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Posts Tagged ‘Value’

What are we selling?

June 24th, 2009 in Marketing by Johannes van Kan


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What is it that our clients are paying for?

Photography? (But what does that mean)

Entertainment? (Couldn’t afford the clown for the party)

Documentation? (Recording content for a historical document)

Memories? (Least we forget)

Glamorisation? (See, the bride can look glam with the right dress, makeup, hairdo, and some photoshop!)

Impressionism? (To impress the neighbours)

Fairytaleism? (Living the dream)

Then you might ask, what are each of these worth in the final package?

It would be an interesting exercise to give each a percentage value. And then think about those percentages, and ask yourself – not what are you selling, but what is your client buying?

Nigel had a great post on The Junction about a washing machine that sold on New Zealand auction site TradeMe. … If you read the listing (and comments – well worth it if you feel like a break) you’ll see it wasn’t a washing machine but in fact a “time portal” … obviously worth much more than a cranky old machine … So it sold for over five grand after 806,219 page views.

Are your clients buying what you think they are? Could you change that?

Hugs

Johannes

 

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    • The Queensberry Rules

    June 15th, 2009 in Marketing by Ian Baugh


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    Boxers

    Forget about boxing, here are the Queensberry Rules for photographers!

    1. Outstanding presentation adds enormous value to your photography.

    2. Using the same albums as everyone else reduces the value of your photography.

      Ask anyone in the street how much a stack of prints is worth, or a disc of images, or a slideshow. Everyone’s been to the mini lab, or burnt a disk, so the answer is, “Not much”.

      What you’re paying for when you hire a professional, of course, is their time, skill and artistry. Focusing on the presentation takes nothing away from that. It simply places the photography in a new context where it can be better valued and respected.

      Cheers, Ian

       

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      April 21st, 2009 in Marketing by Ian Baugh


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      Gerard read my posts on album marketing and asked if I recommend charging for coverage and albums separately or together. I personally think both options are viable; it’s what works for you that’s important…

      Here’s the fundamental QBY business* proposition, which you either agree with or you don’t: Queensberry albums add value.

      Display your work in them and you present your photography in a whole new context (you expect more money for it!)

      Which means you want your work in albums. You profit from the albums, and you profit from the perceived value they add. That’s why, at the time of sale, your goal is to hand the clients an awesome display sample and have them say, “Wow, how much is that?” Or words to that effect.

      So, if I’m pricing the album separately, I need to bear in mind that what clients really want to know is how much they’re spending, all-up. Obviously you shouldn’t hide that from them, but you don’t want to overstate it either. I’d certainly stress the difference between their minimum commitment (however you define that) and what they just said “Wow” to.

      If I’m pricing my coverage and the album together I’d take care not to commit the clients to a specific album (a 20-side 12×12 or whatever) because that will limit their thinking (discourage them from upgrading). That’s why a lot of studios frame the album component as a “deposit” or “credit”. I would certainly make it clear that they don’t need to make a final decision until after the wedding.

      One other thing.

      If you’re starting out , chances are you won’t be able to command the prices you eventually want to – but you absolutely must get your business headed in the right direction. An all-in price may accomplish that better because it ensures your work will be presented beautifully, and get you on that upmarket path. You’ll look great value compared with other people offering equivalent presentation – and you’ll be perceived as competing with THEM rather than with the bottom end of the market.

      To be clear, you’d expect me to say that, and it may amount to suggesting you offer albums rather cheaper than you might want to. It may not make you popular with your competitors either. But I think it’s good advice, and no-one said that getting started was easy.

      Cheers, Ian

      * Albums are not just about business of course, any more than you’re in photography just for the money. The nice thing about our industry is that most of us love what we do.

       

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      March 6th, 2009 in Marketing by Johannes van Kan


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      It used to be that people would ask me if I used film or digital, generally because they’d heard a horror story.

      I would show them an album and ask them firstly if they liked the quality of the images, and then what they thought it was shot with. Most guessed wrong and said “film”.

      Back then my using digital could have undermined my perceived value. But what if your choice of suppliers added perceived value to your service? What if you had brides asking about your suppliers? If a client sought you out because you used Queensberry would you be offended?

      If you don’t tell your clients why your album choice matters, why it is unique, why would they want to buy into it?

      I want to start a conversation about the things that make these albums outstanding.

      As stuff comes up I want to talk about it so that you can apply these thoughts as tools to make your album company choice matter to your clients, and support your business.

      Yes, I’m a Queensberry partisan, but not without reason.

      Best wishes, Johannes

       

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      February 13th, 2009 in Photography & Design by Johannes van Kan


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      I read Ian’s post on the Kodak Carousel and immediately wanted to put my hand up …. (a sling back to the days of discipline at a Catholic school).

      I’m probably stating the obvious but I felt the message was SO important that it deserved emphasising.  Yes, I understand the business side of the message but there was this other thing that became important too.

      The post has a video clip from Mad Men, a sublime tv program about an advertising agency in the States in the 60′s.

      It’s about the launch of the Carousel …. Forgetting the wonderfully clever pitch, the ability to turn an electromechanical device that shows projected images into a vehicle for nostalgia and emotional engagement is incredibly potent.

      What if you were able to do this with a photographic album?  Not as far fetched as it may sound.

      The album is not just a clever place to put your wedding photos, it is an archive of memories, it is an emotional and meaningful story of two lives.  It is the creative impression of a meeting of families over a single day.  It is the unfolding of a story. It shows the meaning and celebration  of a relationship.  It is not a book of pictures. It is a book of recollection memories and feelings.

      Certainly this is the thing that gives it its greatest meaning and value!

      Would I pay more for one of these than a book of landscapes … Hell Yeah!

      So the value is not in the cost of the materials, it is in how it makes you feel!

      It’s not a wheel, it’s a carousel.

      Best wishes, Johannes

       

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      January 30th, 2009 in Marketing by Johannes van Kan


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      In our studio one of the things we say is that we don’t do cheap.

      Our albums are valuable.

      We talk about using the best.

      We talk about how only the best is good enough.

      Just as in a restaurant that only uses the highest quality raw materials, if the food is amazing but the delivery/service is poor the food will quickly be forgotten. If you excel at both you have something amazing  to offer.

      So why is it important to be amazing?

      At a time when, for many, the cost of doing something is being measured, and value is increasingly important, the value of doing our best cannot be forgotten, especially for the things that we want to last.

      Because ‘the test of time’ is not just measured over times of adversity, like now, we must ensure that the thing by which they remember their wedding, and all that it means, will also pass that test in times of prosperity.

      For us, therefore, it’s not about looking for a cheaper option, it’s about using our current ones more effectively, and optimising value.

      We have people possibly cutting down the size of their album but NEVER asking for a cheaper model.

      Don’t be cheap, be valuable.

      Best wishes, Johannes

       

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