Don’t Give Away Profits and Think About Your Reputation!
Dear Photographers (or any other creatives out there reading this):
Please, don’t keep giving away your profits and work harder than you have to! Full digital files on a CD to your clients are 1) profits walking out your door, and 2) not going to be printed in a manner that represents your work or your talent in a good light if prints are done through the drugstore printer or if the client ends up “editing” them.
If you were Carlos Santana, would you hand over your guitar to an average fan and let them go out on stage in your place? I don’t think so. It wouldn’t represent you well. Same thing with photogs letting their work out of their studio to be manipulated and printed in the least professional conditions. The clients won’t look bad, the photog does! “Who did your photos?” friends will ask. “Such and Such Studio” the clients will reply. And the friends will wrinkle their noses and vow to never hire that studio!
Forget what other studios in town may be doing. Take the opportunity to become THE PREMIER STUDIO IN TOWN that offers unique products, superior service, and goes the extra mile so the clients always ALWAYS look their best in the images you’ve worked so hard to make for them. It’s YOUR reputation on the line and that reputation is your bottom line!
What it really all comes down to is this: would you rather have 50 bookings a month for $100 that you have to rush through and will likely never see another penny from, or would you rather have 15 shoots a month that pay you $700 or more and are very likely to return in 6 months to a year because of your outstanding service?
It’s up to you to educate the clients on what they need and what a true professional photographer is capable of doing. To offer anything less to any client is to short change them of a first class experience from a first rate photographer.