Inku Yo wrote:
Problem is that you're committing yourself to a 995 wedding, which means you can't book a 3000 (or 5000) wedding that day.
True...anything further then three months and I wouldn't even consider it. At the same time I am a studio shooter mostly so I'd take that over a 12 hour nightmare Any day.
Ziffl3 wrote:
when people talk about unemployment rate .... do they actually dig into the numbers?
The rate doesnt really matter. The majority of people unemployed are people who dont want to work and are not looking for jobs anyways. The scum of our country. What really pisses me off about the unemployment is the people who are looking for jobs but not willing to take a lesser paying job just to make ends meet.
My uncle, the asshole that he is was on unemployment for 2.5 years. How? Umm Obama is our president. Enough said. But yea, the asshole wouldnt take a job paying $18 an hour because he said he had a degree and was worth more than that. OK, I agree, to a point. But when money gets tighter and you arent paying your bills from unemployment, that $18 an hour job sounds better and better.
Get the F out of San Berdoo! Target non-depressed areas, like OC, Pasadena, Palm Springs, Santa Barbara, Santa Monica...You may want to disguise the fact that you are based in Rancho C, but rebranding yourself as a southern California photographer might help.
It might take some effort but sellling a luxury item in an area where people can't afford it is going to be frustrating to say the least. Follow the money, or accept the bargain basement brides.
amslerphoto wrote:
True...anything further then three months and I wouldn't even consider it. At the same time I am a studio shooter mostly so I'd take that over a 12 hour nightmare Any day.
Even as a studio shooter, you're not making 995 if that's what the studio is charging. I'd be surprised if you got 300. In either case, I'd rather sit at home and spend time with my family or work on my business even if it was a last minute gig.
paparazzinick wrote:
The rate doesnt really matter. The majority of people unemployed are people who dont want to work and are not looking for jobs anyways. The scum of our country. What really pisses me off about the unemployment is the people who are looking for jobs but not willing to take a lesser paying job just to make ends meet.
My uncle, the asshole that he is was on unemployment for 2.5 years. How? Umm Obama is our president. Enough said. But yea, the asshole wouldnt take a job paying $18 an hour because he said he had a degree and was worth more than that. OK, I agree, to a point. But when money gets tighter and you arent paying your bills from unemployment, that $18 an hour job sounds better and better.
This is ridiculous and down right dumb.
I was laid off from work for nearly 2 years.
My ex-wife was out of work for 14 months.
My best friend for a little less than a year.
My cousin for more than all of us. All of us have at least 4yr degrees and have worked all of our lives.
I know SEVERAL others who wanted to work and are respectable hard working people but *could not find* work.
All of us looked at lessor paying jobs but we were considered over qualified for everything that would actually help "ends meet".
Bush was president during that time. Tell me about this opinion of yours. You're saying during Bush time as president of the U.S. the economy was great? How about good? Decent? No. No. and No.
BS! and blind with memory loss of what took place more than 3 years ago.
7 weeks? See thats my point. No one wants to work as long as Obama keeps giving free money away. 7 weeks isnt shit. 7 weeks will get you nowhere. Hell, even when I had a job at Apple and I was recruited to my current job as a corporate photographer. It took them 12 weeks just to do my FBI clearances, background check, paper work and all the steps of the interview process. And they recruited me, I didn't go after them.
See how lazy our country has become? See how pathetic people are. No wonder other countries will take our jobs and take it for less. I feel bad for people who are out there looking for over a year and can not get something. I dont feel bad for people who give up after 7 weeks.
Oh and I'll also agree with getting out of Rancho Cucamonga. Being listed first on Google for that town seems like being listed first for "Cliffside Park wedding photographer".
Target a bigger metro area. You're only what, 40 mins outside of LA? Why can't you be an LA photographer? Or a Southern California photographer?
paparazzinick wrote:
7 weeks? See thats my point. No one wants to work as long as Obama keeps giving free money away. 7 weeks isnt shit. 7 weeks will get you nowhere. Hell, even when I had a job at Apple and I was recruited to my current job as a corporate photographer. It took them 12 weeks just to do my FBI clearances, background check, paper work and all the steps of the interview process. And they recruited me, I didn't go after them.
See how lazy our country has become? See how pathetic people are. No wonder other countries will take our jobs and take it for less. I feel bad for people who are out there looking for over a year and can not get something. I dont feel bad for people who give up after 7 weeks. ...Show more →
Not to get off topic here, but this is why I'm against raising minimum wage. That's just a free raise for the people that can't get out of low paying jobs. Not getting paid enough? Go better yourself and land a higher paying job. Don't count of the government to help you out.
I lost my 6 figure job after September 11, 2001. I was unemployed for 6 months, took a job paying 30K with no benefits. I had to skip around for a couple years and I didn't work my way up back to my old salary until 2004.
Hell no, Bush was just as a big of an ass of the rest. Like I said in another post. I feel really bad for the people who go a year and are looking and just cant get a job. I feel really bad for them. I know how it is first hand. Im just lucky right now to have a job and get good wedding work.
It is people like you that make it. They hit rock bottom and never stop. Its the people that stop or dont try that I hate. SO dont think I hate ya brotha.
Since we are shift to politics. Bush was an asshole (coming from a republican myself) Obama sucks, The idiot running against Obama isnt any better. The only president I liked was Clinton. Probably because he smoked weed and got BJ's. lol
cordellwillis wrote:
This is ridiculous and down right dumb.
I was laid off from work for nearly 2 years.
My ex-wife was out of work for 14 months.
My best friend for a little less than a year.
My cousin for more than all of us. All of us have at least 4yr degrees and have worked all of our lives.
I know SEVERAL others who wanted to work and are respectable hard working people but *could not find* work.
