Groupon/Living Social

[sbakewell1101]

Hello,

I have been tossing around the idea of doing a groupon or living social ad. I understand that it greatly reduces price and all that jazz, but i am looking to boost my exposure. And find more clients. Any advice?

 

[digitalescape]

Make sure you can handle the workload. Read up on all the fees involved as well.

 

[LarissaPhotography]

Living social is new to me - is that like Groupon? I'm probably just way behind on all the new stuff.

 

[RaynaMcGinnis]

I've been considering this as well. Does anyone have any tips? I am trying to re-establish myself on the other side of the country and it's proving to be harder than it was the first time around.

I'm okay with the mark down since I primarily do Senior portraits and a great deal of my business is referrals. Any other downsides?

and yes, Larissa, Living Social is just like Groupon!

 

[Pro400]

Photographers please ....... Retain your copyright!!! Dont give out your Hi-Res files. Why give the labs the profit on what you created? Provide a reasonable offer, do a great job and try and sell additionals to your new clients. Even if you average a couple hundred dollars per client, that will make it a worthwhile deal for you. If you wish, give your clients a web quality 72 dpi file of the images ordered or purchased with your studio watermark for use on Facebook or uploading to iPhones, iPads, etc. This will increase your exposure to thousands more people. I've been in the business of photography over 25 years, negatives were never provided to customers. Photographers that were rumored to be doing that were often blacklisted. These days all the newbies have started the new trend of shooting and burning files. What was once a respected and profitable profession has turned out to be one of the least lucrative businesses out there with established studios closing there doors daily on a nationwide level ! Let's stick together and take control. STOP the HI RES Epidemic!!!

 

[tirediron]

I'm a big fan of Groupon - there's nothing I like better than that "We booked a family shoot with So-and-so Photography through Groupon, and he/she is is over-booked and can't do our family shoot when he promised" telephone call. $$$$$$$

 

[GeorgieGirl]

Correct me if I am wrong, but there can be limits set to how many Groupon offers can be sold and for what time fram as well.

 

[j28]

I have done one through Living Social. I didn't sell very many (I think it was just over twenty), but that was actually my goal. The initial 50% of the selling price wasn't my profit goal, so I priced high and created a deal that would satisfy the bargain people if they didn't want to purchase anything else, but would also leave enough out to encourage additional print orders. It was good for exposure, but depending on the target market of your business it might now be as much exposure to the group you are actually wanting.

Don't listen to the organizer when they pressure you to do a small cheap package. If you do that you will likely end up losing money on every one sold. Make sure that if no one buys a single additional thing you still have some compensation, and be prepared for price shoppers.

 

[Big Mike]

Just last night, my wife was telling me about some distant family member who tried Groupon. It sounds like a typical story.

They placed that add, for their service (Massage therapist) at a greatly reduced price and sold a ton of them. They are now swamped with clients who are actually costing them money (reduced price doesn't cover the overhead) and even worse...these bargain hunting clients, aren't the type to become repeat clients (at regular prices). They even had someone call them up, to ask how their Groupon promotion was going. Turns out it was another massage therapist who was driven out of business because they sold 1500 massages at a price that couldn't sustain the business. Hopefully my wife's relative doesn't follow that path as well.