Competing with the lowest common denominator?

[Fenster]

I'm really uncertain as to whether this is a strictly-Las Vegas phenomena, so I am curious as to whether anyone else here is losing business to those plucky men and women with point-and-shoot cameras who will photograph a wedding and hand over a CD full of the images for a whopping total of 50 dollars.

This was inspired by a disheartening moment this week, when after a few hours of back-and-forth emails haggling, I received a final (snidely-worded) message from the bride informing me that she'd found someone who'd shoot her wedding and reception for $60.

[JWitmer]

I say, let them. If they want to look at regular images of their wedding for the rest of their lives, then that's their problem.
I believe there will always be people out there who are looking for quality, and will thusly pay for it. (Or so I hope!)

[Stealthy Ninja]

When the wedding costs 20 bucks and comes with a car air freshener, can you blame them? :lol:

Email back and offer to shoot their divorce for 1/2 price. See how they react.

LOL

[cdifoto]

The fact that you were haggling at all speaks volumes.

[Fenster]

The fact that you were haggling at all speaks volumes.

Having to compete with point-and-shooters reduces me to it. Teh suq, etc.

[cdifoto]

Is that the level of quality you provide?

[Fenster]

Look at my site and judge for yourself.

[Karl Johnston]

I think if you're thinking about it from the wrong angle..try aiming for quality over quantity - as in you get what you pay for and this is the difference of why.

You are in vegas, after all...land of the 10 minute wedding. Those 100$ shooters are making 98$ in profit per hour and satisfying their customers ..but that's not your business. You're the one that people pay more money for the product that you can do better than they can. Or can you? Can you? Highlight this fact that you can. Now if you're not; the problem is your photography..can't really help too much there.

but if you are..read on

You are lexus. Not ford.

Understand this - your market is luxury ..not budget. For vegas, maybe luxury is 1000$ ..I have heard from a guy of how lucratively cheap they can do weddings for, there. But understand this - you are lexus...highlight your features. The heated cupholders, the massaging chairs, the sunroof, the 0-60 mph in 2.9 seconds (actually that's ferrari but whatever..)

Now go out there and prove to people that you are lexus - not ford.
When the wedding costs 20 bucks and comes with a car air freshener, can you blame them? :lol:

Email back and offer to shoot their divorce for 1/2 price. See how they react.

LOL
OH MY GOD! BEHIND YOU! ANOTHER NINJA!

[Stealthy Ninja]

All ninja's are behind me. ;) In ability that is. :shock:

Karl is right. Los Vegas is known for the cheapo wedding.

Which is what I was trying to get at.

[jonwhite]

Look at my site and judge for yourself.

What lens are those fisheye shots on your blog taken with? it looks like the sigma 8mm but with half the lens cap left on :D

Apologies if its not but thats what it looks like.

Regards the original post there's people competing at all levels of the market but the bottom end has gone very low since digital and its not somewhere that most people who are truelly interested in photography would want to compete.

[Tarzanman]

You can compete with them on their level if you really want....

Put one lens on your SLR, switch the dial over to full automatic and just click away. When you're done, put all the JPG images on a CD (or two) and be done with it.

You'll (presumably) have better images than the P&S cameras and not be out any more time than they were.

[form]

I simply haven't been getting many inquiries for wedding work lately, and I've noticed a lot more ads for $100 for 4 hours of photography, or "you'll love your wedding photography...or it's free!" I can't compete with or offer those things and make any money, and I don't have time to do free work. I also don't really do haggling; if they don't like my rate, I may offer a small discount for military, but that's all.

Up to this point I have done well as the el-cheapo vegas photographer. Now there are even el-cheaper options than me. I think/hope that those who charge a severely low amount will not be able to keep business going and justify it, because they're working for $5/hour after processing, travel and consultation. But then, that's what we said about illegal aliens before they took many of our local service jobs away from the white population by accepting much lower wages...and they're still here.

