soooo another photographer dogged me.

Run your business the best way you know how. Be aggressive, advertise alot, and treat your customers like royalty.

If you develop good relationships with the folks you do business with, word of mouth will set you free. If a person has dealt with you and likes you, a little badmouthing will be shrugged off... as said, many people will see right through it.

I would kill this guy with kindness. talk to him and interact with him AS IF YOU DID NOT KNOW what he had been saying. don't ever acknowledge that you are angry at him, or resort to calling him a name, etc...

I had a woman "mortal enemy" photog before. i actually sent her business. Whenever i dealt with someone that i thought would be a hassle for me, i would turn them onto her website.

I don't know why, but many photographers i have met have a very snooty, better-than-everyone-else attitude. they think they are soo much better than someone else because they have learned about f-stop and white balance. Give me a break.

Whatever the case, do not get into any "pissin match" or direct conflict with this guy. as my favorite rapper once said "A wise man told me never argue with fools, 'cuz people from a distance can't tell who is who".

best of luck, and enjoy your guilt-free success.

I think in the long run your work will speak for itself. If people come to you and like your work better than his, then everyone will want the best they can get for their $$$ and come to you.

I would not let it ruin my day and just keep doing what you are doing since it is working. He will look like a "bitter betty" when he is running around town trying to drag you through the mud. People will pick up on that and stay clear of him if they are smart.

larann78 wrote in post #5522838
I am freaking pissed. Two years ago I opened a photography studio on Main street in a town of about 2500 people. Very small. There has been another photographer here for about 30 years. He is very very traditional and I am the complete opposite. He used to do everything concerning photography in this town and recently the school as well as families and senior have all been coming to me. He has already been freaking out to the superintendant of the school saying that there is not room enough for two of us and that he can't believe they aren't "grandfathering" him in. He's badmouthing me around town...And now I found out that the senior class had a can drive and he pulled one of the girls aside and told her that he would donate a large amount if she agreed to run my name down out at the highschool and try to convince members of the junior class into not coming to my studio anymore!!!!! Now... I have never said one word about this man, even when my clients **** about his personality AND his work. I say, "He's good, he's just traditional." So, the only thing I have done to him is to take his business. Isn't it the clients choice WHO they come to? What should I do about this?

Well...it's a few days later and another photographer from 20 miles away just called me. He heard about it and said he was outraged by this man's behavior and was going to be calling him and telling him that he might as well sell all his equipment because he clearly has lost his professionalism and that he just blackballed himself by pulling that stunt. ahhhhh, sweet revenge that i didn't have to execute myself.

His conduct suggests he has little or no marketing skills and perhaps a talent withered by years of no competion. While I can understand his fear of an adverse change in his circumstances I also think the public is sophisticated enough to act in their own best interest. Quality and good business practices should win out. I also think he is probably right that the market is too small to support two photographers. It is probably only a matter of time before the situation will sort itself out. If you continue to take the high road and respond with genuine value to the customer, nature will take its logical course.

tracknut wrote in post #5522889
This is a pretty cold statement. I don't know either of you, of course, or whether my interpretation here is correct, but let me add on to that line, what you haven't written: " the only thing I have done to him is to take his business, his livelyhood, his income, food off his table, and potentially damaged his ability to retire comfortably."

Not that what you're doing isn't legal, by any means, but it doesn't seem like you may have an appreciation for what you've done to him, and what effect it may have on him?

Dave

That is the joy of a free enterprise system. By losing his competetive edge he has done that to himself. The OP has done nothing wrong or unethical.

MikeMcL wrote in post #5535960
I don't know why, but many photographers i have met have a very snooty, better-than-everyone-else attitude. they think they are soo much better than someone else because they have learned about f-stop and white balance. Give me a break.

LMAO..........I have run acrossed the same thing myself.

Back to the original issue.

I had a fellow that also was shooting snowcross and I heard he made some comment while at dinner with one of my customers about not beng a snapshooter. He said she shot for big poster style shots. Well he did the awards photos for the banquet, and anyone who got them were not thrilled with the final product. They were soft and OoF an in one case he had the wrong racer in one of them.

Anyone who has seen my stuff as enlargements is blown away with the quality. I let the finished product do the talking.

Build it and they will come.

I actually take the time to educate people on the elements of what makes a good photo, and let them decide for themselves who they want to buy from.

tracknut wrote in post #5522889
This is a pretty cold statement. I don't know either of you, of course, or whether my interpretation here is correct, but let me add on to that line, what you haven't written: " the only thing I have done to him is to take his business, his livelyhood, his income, food off his table, and potentially damaged his ability to retire comfortably."

Not that what you're doing isn't legal, by any means, but it doesn't seem like you may have an appreciation for what you've done to him, and what effect it may have on him?

Dave

lol are you talking about Walmart? Home Depot? Lowes? lol

superdiver wrote in post #5523287
If your competition is complaining about you then you KNOW YOU ARE WINNING! You got him RIGHT where you want him. Now you have to learn to develope that killer instinct! To put your foot on his throat and make him beg for mercy!

I like that comment!!!

Something along the same lines happened to me here when I first started doing football photos for the teams in this area..... The other photographer who was doing them got really upset that the teams had chosen me over him and he started trashing me all over the city..... But when it was all said and done, he moved on and I kept the teams.

I have discovered that when others trash talk you, that they are scared cuz they know that you are way better than them at something. They just aren't adult enough to admit it and say good job.....

Hang in there, let your work speak for itself and you'll see that everything will work out in the end.....

There's a guy who stands in our post office lobby pretty much every day and rants about how the world is coming to an end. He wears a snorkel, orange cammo, and pees his pants.


The moral of the story?


No one believes a nut.

cdifoto wrote in post #5548372
There's a guy who stands in our post office lobby pretty much every day and rants about how the world is coming to an end. He wears a snorkel, orange cammo, and pees his pants.

Tell my Uncle Cletus I said hello.... kidding. But if thats true, its hilarious. And as for the OP, keep on doing what you are doing. If you need some "Italian Influance" give me a call... again, kidding people.