Youth Sports SALES TACTICS!? Question! in Sports Posted August 26, 2005 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?
Youth Sports SALES TACTICS!? Question!
in Sports
Posted
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?