When presenting your work to your couples

Hey guys,

I just need a bit of help with something.

I have been contemplating on getting an iPad to use when I am presenting my work to my prospects and I am trying to justify the cost. Just trying to get an idea what you guys currently use.

To those who currently use iPad for their presentation, what are the benefits of using an iPad and what were you using before iPad?

You didn't include an option for what I do. Presently, I have a two monitor desktop PC with a large flat-screen monitor that faces the client.

As my kids mature and move on, I find we no longer need both a living room and family room so I've taken over the living room as studio space (a nice 12x24 room w/a lot of windows). I'm probaby going to transition to presenting client's images to them in this more comfortable setting with a large flat screen TV.

Peacefield wrote in post #13453238
You didn't include an option for what I do. Presently, I have a two monitor desktop PC with a large flat-screen monitor that faces the client.

As my kids mature and move on, I find we no longer need both a living room and family room so I've taken over the living room as studio space (a nice 12x24 room w/a lot of windows). I'm probaby going to transition to presenting client's images to them in this more comfortable setting with a large flat screen TV.

I apologize, I totally forgot about the studio setting. So what do you use when you have to go to your clients location?

I guess my question is more directed on the instance that you have to go to the clients or have to meet up at a coffee shop or a restaurant.

Since I am from the suburbs and most of my clients are from the city, I always find myself going to them as I don't want them to do the traveling and most of my clients appreciate the fact that I go to them than the other way around.

My potential clients have already seen my work on my website so showing them the same thing on an ipad doesn't make sense to me. I show albums and prints.

voted other, because apple isnt the only thing out there to display images....

Tablet Android for displaying or website

My option was not there. I show exactly what they get in the packages I offer. Albums.
4 out of the 5 options you have are digital displays. If my packages included an iPad, tablet or laptop that would be how I present them.
I do bring my iPad out when I want to show shots that are not in an album. Maybe from their venue or in a style they are interested in.

rhommel wrote in post #13453265
I apologize, I totally forgot about the studio setting. So what do you use when you have to go to your clients location?

I guess my question is more directed on the instance that you have to go to the clients or have to meet up at a coffee shop or a restaurant.

Since I am from the suburbs and most of my clients are from the city, I always find myself going to them as I don't want them to do the traveling and most of my clients appreciate the fact that I go to them than the other way around.

Your situation and mine are similar; I'm about 50 miles outside of NYC, but it's real rural by the time you get that far out and many of my clients will come from more than an hour away to see me. While I'm not unwilling to meet them somewhere, I resist it for a number of reasons.

One is time; if I only close at about 50%, once you add in the travel, that's a lot of sales time that doesn't produce any revenue. Meeting them in my office affords me a greater sense of professionalism and helps to express that I'm not just a GWC. Most importantly, I do a nice business in albums and other stuff and it's too hard to travel with all of my samples.

Nonetheless, I will still meet in a Starbucks or something like that when it's the right thing to do in which case I will just use a basic PC laptop. However, knowing that connections are slower than at home and I want to minimize the likelihood that my time is going to a meeting that doesn't result in a sale, I make sure they've already thoroughly reviewed my website and portfolio before meeting.

If I have 30 sales calls/year, I might meet with someone remotely only once or twice.

I primarily use albums. I also use a 40" LCD TV, connected to my PC. I don't go to a customers location, they always come to my office.

I'm considering using my Asus Transformer to show customers images. It has a really nice IPS screen, and I think it might be more interactive and interesting.

zagiace wrote in post #13453792
My option was not there. I show exactly what they get in the packages I offer. Albums.
4 out of the 5 options you have are digital displays. If my packages included an iPad, tablet or laptop that would be how I present them.
I do bring my iPad out when I want to show shots that are not in an album. Maybe from their venue or in a style they are interested in.

Ditto to the above,
They would have already seen my work, When i meet with clients i only show them what they will actually get in there package,

albums and prints work for me

I use my theater system, 46 inch TV for slide shows and pics something likethis , than albums.

thanks for the reply guys.

Since I am not a full-time photog and don't have a 'real' studio, I always go to my clients' place or we meet up at a coffee shop/restaurant where we can sit down and chat. It's also nice to see their reactions to my photos when they view them the first time

I do always bring a couple of albums as it is a product that I offer. But since I only have a few photos on my website, I always tell my prospects that I will show them more photos when we meet.
I have 20 weddings (folders) on my laptop and have about 50 photos per wedding. I let my clients choose which wedding they want to view. I notice though that they will only open a couple of weddings and view a few photos from each before we go into the contract signing.

The problem with my laptop is that it's pretty bulky/heavy. I did go ahead and bought an iPad2. we'll see how it goes when I meet a couple tomorrow for their oct '12 wedding

I only bring an album to consults. I meet at coffee shops too.

If I am meeting to show a client their photos in person (I do that for boudoir because I don't post boudoir photos online) then I use my laptop. Personally, I find ipads and tablets to be seriously overhyped. Between the super compact laptops out there and smartphones, I don't see why I'd ever want to buy YET ANOTHER FREAKING DEVICE to sync, maintain, upgrade, and buy totally proprietary software for. A tablet doesn't make your photos look any better, nor is it "more interactive" in any way more than a laptop is. (BTW, many laptops now have multitouch screens) It's cool but that's about it.

Now if you don't even own a laptop in the first place (like Tim) then yeah, a tablet could be nice.

I meet potential clients in coffee shops and bring my laptop to run a fairly long slideshow and I bring a couple of sample albums.

I bought an iPad in hopes of using that during consultations, but I find my 13" MacBook Pro is better for me.

iPad and albums for me.