gerald_donnelly

Try a 6 hour package with 100-150 proofs in a nice Tap or Top Flight album. Offer $100-$200 in print/enlargement credit. Ask what their budget is-they probably will say "under $1000.00" & charge $995.00. It should be a good price for starting out. Do Not under price yourself too cheap-it can be a real trap. Get enough to offer quality processing & albums. Check Wooden Nickel, the Michel Company or Albums Inc for album prices.I don't have the links handy but you can google them. Use a quality lab for processing & don't try to go cheap. It's a special day & needs to be treated as such. With any money that's left buy or rent backup equipment if you don't own any. Make sure you have extra batteries, cards etc. Remember you will have only 1 shot at doing it right. Make sure you are able to do it right.

GD

Do you have a friend, friend of a friend, family member, friend of a family memeber or coworker getting married or considering marriage? If so try to get them to use your photog to negotiate a refund-full or partial. (Even if it's not on the same date) My contract states a nonrefundable retainer, but I would do a refund if I could rebook a on the same date or pick up another one that I may not normally get.

GD

1) A professionally deigned website

 

2) Hosting

My contract states 1/3 down, 1/3 two weeks before & the final 1/3 the day of. I've been doing it this way for years & haven't been taken advantage of yet. In this case,depending on how much of a retainer you've collected, I would shoot the wedding & ask for the money the day of the wedding. If I didn't recieve it I would archive the files until I've been paid in full & all checks have cleared. I feel that if you're too demanding and/or don't show up it can be bad for business in the long run. The way I do it, I have my time paid for before I get to the wedding.

I have had this happen to me. I would email the bride & very nicely say that you'll be glad to issue a full refund providing that you can re-book the date & if you can't rebook the date you're policy is to keep the retainer, resevation fee or deposit-whatever you're calling it,since you've taken yourslf off the market for that date. I would also offer as others have said to apply the money toward a future event.

I can say I feel for you. This type of thing could happen to any of us. If you're charging for your services, I believe that you owe it to your clients to make an honest attempt at retrieving the photos. You have to decide for yourself what an honest attempt is. If it is impossible to retrieve the data, I would attempt to negotiate something with the couple. I hate to sound like an armchair quarterback but: To protect yourself from something like this in the future I would: 1) Make everybody signs a contract that has a clause that says something like "Every effeort will be made to provide the photos that you desire however, due to equipment malfunction and/or human error no promise is made to deliver a specific image with 100% accuracy." & have a lawyer look it over. 2) Join a professional association like the PPA. They have a mapractice protection program that probably would cover situations like this. 3)Since all this stuff costs money raise your rates to cover it.

Theknot's gotten very expensive, You'll get aot of hits but mainly for people looking for a deal. Their forum's are unmoderated & promote this. I get better results with WEDJ.com, Wedalert.com, Gettinhitched.com & a few others. I feel it's more exposure for the same money.

I did theknot.com for 2 1/2 years & dropped them. I got alot of calls & emails, but I had to weigh expense vs performance. They raised their price every year & I feel I'm doing beter spending the advertising money elsewhere.

Don't get hung up on 1 site. There are thousands out there.

Format the card before you call. Just erasing the images doesn't get it.

I don't consider anyone a "client" until they've 1) signed contract and 2) paid a retainer to retain my services. Up until they do these 2 things they are a prospect or prospective client.

Everybody has some excellent advice, but 1 thing is lacking---You have to ask for the business. After you're done with your presentation -hopefully you've asked alot of who, what when, why type questions (these are questions that can't be answered yes or no)ask if you can be their wedding photographer-simple enough. Most sales people fail because they don't ask the closing question.

I hire an assistant. I also carry most of the gear in 1 Pelican case. It's easier to keep track of that way.

I'm using Iphotos.us for online galleries-pretty reasonable. They charge by the image-no ongoing monthly fees.

Gerald

The knot.com is 1 of the better known sites. Be prepared to spend $95.00/mo for a listing & you'll have to sign a 6 month contract. You will get alot of calls & emails mostly from brides "on a budget" wanting a cheap price. I get more quality leads from sites that cost less. Google wedding photographers for your location & check out what comes up

Candid 2000 is a good company & they will stand behind their work. They made a mistake on an album for me a few months ago & made it right immediately. Very nice people to work with. I've got some prints that I show prospective clients. I'd just tell the bride that the resolution is low so the images can't be stolen & show her some prints. You may want to include a statement indicating that in the information that you give the bride. I'm going to try iphotos here in the next week or so.

Marv

I'm over in St Clair Shores & I read your post with great interest. In fact, I called my CPA at home after reading it. After speaking with him, Professional photographers provide a professional service. Service as such is not taxable. The photographs albums etc are taxable. The exception to this would be, if the photographs & albums were purchased locally (in the state of Michigan)& sales tax was paid on those items when they were purchased by the photographer, they would not be taxable. Doctors & lawyers provide a profesional service & they don't charge or pay taxes. It sounds to me as though the person putting on the seminar is one of the "I'm from the government & I'm here to help you" guys. I'm sure that the State would not turn down taxes that were overpaid. It's good business to have & use a CPA. BTW he doesn't charge sales tax either.

I have been using eventpix.com. They will either charge per upload or bythe month. They email the orders to them & I fill the orders with my own lab-I fel I have more control that way.

I like Fugi film. In similar situations I've used Fugi NPZ 800. Even though I shoot mainly digital I carry a few rolls of NPZ & a film camera in my bag. I've had very good results In church balconies with a zoom lens & tripod set up using fast film.

The Albums are a good value & people like them. The software takes a little getting used to. I'm in the process of putting together a Destiny album with metallic prints-I haven't tried this combo yet. The technical support is also helpful. They did screw up 1 album order for me but took care of it right away. To me that's the sign of a good company. When I upload an album I usually have it within 5 working days

Get 1 nice album. I like Renaissance's Black Verona Leather. Both Michel Co & Albums Inc will give a demo discount on 1 album type. I prefer the 10x10 size. I would go with a 12 page 24 side album. Put in a mix of 5x5's, 5x7's & an 8x10 or 2. Most brides love this album. The you can explain that it comes in various sizes & different amounts of pages. You probably won't be selling any albums unless you have a sample.

I like to do outdoor portraits in the late afternoon & if I had my choice I would do it on a cloudy day.

Gerald