Opportunity Knocking, money making ideas wanted.

[kona77]

I have rights to shoot and sell anything I want at an upcoming 2 day static airshow.
I would like suggestions on how to use this opportunity to make some money at the event. I can take photos of the planes, etc, but am wondering the best way to make money from the people attending.
Should I set up a printer and sell right there or just send them to my online gallery for sales?

There will also be about 200 classic cars there too. Did you hear that Frank? CARS!!

Past experiences and suggestions are all welcomed. Heck, the one who makes me the most money with their ideas just might get some credit to spend in the POTN store.:lol:

[Gary_Evans]

Your first question needs to be "How do I make people aware that I am here and they can buy my photos?"

Secondly, consider the sort of people that usually go to airshows - they are either aircraft fans or families there for a day out. The former usually have all the kit they need to shoot the photos they want and the latter probably will be happy with images shot on a point and press and so wont buy from you.

So assuming that your sentance "I have rights to shoot and sell anything I want at an upcoming 2 day static airshow" gives you AAA get the shots that others cant by shooting from within cordons, closed off vantage points etc so no-one has shots like yours.

Then decide what you are going to sell. Prints? discs? etc
And how? Onsite? over the web?
I seriously suggest that you sell onsite, but you need to have the facilities to do this.

Back to public awareness. Can you get announcements? Set up a sales booth? (Which would need to be near the refreshments area) Advertise in a program? Flyer cars as they enter the car parks? The list for this is truly endless. Why not try and get a plane to tow a banner advertising your services? :lol:

Also, try and sell the images as stock - especially if you can get a car and plane from the same period in a single image. Have you considered hiring models dressed in period clothes to shoot as well? You know the sort of thing - girl gives guy long, lingering kiss before he flys off to war etc. Cheesy, but they sell.

Worlds your lobster on this my friend :D

[kona77]

Thank you Gary for taking the time.
I have full access and can set up a booth, etc. There is also a family that always dresses up in WW2 theme uniforms so I could use them with a release.

I can also get announcements as well.

I think that having on site printing would give me the impulse buy with an online gallery for buying other pictures. Now I have to find the correct printer.:)

Thanks again.

[John Mireles]

Not to throw too much water on the idea, but you will do a ton of work for very little return. I'd bet that you'll be able to make more per hour by going to work at your local McDonalds.

The problem is that a lot of people love to look at the photos, but relatively few will buy. Because this is your first event, you'll spend a lot of time and money trying to get everything together. You'll also have to hire staff to work the booth - they'll need to get paid whether you sell anything or not. Guaranteed they won't work as hard as you to get the sale either.

My advice is to look into a turn-key operation for event photography. There's a lot of event related resources out there and I'd guess that there's something you could invest in to make it easier for you. Yes, it would be more expensive than figuring it out yourself, but everything has a cost whether you realize it or not.

I hate to be pessimistic, but I've done too many things that sounded good at the time. All too often, I'd have been better off focusing on my core business and let others do what they do best.

John

[kona77]

Hi John,

Thanks for your reply and I am not worried about you throwing water on the idea. I asked for opinions and can respect what people say.
I have attended the event for the last 2 years and have a good idea as to what takes place.

I want to keep it as simple as possible and was looking for different selling ideas. I am just trying to find an angle. Since I do not want to reinvent the wheel I threw the post out there to see what others might have experienced.

I don't think this would really qualify for an event type photography set-up. As Gary_Evans pointed out, many come with their own cameras but I need to figure a way that only I can take certain pics so people will have to buy them from me.

Thanks for your input.

[LucyRoberts]

Do you know any of the plane owners?

We frequent plane shows around here and the greatest thrill I got was when one of the owners offered to let my kids get up in the cockpit for shots.

Maybe one would be willing to give you the right for a small portion of the profit?

Might be completely unreasonable suggestion, but I thought I would throw it out there.

Good luck with whatever you try though.

[PhotosGuy]

Did you hear that Frank? CARS!! http://photo.klein-jensen.dk/smilies/rotfl2.gif I'd take a copy of my book:
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=324620

Have you thought of making a few generic "example" posters & taking orders for them? I'd think that mailing them would be best so people wouldn't have to carry them around the show, & you could just reprint what you needed.

Here's a few ideas:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v218/PhotosGuy/Air%20Show%202004/Nose-Art-comp.jpg?t=1186059851

Also from the book:
.

[John Mireles]

If you're determined to do this, I'd treat it as an art project. You can set up a booth with prints for sale. I'd consider just shooting the event this year and coming away with killer images that you can later print and sell at art fairs and next year when this show comes around. No one is going to pay for stuff that they can shoot themselves, but when you package it as art or make it look cool, you might stand a chance.

Even though you have all access, you have to understand that most of the people that come out to events like this are amateur photographers. Most of these guys won't spend a penny on photography since they figure they could have shot it themselves. It's a tough crowd.

In case you're wondering where I come up with this stuff, I have my own gallery (www.alternativelandscape.com) so I know first hand the challenges of selling photographic prints to the masses.

John

[ssim]

You've gotten some great advice so far. We have a two day airshow where I live this weekend and I am go to enjoy shooting for myself.

I have to agree that you will not see great rewards on this. These are the type of events that just don't sell all that well, imo and my experience. I think that everyone should try this to see for themselves.

You say that you have been granted access to shoot and sell what you want. I am going to assume that this is from the organizing committee. I would think that you should check to see what the exhibitors have to say about that. I know that most of the airshows that I have gone to a number of the performers have their own booth setup selling their own prints. This is a compound problem, firstly they have really nice air to air shots of their aircraft and secondly they may object to you selling their identifiable aircraft. Some of these performers carry trademarked logos on their aircraft, which can get you in trouble. Have you confirmed from the organizing committee that you can obtain signed releases from the performers. They may say nothing at all to someone locally doing this but then again they may.


I'm not much of a car person but the few car shows that I have been to most of them have lots of great shots that they will sell themselves.

[PhotosGuy]

John, you need to fix the 11, in "The gallery is open from 11:00..."
http://johnmireles.com/alternativelandscape/Gallery.html

[kona77]

Thanks for the info everyone.

Frank, that is a great idea, I will probably do something like that with pictures that I have from the first 2 years. I also have some great shots from my photography mast that no one else will have. I will get a copy of your book, as soon as you spell Detroit correctly.:)

ssim,

You bring up some very valid points and some I have already cleared with the organizers. There is not usually a lot of other vendors there with their planes. And the ones that are there I have talked to and explain who I am. I tell them that I will not infringe on their marketing or shoot their plane for profit. So far so good.


John Mireles,

Good advice and I will probably do something like that down the road. I will take as many pictures as I can and put something together.

Thanks everyone.

[John Mireles]

Thanks for the catch. That's just the font. It does what it does...

John

[PhotosGuy]

...as soon as you spell Detroit correctly Sh*t! OK, so where did you see that? :D

That's just the font. It does what it does... The 11 doesn't match the rest of the font in Firefox 2.0.0.6. Much smaller, & vertical, too. You be better off using two lower case "L"s.