dara_harris Posted July 10, 2007 Share Posted July 10, 2007 Hello,I am stuggling in the Nashville,tn Market. I do not know if I am over priced or under priced or what?Is my web site professional enough/How about my work?Please need tips. I have ask several locals with no response. Also need tips on how to get more work in this area.My head is spinning in Nashville.Thanks!I will aprreciate honesty. www.daraharrisphotography.net Dara Harris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellis_vener_photography Posted July 10, 2007 Share Posted July 10, 2007 your website keepscrashing my browser. How long have you beemn trying to get started? It can somtimes take a couple of years to really get started. Besides the website, how else are you marketing your business? How do you go about making connections with people, much less prospective clients? The pricing will sort itself out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michelle a. Posted July 10, 2007 Share Posted July 10, 2007 I cannot speak for pricing in TN as I'm in the north east part of the country, where things are very expensive. I'm using FireFox 2.0 as a browser, and it's totally messed up looking... the images are overlaying the text, although it appears to not happen in IE.... First and foremost make sure that your website is viewable on all browsers....! Secondly while I have to say I love the music you've choosen, very soothing and appropriate the site itself appears dated (IMHO very 90's). :( If you want to appeal to todays bride I really feel it's important to give your website a face lift.... I also think you need to pare down the images to only your very best.... I like much of what you have in your galleries, but then there are many images that seem to have been taken with direct flash, and are not up to par..... Please take this in the sincere manner in which it was meant.... :) I also noticed you've photographed some very famous people! Cool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michelle a. Posted July 10, 2007 Share Posted July 10, 2007 I should also say that while I realize that you asked about pricing specifically, I think that the things I mentioned are hindering your ability to attract clients..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randmcnatt Posted July 10, 2007 Share Posted July 10, 2007 Wow, your opening image is 2096x2820 but you're displaying it at 418x578; no wonder it loads so slowly. Same with the bw's. Try resizing them down to the display size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jana w. Posted July 10, 2007 Share Posted July 10, 2007 Hi, Dara. I am from the Nashville area (raised in Hoptown about 1 1/2 hour away) so I feel your pain about the tough market area. Luckily I moved before really decided to push forward with the photography! I think your work is nice and your prices are right for the area. I know it probably seems low to alot of other people in the country but those prices are suited for the region. I too had problems loading the site. I am not sure if you designed it yourself or hired someone but it needs help! Not that my website is superfantastic but it is cheap and decent! I use foliosnap.com and their lowest package ($19/mo) and it had no set up fees. You can add on more pages than I have on mine. A client may not wait for your current pages to load. There are oodles of other photogs whos pages don't take so long. I hope this help and I wish you all the luck in the world!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_sparks2 Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 Your website is probably your biggest problem. In no particular order: Your font is not very appealing. Change it to something more elegant or plain. The buttons on top of your site? I can barely read what they say. The main photo is over 3 MB. It should be about 1/60 that size. If I were a dialup modem user I would have left your site just because it took too long to load. The scrolling text? GET RID OF IT!! It's cheesy. There are other problems with the site that a web designer hire could help you with. Your photos are really nice and you should be As far as pricing, I think your just about right. Maybe too low but your sloppy website is affecting your responses. I would actually drop the prints from your lowest package (I personally just shoot and deliver a DVD and online gallery for around your Silver package price...but I do 8 hours of coverage) and for the mid-pricedpackages drop the engagement session. Your best bet is to just look at what your competition is offering. How does the quality of your photos compare to theirs? Look out their prices, their site design, what they offer in their packages and where they market (a Google search of business names is a good start). One last tip...less is more. Only display your best photos. Information overload is not good for your potential clients. You have some really nice photos in your gallery but also some mediocre ones. I personally only display 15-25 photos from each wedding I shoot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainer_t Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 -- "Wow, your opening image is 2096x2820 but you're displaying it at 418x578; no wonder it loads so slowly. Same with the bw's. Try resizing them down to the display size." In addition to the size (dimensions in pixels as well as jpg-quality),your images are in AdobeRGB colorspace ... and should better be in sRGB colorspace (since this is certainly web-use). I believe the "export for web" function will fix this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdp Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 Dara, You're site needs some major work. It just doesn't look professional. Also, make sure you pics are level in your samples. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilambrose Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 <p>I'd suggest firstly that the quality of your site isn't appropriate to the prices you are listing. So if you're not getting much work through the web that might be a reason. Secondly, your most expensive package doesn't seem competitive, although the others are fine. I don't know what things are like in Nashville, but I've seen people in the $2k-$3k bracket with stronger work who charge less; perhaps you need to think of adding value to your product, or otherwise differentiating yourself?</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckphoto Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 Hi Dara, Bookmarked this many months ago but your site keep crashing so I couldn't view it. Anyway I am in Nashville. Looked at your site and I have the following comments. Prices are a fine if not low, some of your images don't seem as sharp as they should be, on your flash stuff, it looks too harsh for my tastes. I would look at a flip-it or Gary Fong Light Dome or Whale Tail. I am partial to the Fong stuff but you will find people in both camps. The trick to this type of flash it to have as much natural light as possible and just add the right amount of flash. I use 2/3 of flash compensation most times with the dome. I also noticed that you mention negatives many times in your prices lists. Are you actually shooting on film? If you are digital, I would use the term "images". IMO. Here's my wedding site: http://www.chuckthompsonweddings.com and my ordering site: http://www.TNTSportsPics.com Send me an email or give me a call sometime and I'll be glad to share anything that I know. There more business out there than any of us can do. (615) 428-7631 Cheers, Chuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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