Here's that thread:
http://www.opensourcephoto.net/forum/index...showtopic=12335
I wanted to share some other thoughts on how to get into a new market - of any kind. Rather than showing up with a camera and announcing your presence, maybe it's better to "sneak in" to a much warmer welcome. I've done this twice now with great success. The concept can be applied anywhere. It's counter-intuative at first, but makes perfect sense when looking at the big picture.
Motorsports
A while back I was big into sportbikes ("crotch rockets") and the sportbike race scene. This was before I became a full time wedding photographer. I would go out to "track day" where they open up a pro race track and the general public could pay some $$ and blast around the track on their own bikes without fear of being arrested. Obviously it was a huge turn-out. I'd go just for fun and I quickly realized every week, there were more and more people out there with cameras and long lenses. Most were clearly there to make a buck. I don't know if they cared anything for racing, they just wanted to shoot pics and slap them out as fast as possible to make a few bucks.
With all that 'competition' on the track, I took my camera out, shot in the corners along side them and when asked who I worked for, I'd just say "I'm friends with so an so". I didn't make a big thing about it. Actually, the first few times, I didn't show the pictures to anyone. They weren't all that great. It took a couple tries to get in just the right spot, time the shots, get the shutter speeds just enough to get the motion blur right where I wanted, etc.
This also gave me a chance to get a feel for the scene. See who is who. Who do the other guys look up to? Who are the super-star riders out there, and who are the part timers? I'd start to focus my shooting a little more on those certain people others would look up to.
Once I had some good pics to show off... I had them printed up as 8x10's and 11x14's on metallic paper looking awesome. I included a very small, very tasteful tag to my website at the very bottom. Total cost, maybe $30 invested. I went the next week, found those riders and handed them these sweet pics. "Here you go man... thought you might like this."
Now, these pics looked better than any of the other amateurs had produced out there - not because I was all that great, but because I took my time to figure it out before going and advertising what I was doing. I didn't bang out books full of 1000's of proofs in hopes someone would pay me for a print. I took my time and made maybe 6 or 8 really nice very high quality prints. Then I gave them away. No strings attached.
How many other riders do you think saw those pictures? How many of the part-timers wanted pics just like them? Just before each track day, my email would fill up with people asking if I was going to be out there, many offering to pay me in advance to focus on them in promise they'd buy the prints.
That never really worked out long term and I had a lot of other issues with shooting on a race track, but the method still applies. Those guys still ride out there. A couple have their pics hung up in their pit trailers - with my website. That was nearly 5 years ago, and I *still* get requests from people to go shoot them at trackday.
Consider This
Nobody likes a salesman. If you show up on day one and make it clear that you want something from the people around you, they will avoid you. It's only natural. Race track, the symphony, or the dog show - these people are a close knit group. They smell outsiders pretty easy. If they are just a source of income for you, they're not likely to become your friends.
On the other hand, what if you show up without any camera (oh my!
) and just hang out. Just get a feel for the place. Take it all in. If you had to make 5 perfect flawless images at this place, how would you do it? Get a plan together. While you're there, you can be friendly and you don't even need to talk about photography. If someone asks what you do - you're a wedding photographer. Simple as that. You also may as well consider how you'd sell a service to these people. How would you deal with a demand? What 'exactly' would you be selling?After you show up a couple times, it should be pretty clear who the leaders are. Who does everyone else look up to? Go talk to them and as non-salesman as possible, maybe show them a few quick wedding images, and tell them you're intrigued about what's happening and you'd like to create some special images - you've got an idea for some really cool pictures. Would they mind if you bring your camera next time and shoot a few pics just for fun? You'll give them copies - no strings attached or anything. You like photography, you like them, you like what's happening, and you're just a genuine normal guy - not someone on the prowl for customers.
