Quote:
Originally Posted by aliswoodside
In the first 2.5 weeks of business I achieved 28 bookings. This number includes some previous customers.
The dilemma being, the day before the shoot the majority of people are rescheduling their appointment or choosing to ignore me.
I need my customers to want to book in because they don't want to miss the offer and high quality service. I certainly need to consider how to best target my customer base? Promotion, Promotion?
Lastly, I am not a snap photography and not in the position to want to offer free shoots. This is exactly what my main competitor is doing. I seek to position myself at the higher end of the market.
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I guess that if you've gone out looking for business that some have booked because it sounded good but after giving it more thought have decided that they don't want to spend money on it. It's also possible that people have found it hard to say no when approached so have backed out later.
I'm trying to establish a small studio business at the moment and am currently offering free studio sessions. By not charging a sitting fee I'm finding it's quite easy to convince people to come in for a shoot. Then it's a matter of doing a good enough job in the studio so they want to spend money on prints. Sure it's a risk and I've had some shoots that have not made me much money, while others have been productive (including at least one that would not have happened if I'd charged a sitting fee). My hope is that the prints will end up on walls and my business will grow by word of mouth... it's not a fast build but it does work. The first shoot I did in my studio didn't make much money as only a few prints were ordered, but I've found out since that the client was very happy and has told others about me - so far this one shoot has led to two more studio shoots and two events (the first of which has led to more studio shoots).
I guess what I'm saying is that for me at this time it's all about establishing a client base and building a portfolio, not charging a sitting fee is helping me to do this. While you may not want to do free sittings it may be worth considering doing it as an introductory offer?