Hey all - I have two weddings that I'm getting out this week, and I just considered adding a slideshow and maybe one nice print to the package - just because. Well, actually to have a bigger impact on both of the couples and maybe get some extra WOM advertising.
BUT - I'm strapped for time. I have four weddings we just shot over the past three weeks, and I need to work on those. Is it worth the extra time to put together a slideshow? The print will take two days to ship, but I think that might be worth it.
Ryan Britton wrote:
We're thinking of taking the slideshows out of our packages. They take too much time for what they are.
Yeah, what do you think will happen when you put the slideshow together? Are you going to sell it? Are you going to use it for marketing? What is the value to you? What is the value to your clients? And how long will it take? We figured out a way to get slideshows built in a few short minutes, so we started using them in our marketing because the cost (time) was less than the value (impact +Exposure). Can you make the cost/value ratio work out in your favor?
I think it would be worthwhile if I could use it on my blog as well - nice way to show images. But choosing the images takes me a while. Of course we will be using one of these weddings as a gallery on our website_ so maybe I could start choosing images now.
Deb ..
I do quick little slideshows for all my clients...one song (their first dance song) and about 60 favourites of the day. I have a nice opening with their names/dates and maybe a quote etc... and keep the show simple. Its the first thing I show them when they come to see their wedding pix and its dazzles them!!! I've done lots of them so I can put one together in less than hour. Sometimes they buy extra copies, most of the time they dont...and that's ok. Its just a little something extra and I believe people remember the little something extra that they werent expecting.
You said you have several weddings that are recent shoots...you can put them on hold a little while longer, Heck, I have only just started editing october shoots. Plenty of time, so do a show...heck give them a print too. I think your clients will remember it and help build your reputation! Yes. Worth it.
I have invested hundreds of dollars in slideshow software (Producer), royalty free music, DVD duplication equipment, printer, etc. I've made several demo shows. I have in the past five years sold one show. They are extremely time consuming and the clients simply don't seem to care. All they want is the files or 4X6 prints so they can scan and freely distribute the photos on Wal-Mart prints.
kim magee wrote:
Deb ..
I do quick little slideshows for all my clients...one song (their first dance song) and about 60 favourites of the day. I have a nice opening with their names/dates and maybe a quote etc... and keep the show simple. Its the first thing I show them when they come to see their wedding pix and its dazzles them!!! I've done lots of them so I can put one together in less than hour. Sometimes they buy extra copies, most of the time they dont...and that's ok. Its just a little something extra and I believe people remember the little something extra that they werent expecting.
You said you have several weddings that are recent shoots...you can put them on hold a little while longer, Heck, I have only just started editing october shoots. Plenty of time, so do a show...heck give them a print too. I think your clients will remember it and help build your reputation! Yes. Worth it.
Kim - this sounds promising, but I was wondering what you do about the music copyright? I love the idea of using the couples first dance song - but I don't want to use music without copyright. That's actually what's holding me back the most.
You need to pay a license to use a song, or do it through animoto where they handle that for you. If you use a program like proshow, you can purchase music through them also, or go to a royalty free site to get music you can use.
Deb - Fotomagico or whatever it's called is really nice in concept. I saw that it burns DVD and can output to HD resolutions all the way up to 1080p. I've been thinking about purchasing it - what's your overall experience with it? Are there any major issues that come up or does it lack some crucial "no-brainer" options?
As far as the OP - slideshows are awesome for the blog. I use ShowIt Fast Web and considered using ITDR's SlideShare Max. In the end, I couldn't install SlideShare Max onto my server, so I went with ShowIt. I find that web based slideshows are worth the effort for marketing purposes alone.
Saad Syed wrote:
Deb - Fotomagico or whatever it's called is really nice in concept. I saw that it burns DVD and can output to HD resolutions all the way up to 1080p. I've been thinking about purchasing it - what's your overall experience with it? Are there any major issues that come up or does it lack some crucial "no-brainer" options?
As far as the OP - slideshows are awesome for the blog. I use ShowIt Fast Web and considered using ITDR's SlideShare Max. In the end, I couldn't install SlideShare Max onto my server, so I went with ShowIt. I find that web based slideshows are worth the effort for marketing purposes alone. ...Show more →
We've had great luck with Fotomagico so far. It is really easy to use and I haven't found any issues. It is German, I believe, and so there are a few menu items that can be confusing. But we like it so far.
Saad Syed wrote:
Deb - Fotomagico or whatever it's called is really nice in concept. I saw that it burns DVD and can output to HD resolutions all the way up to 1080p. I've been thinking about purchasing it - what's your overall experience with it? Are there any major issues that come up or does it lack some crucial "no-brainer" options?
The resolution is downsized quite a bit when actually rendering the video for DVD in the burning process. The NTSC DVD size is 720x480, which is far less than the 1920 x 1080 that 1080i/p are. Upscaling DVD players may bump it up to that with some increase in quality over a regular, non-scaling DVD player, but the source itself is small and will look it. Actually burning it to an HD-capable format would require other software, but it could be done.
Ryan Britton wrote:
The resolution is downsized quite a bit when actually rendering the video for DVD in the burning process. The NTSC DVD size is 720x480, which is far less than the 1920 x 1080 that 1080i/p are. Upscaling DVD players may bump it up to that with some increase in quality over a regular, non-scaling DVD player, but the source itself is small and will look it. Actually burning it to an HD-capable format would require other software, but it could be done.
It supposedly does 1080p as well (I have it and the HD add-on) but I can't seem to get it to auto-play on my PS3 Blu-Ray player when I burn it as a standard DVD... Haven't tested other players yet, but I don't think I did anything wrong...
