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Photography business market????
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I have just started my own baby photography business basded at home studio a couple of months ago. but I only had 3 happy customer since. and this month i have no business at all. i have tried everything i could to advertise my business. like newspaper, leaflet. go around all the nursery , toy shop etc. but it didnot change anything. can any one give me some idea what should i do to improve my business??? i am working on the web site at moment, hopefully will get finished soon.
Photography is in the “not a must” business class. We are all down in business at the moment and at least 50% of us will be out of the business by the end of the year. I still dont know which 50% I fit into !.
I am involved in the IPPA West Region and very few of the members thet I deal with every week will deny that we are in a crisis right now. This has come from almost nowhere as last year (2008) for me was my best year ever. The commercial side has almost gone as companies do not have the money to spend and in a recent survey it has revealed that many are using old images and library images for products instead of shooting specifically as they used to do. Even then their spend is much reduced. Many of the big names in the commercial industry have gone into liquadition or just closed down.
The portrait and wedding market is really down about 40% right now and surveys say it will reduce a further 23% in 2010.
In my humble opinion now is not the time to invest big money in this business as the average customer does not have the money to spend on photography. Just try to survive as you are.
Can I ask you to think about something? How often do you look at the flyers that come through your door? Mine go straight to the trash. In my experience I have had an 8% redemption rate from this method of advertising. My guess is that you could halve that in today’s economy.
Now how long does a newspaper sell for? A day? Or two weeks at best for the locals? That’s kind of expensive costing for a day/2 weeks public awareness.
Why would a person hold onto a piece of paper/your number? Ok there will be a very small number (ie the three you spoke about) who are ready to get their portraits immediately (they’ve probably been thinking about it for a while), but the others that see your add, they’ll want it to be a voucher or a special offer to hold that number.
Who is your market? Can they afford your product?
Where is your location? Can they easily access it?
The only form of advertising I do with my business currently is direct canvassing. I set myself up in a location and I speak with people one to one and try to get bookings. But apart from that, the best form of business acquisition is word of mouth. Your client has to be happy. Don’t be afraid to tell people to recommend you to friends, they won’t mind.
I take pics of kids too. This is a saturated market. It helps to have a niche product.
All the best and good luck with your new venture,
Michelle.
hi Michelle,
thanks for the reply, you are so right about everything. most of my leaflet goes to the bin. two weeks of my newspaper advertise did work at all. ect… perhaps this is what recession is. but it will get over it. iam still trying to get as more customer as i can in a very Conservative ways. it is very slow and stressed but it is ok.
anyway. good luck to you too. and thanks again.
emmaEmma, is your business based in Carlow as per your profile? I had a mobile studio and I went to Carlow shopping centre, set up for 2/3 weeks and it was ever so busy. The rent was a little cheaper than other locations I travelled to at the time. Why don’t you think about setting up a little stand with some business cards and samples at busy times of day and promote your new business. The management there were great, though it was a few years back. I give out balloons to the kids, with my number, when things are really quiet.
I’d hoped more people would respond to this thread myself since it’s always great to get new ideas on customer acquisition.
Every new business is difficult to get off the ground. Don’t get discouraged. Before you know it, your customer base could grow more than you ever expected.
Sending positive vibes… :wink:
M.
hi Michella,
yes, i am living in Carlow, i have a studio based at home. i wanted to do the promotion in Calow shopping centre at easter weekend, then i printed the leaflet instead. the simple reason was i found that it is hard to take good photos in the crowds, and all the big equipment. how did you manage it? and did you get much business off it that day?Michella wrote:
Emma, is your business based in Carlow as per your profile? I had a mobile studio and I went to Carlow shopping centre, set up for 2/3 weeks and it was ever so busy. The rent was a little cheaper than other locations I travelled to at the time. Why don’t you think about setting up a little stand with some business cards and samples at busy times of day and promote your new business. The management there were great, though it was a few years back. I give out balloons to the kids, with my number, when things are really quiet.
I’d hoped more people would respond to this thread myself since it’s always great to get new ideas on customer acquisition.
Every new business is difficult to get off the ground. Don’t get discouraged. Before you know it, your customer base could grow more than you ever expected.
Sending positive vibes… :wink:
M.
i will try it soon. thanks for the advise.
