Youth Sports SALES TACTICS!? Question!

[timeforpictures]

I'm not sure I understand what the problem is. Do you have a problem with Youth Sports Photography, Action Photography at youth sports events, or the way Erin described trying to market the photos?

 

I have had 2 girls playing softball for the last 5 years (spring and fall) and have never had a problem with anyone selling pictures at the event. They don't come "pimping" their pictures. They usually are set up at booths where I go to THEM.

 

In the last 3 years I have conducted business in a simular manner. I set up a booth and the parents come to me to see "memories" of their children. I put up signs letting the parent know I'm there and I don't try to drag them to my computers. Usually I have parents and tournament directors asking me to work their events.

 

I would just like to know what your problem is with this venture. Is it not "artistic" enough. I know for me it pays for equipment and allows for vacations and scholorship funds for 3 girls.

[don_james]

<i>What about the snack bar that is pimping their (overpriced) hotdogs, sodas, and candy? They are buying things from the store, marking them up and "pimping" them to the players and parents for a profit.</i><p>

 

I realize that you're in a tough business, but you need to be more selective about who you bad-mouth. Every "snack bar" at my kids' sporting events is a fund-raising venture for the league and/or a charity, and is staffed by volunteers. There's no "pimping" going on, and my kids don't have cavities.

<p>

You've gotten some good suggestions. Why don't you check them out? Here's another one that seems to work well:

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<a href="http://kids-n-motion.com/">Kids-n-Motion</a>

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They go to big swim meets, and parents pre-pay to have their kids photographed. They do one or two kids per heat, first-come, first-served. I didn't think they would get many sign-ups, but I was way off (just ask my wife :-). The fee is a credit toward ordering prints, and the company returns some of it to the swim league.

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BTW, a swim meet has to be one of the most target-rich environments in all of sports. The photographers worked our meet for eight hours on site, and had over 500 participants and their families as potential customers. And it's a lot easier to get multiple good photos of a swimmer than it is for most other sports.

[j.d._thomas]

OK - Gary, what you're doing sounds properly thought out and respectable. But I think it's pretty gallsy to just show up at a game where you have no connection, know none of the kids/parents, start walking the sidelines taking photos of kids right in front of the parents, and then later go up to these people and say, "I've just taken photos of your kid. You can see them on this site, and they are for sale, etc." I'd just look at you like you were a complete lowlife scumbag. Sales? Of course not.

 

Go through the league beforehand - get sanctioning from them. Have any orders beforehand. Know the jersey numbers of the kids you will be shooting, go up to their parents before the game and introduce yourself, etc., etc. You gotta be a numbskull to not be able to work this simple business plan out yourself.

 

By the way, what a vitriolic and off-base lunatic response from the original poster.

[richard_baca]

Erin,

I'm doing the same thing with Youth Sports and so far is working ok. Havent had any "freaks" like JD to deal with, thank God. Email me and we can discuss further. I've shot Little League baseball and football and each league or sport turns out different. I set up booths and made some good money the following week at their next game. I've had one league order many many picts on line and others hardly any. One recommendation I'd like to make: talk to league president, event coordinator before hand to let them know who you are and what you're doing. I give 10% kickback to team or league. They appreciate you coming to them first.

 

Good luck.

 

Richard

[j.d._thomas]

Whew, I know what you mean, Richard. The world's really getting crazy with all these people with a conscience running around...

[timeforpictures]

One thing we should all remember is not to "just show up". In my case, when I work a tournament I have exclusive rights to shoot on the field. I pay for this with the commission that I pay the tournament director. I've had to have photographers removed from the parks because they thought they could just walk out onto the field and start shooting. Parents try to do that to, and because of liability reasons and of course because this is a sports tournament, they can't be allowed to either. What I usually try to do for some of them is to take their camera and shoot a couple of shots for them. They are really appreciative and some have turned out to be my best customers.

