how long to keep client gallery up

[Shadowbox]

Hello all,

I am wondering if there is a standard length of time a client gallery can be left up? I am nowhere near ready to charge for my photos, but I am creating my business outline and want to begin branding now while I am still learning so I have a good solid base when the time does come. I've looked for the standard but can't seem to find anything so I'm guessing this is up to photographer discretion and what it says on the contract. I'd like to not have my site cluttered with 100's of galleries (presumably years from now once I have a client base) but I can't be positive what a client expects either as far as length of access. Thanks

 

[MissCream]

Are you putting the online gallery in the price of your pictures or is it just for proofing?

 

[SabrinaO]

Keep it up for a short amount of time. The longer you keep it up the longer they have the opportunity to decide "do I really want this shot as a print?" Basically you want them to feel a little sense of urgency. Plus I don't think you would want to wait around for weeks to a month on them choosing proofs for finalization (if you are doing it this way)

 

[Shadowbox]

Thank you Sabrina LOVE your avi pic, so cute. I plan on doing prints, I am not going to be one of those people who provides all rights to the photos on a disc, I made my mind up about that!

 

[Big Mike]

Ideally, the shorter the time...the better. You don't want to have all those galleries on your site and you don't want to wait so long for orders to come in. Since you're working out your plan, I'd suggest starting with a short length of time...say a week or two. Tell the clients that they have to order within that time. The idea is to 'light a fire under them' so they order prints while everything is fresh in their minds and the emotional factor is present. The longer you leave it up, the less emotion is involved and the lower your orders are likely to be. But to be fair, there are those who just need a bit of time to save up the money.

To take this a step further, a better technique for sales, is to bring the clients into a sales area and have them view the images in large format...a very big TV or projected onto a wall/screen. The period to buy prints starts and ends in that session...so there is a sense of urgency. Combine that with the emotions of seeing the photos for the first time (large and with appropriate music) and you have a recipe for big sales.

Of course, you could always give the clients the option to keep an on-line gallery open longer, but since this is likely to cost you sales, you could charge for it. Some might choose to pay and some might become urgent to purchase prints sooner.

Another thing to think about is archiving the photos. Most photographer will tend to keep their client's photos forever. This means that you'd have to save the digital files and have a redundancy plan in place. For example, you might burn them onto discs (not just on hard drives) and you might consider an off-site back-up location or maybe a fire/water proof safe. Either way, as a minimum, you'll want to have them stored on at least two different drives, in case one craps out on you.
If you have a lot of clients (and/or shoot a lot of photos) this can get to be a big task.

One photographer I know, tells his clients that he will archive their photos for one year...and after that, they must pay a yearly fee, otherwise the photos get deleted.

 

[SabrinaO]

No problem! I would love not have to provide CD's... But all the photogs around here do and that's what people want around here. But I only provide a set amount. Most of the time my clients order their set amount for cd, and I get sales in prints too because I take a lot of shots each session!

 

[brandibell]

Keep it up for a short amount of time. The longer you keep it up the longer they have the opportunity to decide "do I really want this shot as a print?" Basically you want them to feel a little sense of urgency. Plus I don't think you would want to wait around for weeks to a month on them choosing proofs for finalization (if you are doing it this way)

Don't make them feel too rushed though. If they are too rushed they may not order as much as they normally would, and if you rush them too much they may feel as if you don't care. Leave it a reasonable amount of time so they feel comfortable in the decisions they are making.

 

[SabrinaO]

Ideally, the shorter the time...the better. You don't want to have all those galleries on your site and you don't want to wait so long for orders to come in. Since you're working out your plan, I'd suggest starting with a short length of time...say a week or two. Tell the clients that they have to order within that time. The idea is to 'light a fire under them' so they order prints while everything is fresh in their minds and the emotional factor is present. The longer you leave it up, the less emotion is involved and the lower your orders are likely to be. But to be fair, there are those who just need a bit of time to save up the money.To take this a step further, a better technique for sales, is to bring the clients into a sales area and have them view the images in large format...a very big TV or projected onto a wall/screen. The period to buy prints starts and ends in that session...so there is a sense of urgency. Combine that with the emotions of seeing the photos for the first time (large and with appropriate music) and you have a recipe for big sales. Of course, you could always give the clients the option to keep an on-line gallery open longer, but since this is likely to cost you sales, you could charge for it. Some might choose to pay and some might become urgent to purchase prints sooner.Another thing to think about is archiving the photos. Most photographer will tend to keep their client's photos forever. This means that you'd have to save the digital files and have a redundancy plan in place. For example, you might burn them onto discs (not just on hard drives) and you might consider an off-site back-up location or maybe a fire/water proof safe. Either way, as a minimum, you'll want to have them stored on at least two different drives, in case one craps out on you.If you have a lot of clients (and/or shoot a lot of photos) this can get to be a big task. One photographer I know, tells his clients that he will archive their photos for one year...and after that, they must pay a yearly fee, otherwise the photos get deleted.

