their products ASAP that they are more likely to get their order in as quick as they can. If you are excited about your work and your products, then they will be too. I have a floating metal print that I show to all of my clients, and it is stunning. The colors literally pop out of it. The print is of my son. Last year I had a little over $4000.00 in sales just from metal prints. Invest in samples. They will pay you back ten fold.

 

[squirrels]

I have a floating metal print that I show to all of my clients, and it is stunning. The colors literally pop out of it. The print is of my son. Last year I had a little over $4000.00 in sales just from metal prints.

Now I really want to see that print!

 

[pixmedic]

Sales is easy; I've done it for years. The hard work is getting good at it. Once you get good at it, sales is sales. I don't care what you're selling. Learn your product and, if you'r a good salesman, you can sell anything.

Hell, I could sell condoms to the Pope if I could get him on the phone...

Which ones would you recommend to him?

 

[kathyt]

I have a floating metal print that I show to all of my clients, and it is stunning. The colors literally pop out of it. The print is of my son. Last year I had a little over $4000.00 in sales just from metal prints.

Now I really want to see that print!

Here you go. I chose this image to use as a sample because it is imperfect, (my sons underwear is hanging out) it is completely candid, and because it is my child (on the left) so it allows me to relate to the client on a more personal level. It is a 20x30 from H&H lab. I love them and ProDpi for metals.

 

[squirrels]

Dang! That is nice!

 

[nycphotography]

Sales is easy; I've done it for years. The hard work is getting good at it. Once you get good at it, sales is sales. I don't care what you're selling. Learn your product and, if you'r a good salesman, you can sell anything.

Hell, I could sell condoms to the Pope if I could get him on the phone...

Which ones would you recommend to him?

Recommend that he buy them all before some yoots actually use them!