Go back the next time, get out your gear just long enough to get the shots you need, then stash it. You're not a photographer seeking customers!! Get what you need for a few first rate "blow your socks off" images. Go home, edit them up, print them, put a very nice simple non-salesman like tag for your brand at the bottom and just give them away to those key people. When they trip all over themselves surprised at how incredibly good the picture is, tell them you're interested in this stuff, and if anyone else wants something like this, have them check out your website and give you a call. That's it. No pressure.
And your phone will probably start ringing if you've got a nice professional site and you've managed not to upset anyone along the way.
Weddings
And guess what ... that's exactly how I got my first few wedding gigs. Nobody will ever say no to a free gift.
I did some asking around and eventually got ahold of a couple brides to be who were attractive, getting married at moderately pretty locations, knew they didn't have a photographer, and I just flat offered to shoot their wedding for free. I did two of these and from those, picked 16 really good images. I put those up on my website as my only portfolio and set my pricing fairly low. I'd wait for calls, chat with them a bit, and take the more attractive events and pass on the others. I booked maybe 3 that way, and pushed my portfolio up to about 40 images then leveled out for 6 months with just those 40 images shooting weddings for about $2000 (sometimes less if required) for the mid market. I was just figuring it out - getting a feel for the scene, building a portfolio, and getting a future game plan together.
I also gave my company a very generic name that sounded wedding like, but wasn't especially memorable. Everyone kept telling me I needed to brand under my own name as it was more memorable. I intentionally did *not* want that starting right up. I didn't want to meet all "the" people in the industry and say "Hi, I'm Kevin and I'm new, do you want to be my friend?". I just wanted to shoot my low key weddings without being noticed by anyone. Eventually once I felt confident and now had 150+ solid images and two complete weddings that were solid overall, I then re-branded and started introducing myself.
I'd leave the work around - not shove it in anyone's face, but just leave it around. People would come across it and be like "how is we have never met before?"
And it's interesting - I don't think I was ever looked at as being "another new guy". I think I was generally met with openness and respect from others I'd meet in the industry.
Can we learn from that?
I think we sometimes market first and take pictures second. People pick up on that. It's impossible to make worthwhile relationships with people if you just want something from them. Taking the time to become genuinely interested in other people is like gold. And not in a manipulative way - people tend to see though that and black-list those types.
If we go rushing in there with cameras blazing, tossing business cards at anyone who stands too close - it turns people off and it also makes you look desperate and needy. If people don't appreciate what you do, then step back and figure out how to make it better. Maybe let the work sell itself a bit. Trying to "sell" the other guy even harder will only turn him off.
I once read a book at the book store (don't remember the title) about "Creating Portfolios that Sell" or something to that effect. They made the point that one really killer image sells more than 1 killer image and 9 average images. Your portfolio is like a chain - only as strong as the weakest image. In the case of going to a dog show and hammering off lots of images - that doesn't really sell anything except the idea that "you make lots of pictures". The same with the race track. I shot a few thousand images standing in corners to get those few that really kicked. And those were the only ones I showed.
So I guess the point is to take the time to get a plan together. Don't fumble around like a noob when some asks "can you do this for me also?" - know what's coming and anticipate it. And don't "sell" it. If you can't pull together 5 images that make people start asking more questions, then practice a bit more before announcing you're open for business.
And don't be afraid to do some work for free. But pick your battles! If you announce "free stuff here!", you're going to make a lot of new friends but very few new customers. You go find what *you* want to shoot, then offer to those specific people who's cooperation you'll need to achieve those first few portfolio shots that will get others talking. It's something you did for them just for fun. Anyone else interested needs to pay for it.
And finally - for goodness sake, price yourself right! If you take the time to create 5 outstanding technically flawless images that are leaps ahead of anything these people have ever even seen before, you are the one and only source for a product that everyone in the circle now wants. Don't get greedy, but don't think for a second you need to compete with Wal Mart. The idea here is to make it worth your while. Just like weddings. I don't want to shoot 200 kid sessions a year to make any money - I'll be perfectly happy with maybe 30 at a decent profit margin.
It worked for me, but maybe I just got lucky. Who knows. Just an idea for what it's worth.