 

I think in this type of photography we have to remember ethics and courtesy. Remember to book engagements, not show up to shoot. If you are an independent photographer that has been hired to shoot a team or individual and find someone else has rights to the tournament, talk to that photographer. You may have work out an arrangement. Advertise to your customers, don't try to direct sale to them. If you can get them to see your work, it should talk for itself. If you can't setup viewing stations to let people see your work, bring a single laptop and printer. Print off contact sheets and create game albums. Then take orders. And last of all, always remember that these are just kids. We're here to preserve memories and if we preserve bad ones by the way we act, it won't be long before we're not doing this anymore.

 

By the way, let's all play nice. We may differ in opinion, but we're all trying to learn. Name calling doesn't help any of us.

[tom_k]

My business model is a little different ...

 

1. Look professional, be courteous, and just show up.

2. Take great photos.

3. Go back to your van and print up 8x10's from your marine-battery-powered laptop and

pro inkjet. You pick the best photo, do whatever post is necessary (get to know your

camera/software/printer workflow with the end goal of little or NO post processing).

~optional~ build pshop actions to add tasteful text with event title & date

4. Put them in nice fiberboard matte/easel, wrapped in a pro envelope with your logo.

5. So with 10~20 really nice, packaged prints, go sell them to parents, ready to go. Be

courteous to those who don't want to purchase. "I'll be around if you change your mind."

6. Wear a fanny pack with a wireless Visa POS processor/printer.

7. Shoot it, print it, sell it, be done

 

I avoid websites as I think it kills the motivation to purchase. I think people visit the

websites, download the webproofs, send to family, and wear out the "wow" of your shot.

After a time, they forget to order a print and are off to other things ... living their lives.

With my method, if they don't purchase now, they will never share that awesome photo

with Grandma. It's gone. That really nice man with the big white lens and the shiny mini-

van took it away (never to be seen again).

 

Plus, uploading to websites is a pain, and the good pro print services charge too much.

And do their prints look as good as a pro-level inkjet?

 

What's my website for? A way to contact me if you ever need a re-print. My prints are for

life ... if it fades or you spill coffee on it. Send it to me and I'll reprint it. Also, I'll take

orders for poster size prints over the web ... but only to existing customers (most will

order poster size on the spot).

 

And for goodness sakes, keep your print prices up. How can you drag $7k worth of gear

onto a field and be profitable charging $10 for an 8x10? If the shots are really good, ask

$50. You're using the same gear as Sports Illustrated ... charge like it.

 

For some events I'll honor requests to be the 'official' photographer, but I often think the

task of documenting the event gets in the way of poster-worthy photography. I have a

very good system of knowing of several events on any given Sat or Sun. If some 'official'

photographer throws me out of one event, I've got at least one other one other to hit.

 

I took great humour from the previous 'sleeze' comments. He who is without sleeze of

anykind can cast the first stone. What? Are you curing cancer or something ... or maybe

just selling cars?

 

Your thoughts?

[don_james]

What % of those 10-20 prints get sold?

 

What % of parents are gone before you generate the print?

 

What % of events do you get bounced from?

 

We bought four excellent 5x7's of my son from his summer championship meet, ordered on the web, with dozens of shots to choose from; total cost was about the same as your single 8x10. Your shot would have to be pretty special for me to spend $50 for one print.

[timeforpictures]

I can't imagine you selling a large quantity of $50 prints at any of the events that I work. Once again, I work under the premise that I'm recording memories for the families of the players. I work strickly on volume. $5 may seem like a lot to charge for a single 4x6 print but it's really not (considering the cost of our equipment and insurance). To some it may seem like I'm not charging enough (for those same reasons). I'm trying to find a happy medium that will benefit me and make it affordable enough that the parents can enjoy several of the hundreds of shots I might make in a single day. It seems to work. We sell hundreds of photos in a single day and I've become friends with many of my customers. They know me by name when they see me at events. I believe we have to overcome the image of the wolf "preying" on the families of these players. We may be professionals, but they are not.