Hammy
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Focus Locus wrote:
luketrot wrote:We have experimented not printing onsite and unlike Hammy's results we had less sales. From my experience the larger the event the more you can get away without printing onsite.
It sounds like size of event is a key factor in the to print or not to print question. And it sounds like Hammy's events are much larger Luketrot's, which may mean they are both "right," even when they disagree.
Ah yes, Luke and I love to bicker about this - online and off. 
But the reality is that I try to encourage Luke and others, because I've been there. I've done smaller shows - as little as 120 kids (in two gymnastics sessions - so its really like two 60 kid shows) and have done as good if not better with NOT printing onsite as when I did print onsite.
I think the biggest issue is in the perception of prints walking around. When/IF that is the ONLY form of marketing, then its a great idea - it probably helps a bit. It was certainly part of my business plan when I started.
I had one show - my smallest of my first year - where we did studio T&I and printed on site. One parent got a 12x18 of the team and held it up to other parents - which did boost the sales of that picture that others bought. But this only hits a TINY portion of potential customers. Most parents will keep their prints in the bag instead of passing them around and get fingerprints on them before framing. Again, though, if this the the ONLY marketing campaign, its better than nothing.
In successive years, I've turned to other marketing methods, and my sales (per head) have not changed. By implementing backlit screens, plasmas, projection slideshows, I have slideshows and prints that hit 100% of the potential customers. Now I am in control of blasting nearly LIVE images of every competitor to their parents - not waiting on Sally's mom to show Suzy's mom pix of Sally - when Suzy's mom wants to see pix of Suzy. The best part, is that these marketing tools consist of ONE fixed cost - not an ongoing one of staffing, setup, and transport each weekend.
It's not like Wal-Mart where if you see something in somebody elses cart, you say to yourself: "oh, I need that too". I don't go to McDonalds and look at what other people are eating and decide based on that. Customers wanting pix will be looking for a unique item. But come to think of it, I honestly can't think of a single business (store) that sales are a product of walking around displays. Clothing stores could have models walking around with the latest fashions, but they don't. Established companies like that rely on PRO-ACTIVE marketing - sticking ALL of the products in your face and highlighting the newly added ones.
Again, early on, my business model was limited to none on marketing - I wanted to be a full service shop where customers walked home with prints and they show their friends. Unexpectedly, I was forced into NOT offering that and found out that my sales are the same (if not better), my costs are less, and my profit is higher.
Ironically, when one scales to larger shows, it actually makes more sense to print onsite, because the sales numbers will justify the extra staff, gear, setup, etc... But scale differently to multiple shows, and now staffing gets harder. Even Luke is feeling the pinch of time spent printing onsite by not printing 8x10s because they take too long and backs up other orders. So what happens when a customer orders 50 5x7 prints? (I've had it happen) Does he tell that customer who placed the largest order that she'll have to wait - or her order will be mailed because it will take to long and back up all the other 1-2 5x7 orders? How does that customer feel when other spending $20 get their order and she has to wait? Scaling is a good thing - being able to handle it is better.
I'm not trying to change people's ways - there is no arguing that having prints done at the show is nice. Certainly for all the weekend warriors out there who have a day job also it offers more time on the weekdays. But there are still stragglers and web sales to contend with, so why not do it all in one place. I'm just offering advice from somebody who's been there and done all that. Somewhere along the way, I took out the 'pride and ego' part of my business plan and realized the core of profitability is controlling costs - not doing it because it can be done.
Think about it, for smaller shows, where making money is more questionable, its key to eliminate as many costs as possible. Once invested in other marketing tools that are more effective, then doing small shows are a piece of cake. I think most of us are in business to be successful - so why not start thinking on a grander scale and get there quicker instead of mulling around and waiting for it to happen. Yes, we all have to start somewhere, but I've never seen a Wal-Mart or McDonalds (or any good business) start off as a road-side vendor.
Yet we as photographers have not problem spending whatever budget on the greatest gear available. Not to dispute that - it helps (usually), but to sell images, that's a whole avenue of different thinking that most of us would like to avoid as we don't have business degrees. Taking great shots (making a great product) is certainly the core of what we do, but marketing the images is so much more part of the picture that most of us imaging (pun intended, and I'm still learning and yearning).
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