All of us looked at lessor paying jobs but we were considered over qualified for everything that would actually help "ends meet".
Bush was president during that time. Tell me about this opinion of yours. You're saying during Bush time as president of the U.S. the economy was great? How about good? Decent? No. No. and No.
BS! and blind with memory loss of what took place more than 3 years ago.
Sorry reasonable folks. I went there with this ...Show more →
Ok, just read all 6 pages of this, and noticed the Marti checked out a few pages back.
Marti, it's as simple as this. Expand beyond your current POS market with your cheapo POS brides, and immediately raise your prices. When I first started shooting weddings, with one camera two lenses and a speedlight, I was charging more than $895... In rural east TX. My cost of living of probably 60% of what yours is in SoCal.
Get yourself a new pricing structure (at least 50% higher than your current one) and then hit the marketing hard. Pound the ground for a few months, and see if your take home isn't noticeably better.
Oh, and quit typing like a hostile, childish ass to people. We're all adults here. It's all good.
Before we all turn on each other because of some bad shit crazy who originated this thread, lets all sit back, grab a beverage of choice and remember the point of this thread. Some dingle berry who hates our help.
Deep Breathe..... Ahhhhhhhh..... OK I feel better. But yea, you all rock, I value your opinions. But Captain Douche needs an attitude adjustment. And quick....
paparazzinick wrote:
7 weeks? See thats my point. No one wants to work as long as Obama keeps giving free money away. 7 weeks isnt shit. 7 weeks will get you nowhere. Hell, even when I had a job at Apple and I was recruited to my current job as a corporate photographer. It took them 12 weeks just to do my FBI clearances, background check, paper work and all the steps of the interview process. And they recruited me, I didn't go after them.
See how lazy our country has become? See how pathetic people are. No wonder other countries will take our jobs and take it for less. I feel bad for people who are out there looking for over a year and can not get something. I dont feel bad for people who give up after 7 weeks. ...Show more →
I understand your frustration, Nick, but ten years ago, Obama wasn't the president; Bush was. And speaking from experience (as well as from research on the subject), it takes less than 7 weeks to start becoming discouraged and depressed when searching for jobs full time. Naturally, that depression makes it that much more difficult to keep searching for jobs or to interview effectively, nevermind to pay the bills.
In the example you gave above, it's worth noting that the 12 weeks you mention were while you were in the process of being hired, which is surely different from spending 12 weeks sending out applications and not hearing back from anyone, which is where a lot of people are now. That doesn't even go into how you mentioned you were actively recruited, which is something most job hunters can only dream of.
Finally, I don't think this is a question of folks being lazy or pathetic. I think it's the result of decades of deliberate economic policies that have shifted ever-increasing sums of money to the richest members of society at the expense of everyone else. This has been exacerbated to a fever pitch during the recession and its recovery.
In 2010 -- the first full year since the end of the Great Recession -- virtually all of the income growth in America took place among the country's very wealthiest people, says an economist at the University of California, Berkeley. The top 1 percent of earners took in a full 93 percent of all the income gains that year, leaving the other 7 percent of gains to be sprinkled among the vast majority of society.
The top 1% of households starts at around 323k, so that encompasses almost no one on these forums. The more we figure we aren't in the same boat as other struggling people in this country, the more the wealthiest members can continue to turn us against each other while pillaging the economy.
All right, I've got some homework to do. Enough procrastination
Inku Yo wrote:
Not to get off topic here, but this is why I'm against raising minimum wage. That's just a free raise for the people that can't get out of low paying jobs. Not getting paid enough? Go better yourself and land a higher paying job. Don't count of the government to help you out.
I lost my 6 figure job after September 11, 2001. I was unemployed for 6 months, took a job paying 30K with no benefits. I had to skip around for a couple years and I didn't work my way up back to my old salary until 2004.
Argh, I promised myself I'd get back to homework, but I just had to respond briefly here. The minimum wage right now is less powerful than it was back in the 60s.
In other words, accounting for inflation, if you worked a minimum wage job in 1968, you'd have more spending money than you do now. And that doesn't even go into how a number of institutions, from the prices of homes to the prices of higher education and gasoline have far surpassed the rate of inflation.
It's also worth mentioning that in Australia, an English speaking nation with a dollar just as strong as ours, the minimum wage is $15, and universal healthcare is standard. This means that a couple can raise a family on a pair of minimum wage jobs without too much difficulty.
Even if we abandon all notion of social good and think of this purely from a capitalistic wedding photography perspective, how many people do you think would start Craigslist businesses out of desperation in this country if it were possible to make a living wage from the minimum wage?
This doesn't even get into the point that half of all people in this country with jobs earn 26k or less.
Those 30k jobs without benefits aren't nearly as accessible as you'd think. I've got one master's degree and am a couple of years away from getting another one, and this is the first year I've had a job within shooting range of 30k.
tobicus wrote:
Those 30k jobs without benefits aren't nearly as accessible as you'd think. I've got one master's degree and am a couple of years away from getting another one, and this is the first year I've had a job within shooting range of 30k.
Depends on what your degree is in. Masters in Sociology might not pay so well.
this guy thinks I live in New Zealand hahahaha. I shoot 18-25 weddings a year, not ten, and I shoot them all over the world. I live in Tacoma, WA, USA, Marti the illiterate. you see a NZ wedding on my blog because I was commissioned to go out there. as well as china, Hong Kong, Greece, Germany, australia. must be hard for you to wrap your head around I just sent a $3100 quote for an engagement session in macchu pichu. and I was being generous considering the travel... I don't let the economy effect my business.
I just sent a $3100 quote for an engagement session in macchu pichu. and I was being generous considering the travel... I don't let the economy effect my business.