We are debating... I would go all out but only if it would really do that for us. Or do you find that you basically still survive on referals more than walkins and walkins are not enough to pay the bills?
Has anyone seperated the 2 to see if just on walkins alone its paying the local's fees, rent, taxes, ins. and electricity etc?
If this has been posted before, send me the link, I'm really interested.
Thanks in advance.

I have a full-time studio...I do nothing else. Walkins are a fantasy. It just doesn't happen.

It is a tough nut to crack opening a full-time studio. I suppose it depends greatly on your immediate location, competition. There are a HUGE number of part-timers out there where I am. They distract from full-time studios, but some people are looking for a real full-time photographer.

Most parttimers here are wedding shooters only.

When I moved to Montgomery, I decided from the get-go, to open a full-time studio. It was/is difficult. Especially being the new kid on the block. I moved here from South Carolina because my ex-wife was killed in car accident and I wanted to be closer to my daughters and help them as much as I could.

To say it has been a struggle is putting it mildly. It is just now starting to pick up after 2 years, but I can tell you it is a hard nut to crack if you are an unknown.

A real studio offers so much legitimacy to your business. But there is a price. I just cannot see meeting someone at a coffee shop...I know a lot of people do that successfully, but I have had so many people want to look around the studio to make sure I am for real, I guess.

If not a studio, I would suggest renting a cheap 1 room "office" for your business to meet clients. Most of my portrait work is not in the studio. In fact I may convert the "studio" into a meeting area. THen pull out the lights and background as I need it. Most people do NOT want a studio portrait. they want location, outdoor, etc. Times are changing for studios.

I hate to get rid of my studio lights, etc, so I may just go to the "pull them out as I need them" route.

I know I'm mis-understanding what you're saying, but your post is reading like your substituting "full-time" for "store front". I am a "full-time" studio, but I don't have a store front. When I did have a store front, walk-ins did happen, but they just interrupted real business. Obviously, I am by appointment only now.

Nope. We're about as busy as we were before we moved into our space 2 years ago. We're giving it another year to take off, and then we'll consider moving it home again.