Bridal Shows.. Pricing?

[lindsayanng]

We are going to a bridal fair on Sunday, and this will be our first. i was wondering, for those of you who have done them before.. Do you post your pricing/packaging lists?? Do you hand them out? or do you feel out your customers and tell them what THEY want to hear?

We do a lot of "a la carte" packaging for those people who are REALLY set on our photography, but dont have the money. This way we arent dropping our value as a company, but we are catering to everyone.. for instance, we sometimes do JUST the shoots and no prints, this way they can just buy which prints or digitals that they want.. etc...

Anyways, just wondering what you guys do.

ANY other tips and tricks to these bridal shows is also VERY appreciated. I was a bride not that long ago, and went to a few shows, but its different being ont he other side.

We have 2 professionaly done banners, a digial slide show, multiple print books for people to look through, LOTS of cards and postcards to hand out. We WANTED to give out a little "gift" thing, but didnt have the money.

DO you offer a raffle? Would that be a good way to get bride's addresses? I mean, they GIVE you the list of people attending with address, but it would be nice to have JUST the ones who stopped by the booth too.

[tim]

Wow, fair on Sunday, and you're thinking about this on Friday...

Yes, you have to hand out at least indicitave pricing. You should have nice fliers too, so people remember who you are. Also a nice stand, with big prints, albums, and maybe a slide show. Sofas if you can find the space.

Have a form out, say whoever leaves their contact details AND gives you permission to contact you goes in the drawer to win a basic package, or something like that.

[lindsayanng]

No.. I mean, yes, but its not as bad as you think..

We DID think this out in advance. We had our handouts all set, our layout for the tables, large prints, banners, posters, ect.. We had initially decided NOT to hand out pricing because we thought that would be bad for business because the other photographers might NOT but they might ask a bride to see ours and say "well, I can do THAT for THIS price" and under cut us..

THEN, we got to talking tonight, and doing some reading, and people said price lists make people feel warm and fuzzy inside. That they WANT prices.. but the IMMEDIATE competition is not the best thing. I was in commission sales for many years, the ONE thing we always did when we had someone hanging on the edge, was to TELL them our prices (or best offer) but never put it in writing so they couldnt go to the "other guy" and get 10% off of our best price.

We DID have a great idea in teh process of talking. IF we have the room, we want to offer FREE engagement photos for brides and grooms, or a free headshot of the bride and maid of honor, mother, etc. We would set up a plain black backdrop and use a good flash so no or minimal lighting would be needed.

We will not be able to have sofas, but we do have some chairs with the fancy chair covers and a little mini 2 person table so they can sit and talk.

We did think about offering a free premium photobook for people who hire and pay a deposit right there.

And i WILL be doing a raffle for people who fill out the cards we set out (name, address, phone number, ect) HOWEVER, raffles have rules here in Connecticut. You are required to pick the winner out of your "fish bowl" in front of a non associated OFFICER of the state (police man, justice of the peace, governer - most people hire a cop) We MIGHT get away with using the cop who is there for the bridal show raffle.

Would you ACTUALLY give away an ENTIRE package for the raffle? I guess thats all we have to give away since anything else requires them hiring us, thus isnt REALLY a prize becase you have to pay something to get something... Hmmmmm

[amccomis]

My experience is a bit different.

My view is that most people coming to bridal shows fall in to one of two categories:

- Wedding is SO FAR off they can't commit to anything
- Wedding is SO CLOSE they're just looking for ideas and everything else is locked in already.

I actually get VERY LITTLE business from shows like these. <shrug>

Lindsay, since you have such strict rules for RAFFLES, in your state, don't call it a raffle. Don't call it anything. Say something like "Everyone who registers is eligible for bridal show special upon receipt of deposit." -- something like "if you register with us today, and call us in May, we'll give you 10% off."

Do have easel stands and big prints to show off though. And make them nice. :-)

[lindsayanng]

oh yea.. We have 3 easel stands and about 8 big prints, we matted them and framed them in a nice, clean frame. The one thing that always annoyed me was those photographers that used these cheap looking "fancy" gold giant frames. It looks gaudy and i really just can't stand that look.