God... I love you!!

 

[brandibell]

. Sorry typo stupid iPhone lol

 

[SabrinaO]

Keep it up for a short amount of time. The longer you keep it up the longer they have the opportunity to decide "do I really want this shot as a print?" Basically you want them to feel a little sense of urgency. Plus I don't think you would want to wait around for weeks to a month on them choosing proofs for finalization (if you are doing it this way)

Don't make them feel too rushed though. If they are too rushed they may not order as much as they normally would, and if you rush them too much they may feel as if you don't care. Leave it a reasonable amount of time so they feel comfortable in the decisions they are making.

I currently give them 2 weeks but I'm thinking about shortening it to one. I still think that's more than enough time to choose their photos.

 

[brandibell]

I currently give them 2 weeks but I'm thinking about shortening it to one. I still think that's more than enough time to choose their photos.

I think one/two weeks is reasonable.

 

[Shadowbox]

No problem! I would love not have to provide CD's... But all the photogs around here do and that's what people want around here. But I only provide a set amount. Most of the time my clients order their set amount for cd, and I get sales in prints too because I take a lot of shots each session!

I definitely did not mean that snobbishly. Everyone around here does the same with photo CDs, well where I live the standard seems to be a disc with exclusive rights of all pics from the session! (for $50). lol.

I want to really stand out as being different from the norm, and I think the clientele will be easier to work with going this route.

The thing I noticed is doing free shoots for my own practice, and I have so much to learn (so so so much) is that they never stop demanding more, no matter how much you give. So not only do I drive 30 minutes each way, but I provide two hours of photo taking, edit the photos and can send to them online they also want them on CD .. oh but not just ONE CD.. no no no, they need five copies, so they can give to all their friends and family to make their own prints - and then another session on top of that, hahaha. And hey, I can't complain, it's practice for me but it definitely has shed light on what type of people I'll be working with if I were to enter the industry at bottom rates.

Also a lot of people around here have been doing professional photography for a few years and charge $50 and that includes the full shoot and then the cd of pics. It seems very saturated and underpaid in my area. Is this the going rate in most cities?

In my current job, the more elite and prestigious I make myself appear (even if I am not) the higher quality of clients I attract. I am taking this philosophy with me into photography. While I admit I should not be charging for photos yet, I love marketing and making business plans so I just can't stop myself from setting up the backend of things.

Thanks for the suggestions Big Mike and brandibell.

 

[tirediron]

For weddings, I have 90 days specified in the contract (to allow lots of time for honeymoons and all the other things that invariably come up with weddings), for portraits, 30 days. The reality is that they tend to stay up a lot longer than that because I'm horribly bad about website 'house-keeping'.

 

[Big Mike]

Also a lot of people around here have been doing professional photography for a few years and charge $50 and that includes the full shoot and then the cd of pics. It seems very saturated and underpaid in my area. Is this the going rate in most cities?

In my current job, the more elite and prestigious I make myself appear (even if I am not) the higher quality of clients I attract. I am taking this philosophy with me into photography. While I admit I should not be charging for photos yet, I love marketing and making business plans so I just can't stop myself from setting up the backend of things.

Sadly, there are 'photographers' everywhere are undervaluing the industry by charging too little. It hurts the whole industry...but it mostly affects other photographers to cater to the lower end of the market. Most can get away with this because they can afford to run an unsustainable business (they only do it part time etc.)
But if you (or they) sit down and work out a business plan, they would easily see that a business model like that will quickly fail....unless they can use the Wal-mart/McDonald's model and replace quality with quantity.

The photographers (or any business person) who can successfully target the higher end of the market, is much less affected by things like this. Plus, they can usually do less work for more money, which sounds like a good idea to me.

 

[Shadowbox]

Which is exactly why I am working on my plan now Big Mike! I want to be able to cater to the higher end of the market. I need to produce quality photos of course so how does one break into the market as a beginner without selling themselves short?! I was thinking about providing a 'discount' rate in the beginning and slowly raising prices over time as my skill level and reputation increases.