Sorry for not getting back to you sooner Emma, thought I could locate the original figures but no luck. I know i was busy though, because I was driving from Dub to Carlow and I remember I was sick, and wishing the queue would go away! :o
I had a one light system, a backdrop that was 4 foot in width and a poser to put the kids on, of course all the relevant public liability and safety precautions. A few props also. Anyway that was great for instant cash.
But now I’m thinking in the longer term. What I’m doing now is getting a little table and displaying a BIG beautiful canvas, display book with samples, chatting to people, letting them know where I am, giving them vouchers, putting a face to the service. This is far less rent than taking the photos. And it makes more sense when you have your studio set up at home.
I really didn’t have much of a budget when I started first. I would tape lights to the floor and make sure parents held their kids(as I didn’t have big safety mats if they fell). Keep in touch and let us know how you’re getting on
:)it is very nice of what you told me over here. love the feeling of get involed in the photography community. i will keep in touch. chat again soon.
emmaHi Emma,
just want to add to Michella’s very good advice, I wouldn’t completely dish your fliers,
If you put some effort into the design of the flier and directly target your market place rather than just posting fliers everywhere you could possibly get some good results. I think developing a niche is a good way to go as it lets you hone down who you want to target. For example, If you specialise in photographs of children or maternity shots you could direct target the maternity units, nursery schools, mothers and toddlers, playgroups etc….It would (as Michella suggested) be a good idea if your flier could double up as a discount voucher as unfortunately there definately is a downturn in public spending, …but generally people still want to spend money on their kids so it is a matter of making sure its you they’re coming to ….Don’t forget gift vouchers may also be a way of generating income, you can also look at running a competition in association with a local newspaper that way you can get some free advertising.
Good to see you’re working on a web presence, put a little work into your search words…I find a lot of my business comes through customers that have been directed to my site through Yell.com.
Hope this helps and if you find any foolproof fantastic way to drive people to you.. please share…!
Bro.XBro wrote:
Hi Emma,
just want to add to Michella’s very good advice, I wouldn’t completely dish your fliers,
If you put some effort into the design of the flier and directly target your market place rather than just posting fliers everywhere you could possibly get some good results. I think developing a niche is a good way to go as it lets you hone down who you want to target. For example, If you specialise in photographs of children or maternity shots you could direct target the maternity units, nursery schools, mothers and toddlers, playgroups etc….It would (as Michella suggested) be a good idea if your flier could double up as a discount voucher as unfortunately there definately is a downturn in public spending, …but generally people still want to spend money on their kids so it is a matter of making sure its you they’re coming to ….Don’t forget gift vouchers may also be a way of generating income, you can also look at running a competition in association with a local newspaper that way you can get some free advertising.
Good to see you’re working on a web presence, put a little work into your search words…I find a lot of my business comes through customers that have been directed to my site through Yell.com.
Hope this helps and if you find any foolproof fantastic way to drive people to you.. please share…!
Bro.Xhi Bro,
thanks for the note, i had tried most of things you said, besides put my work into a competition and complete my website. there was a photographer doing promotion in carlow shopping center last week. it was very quiet until friday and saturday. i hope he did make some cash to pay the rental and left some for himself. people not spending as much as before at this moment. we have to sell really cheap to caught people’s eye, but the rental still the same as before, the end of the day we donot make any profit.
of course, if i have anything comes up, i will let you know. thanks again.
emmawell i see it like this: Everybody is watching his/her money and has problems to get tourist into the hotel…. BUT
The first logical thought is, to advertise any company or service.
MEANS: Clients FINALLY ( : start to look for quality to present their business or service in the best way but the old price calculation has to be adapted.
Then there shouldn’t be any problem to survive the poverty idea in the heads of people until the new balance is introduced!
Does it make sense to you?
EDIT: Baby or family portait or pet service is a business of luxury. People will order this with a good feeling about their amount of money but unfortunalty this will be the first service who will be ignored in harsh times. Wedding Photography is like a “rat”…it will survive every crises in the world with adapting the price quotation. Human beings are strongly conditioned about the magic of it ( : Ususally the freshly married couple would use the wedding photographer to take images of the first baby. So you may concider to enter that market….if you have the enthusiasm and love for it!
Any ideas on how to price now with out undervaluing our work?
Is there a general consenus?
BroBro wrote:
Any ideas on how to price now with out undervaluing our work?
Is there a general consenus?
Broi just made a mistake that charge 8x6inch single photo for only 5 euro. made people think iam very unprofessional. in fact, i am new in the market, just want people to know me. then i didnot get any calls whatsoever.
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