Good News from Smugmug!

Smugmug just sent an email telling me that their 14 day no-cost trial no longer requires a credit card. Basically you get 14 days to try out their system with NO strings attached.

This is good news to anyone who is even slightly suspicious of having to give out their credit card information in order to get something for free. I never understood why they wanted a credit card number backing up their freebie ... maybe they thought there would be less abuse of their system, or that anyone who gave their CC number would be more likely to purchase their service later.

I regularly see companies asking for $1.00 to $5.00 for their trials in order to keep the tire kickers (with no intention of purchasing) away. However I really hate giving out my Credit Card information when I'm not making a purchase, so I really understand that others feel the same way.

So ... if you've been hesitating feel free to go and kick the tires at Smugmug to your heart's content. Take the system out for a thorough test drive. You might just like it because it is ONE option that allows amateur+ and professional photogs to sell their stuff.

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Selling Photo Prints

I know two photogs who sell prints at local, regional and national Christmas craft shows. One of them does shows back to back all through November and right up to Christmas ... and basically makes a big chunk of her annual income in those two months.

Throughout the REST of the year she spends a chunk of time applying to the shows [the BEST shows are juried], and then making sure her inventory is up to the challenge.

When I talked to her about how she got started she said "start small" there is an investment that is necessary for prints, mats, frames and in developing a good booth set-up. As she made money she reinvested it back into more shows and more inventory.


If you are interested in selling prints in this way ... you have to START NOW, in fact you may be too late for some of the bigger juried shows.

You will need to prepare your best samples, send them in to be juried and then work on having enough stock to sell.

Some of the juried shows give you a booth for free, but you pay a large (up to 50%) percentage of all sales to them. Most shows charge for the booth AND ask for a smaller percentage of sales.

I've heard some artisans complain about the commission the show takes, but look at it this way. THEY pay for the space and some of them provide booths, curtains, carpets and the like. And then they bring the customers to you via advertising, publicity, and with some shows ... their reputation.

Depending on where you live and how big your community is, there may be fall and Xmas fairs that are not juried ... you simply purchase booth space.

The important thing to get out of this is to ACT NOW ... get on the Internet, the phone and find out who does the shows, when and how you get in. If you wait till Oct or Nov it will be too late for this year Xmas buying frenzy.

ta ta
Melanie

Managing Customer Expectations

I just participated in an interesting forum in which a relatively new to the business photographer was venting about annoying customers who impatiently "want their stuff NOW."

Now I fully realize that sometimes customers ARE annoying. But I also realized many years ago that YOU are the one who MANAGES customer expectations.

If you tell people that they will get their pizza in 30 minutes ... then you'd better do that because they EXPECT IT. If you tell them their package will be delivered the next day. Then come hurricane or beach weather, you'd better get it there the next day becasue someone is expecting it.

If you don't tell your customers anything ... they will probably expect it sooner because this is a society of instant gratification.

YOU are the one who sets the expectations
1) on your website
2) in your first phone call
3) in your first face to face meeting
4) and as you see them out the door after their photo session.

I work (consult) with a portrait photographer who takes two weeks to get "anything" to his clients. They know that up front. He is BUSY. And yes, he could do it faster but chooses not to.

I work as a SEO consultant with small website owners. I tell them up front NOT to expect ANYTHING for the first six months. Then they are estatic when something happens sooner! If I told them that they would get results in 30 days and it took 32 ... they would be disappointed.

Manage your customer expectations and then EXCEED them.

If you work with the same clients again ... manage their expectations again ... tell them that LAST time was unusual. Then exceed their expectations again.


ta ta Melanie