Ridiculous Inquiries....

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John Patrick
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p.4 #1 · Ridiculous Inquiries....

TheGE wrote:
ckhagen wrote:
I've been binging on episodes of Say Yes to the Dress for the last couple of days and it's amazing to me that these girls will walk in, say they have a $1500 budget for a dress and then when they discover that the dress they love is $5k... just figure out a way to come up with the money!

Thank you! I've been pointing that out to photographers for some time when they moan about their inquiries being price shoppers.

The thing to note on Say Yes To The Dress is just how the store sales staff purposefully orchestrate the sale to achieve that outcome. The dresses don't really sell themselves.

I hope every one of you are reading what TheGE says here and realizes what he's pointing out. Brides are SOLD on things. If you're not actively selling your photography to the bride, you are failing at the business part of the wedding photography business.

Photography businesses are 90% business, and 10% photography. Or it might even be 95/5.

John

Jan 04, 2013 at 06:16 PM

misty23
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p.4 #2 · Ridiculous Inquiries....

John Patrick wrote:
TheGE wrote:
ckhagen wrote:
I've been binging on episodes of Say Yes to the Dress for the last couple of days and it's amazing to me that these girls will walk in, say they have a $1500 budget for a dress and then when they discover that the dress they love is $5k... just figure out a way to come up with the money!

Thank you! I've been pointing that out to photographers for some time when they moan about their inquiries being price shoppers.

The thing to note on Say Yes To The Dress is just how the store sales staff purposefully orchestrate the sale to achieve that outcome. The dresses don't really sell themselves.

I hope every one of you are reading what TheGE says here and realizes what he's pointing out. Brides are SOLD on things. If you're not actively selling your photography to the bride, you are failing at the business part of the wedding photography business.

Photography businesses are 90% business, and 10% photography. Or it might even be 95/5.

John

Thats a very oversimplification of the entire process. Every bride has a different value for what is important to them. They WILL shelve out more money for a dress, but remember, that's a "reality" television show. And we all know how "real" those reality shows are. Not very. They are all "staged" for the purposes of television drama and to sell it to the viewing public.

I highly doubt that a bride,with a budget of $1500.00 is going to up their expenditure to 5K for their photography.
If someone reading this post has had that happen to them, please share your experience and how it came to be. That is the only way we can get a "real" grasp for how this sort of thing occurs. Not from watching unreal "reality" tv shows.

Edited on Jan 04, 2013 at 07:45 PM · View previous versions

Jan 04, 2013 at 07:41 PM

misty23
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p.4 #3 · Ridiculous Inquiries....

ckhagen wrote:
I guess it's a difference in personality but I just can't imagine being satisfied with not having the skills or talent to be better than I am. Am I a major player among the "best"? Hell no. But do I believe that I can get there if I apply myself? Hell yes! I'm capable of being better tomorrow than I am today... I think I would be doing my clients a disservice to just be content with mediocrity.

Well, some people, who have been where you are and are well established in their career, live in reality, not fantasy. Nothing wrong with aspiring to be better, we all do that, even me. I change and upgrade and adapt to the current market. But I still live in the reality that I'll never be a high end wedding photographer. I'm not Don Quixote.

Jan 04, 2013 at 07:44 PM

ckhagen
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p.4 #4 · Ridiculous Inquiries....

Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right.
I don't live in a fantasy world. Far from it. I just understand the reality of hard work paying off... I've been doing this for ten years and if I would've had your attitude 7 years ago I would still be shooting $1600 weddings. Thankfully, for my kids, I didn't have that attitude. I refuse to limit myself and I think that's an important thing to model for my boys as well. My 6 year old bounces a basket ball around the house all day long. I sure hope he doesn't say to himself "I'm never going to be Kobe Bryant". Technically no, he will never be Kobe Bryant, but he may end up being Judah K, the newest best basketball player that ever lived. I sure hope he doesn't set himself up to never realize his full potential.

Jan 04, 2013 at 09:51 PM

Inku Yo
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p.4 #5 · Ridiculous Inquiries....

Ok, let's bring it back down to earth a little bit. There is only a finite number of spots on NBA teams. Even the bench players are freaking talented.

Becoming a great wedding photographer and making it to the NBA are not the same.

Jan 04, 2013 at 11:16 PM

Fred Miranda
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p.4 #6 · Ridiculous Inquiries....

Personal attacks were removed from this thread.

Jan 05, 2013 at 03:58 PM

Mark_L
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p.4 #7 · Ridiculous Inquiries....

For those that get ridiculous enquiries re: price, are your prices on you site or does that not deter these people?

Jan 05, 2013 at 05:14 PM

Kittyk
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p.4 #8 · Ridiculous Inquiries....

i am still in believe that wedding photos are not 90+% business

i am not a commodity. People come to me for me. Most at least anyway. They come to me not because i am good at business. Opposite is true. I am worst at business from them all.

Jan 05, 2013 at 07:04 PM

Arka
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p.4 #9 · Ridiculous Inquiries....

misty23 wrote:
Well, some people, who have been where you are and are well established in their career, live in reality, not fantasy. Nothing wrong with aspiring to be better, we all do that, even me. I change and upgrade and adapt to the current market. But I still live in the reality that I'll never be a high end wedding photographer. I'm not Don Quixote.

Why not? It's one thing to say that I will never invest the time or effort required to be great at something, but quite another to say that I could never be great, no matter what I do.

Jan 05, 2013 at 09:08 PM

TheGE
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p.4 #10 · Ridiculous Inquiries....

Fred Miranda wrote:
Personal attacks were removed from this thread.

OK, but my comment was deleted too and I don't recall attacking anyone.

Jan 05, 2013 at 11:28 PM

TheGE
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p.4 #11 · Ridiculous Inquiries....

Mark_L wrote:
For those that get ridiculous enquiries re: price, are your prices on you site or does that not deter these people?

Not that I get ridiculous inquiries but lots of people don't bother looking through a site to see if prices are listed. They're hitting a number of websites and it's too much additional navigation for them to bother with.

Jan 05, 2013 at 11:34 PM

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