I guess you make a good point about the groups, BUT atleast if you get a contact of the person who's wedding is VERY far off, you can contact them again closer to the wedding to remind them of you.. We have postcard mailers and a good system at tracking who's wedding is when so we can remind people about us. just a friendly reminder.

Like i said, i have worked in comission sales AND i was a telemarketer, i know how to close a sale without sounding like a used car salesperson. My husband and i make a good team> i do all the marketing/office work, he does all the creative stuff.. and when clients meet him, they love him.

I like your wording though.. Very nice .. smooth

You can read raffle rules here:
RAFFLE LAWS (http://www.ct-clic.com/TradeLicenses/appView.asp?AppView=Bazaar+Or+Raffle+Permit-Initial___Permit+to+allow+qualifying+organizations +to+conduct+a+bazaar+or+raffle___225___39&appID=225)

You should check your state, you'd be surprised.. theres LOTS of states with laws like that (http://rafflefaq.com/united-states-raffle-laws/)

[amccomis]

oh yea.. We have 3 easel stands and about 8 big prints, we matted them and framed them in a nice, clean frame. The one thing that always annoyed me was those photographers that used these cheap looking "fancy" gold giant frames. It looks gaudy and i really just can't stand that look.

I guess you make a good point about the groups, BUT atleast if you get a contact of the person who's wedding is VERY far off, you can contact them again closer to the wedding to remind them of you.. We have postcard mailers and a good system at tracking who's wedding is when so we can remind people about us. just a friendly reminder.

Like i said, i have worked in comission sales AND i was a telemarketer, i know how to close a sale without sounding like a used car salesperson. My husband and i make a good team> i do all the marketing/office work, he does all the creative stuff.. and when clients meet him, they love him.

I like your wording though.. Very nice .. smooth

You can read raffle rules here:
RAFFLE LAWS (http://www.ct-clic.com/TradeLicenses/appView.asp?AppView=Bazaar+Or+Raffle+Permit-Initial___Permit+to+allow+qualifying+organizations +to+conduct+a+bazaar+or+raffle___225___39&appID=225)

You should check your state, you'd be surprised.. theres LOTS of states with laws like that (http://rafflefaq.com/united-states-raffle-laws/)


I read that RAFFLE LAW link, and I don't think you're subject to that. The term "RAFFLE" describes a type of contest in which contestants PAY TO ENTER, e.g. by PURCHASING a RAFFLE ticket. Unless you're CHARGING people to get onto the list, you're just doing a give-away by random drawing. Look more closely -- that RAFFLE LAW link pertains to charities, social clubs, etc... it has nothing to do with what you're doing. As such, you just call it a random drawing, and not a raffle. The term raffle is quite specific in meaning.

[lindsayanng]

Ohh, well thanks. i was told that a raffle that fell under that law is anything where you pull a name out that is supposed to be "by chance" and you are giving away any item of value which includes money and services. They said nothing about charitable organizations.

I am going to call back and see what they say. You are right though, now that i re-read it, it is all making sense.


But i would still like some insight on price lists and bridal shows. I am still torn.

[Rokkorfan]

We normally have a bridal show special, so they can get some idea of our prices.

This is our standard album package, but with $200 off if they book within 30 days and have registered their interest with us.

As a giveaway I hand out a dvd slideshow of our work. It costs me about $1.50 for each dvd, but clients will watch it, and get a great understanding of my work - more exposure than handing out a card.

Don't be concerned about telling folks your prices. I tell my competitors my prices - it encourages them to charge more! Folks that will choose another photographer because they are $100 cheaper are folks who aren't impressed enough by your work. In this business, you either stand above the pack and charge YOUR price, or run with the mill of weekend warriors and let the lowest common denominator tell you what to charge. Quality can always attract a premium.

[lindsayanng]

I was just thinking.. we got our price lists printed on some nice linen paper and they look really good, but i wanted to fold them nicely and I have a little "seal" to put on them.. but then i was thinking that they didnt look nice once unfolded.. i wanted to put a business card INSIDE the folded price sheet..what do you think?