I'm dizzy trying to make decisions on full-res files issue

<p>Let me make it, clear, I'm well aware this debate rages on across the net: "Is it a good or bad idea to give out full resolution files to clients". I have read many, many articles and forum posts about it, but I am bewildered and frustrated trying to figure out how to approach my market. So, this post is half looking for more specific discussion, and half venting my frustration with my difficulty making the decisions.</p>

<p>As it is right now, I offer my clients "medium-resolution" files, which print up to about 5x7". I always speak to them about what this means, practically speaking, and include a pretty detailed document with the delivery. Many of my customers have had good things to say about this option acting as a middle ground between two extremes. But since many people don't work with professional photographers on a regular basis, they don't see the cost saving benefits, they only see what they're not getting.</p>

<p>This post comes after learning that I lost another customer because of the digital files, and to a lesser extent, the price. I don't know what deal they struck with their photographer, but I know that it was cheaper than what I quoted and included the files. I know of the photographer they chose, and he's not a quasi-pro. He's a very talented guy and his images look great. I also happen to know he's just generally a good guy who's probably going to give them a great experience from start to finish--comparable to me and my business. I am happy that they're going with someone who's actually going to give them a good experience, but of course I'm frustrated at the same time.</p>

<p>A few things, among many, that I've gleaned from the discussions online already:</p>

<p>First, I have to price myself fairly after assessing what it really costs to run the business and still earn a growing income. I'm right there. I'm not a budget photographer, but I'm not the most expensive either. I have a price increase schedule loosely planned for the next few years.</p>

<p>Second, I know that in theory, giving away the digital files can wreak havoc on print sales. Unfortunately, my print sales right now are abysmal. That's in part because I'm still not a great salesperson. I haven't found a way that feels natural to be a salesperson but not feel slimy at the same time. I know it can be done, I just haven't figured it out yet. So I'm tempted to just hand them out since, in the short term, it's not going to make much difference for the bottom line. I haven't done that because acting hasty leads to all kinds of problems.</p>

<p>But here's my trouble:</p>

<p>20 years ago, there wasn't an affordable way for customers to make their own prints. Nor was it anywhere near as easy to transfer that information. Retaining the negatives made a lot more sense on a lot of different levels. They're safer with the photographer; the photographer is likely the only one to be able to give you great prints; etc. Today, that logic isn't there. We can sling huge amounts of data across the planet in seconds. It can be duplicated hundreds of times over for virtually nothing but the cost of storage--which is dirt cheap. And, fairly high quality printers are available to the general public, often times without ever leaving home. And herein lies my dilemma. A modern business can't operate by the same rules as yesterday's one. I can't help but feel like it's an unavoidable tide that I have no choice but to succumb to.</p>

<p>So I'm starting to feel like the industry either can't be viable in the long run, or there must be some outside the box thinking that would allow the industry to keep footing with all these advancements and expectations, while still remaining financially viable.</p>

<p>I'm also thinking that it may be making a change to include these files, right alongside developing a good sales technique might be my only option. Maybe I'm totally wrong, or maybe there's somethings that I have overlooked. But it's hard to think through because so many of the conversations are polarized between people who seem to miss the "good ole' days" and people who are brand new and shortsighted about the business.</p>

<p>Let me not blather on any longer. What do you think? Am I making a mountain out of a molehill and I should just stay the course and work on improving print sales? Or are my concerns warranted, and the tides are shifting in ways that will destroy me if I don't learn to adapt?</p>

<p>I think you have completely over-thought the issue. </p>

<p>Customers understand what prints cost. A high quality 8x10 can be purchased for $2 or less. How many people are going to buy a package of prints (let's say 10 or more) for $50 each, given the $2 cost? The result of high print markup is usually lower print sales. (BTW, there was a great article in Lenswork that showed the same thing in fine art print sales.) </p>

<p>The solution is simple - charge enough for the shoot and give the high resolution files to people. </p>

<p>From my point of view, it's far worse to have people making low quality prints of your photos from small files than to give them high resolution files that will show your work well. I've seen photos of mine on display printed from the web. I always give them a better file and ask them to remove the low quality one. It's just bad for marketing.</p>

 

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<p>I haven't found a way that feels natural to be a salesperson but not feel slimy at the same time. I know it can be done, I just haven't figured it out yet.</p>

