Poll - Interest level in this type of service

[UNH]

Hello All,

I asked for general feedback about a week back on this business idea, and got some great comments. As part of the research into feasibility of the idea, photographers' (active and prospective) opinions on the idea are paramount. The issue is that there is a very limited number of photo enthusiasts in our own personal networks, so I thought I would try to solicit some more feedback from the group here. I have copied the original post describing the idea below. Anyone who would like to vote in the poll detailing the level of interest based on their current standing, would be much appreciated. Of course, any comments and/or questions on the idea itself, or anything relating to it, are also very much appreciated. For those who do not live near an area that attracts tourism, the idea could be expanded for all types of uses. Thanks again for all your time!

Original Post:
Hello All,

Classmate of mine has a business idea targeted at travelers and photography enthusiasts. His plan is to create an online meeting place where those going on vacation and/or business travel could link up with an amateur (or professional) photographer at the destination of choice. The idea is that often times someone on travel is interested in having nice pictures taken where they are headed, but: are traveling alone or as a couple only, may not have nice equipment and/or want to travel with it, often interested in hiring someone for an hour or less, don't need/want to pay for full professional photo shoot. The idea would be to start a service to link these people with those willing to meet up and take nice photos for a short period of time for a fee.

Basically, I thought this would be a great spot to try and get some opinions from an important demographic to his idea. Any and all input, negative or positive, would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, and have a great day!

 

[Chris R]

How would you make money off this? I'd assume you'd take a cut of the session fee, but here is the kicker: What's stopping me from just using your service to find the name of a photographer and then googling their name/location and contacting them directly? Seems like the middleman (you) is easily cut out of this situation.

 

[pic_chick]

is that not what C.List is for already?

 

[UNH]

How would you make money off this? I'd assume you'd take a cut of the session fee, but here is the kicker: What's stopping me from just using your service to find the name of a photographer and then googling their name/location and contacting them directly? Seems like the middleman (you) is easily cut out of this situation.

Thanks for the feedback. I think there would be several different models for monetizing this type of service, but the major question to answer first is whether this is indeed a service that is needed/wanted.

Thanks to you and all that voted.