Can prospective clients really differentiate between quality?

airfrogusmc wrote in post #16554716
I think many commercial clients care. Most other visual professionals know(art directors, designers, account managers, etc) and care about quality. Their jobs and reputations depend on quality in many cases. And they know. And all of this is not as suggestive as many think.
http://char.txa.cornel​l.edu/language/introla​n.htm

What you like and dislike is suggestive. What is good or not is not as suggestive as many think.

Now the money question, if you really care about quality and actually yourself "know" what that means, how do you get to those clients that know and care?

Yes, commercial clients are an entirely different world.

LostArk wrote in post #16469600
I've been an amateur for awhile now, but recently heavily contemplating going pro. I googled all my competition in the area, and there are a few photographers with pages of raving 5 star reviews on google whose work looks like they just blast away with a rebel & kit lens in full auto.

This terrifies me. How can I compete if people are thrilled with uncle Bob quality results?

Keep in mind that today's cameras, Like a rebel and kit lens, set to Auto, can, and will, take a great photograph if properly composed and exposed!

So, maybe uncle Bob knows a bit about composition and takes some "pretty nice" photos.... will a client care if you used auto, shot in jpg, and only used software to crop to fit the 8x10 frames? Nope.

LostArk wrote in post #16469600
I've been an amateur for awhile now, but recently heavily contemplating going pro. I googled all my competition in the area, and there are a few photographers with pages of raving 5 star reviews on google whose work looks like they just blast away with a rebel & kit lens in full auto.

This terrifies me. How can I compete if people are thrilled with uncle Bob quality results?

if it's decent..people are going to pay for it. From my experience, a handful of people recognize good work. It's not all about how good you are in taking pictures...it's all about how you run your business and market yourself.