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<p>This is simple: Believe in what you're selling. You can price your work for at least the amount you value it yourself. Do you believe your work will enhance the lives of your clients? Will it give them joy to look at it year after year? Will it be something that generation after generation will cling to as a family heritage? If you can believe that, then you can price it accordingly.<br>

I looked at some of the cheap prints in my local Hobby Lobby, selling for $250. If Hobby Lobby has no shame selling cheap prints of someone nobody knows for $250, why can't a good photographer sell custom portraits of cherished family for much, much more than that?</p>

 

<ol>

<li> If Hobby Lobby has no shame selling cheap prints of someone nobody knows for $250,</li>

</ol>

<p>Do they sell? I don't know anyone who has paid anything close to that except for a "fine art" print. I'm sure it's gratifying to talk about prints selling for hundreds of dollars, but if you look at actual sales, it's nowhere near that.</p>

<p>I would agree with the experienced pros above - also you don't say what type of photography you are doing, weddings or commercial? Build the price of the high-res files into your hourly/day rate and remind them IF they want prints, you can still provide them at a reasonable price. It's very hard to sell prints online, again if you are a wedding photographer, have it in your packages.</p>

<p>Look at it from the point of view of a customer. i.e. why should they receive anything less than full resolution files?</p>

 

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<p>The solution is simple - charge enough for the shoot and give the high resolution files to people.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I think this is the answer. The business and customers' expectations of it has changed so you need to change with it to stay in business. If you don't provide what your customers want then they will not be your customers for much longer.</p>

<p>I'm no pro photographer, but more from a generic business point of view:</p>

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<p>giving away the digital files can wreak havoc on print sales. Unfortunately, my print sales right now are abysmal.</p>

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<p>So, giving away the digital files cannot wreck your print sales really - you can relatively safe change your package and explain your change in pricing to (returning) customers that you're now giving the complete hi-res digital files, which gives them more liberty in their choice in printing. To me, it sounds like a decent proposition, and if your print sales now are really low, it should really not harm your business either.</p>

<blockquote><ol>

<li> If Hobby Lobby has no shame selling cheap prints of someone nobody knows for $250,</li>

</ol>

<p>Do they sell? I don't know anyone who has paid anything close to that except for a "fine art" print. I'm sure it's gratifying to talk about prints selling for hundreds of dollars, but if you look at actual sales, it's nowhere near that.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>The biggest purveyor of kitsch in the US would not stock them if they didn't sell, and I commonly see such things in homes.</p>

<p>I've been selling for years and I personally know several hundred portrait photographers across the country--not a single one is paying his or mortgage selling nothing but digital files to personal commission clients. That's certainly the commercial model, but personal commission clients don't value photography in the same way. Yes, they want some digital images...but they won't "pay for skill" for a CD the way a commercial client does.</p>

<p>I can--regularly and pretty easily--sell a single 20x30 canvas gallery wall portrait for >$700. In fact, I can select the image myself, edit it, have it enlarged, and present it to most clients at the sales session and nearly guarantee that they will purchase it on the spot at first sight. That's because I know that they really want a wall portrait--that's what I market, that's what I sell, that's what they came to me for, just as they would a portrait painter (which is what I did before I became a photographer--I merely changed mediums, not methods).</p>

<p>I can <em><strong>not</strong></em> hand a personal commission client a CD with a single image on it and collect $700. That might happen in five or ten years, but it's not happening in 2011 or even 2012. My clients today want something big and pretty and ready to hang when they're paying hundreds of dollars.</p>

<p>But, yes, they do also want images for Facebook...I toss those in as freebies.</p>

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<p>since many people don't work with professional photographers on a regular basis, they don't see the cost saving benefits, they only see what they're not getting.</p>

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<p>According to your story, they scored favorably on both accounts by going with the competition. You were going to provide comparable skill but make them pay more to get less. Of course they went elsewhere.</p>

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<p>in theory, giving away the digital files can wreak havoc on print sales. Unfortunately, my print sales right now are abysmal. That's in part because I'm still not a great salesperson.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>The cause, even if true, doesn't matter. If customers don't buy prints, then why design your package around selling prints?</p>

