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markedman wrote:
I did onsite printing for about 6 years using dye subs. Because the technology was new to many it was VERY successful. It is the 'hot" sale. Where you can sell them while they are excited about the event.
I think these are noteworthy Points.
Some years back being able to buy onsite was an experience in itself and I think people enjoyed the Novelty of that alone and it probably motivated w worth while number of people to buy. Now I think in some circles, the novelty has faded because they have seen it before and it's not such a big deal.
That said, in some events I do it IS still a surprise and also I think once people have had a few glasses of their favourite drop, are feeling good and enjoying themselves, they are more motivated to buy then than they would be tomorrow when they are getting over the effects of too much good time and the impression of the night is forever thereafter not what it was at the time.
However now that there is no longer the fear of online purchase the market has changed considerably. Now my clients would rather do it from home.
I know there are photographers that will not post online and hold everyone hostage at the event to purchase.
I had to laugh at the "Hold everyone hostage" remark. You make it sound like they have a gun held to their head!
Holding them hostage wouldn't have worked for me. The hostages would have been kids and the parents would have probably paid me to keep the little buggers and then what would I do?
I'd be stuck with them and have to pay the parents at least triple to take them back!!!
No, that's a real bad Idea!
In my experience and many other people I have read of and spoken to, Onsite ordering if not even delivery outstrips online sales by huge margins. There are guy on here that have been doing sports and events for years and they have 30, 50 and over 100 Viewstations so they can get those onsite sales. These guys are the big players in the game. If they could make the same with online, I very much doubt they would have the huge amounts of equipment and go to the trouble of setting it up and hauling it round.
The reason they do is because at the end of the day they know its well and truly worth the trouble and effort to do so. It also seperates them from the 100 other people vying for the primier gigs that don't have that facility and just do online.
My conclusion after months of trialing online and putting in excess of 25K images on line and not getting a sale was that it was a really good way for people not to buy today and never spending their money. I think many had complete intentions to buy but life gets in the way and they forget and there is another thing next weekend they can look at pics from and so it goes. For what I did I think it was a great excuse to pacify the kids and get out of buying anything.
IF saying today or never is holding them hostage, OK, I'm fine with that. So were the clients that kept coming back, some every single event I did they were at.
But if you do that there better be plenty of equipment and manpower to handle the rush at the end. I understand their motive.
Absoloutley!
The first rule of onsite selling is you can never have too many V stations. You need the people to process things in a speedy fashion and you need the systems in place to make it work as well.
But that's part of the deal just like you need the right camera and lenses for the job. Nothing different there.
But I think that is bad PR.
Why?
You said earlier that it was the Hot sale and you can sell them while they are excited about the event.
It's absoloutley pointless to go to the trouble of having an onsite setup if you are going to push online. Some people do it but the online is not heavily promoted and it's mainly for getting the 2nd bite of the cherry to pick up the scraps of what's left in the deal. That may be worthwhile but its not what a person is smart to rely on.
Anyway if you do onsite printing time is the enemy. Keep the choices simple.
I did 5X7 and 8X10. That's it . Chocolate or vanilla. The more choices the more time used to decide. There should be a "super" product like
a poster ( delivered later ) on display for those few who have the bigger budget. Also consider a show special - "buy two get one free" or a CD package.
Absoloutley agree.
I did one size for sports, 8x12. You could have it bordered, mag cover or as a souvineer border with text. If someone asked, they could have 2 5x7 or 6x8's on the page. We offered posters. Didn't sell many but the ones we did sell were more along the lines of " Is that 20x30 the biggest you can do?
No, I can do them 4 times the size " Great, I'll take one, CC ok?.
We also did Cd's, multiple image packages, 1-5, 6-10, 10+ images on disk.
If you can notify the people before the event that there is a pre-event registration special. Perhaps with an announcement.
I think that is a great way of doing things, unfortunately, try hard as I may, I couldn't get people to wear it. I really wanted to go to a model of only registered Riders in my case, would be photographed. Couldn't make that fly either. I would have loved to but I juwst couldn't get it through to people. It was me either shoot and hope or don't bother going because no one has registered.
That said, I think its definately one of the smarter ways to go.
Sign up with deposit and get a discount or free print.
I do $20 deposit will get you $30 credit.
Deposits will ALWAYS separate the "window " shoppers from the buyers. And don't under value your efforts !
I tried that with the online sales. Get more than what you pay for. Pushed it every way I knew how, Nada. Also to try and spread the late rush with the onsite, I tried early bird specials. At least 50% of the participants I photographed were done by 1PM but had to hang around till 4 or 5. You reckon I could get them to come see the pics before the very end even when they knew There would be no more pics taken of them?
Nope! Maybe we had 5 people in the 6 months or so I tried it. we gave out pamphlets, had 6 sandwich boards signs in all the places... nope.
I have to say I really get the impression my audience were exceptional in their resistance to new ideas. I consider myself half a chance as a marketer but these people just didn't respond to anything I tried really. Offered Video clips, that was a failure ( although I did get a few but still a failure) tried remote cameras and only one of those worked being a very low angle of a horse jump, and a bunch of other things that just didn't fly. Asked people what they thought of the ideas beforehand, yep, great idea but apparently not greater than just a print or pic on CD...
You are there to MAKE MONEY!
Just my 2 cents. Hope it helps.
Good shooting.
Mark
Yep, and holding them hostage on the day was what made me the most money by far.
There is no perfect soloution. Whatever you come up with they will want something different.
Wether you do onsite or online, You'll loose sales even if you do both which was what I tried.
I found that I lost FAR less sales by doing onsite only.
It was funny after I stopped it and people would give me reasons and excuse they couldn't buy and a few even made a scene of walking off without looking but I knew from proven experience that online killed my profits stone dead.
So I lost 1,2 or 10 sales doing onsite only. I knew that I made another 25 though I would have lost with online so that was what I went with. The model that gave me the most money.
I think like anything people have to test their market and see what works for them. Online was a failure for me and it's way behind the profitability a lot of other people realise with onsite as well.
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Aug 17, 2014 at 12:35 AM |
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