juicedownload wrote in post #17039832
Although being a non-established photographer (in the case of the OP), I think it would be difficult to get pre-paid orders (as in before seeing images).
Although it's definitely worth a try. Could give you an idea of interest OP. And if doing on-site orders, means having a laptop(s) for customer review and orders. OP will likely need an assistant. Looks like the photo booth idea may be the most profitable, but also a lot of work.
I honestly think this is a perfect example of where ( god forbid!) business skills come in.
Chances are if he WAS an established shooter, no one would know him the first time he did this anyway. Unlike the endless rot and garbage I read about reputations being so important, they are far from the be all and end all of your business. If you do no advertising and you only get customers by referal, then it is. However if you are like99% of businesses in the world that do promote and get new clients, then reputation is completely redundant.
What IS important here is how the OP presents himself. If he APPEARS to know what he is doing, Is confident, in control, has his marketing/ sales materials organised and laid out, People will do as they normally do and give him credit for being able to do what he says.
I have walked into loads of work I have never done before and never been questioned on it. I was up and running and making money first time out. Just because I haven't done something dosen't mean I can't do it. You take a bit from all the other experience you have and do the job. One of the last new things I tried, I booked the gig and then went to the place the week before, got the organiser to talk to the parent of a photogenic kid, did some sample shots of said kid to put on a poster and was there shooting and selling the 7 days later.
You have to have the stones to go into these things and MAKE them work and not be easily put off.
It would be really important in this instance to appear professional, especially by NOT charging amateruish prices. $5 for a 5x7 and and 10 for an A4 is just insulting yourself and wasting your time. OH yeah, I hear everyone say say" But if I'm too expensive, no one will buy!"
Guess what? If you are too cheap, they will know you area half assed try hard with what you are doing and won't buy either!
The pricing here needs to be $15 for a 5x7 and $30 for an 8x11. Throw in a discount of 5 for the price of 4.
Digital file sales have worked well for me in many markets in Multiples.
1-5 on USB, $50, 6-10 $75, 10+ $100. Must be same kid although if they are buying the 10+ deal, I let them incorporate every kid in the family. Also goes down a real treat when they decide on say the $75 deal and have 8 pics and are trying to decide which one when you put all 8 on the disk and say something like " Sorry, you are taking too long to decde on this, You are just going to have to take all the pictures for the $75 and I don't want to hear and complaints! *BIG GRIN*
The parents will think you like you just gave their kid a life saving blood transfusion.
What the hell am I going to do with the extra pics anyway? May as well build some good Karma and this goes a loooooong way with that and get great feedback to the organisers about what a wonderful bloke you were.
The thing here if it is going to fly is make it look professional and like the shooter is not doing it as a sideline but rather it's take it or leave it on the part of the parent. And what parent wants their kid to miss out on something some other kid will get?
I'd milk that angle for all it was worth.
The other one would be hammer it home, " No pay, no pics taken".
If no one goes for it, all that would have happened is the OP shoots all the kids, stuffs around editing and uploading and sales will be nil while steals will be 240.
As a fall back, I'd do onsite sales.
For 240 kids, -myself- with that few I'd tend to do my 3 print package and PRE PRINT the lot. I sell one sheet at 20, 2 @ 25 and 3@ 30. one sheet is some 6x8's with wallets, the other is 5x7, 6x4 and some fillins and the other is 1 full size pic. They choose whatever sheet they want.
IF -if- ( did I make the IF clear?) there is the opportunity to get in front of all the parents, say at some function/ meeting/ presentation/ game day.... at the end, this is how I would do it.
Yeah, yeah, I know!!! some pics won't be sold!! God forbid again!
Who bloody cares?? Your print cost will be your print cost and if your print prices to the customer are anywhere in the ballpark, you'll only have to sell 1 in 9 to be in front. If that's all a person can do, they must be a lousy shooter or an idiot business person.
Admittedly I print all my own event pics which brings the price right down but I could still make money if I sent them out. At a pinch, the OP could do it down and dirty and just shoot a pic of each kid, put a border round it, " ABC soccer camp, wherethefukarewe? 2014 " and print them to 5x7's. $15 ea, 2 for 25.
Lay them out on a table, watch the parents pick them up and buy. I do it ever single time at charity and corporate dinners let alone other sports events and never fail to walk away with a dollar. So far my worst effort with this was $330 clear for 3.5 hours work. If you call it that, more like 20 min shooting, 45 min printing, the rest of the time sitting on my backside waiting for the event to finish and do the sales.
I figured where I went wrong and the next weekend did a smaller event and cleared $560 in 3 hours.
Yeah, I had a pile of left over unsold prints. So what? I made $330 and $560 CLEAR so had no problems when I got home chucking them in the bin.
For thse things these days, online sales is just a waste of time and effort and more aggressive, professional, out of the box thinking is required to have a hope of making any remotely worthwhile $$$.
