the Sears Portrait Studio approach...

[lupado]

Okay.. this place makes tons of moola selling prints for dirt cheap. So I thought I could offer my current high quality prints/unlimted poses/unlimited settings, etc ... and then offer budget prints/limited settings/one pose for Sears prices. What do ya'll think? Know the cheapest route to take in producing Sears quality photos? I'm going to check out Wal Mart to see how much it costs to use that photo printer of theirs (the one where you pop in a cd)..

[LightWriter6208]

They make all that money because, like WalMart Studios, they own their labs. I know, because I am a studio manager for PCA(WalMart studios). It's a double edge sword there. I enjoy the kids(usually), it's a steady paycheck and I've gotten many, many outside gigs like seniors and weddings, etc working there. On the other hand its "corporate America". They only care about their precious dollar so we're expected to run em thru like a human assembly line. The portraits are BORING and extremely limiting..it's a little hard to get very creative on a 3 foot table top. But thats ok, cause the majority of my clientele only want their little angel to look right at the camera and show teeth!
The worst part is..I make 2-3000 dollars for them every week, and I can't help but think...It coulda been mine!! But who can compete with a $2.88 package with a buttload of pictures! Thanks for letting me vent.

Alice
:soapbox:

[lupado]

Oh.. no I totally agree with you. I think their lack of creativity and assembly line way of business is terrible.. but it brings in a ton of customers not willing to pay for quality. 2.88 a package - I can't do.. screw that. But I bet I could find a way to offer 10-15.00 packages.. possibly. :).. I hate the WalMart way of doing things.. but I have to start thinking like a smart business man instead of an "artist". If you lived in this town you'd understand. People here are so damn cheap.

[LightWriter6208]

"Cheap" must be everywhere. For a long time the "hook" package was only $1.88...you would not believe the people that belly-ached when it went up a dollar to $2.88. Usually the ones doing the most complaining are wearing the biggest diamonds!

[Swampy]

"Cheap" must be everywhere. For a long time the "hook" package was only $1.88...you would not believe the people that belly-ached when it went up a dollar to $2.88. Usually the ones doing the most complaining are wearing the biggest diamonds!

Cheap does run everywhere. The richest people I know are cheap. They have a few billion dollars (litterally), so I'm not kidding at all. A few stories about one of them...

He was too cheap to go get a series done of his kids, but he dug up some proofs and had me scan and clean them up in PS and re-print to the size he wanted and put in an existing frame.

One time, I got this complaint that his office DirecTV wasn't getting one of the local channels. He only had basic service with no local channels so of course he couldn't watch a local channel. Called up DirecTV right there on his speakerphone to get the channels added. The guy on his phone is like no problem, it will be added on his next bill and we would just need to turn the box on and off. He stepped in and asked "how much extra is it". The guy said 7 bucks a month or something like that. Of course he said ok, but the point is, why would a billionaire as how much something is on something like that but not even think about popping his credit card out to fill his 51 million dollar jet up with fuel for 8 grand?

Watching the millionaires and billionaires is funny. They get more freebie stuff than anyone else out there and they don't even need it. Free front row concert/game tickets. Free computers, electronics, all kinds of stuff ranging from 100 bucks to 5000 bucks. Free.

I guess if I got everything for free, I'd be a millionaire too, right?

[Linda G]

I listen to photogaphers all the time, talking marketing, losses, winning game plans, etc.

All agree, they sell the wall portraits or they'll be out of business in ten years. It still hurts, though, when you do a great shot and they buy a portrait to hang on the wall and don't get the smaller prints but confess they get those at Wal-Mart, Sears , or some other low quality place for handing out.

The rich get richer, the poor get.....hand me downs?

