Am I odd?

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Your not odd I'd say, you are more rare. I'd probably make sure my CDs are very nicely printed CDs and not just a regular CD. I'd also put them in a presentable case as well just to give it a premium feel.

We offer print credits, and if they want to order prints they can, but we give CD's, DVD slideshows, and albums. We love making and presenting those more than prints.

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memoriesoftomorrow wrote in post #12691146
I'm the same with designing my books. In fact I don't think I could work in the business if I wasn't able to do that.

I love everything about albums, designing especially. I love it so much, I would do it for other people. I get giddy just thinking about the 12 x 16 we're about to order

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In my view, prints are free money. I'm going to host their images on Zenfolio anyway which has Mpix hooked into the back end. I never have to touch or think about anything in the process. Clients place their orders, they pay Zen, Zen sends me my cut, and every year there's $1k - $2k of free money sitting in my account. They only thing I do is try to take the kind of pictures that would sell: couple pictures at the table, shots of the kids, etc., which I would have taken for the couple anyway.

I try to be strategic in everything I do and, for me, I've not yet come up with a reason to NOT offer prints other than the work involved. And since there is no work involved . . .

I sell landscape photos which I print myself on a large format Epson printer, mostly canvas. But when it comes to weddings I don't sell prints either. TBH I don't think I could stand extended dealings with clients after a wedding apart from a few courtesy emails. I'm kind've over them by that stage. I always recommend a good printer.

memoriesoftomorrow wrote in post #12691102
Note: I am not interested in people trying to convince me I'm wrong in this approach because they won't succeed. This is question is out of curiosity.

You are not odd in not offering prints.

I find it odd that you ask a question but then say you are going to plug your ears and hum when someone may offer a reasonable approach that may differ from yours.

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i don't find it odd that you don't offer prints; IMHO prints are a PIA.

memoriesoftomorrow wrote in post #12692876
If you care to read my post again I never said I had a problem with anyone having a different approach to mine just that I wouldn't be convinced that mine was wrong and I should change. Maybe I should have spelt it out even clearer.

The point was I am not interested in others telling me how I should run my business just interested in how they run theirs and how it may differ from my approach. Not really knowing how others work within the industry it is insteresting to find out what approaches people take and why.

Its just my opinion, which means its worth nothing, but man, that seems really arrogant/shortsighted.

If you care to read my post again, I NEVER said you had a problem with someone saying they do things differently you. I only stated that YOU made it clear that you asked a question but had ZERO interest in possibly applying a different strategy than what you have already implemented.

You can ask a question and be open to trying get better and NOT take it as someone is telling you how to run a business. Peacefield gave a great alternative to your approach and it sure didnt seem like he was telling you how to run a business. How does it hurt you to be open to change?

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memoriesoftomorrow wrote in post #12693001
I hardly think trying to discover industry trends and building a strategy to try and differentiate myself from a large proportion of the market is shortsighted.

Um, how can you build a strategy to differentiate from the market BEFORE you found out what the market is?

I may be waaaaay off base but I thought you would post a thread like this, asking what others do, then make an assessment based on your cost analysis, put that assessment against how you want to run your business and then differentiate?

You built your business, formed your strategy, implemented it, then asked what the market is (while saying you do not care how others do it) and then said your different.

Again, you could be the most down to earth, humble guy but in this thread, and others, you really do not come across like that.

I use Zenfolio. I show it to my clients as their online gallery, and they can send it to friends and family. So far, ive got a few hundred bucks that I wouldnt have made, with very little effort in the end. If you dont want to do it, fine with me. So far its working for me.