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Posts Tagged ‘Seth Godin’

I love a good story

March 16th, 2009 in Marketing by


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noshI don’t like long posts, and I’m always at Ian and Nigel to keep ‘em brief so I apologize. This recent post prompted Ken to comment and me to respond with this, my longest ever…

Ken asked whether our industry’s main challenge wasn’t “crap photography” but competitors with stupid pricing, for example, “2 photographers, hi-res images and Queensberry with 60 images for £1500.”

Ken suggested that people like that shouldn’t last in business but they keep coming back…

So I presume that if in fact they’re surviving, they’re probably a high volume, low margin outfit – possibly with healthy post-event sales techniques. And that model works great for some people, so more power to them, but there are certainly other ways to skin the cat.

Consider mainstream grocery stores, based on volume, low margins and impulse purchase techniques. They’re very successful in New Zealand, as everywhere – formulaic, calculated and, did I say, successful?

But boutique grocery stores are popping up all over Auckland. To name a few: Farro, Nosh, Sabato and Huckleberry Farms.

Their model is different and it seems to be working.  The product isn’t actually that much different – a little, enough anyway – but the big difference is their story (see seth godin).  When I walk in I notice their story straight away. Abundant tasting stations, very knowledgeable staff, grass-fed eye fillet, guilt-free eggs and the illusion that I am personally both successful and a good cook (the latter is unquestionably not true). They tell me that story, and I like to hear it because it makes me feel good.  And the story ends at my place when I cook for my friends, who compliment me on the meal.  Little do they know that the mushroom sauce was pre-made ;-) and the pasta was hand made, just not by me!

I’m sure the same can be applied to a wedding photographer, as there are plenty of people who won’t want a studio that shot 300 weddings last year.  Those same people, maybe like me, are looking for (or are receptive to) an alternative story.  My suggestion is to find one that’s true to you and run with it.

For example, on our most recent NZ tour I met a photographer who is developing his story and it’s different.  Ben Marden lives ‘off the grid’ in a remote part of Australia and powers his home and studio with solar panels and wind turbines – something he thought would be ‘off putting’ for his clients when he first moved there.  Instead his clients are impressed at how progressive he is and how wonderful it is to be more sustainable. Now it’s a feature in Ben’s story… and it has nothing to do with packages or shooting techniques or price points.

Thanks for reading. I’ll go back to the bat cave and get programming.

Danny

PS I got this off Ben’s site: “The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot. It can’t be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run and if you do that, you will have enough to pay for something better.” - John Ruskin

 

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    • The new way is never as good

    February 23rd, 2009 in Marketing by


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    You’ve probably got it that I’m a Seth Godin fanboy. Every day I get my daily dose of something to think about.

    Posting about the digital revolution in our industry reminded me of this quote. It’s from a very long post about the music industry, but it’ll bounce ideas round your head:

    “The new thing is never as good as the old thing, at least right now.

    “Soon, the new thing will be better than the old thing will be. But if you wait until then, it’s going to be too late.  Feel free to wax nostalgic about the old thing, but don’t fool yourself into believing it’s going to be here forever. It won’t.”

    Some examples:

    The guys who used to typeset, lay up and make the plates for a newsletter I published in the ’80s. They  sneered when I bought an Apple Mac and Pagemaker, and what I could do with them was pretty pathetic, but they’re the ones long gone.

    A few years ago we spent a small fortune on scanning equipment for the lab. Now it’s almost idle.

    Or here’s Seth again on how the telephone destroyed the telegraph.

      Cheers, Ian

       

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      • How to discount

      February 5th, 2009 in Marketing by


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      discount_istock_000005308920xsmallRemember the little domestic drama about how my briefcase and laptop were stolen?

      And how, to judge from my own buying behaviour, not everyone is going to downgrade to cheap and nasty just because of the recession?

      Well, yes, I bought the most expensive laptop bag I came across, but…

      I asked for a discount.

      You’re not to know this but I’m a shrug-and-pay guy. It’s my role in life to pay full retail, so for me to ask for, let alone get, 10% off is unusual.

      But what struck me was how the store projected itself. There wasn’t a sale sign anywhere. Nothing to suggest times are tough, or please make an offer. Just a confident up-market establishment selling quality goods. The sales assistant had to make a phone call to authorise my discount.

      So how do you avoid creating what Seth Godin calls a “clearance sale culture”?

      First, accept that while discounting is something you may never want to do, right now the alternative could be too many people walking away.

      Second, don’t lower your base prices: that sends the wrong message, and everyone gets the discount, even those who don’t need it, such as me (I would have bought anyway).

      Third, if someone asks for a discount, consider whether you’re prepared to “sharpen your pencil”, and by how much. Then do each deal one-to-one (everybody you agree to deal with will feel pleased with themselves and their negotiating skills).

      My earlier posts emphasised the danger of slashing prices and/or under-delivering. You must be clear how much you can afford to discount, but also what for. For example, are you just trying to stop the customer from walking away, or could you negotiate a discount to secure a bigger sale? (Our own discounts work like that – on a volume basis.)

      Cheers, Ian

      PS One of my photographer friends used to get very frustrated by competitors who sharpen their pencils to get the deal. But it seems pretty normal commercial behaviour to me, especially if the outcome is to secure a better commitment from the client.

       

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      October 13th, 2008 in Products & Services by


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      qbydigital6lge1

      Photography by David Jay

      Seth Godin said recently, ‘If you want to build a brand for the ages, you need to stand for something today, and tomorrow, and every day.’

      Among other things, we stand for quality, which is why the prints on our digital pages are split at the centreline, leaving a gap of about 2mm (about 1/16”). Some people might not like the look, but we can’t compromise products designed to last for generations.

      Actually, there are two reasons for this: more flexibility as to what equipment you can print on, and because the fold in the print almost invariably discolours and/or cracks.

      We’ve seen enough “pink prints” to justify our position, and we don’t want to rely on photographic paper for the structural integrity of our books.

      We hope you understand.

      Cheers, Ian

       

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