i'm sorry. i hate coming back to this post because it's like sticking myself in the eye with a fork, but i scrolled through the blog a little more, and have to ask - what on earth do you hope to accomplish by posting a tale about another vendor WITH IMAGES of them "behaving badly"?
heaven knows i'm an opinionated person, and we all need to blow off some steam sometimes, but having tact and knowing when and with whom to share your opinion is a good thing. that's what colleagues, friends, spouses and cheap booze are for.
i honestly am trying to understand the rationale behind sharing in that fashion on your business blog - especially when you provide a service geared toward one of the best days of a person's life.
Draper, stop listening to these idiots... They are clearly trying to mess with your head.
Oh and to all of my local competitors in the SoFla market: you should draw inspiration from the OP... His is the kind of post "real" south Florida clients want to see!
and back on a serious note... aside from it being pretty strange that you post here to thank us for your feedback, then mock us on your blog...
more importantly your bunnies and butterflies is plain wrong.
How many people do you think when aboard a plane want to hear the conversations the pilot may be having with his co-pilot regarding the fact that the left wing engine oil pressure is all over the map and should we consider landing the craft elsewhere?
Or without a need to draw in people's fear of dying...
how about you... when you bring your car to the dealership for service... do you want to hear that they'll look into the problem and fix it, or would you like them to go on a monlogue about how sometime it's not possible to diagnose a problem the client experiences and yeah you might end up having to bring your car in twice or three times before having a hope for resolution.
Your job as a professional photographer should be to be prepared to handle any situation thrown at you within reason and emerge successful. Not to undermine clients's confidence with your "real speak"
i'm not ragging. i'm sincerely interested in his motivation and response to questions. i really enjoy his work and would have expected a professional dialogue instead of a one-line blow-off and mocking blog reply.
Sorry, didn't mean to include you grits. Your comments have been topical and forthright. I'd be interested in a genuine response too, but overall the tenor of comments tossed his has perhaps been less than constructive.
see, I like his work too, and I'll bet that he's a really cool person in general. but it just seems so two faced from his responses to us on this forum compared to what he wrote on his blog.. I don't like taking it personally, but it just irks me in a way. it irks me in a way that I actually enjoyed reading his blog posts concerning problems with vendors, and dj's, and amateurs..it made me want to comment in certain ways..good and bad...and I guess that's what journalists are good at. They provoke while informing while keeping you interested. (not in any particular order) And I'd like to give him a high five for his excellent pieces too.
I just hope the amounts of free wisdom and advice given on this forum are more or less being used to grow in ones business instead of asking but disagreeing.
it begs me to ask the question of...why ask if you already know the answer you want to hear?
Yes, Draper is a dang good photographer, love his work. But, I question a few of your blog posts in regards to your email interactions with clients, prospective clients, and all of the "surgery" related analogies to photography. While I might agree with viewpoints, in a completely non-confrontative and professional opinion, I think those kind of blog posts would SERIOUSLY deter me as a consumer or potential customer. It's all just very negative and doesn't bring a good vibe to your blog.
Yeah, he's a pretty good photographer. Maybe he should take a step back and think about why he's getting these types of clients/inquiries. Perhaps his blog is actually attracting those types?
I totally understand the points he trying to make. I get it. I just wouldn't put all that up on my blog for my prospective clients, current clients, past clients, etc... to see.
I get the sense that it's almost as though he's trying to justify his prices or his work or both.