[Sleeping Bear]

Don't mean to hijack the thread...but...Swampy's story about the rich guy rings so true. Mega money does funny things to some people. Several years ago I was in the Aspen, Colorado City Market (grocery store) putting some juice into a cooler. This uptight looking lady walks up to me and says, "I'd like some bananas", as though I were waiting for her all morning. I smiled and pointed across the aisle to where the bananas were and said, "There they are" and went back to getting some juice from the cooler. She must have thought I was an employee of the store because she became very irate and repeated in a very loud voice that she would like some bananas and she would like "those bananas" as she pointed to a bunch of three at the edge of the produce table. I just stared at her and smiled which prompted her to say "and you will get them for me." Well, at that point I stood up and explained to the not so nice lady that I was not her servant and it didn't look like it would hurt her to get off her a** and get them herself and if she didn't like that she could go straight to h*** and say hello to her mother for me when she got there. She stomped out the store muttering something and as soon as the door hit her butt the produce department erupted in applause from the employees. I couldn't do anything wrong in that store after that day. I tend not to use the expletives nowadays, but I still manage to get my point across. This was my fist encounter with an Aspenhole. The old money in Aspen would never act this way, nor would the folks in Vail. The new money in Aspen, esp the Hollywood money, are what the locals call Aspenholes. Anybody want a banana?

[Linda G]

Anybody want a banana?



Uh, yeah, but I'll just have one of them I picked up from the grocery store this morning. k? (had to get stuff for Mel's birthday cake, picked out some nice bananas all by myself!)

[Sleeping Bear]

I try to stay out of Aspen anymore. Like I said, the old timers are great, it's just the new money that needs an attitude adjustment from Dr. Ronnie Coyote. No appointment is needed. I think the last time I was in Aspen proper was 1999. Hope Mel's Birthday celebration has been a great day for all of you. You know, Mel could put together a calender of the candid shots he has taken of you, beginning with 'pin-up girl' from Rocky Mountain National Park and ending with the 'snooze no lose' shot. :rofl:

Come to think of it, we (the forum) should put together a calender of the favorite shots from the forum and sell it to members. The profits could be used to help Swampy run this joint or ? Buy raffle prizes for the various get togethers? Is this viable or am I just rambling again?

[Swampy]

Hey, I like that idea Ron. Use other peoples images and sell them to get ME money!!! ;)

Ok. I'm just kidding. I like the idea, but getting people to allow thier images and getting the calendar done and managing the money, ordering and what not, seems like a fairly large task. Something I don't have the time for. I would want to see the money used for raffle prizes for a yearly get together though. Maybe that could be an idea. People pull together and say what the 12 best images of last year were and use them for a calendar every year. Proceeds go to funding raffle prizes a meal for everyone or something or everything. Hmm. With the right advertising, we could make enough money to pay everyone's way on a get together! :)

[Swampy]

Oh yeah. I guess it's something I've done before in another way. Order 2 kegs for Friday night. Print out 10,000 party flyers and distribute them at the local colleges. Charge 5 bucks a head to get in, let that go on for 90 minutes while the first keg goes down the tubes. Then call the cops on yourself to break up the party. You still have a full keg left for you and your group and you've got enough money to go and have some fun for the weekend. I was the DJ, not the coordinator though. :)

[Sleeping Bear]

We could just post a paypal button for payment and maybe someone (me?) could volunteer to mail out the calendars? Swampy could open an account to hold the cash that would come from paypal? This sounds like it just might come together. We could even use some of the money to hold a raffle drawing(s) that would pay for the winner's trip to the get together, wherever it might be. Maybe we could check with Linda G and see if her lab prints calendars (not looking for a price break, just great printing). The calendar would also be available for purchase by anyone visiting the site. It sounds like it just might work. What do you think, gang? If we act on this we can have one ready for 2005.

The kegger sounds familiar. I used to put on keggers over 20 years ago and we made some good cash. I was also the DJ!

[S_Leeper]

The calendar idea sounds good to me... maybe even refer some of our non-photo friends check them out on the web for their purchase... as a "fund raiser" for this site.

re: The initial comment... for many people the photos are a commodity. (The same way that many people consider nails to be generic... they're not.)

If you are selling to a budget oriented group be prepared to work hard for every dollar. Most will want to go to the dollar store for add-on sales of mats, frames, etc.
However, your idea of a one-pose session could be a good way to get referral business (like lightwrangler) for weddings & other events.

One thing that has always amazed me is how few wedding photographers solicit studio business for anniversaries, births, etc... , or business from the family members who attended the wedding.