Business model for a hobbyist

[ibcrewin]

So I'd like to make a little extra dough on the side from my Full time job. My

Friend's who really admire my work think I should do something on the side. I

want to do this right so I am starting with my business model. I was thinking

of offering the actual picture taking for free. I'll take about 1GB-2GB of

Pictures and let the Client pick and Choose which prints they want. With

options for Framing. I looked at Smugmug and thought that would be a good way

to distribute the pictures, but it seems cheap.

 

My question is this.. Does it make good business sense to burn the images to

CD/DVD with a watermark. Have them pick a package or ala carte and print them

up with a pro printer? I think it's a more personalized approach and thus might

yield more business in the future.

 

The ultimate goal is to make enough money to buy more lenses and stuff..

[buckry]

I print thumbnails with a color laser jet printer when the customer has less than 100 images or so, over 100 I create low resolution images, then use Photoshop Automation to make a webpage. I burn that webpage to a CD and the customer can browse the images on their home PC. The images are big enough to print 4x6's reasonably well, but anything larger looks pretty pixelated. I don't watermark any of the images on the CD or thumbnail book.

 

I use Smugmug for my gallery, but I don't allow anyone to order prints there, I use a pro lab and I'm very happy with them, I don't know what Smugmug offers, I'm sure it's fine, I just don't want to change my lab right now. I also don't like the idea of uploading hundreds and hundreds of full res images every week.

[rlk121]

Hi Ivan

I have been doing some freelance jobs on the side of my full time job for a few months now. Don't sell yourself short. I always charge a fee for taking the pictures and then I sell my photos as you are thinking about doing.

 

Usually I will charge the client around $40.00 and hour (sometimes more depending on the client)to go and shoot the job. I also ask for a down payment in advance to process the photos.

 

Always charge in thirds. 1. The initial down payment to take the photos. 2. Another third to process the photos and the final payment should cover all of the printing fees and your expenses. You don't have to charge a lot of money for your work but you should always cover your over head first otherwise you could very likely be stuck not being compensated for work that you have completed.

 

Also remember that your time is valuable. When I first started doing this I had the feeling that I wasn't a "real" photographer so therefore I didn't "deserve" a photographer's salery. This is not true.

 

Good Luck To You

Becky

[kelly_thomas1]

Your time is your most valuable asset. ALWAYS charge something for your time. Splitting

the cost into smaller payments a previously advised is a GREAT idea. Clients will see the

smaller charge insteaed of one big payment. There are web sites that automate sales,

ordering and delivery of wedding and portrait photography. I don't do that so i have no

example links.

 

I was alwasy told that repeat or referral business is the best. It requires very little "sales", I

suggest that you pick a market where where you don't spend 2/3 of your time trying to

get something or somebody to shoot. Unlike weddings, family portraits, fashoin, senior

photos, and events, my clients order photos nearly every week. That's real repeat

business. Feel free to have a look at what we do. I started out part-time. And it got so

busy I hired a sub contractor to do most of my shoots! :-) I now do marketing and

collections.

 

/kelly thomas

 

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