There are more brands to wedding photographers than just Lexus and Ford. There are plenty of Toyotas, Buicks and a few Lamborghinis. And there are Geo Metros.

[asysin2leads]

When the wedding costs 20 bucks and comes with a car air freshener, can you blame them? :lol:

Email back and offer to shoot their divorce for 1/2 price. See how they react.

LOL

I don't care who you are, that's just funny, right there.:lol:

OP: Chances are if someone is willing to get hitched in the little sluttly chapel of love in Sin City, they aren't too concerned with professional photos. They would rather spend their money on booze and gambling than on photos.

[sfaust]

Karl pretty much sums up what I've been telling people for a long time. Continuing the analogy, Lexus isn't concerned that Suzuki is selling a SX4 for 4 door sedan $14,000. In fact, they probably haven't even heard about it. But you can be sure they know exactly what BMW, Mercedes, Inifnity, et al is doing with their offerings.

Focus on your real competition, and that just above you. Check the rear view mirror once in a while, but don't dwell on those behind you in the dust. They aren't in the running, and your clients will soon dismiss them as well once they see the differences in quality and service. If not, you really don't want them as a client anyway.

Focus all your attention and marketing on clients that value quality, are in your price point, etc. Marketing a Lexus to someone looking to buy a Suzuki won't be very successful. But marketing a Lexus to those also looking at other luxury cars will be.

I get calls all the time with clients looking to shoot a days worth of products for cheap money. I give them my rates and they go away. They aren't my clients, and I am not going to lower pricing or services just to get the job. If I do, then I'll end up in the dust myself.

Instead I put more emphasis and focus on higher level clients. I'll spend the time searching and marketing to them, rather than trying to please a client that is paying less and demanding more. In the end, I'll build a business with a higher level clientele that values service and quality over who is the cheapest they can get.

Look forward to where you want to go, rather than where you once were!

[RDKirk]

I would think that Vegas would attract a good number of higher-end destination weddings. Work with other vendors--caterers, reception halls, florists--to get networked into that market.

[Fenster]

What lens are those fisheye shots on your blog taken with? it looks like the sigma 8mm but with half the lens cap left on :D

Apologies if its not but thats what it looks like.

Regards the original post there's people competing at all levels of the market but the bottom end has gone very low since digital and its not somewhere that most people who are truelly interested in photography would want to compete.

I picked up one of those $40 fisheye lens adapters from Ebay as I wanted the 'cheap' look. I don't plan to push this for customers, but feedback has been positive so far.

[Frugal]

they're working for $5/hour after processing, travel and consultation.

Probably less than that, but definitely below minimum wage. So why do they bother to do it? What's their motivation?

[stathunter]

Your marketing efforts are focused at, Craigslist? What?! You might as well advertise with brochures at garage sales or thrift stores. Everything has its place but you will never win the price war competing on Craigslist.
What is your brand? Focus on the client you want to have and where do they do their shopping/reviewing of services?
It seems the only business that thrive on Craigslist are adult businesses.....so change your marketing strategy......NOW!

[form]

Your marketing efforts are focused at, Craigslist? What?! You might as well advertise with brochures at garage sales or thrift stores. Everything has its place but you will never win the price war competing on Craigslist.
What is your brand? Focus on the client you want to have and where do they do their shopping/reviewing of services?
It seems the only business that thrive on Craigslist are adult businesses.....so change your marketing strategy......NOW!

Not true at all. Although it is widely considered to be mostly for budget-smart options, there are also very good photographers who advertise there; they just don't use it as their mainstay.

[sapearl]

Perhaps that is true for some - but a lot of potential clients do judge vendors by the "company they keep." And you can't ignore some of those questionable businesses; not saying you should not list there - just be aware of image.

Not true at all. Although it is widely considered to be mostly for budget-smart options, there are also very good photographers who advertise there; they just don't use it as their mainstay.

[Fenster]

Clients who find me through Craigslist aren't going to disqualify me because they found me through Craigslist. The site is an excellent (and free!) source of advertising, but it isn't by any means my only method.