Leads for Photography

<p>I'm in the process of starting my own photography business, and recently I was contacted by a leads company that had gotten a hold of my business. Anyway, I was curious to know whether or not this would be a good idea to go into. Essentially, what they do is advise potential clients who visit their website that is looking for a specific photographer (events, portraits, weddings, etc.) who to contact and then they give them my name and number. From that it is basically up to me to seal the deal. Apparently the fees range from $12.99 to $20+ if the deal is done. I'm supposed to speak with a representative here soon, so I don't know all the details. Again, I am just curious to know if this is worth my time and more importantly, my money. Any advice would help. Thanks. Jeff Bogle</p>

<p>Depends on the deal... Is there a minimum dollar amount of work you perform before you have to pay them? It's a no brainer if your customer pays a couple thousand for a wedding package, but maybe not so much benefit for a $200.00 grad picture or head shot for a modeling portfolio.</p>

<p>For a lead to be worth anything, it has to be qualified. In other words it has to be someone who would normally use or purchase your services.<br>

So if you are looking for wedding work, leads that include married couples would not be worth anything. Or if you are looking for seniors, leads including graduates or newlyweds would not be worth anything.<br>

Find out how qualified the leads are, and how they qualify the leads.<br>

<Chas><br /></p>

<p>I used to work with two companies like that, ServiceMagic and another one a few years ago. I just canceled my ServiceMagic deal after about 5 months. They send you leads and charge you. The rest is up to you. The problem was not the amount of leads they would send but the quality. In the 5 months I was with them, I got about 60 leads. 55 of the leads were bogus. Telephone numbers that weren't working, email addresses that were bogus. Of the 5 leads that were real, I actually got to speak to 3 of the people. 2 never returned my calls. ServiceMagic will reimburse you for bogus leads (if they can verify that the leads aren't real) but why bother. It was basically just a waste of my time and money. And don't fall for the marketing hype of "highly qualified leads." That's meaningless. The only quality lead is one that calls or emails you directly.</p>

<p>Thank you Dean! That was the company that called me. That's all I needed to know...and thanks for everyone else that responded as well. By the way Dean, do you know of anything else that is worth while or is it merely a waste of time. Basically, I have shot a couple of weddings but for the most part, I'm not ready for that line of work yet. I have pretty much kept to events and family portraits and the like. Thanks.</p>

<p>Hi Jeff,</p>

<p>I also was contacted by ServiceMagic. I believe that I bumped into them first, and then went to their site and started to build an account. But, the further that I got into the account building, the more odd it became, mostly because their previous business has been with home contractors and others. For example, they wanted to know how I was bonded and insured, which isn't typical for the photography.</p>

<p>After I had started this account building, they had my phone number and called me numerous times, trying to get me to buy in. I politely declined in mid-December, but then they were back after me in early January. I gave them a look again, but still didn't feel any better about them. I basically told them that if/when I want leads, there are other services that are specific to photographers that I already use and that charge me a lot less. But, they kept trying, and the phone calls have now ceased.</p>

<p>It's encouraging to me to read the comment from Dean, regarding the lack of the quality of leads. When I had a brief conversation with ServiceMagic, they told me that there were lots of leads, but they address the quality of those leads with me.</p>

<p>I've had better luck with such groups as Eventective.com (you only pay for what you want) and OurWeddingDay.com. There are LOTS of sites out there that want you to exchange links, etc. But, you get what you pay for.</p>

<p>I still think that your best leads will come by word of mouth from satisfied customers, but that's the Catch-22, isn't it? You have to have customers before you can satisfy 'em... ;)</p>

<p>Good luck,</p>

<p>Tim!</p>

<p>Well ServiceMagic just started contracting with photographers. So that part of their service is new. They are known for their home contractors and plumbers, electricians. I have actually used them for years to find contractors (the guy that made and installed the shades in my studio was from them) and they are very reliable in that regard. But as for sending qualified leads, I guess it's hit or miss.<br>

I don't know of any current company that offers leads that are useful.<br>

I worked with a company a few years ago (I can't remember their name and I think they wen out of business) that used to offer leads for events and parties and things. You only paid for the leads you wanted to contact. They had job descriptions and the client's budget, and if you wanted to contact them, you paid for the contact info, something like $10 a lead. It worked out great and i got a lot of work from them. But I cant find anyone like that nowadays.</p>

<p>Hi Jeff and friends. <br>

I'm in the same boat that you are and was also contacted by ServiceMagic. For me, it didn't make much sense for my budget considering it is very small. I've just moved cross country into a big city with little friends or family to start the word of mouth train. I have been introduced to a bidding site that is free to bid if you are the first three. And then just $6 per bid. That seems much more my pace but I have yet to hook a catch. I'm looking for other sites like this as well as other ways to get my name out there outside of the saturated craigslist...which just depresses me.<br>

Are there other bidding sites? And tricks to catching the bid? Where does one get work these days? Are paid advertisements the way? Any advice for this novice is massively appreciated. thanks, sarah</p>

<p>I'm sort of in the same position as I just started my business and have been trying to find ways to come up with leads outside of referrals. I met Justin Kifer a few months ago (he's the guy who started Gigbooks, if anyone's familiar with them) and he told me that he's had some luck with his photography business with respond.com. <br>

They basically have potential clients who are interested in wedding photography (they have other industries on their site, too) fill out a brief form with details on the location, type of ceremony, budget, etc. and then the leads are sent to you at a cost of $5.00 per lead. They won't send them out to any more than five photographers in the area per lead, so if you live somewhere with a ton of photographers you won't have 20 people jumping at the same lead. I just started with them a few days ago and, while I haven't received any leads yet, I am hopeful. Right now my search radius is a little limited, so I may need to expand that to get more leads. But, it might be worth looking into.</p>