Mitigating My Mistakes

I've made a few mistakes with my business and will continue to do so.  Each mistake I make is an opportunity to grow, and continue building a successful and enjoyable career.  The following was my most substantial mistake and greatest growing opportunity to date:

THE PROBLEM

I was a "Shoot & Burn" photographer - after the photo shoot, I would burn a disc of images with a print release for the client and be done.  Clients rarely ordered prints off my website, though they often would gloat about how much they loved my work.  I would talk with them months later, and find out that they had yet to order prints from anywhere with their CD either.

I now realize how much of a disservice that business model was to my clients.  By simply burning a disc and letting clients run free into the world with their beautiful images, I wasn't helping them to put the right image in the right place in the home, on the right type of product to tie everything together.  Without guidance, examples, or outside input, it is very difficult to choose which image or images should become prints... or where those prints are going to end up.

Lets face it - sifting through 20 images and finding the perfect one worth investing in a wall portrait can be difficult, daunting, and quite frustrating.  Now, imagine having a disc of over 1,000 images from your wedding, and trying to select the perfect ONE to hang over your mantel, or couch, or entrance?  Could you fathom the time it would take to go through 1,000 images, select the right ones to put in an album you designed online, and could only guess the end quality...not to mention the price tag with no guarantee?

Aside from having the difficult task of sifting through an image set, and choosing an image to put on a wall, most people are only aware of photographic prints, and that is what they buy.  Then they have to go somewhere for printing and framing - which creates more research, time commitment, and decision making - and ultimately frustration.  When people are frustrated they generally do not follow through, which means that most people will never put an image on their wall they way they really want it.

THE CHANGE
I knew that it was time to do something to help my clients.  SO - I made a big (and scary) change.
My goal as a photographer has always been to provide clients with something unique, and amazing - that they can call their own, and that no one else has.  I needed a way to do this.

I invested in a projector system, presentation software, and spent countless hours developing the perfect product line to carry in my shop (and had to invest thousands of dollars to bring it to life).  I spent weeks learning how to use the software, analyzing what my customers like and want, and organizing my shop to show off my unique product line.  The final step was implementing a new plan for my clients.

This new plan consisted of having a minimum of 3 meetings at my shop.  The first meeting is to find out what type of wall space they have, and what they ultimately want to do with their final images.  This would also dictate how we design the photo session.  The 2nd meeting is the photo shoot.  The 3rd meeting is the design session - where we put all of their images up on a huge 9ft screen, and see what everything will look like in a real size.  During our design session, I help clients organize their favorites, and can build collages and unique products right in front of them - and then use a picture of one of their home walls to show them what the exact collage will look like in the end.

Another scary change was my disc burning policy.  I required clients to first put images on their walls, and then the disc would be available.  But this time, the disc is in a beautifully designed case, which becomes a display piece for the home instead of a thing to throw in a lock box and never look at again.  I also would no longer offer a print release.  All printing would be done through me to ensure the highest of quality and allow me to provide a quality guarantee on every single print that comes out of my shop.

THE RESULTS
The very first day that I implemented my new policies and procedures I had a client go home with a very large wall grouping, printed on metal.  She had never seen metal prints before, and thought she wanted a traditional print, matted and framed, until we met for the first time and she saw the metal print collage in the shop.  I will never forget how thankful she was that I helped her pick out the best photos to use in the collage.  She was so happy that I helped guide her - which led to her being confident in her purchase decision.  I also will never forget her response to hanging the collage in her home.  She was overjoyed with the result and even sent me a thank you card!

Of course, there have been a few clients who used to come for me because of the CD, and no longer do.  Thats OKAY.  People come to me because they know I will provide them with a great experience, and phenomenal art piece that will last a life time.  They know everything I do is a custom design, just for them.  No other design like it exists.  This is what makes my studio unique and successful.

Since I began working with clients to put custom art pieces on their walls I have grown my product line to include a multitude of custom designed pieces.  I find myself excited to hop into photoshop and design album spreads, greeting cards, wall collages etc...  I love finding out what my clients want before the photos session too - It really allows me to sculpt the session to flow onto a personalized product that is perfect for their home.

THE BEST part about working with clients from start to finished product on their wall is their responses.  I get to see tears of joy on a weekly basis, I have clients send me photos of their finished pieces in their homes, I get thank you cards in the mail...  I make my clients unbelievably happy by providing a full service from start to finish.