How do you compete with this?

A few people have asked me if they can get a cd of the entire shoot. when I tell them I don't offer that they showed me this ad from craigslist. How do you respond to this and not lose a customer?
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"we're offering slots at $59 in order to fill some vacancies. No catch or hidden fees. "

_340 photos taken ...
_Studio and Natural light setups ...
_Up to 4 changes of clothing ...
_Free Retouching ...
_Leave with a CD of all images ..

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The studio actually does decent work too.......(at least on their website)

sometimes, the best you can offer a customer opting for the above ad is, 'I guess you'll get what you pay for.'

While reading through the bullets of the ad, I was thinking the photographer would profit from prints. Providing the customer with the CD killed that idea!

dave

You don't compete with this.. at least if you want to stay in business. I can tell you right off the bat that if clients are referring to cheaper photographers you're not providing anything of value for them to use you OR you are targeting the wrong market altogether.

USER876 wrote in post #11173530
The studio actually does decent work too.......(at least on their website)

LOL.....people shop on price 9 times out of 10 these days.

This is what I have to compete against at the racetrack

http://www.imagefactor​.ca/photos.htm

I don't have a full time job to subsidize my photography, so I have to sell at much higher rates.........rates people don't seem willing to pay.

The issue is the CD of ALL the pictures seems to be of value now a days......

USER876 wrote in post #11173968
The issue is the CD of ALL the pictures seems to be of value now a days......

Thats because some jackhole started doing that to make a quick buck, and now its become the expected norm.

Problem is I am aware of somebody who operated that way, and then folks complained that they were paying for a huge amount of poor quality shots.

You don't compete. Much like it is with just about every other type of business, the key is differentiation. That can be in the form of quality, a different experience, a unique look, etc.

Tell them:

1) Quality not quantity is the key factor for success in model portfolios. Talent agencies do not show 340 pictures of a model-they show 5-20. Vogue does not publish all the pictures of a photo shoot, just 5-8 for the cover and inside pictures.
2) Modeling Images without proper makeup/hair/clothing styling are worthless.
3) If you want to find success in modeling, you should hire the right photographer with proven success-magazine tears, working models using their photos, and client contacts to get models work.

From your own business perspective-this studio will fail soon. Their prior customers will no longer pay higher rates and they will spend 3-5 hours to earn just $60?!?!? what a complete waste of time. They are not making enough money to pay for facilites, insurance, equipment, and office supplies.

-Scott

I don't even bother competing with stuff like that, as some have already mentioned, you get what you pay for. If you want cheap costumers then you can try to compete but be careful what you wish for. I know economy is bad, lots of people without work trying to make a buck, just ask yourself if all the time and money you have to invest is worth the money you're charging. You might be able to use that energy, time and money in something that can actually be beneficial to you and your business.

I've had people ask me to put a proposal together for a wedding hoping I would charge "craiglist" prices and ended up getting turned down after they saw what an actual wedding shoot would cost them. I don't shoot weddings, not my cup of tea but I was giving them a great deal and they still turned it down. I've decided, I'm not going to go after a cheap costumer market, that's not what I want to attract, I'll make some promotions while I build a clientele and my portfolio but that's only for a short time, you can try doing the same but don't give your work away unless that's what you want to get stuck with at the end.

http://www.zarias.com …emselves-not-the-industry

Hope there's no cans of worms brought out, but that's probably wishful thinking.

yeah, I think I def need to get into a higher market. Although I have been keeping busy, the amount of cheapo's I have to deal with is not worth it. Last night, someone asked me to cut my rates 50%, and when I said no, they said they prefer to work with someone that isn't just doing this just for the money, and sees value in growth through networking and working with other professionals....WTH?

And the funny thing is.....the person contacted be because they said they were not happy with the photographers they have worked with in the past. I guess yes you get what you pay for, but these people are just waiting for a free miracle.

Maybe the images are low res and watermarked heavily. I occassionally give out cd's for proofing but never every photo and never ever un watermarked and large enough to print decently.

Never got a call from somebody yet mentioning Craigslist. But I do pruning work, not photography for a living.

But if they did, or would, that would be a help, because I'd be on high alert to screen or cull them from my estimate schedule.

I don't advertise on Craigslist myself. Not seriously. I do have one ad under services that I revive from time to time. But never got any work from it in 3 years. The reason I have it on there, is so that the cheap services who post on there, can see who they are up against, when they browse the ads.

Seems your best option is to ignore the Craigslist shoppers and simply focus on your own price needs and quality. There always has to be a low-end in every trade. Let the bargain hunters do all the worrying about the cheap services.

Some people shop at Neiman Marcus, others shop at Walmart.

Just say'n.

Biffbradford wrote in post #11174570
Some people shop at Neiman Marcus, others shop at Walmart.

Just say'n.

Some people browse Neiman-Marcus and shop mainly at WalMart...but save up for that Neiman-Marcus item that's too clearly better to be satisfied with the Wal-Mart version.

Even people who are not high-end might go for it when they see the quality and it puts desire in their hearts. Neiman-Marcus just has to resist playing Walmart's game, 'cause they can't play the Walmart game without turning into Walmart.