<p> </p>

<p>It's non-sensical to still believe things are what they used to be 10, 15 or even 5 years ago. People these days care significantly less about prints than they do about online presence, and financial situations mean that they are 10 times more likely to be willing to put up with a print that is "fine" rather than pay 5-10 times more for a print that is "excellent" - not because of the difference in prints, but because of their own priorities. After all, in most customers' minds, the scale distance from "fine" to "excellent" is nowhere near the distance between a $5 print or a $50 print.</p>

<p>So, if wedding photographers WANT to keep on working, they need to adapt their model. Personally, I price myself (in the few times I shoot weddings) in such a way so as to be able to give away the high-res files on a DVD and simply walk away from the project. Customers are happy, I am happy, they get value for money, I get paid quickly and easily and everyone's happy. Do I offer them the option of specialist prints? Sure, but only as an option and with nowhere near the markup some other photographers do (practically, I'm only charging for the administration required to order the prints in a specialist lab I work with, where they are printed as per my specifications).</p>

<p>I know tons of photographers who charge, say X amount of euros for a wedding (X being 1/3 of what I usually charge), but then load the customer with tons of "options", like a hand-prepared album, special prints, etc, etc, bringing the total to much more than what I charge. Do they make more money? Maybe. Possibly. But I deliver in 1/3 of the time it takes them to deliver, my customers can share special website access with their friends and guests and Facebook connections, they can print what and how they like and above all, they're happy.</p>

<p>Change, adapt, survive. Or stick to your guns and possibly perish</p>

<p>Bill.... you have read my mind! I have been wrestling with this problem for a few years. I have decided (almost!) to charge the clients the amount of money to stay in business and let them have the hi-res files. If they want me to do prints, specialty items, etc. GREAT! But I am not going to make my money from that. Seems like selling out to me but that seems to be what the majority of people want. I do not intend to give them complete rights but if they want to print their own, go for it. Do I like this decision? Not really. I have found most wedding customers for example, who get a CD, never get an album made. There loss I guess... That said, I am considering offering quality DVD slideshows of their wedding/event so they can show something more than a Walmart 4x6. Thinking of offering this to seniors and other things as well. My research indicates this would be popular. I would be very interested in other pros thoughts on the wedding/portrait DVD idea. I would still offer prints but not necessarily as an end product. Ah... progress! Gotta love it! Steve</p>

<p>Like many of you here I am trying to decide on the path I wish to take on this issue. One of the main things that concerns me, even more than the pricing, is giving up control of the print process. Like the other photographers here, I take great care to make sure my monitors are calibrated and I am using the correct profiles depending on the lab I will be using to print. <br>

I am concerned about the reactions of people when they see my images on a none calibrated monitor and then print them at the corner CVS or on a $50.00 home ink jet printer, then show them to family and friends. Most of these people will not understand calibration and profiles. All they will see is the colors don't look right and there goes a referral. Who wants to use a photographer that can't get the colors right.<br>

Anybody else share this concern?</p>

<p>This has been a helpful discussion. And honestly, quite a lot more balanced and reasonable sounding than similar discussions just a few years ago when I nearly got flamed for even suggesting it.</p>

<p>This has really given me a lot of ideas and has helped me feel a bit better about changing up the way that I present the product. And, in a manner of speaking, what my product actually is. This sentiment, in particular, is illuminating:</p>

 

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<p>"If customers don't buy prints, then why design your package around selling prints?"</p>

 

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<p>I think the problem I've had isn't that people aren't willing to pay for higher quality or larger prints, or that they want to do all the printing themselves, it's that I really have a poor system for promoting those sales. In many, many industries we can see that people are willing to pay disproportionately high prices in exchange for instant gratification and/or very little actual thinking and effort. If I can find a good way to provide <em>that</em> for my customers in some kind of a post-shoot sales process, then the fact that I'm giving away full resolution files that they could feasibly have printed themselves for much cheaper won't much matter. And in the immediate sense, the change will likely produce more bookings on the front-end, providing lots of opportunities to develop those sales systems.</p>

<p>I also resonate with Steven Laughmiller's thought that something about it <em>feels</em> wrong. But that is probably something I share with the very old-heads in photography, many of whom are dropping like flies for their failure to adapt in meaningful ways to a changing industry. It's probably something I have to get used to since adaptation and change is almost never comfortable and virtually always requires some kind of risk.</p>

<p>I think I'll strategize the changeover right away. Though I'll have to think up some perks for those who've already booked my services and might be upset about the change.</p>