The Honey Trap...

OK so I was offered a free consultation with a local law firm through Business Gateway. I got a call form them on Monday and we arranged to meet at 9.30 yesterday morning.

The person I saw was really nice and read over the contract I have put together myself. She started asking questions about it and giving feed back. This was great!.

That's where it stopped, the next thing was the offer to take my contract and go over it at a cost of £120 per hour!!! WOW! Stop right there.

I explained that as I am just starting out in business and am, for want of a better word, SKINT! then came all the offers to cap the limit, defer payment or pay by installments.

This was turning into a real hard sell. As you'll understand this made me more than a little uncomfortable and I told her in no uncertain terms that I was not prepared to commit myself to any additional debt and there was no way that I was signing up for anything. I was simply there for a "free" consultation in the hope they could tell me if I'd missed anything out from my contract of terms.

As it turned out I did get all the information I needed and a little more. She clearly knew her job very well and had all the relevant information to hand.

I don't like the "hard sell" approach. I am all for incentives but to offer something for free and then try to take that and make the person feel they are obliged to sign up is not in my mind, good business practice.

I would hate to think that any of my customers would ever feel that way. I am all for finding out exactly what they are looking for and discussing how I can help and being totally up front all times. You don't have to take my services if it's not what you are looking for or if you feel the cost is too high for something we can see if we can swap things around so you get exactly what you are looking for within your budget.


www.GearyPhoto.co.uk

Distractions....

Today I didn't do any of the things I was supposed to do with the business... I kinda got distracted and played with my helicopter instead. lol

Well when I say "played with my helicopter" I mean totally stripped down mt radio controlled Belt-CP. I took it back down to its component parts and rebuilt it, reconfiguring the headset to tighten up its responsiveness.

I know I know, I'm a geek. lol

Website update…

Finally I’ve managed to put together the pactage pages on th website. have a look at www.gearyphoto.co.uk/package1.html

The site is still not finished as you will se if you visit it but thats another step closer.

Behind the lens...

It’s funny how many times people say to me "it's easy money" when referring to wedding photography. It’s a common misconception that a photographer just needs to turn up to the wedding, take a few photographs, leave, invoice the happy couple and sit back happy knowing that they have just earned on average £170 an hour for the past hour.

I WISH!

What is not commonly known is that taking the photographs is actually only a small part of what is involved in running our business. Here is a simple breakdown of what is typically involved in a wedding shoot.

1. Acquiring the contract.

Unfortunately there is more to gaining contracts than saying "I'm a photographer" and waiting for the phone to ring. We need to have all our literature, prices and service packages in order and kept up to date, along with the legal documents and insurances. We then need to market and advertise these services through whatever means are available and exhibit at wedding shows and events, maintain an up to date website. All this does not come cheap.

2. Handling the contract.

Working out what the couple is looking for and developing their package to suit them. Planning the schedule for the wedding so the photographer is able to give you the best possible service and manage the available time for the day.

3. The wedding.

Preparing all the necessary kit and making sure it is clean and in full working order. Travel to the various locations the photographs are to be taken. photography the lovely bride and brides maids getting ready, move on to the wedding venue to photograph the nervous groom with his best man and groomsmen. Take pictures of all the guests as they arrive and try to organise people so nobody is missed out. Photograph the bride as she arrives and getting out of the car. Take candid shots of the ceremony. photograph the signing of the register follower by the new Mr and Mrs leaving stepping out into the world. Then provide candid coverage of the reception. take time alone with the bride and groom to get artistic shots and then go home and collapse in an exhausted heap.

4. Processing the images.

"WHAT?!" I hear you ask.... Another common misconception especially with the advent of Digital Cameras is that once the photographs are taken that’s the photographers job done. Not the case at all. It's actually just the beginning. Just like in the days of film negatives we still need to process our images, the only difference now being that instead of using chemicals in a darkroom we are able to do it on a computer while enjoying a sunny day. see the example below which illustrates just how important this stage is. When you also realise on average each edited image takes on average between 20mins and an hour to complete and we have to do between 40 and 120 of these fully processed images like this.

5. Image Selection.

Once the images have been processed the proofs are then sent away to the couple for selection for the album. A CD of all the images is also sent to the couple if this is part of their selected package and a web gallery is put online for the family and friends to view and buy images if they wish.

6. Album design.

Once the images have been chosen the album pages are then designed around the selected images. Again this process usually takes around 8 hours for a 30page photobook. see example below.

7. Order handling and suppliers.

images are setup to be processed by our various suppliers for the products selected as part of the couples package. Canvas wraps, wall mounts, desk prints are then ordered and tracked.

8. Delivery of goods.

Once you're orders haven arrived they are then made available for collection or delivered to you at your convenience.

I hope this helps to show just how much goes into providing a top class wedding photography service. It's a good job I love this job so much coz it's really hard work! :)

Ok, today is tha last day I'm going to allow myself to feel ill. It's really getting in the way now.

So a list of things I will do are:
Complete package section on website.
Work on developing a business network with other business with a similar client base.
Look at new ways to extend the business to more people and services.

I really would like my brain back in order so these things are possible.

Oh and the worst thing I need to do is sort out a self portrait that doesn't make me look like a pretentious idiot or worse. :-)



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Location:Loch St,Aberdeen,United Kingdom

Strobe test

ok nothing too spectacular just the demon dog "Captain Jack" that somehow wees all the time...

I'm seeing spots...

Happy times my new bulbs for my studio modeling lights have arrived!!! Let's hope these ones don't explode like the last one did. :-~


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Location:Loch St,Aberdeen,United Kingdom

Woe is me...

Ok, waking up this morning was hell! The immense pain in my throat was almost unbearable. Had to drag myself out of bed and get Claire to work and Sarah to school when all I could think was how it didn't hurt when I was asleep.

Oh well, I'm up and about now. Going to have a hot bath to see if that clears my chest a little then on with my day. I don't think I'll be going to roller derby tonight though :( but I hope tho have another load of this website finished.



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Location:Aberdeen

Open and Honest

I think given the current economy it is more important than ever for businesses to be open and upfront with their pricing policies.

I know that if either myself or m wife are shopping weather it be in a shop (retro! :p) or online, if we can't see the price we'll just go somewhere that does display their prices. It's like the old saying. "If you have to ask, youcan't afford it".

With this in mind I have made it an essential part of my business. I have put together my prices based on time, materials, overheads and suppliers. To behonest, it was a far greater task than I had first imagined.

Thanks to this research in developing my packages and prices I am able to give the most important thing back to the customer, value for money.

With my packages I hope to cover every budget, with options to add products and services on to any package for simple upgrade. I even offer a totally stripped down service of just coverage where the family and guests can decide to buy prints, canvas wraps or wall mounts directly off my website (which is still in production bu the way...).

I'll be publishing it all on the website in the next few days if all goes to plan but this man flu is really hitting me and making concentrating difficult. Keep an eye out for it.

Chris.

Test

I've just found an app on the iPod that says it can update all my blogs at the same time. Let's see if it's as good as it says it is...



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I really am ill....

OK my suspicions form last night have been proven. I'm ill. This is way worse than man flu. I still have so much to do but my brain is having a meltdown. I just can't concentrate. CSS, HTML all seems to just dance around the screen. Hopefully a cup of tea will hold the answer to my torment.

Darn immune system

I appear to be getting ill... I've bee so tired today and now I'm in bed I can't sleep. I feel a fever and my throat is killing me. I really don't have the time to be ill right now. Especially with the prospect of more work coming my way from exxon mobil. I do love it when I'm on a day rate contract!


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Location:Aberdeen