Wedding on CD/DVD versus supplying an Album – What should I do?

Written by Ronan Ryle on June 13th, 2011

 

This is a question we often are asked – Wedding on CD/DVD versus supplying an Album – What should I do? Without trying to answer the question with a question let’s try find another scenario to find an answer. OK imaging you are in the following situation… You are the early stage of a relationship with two possible future partners. It’s Valentine’s Day… Possible partner X delivers to you a nice bottle of perfume/after shave just in the bottle, Possible partner y delivers you a bottle of perfume/ after shave in a beautiful designed box and wrapped in away where you are excited to unwrap and discover what is contained within! Just one question – Which gift were you most happy with? Is it possible Partner x or possible Partner Y whom you would like to share a Valentine’s dinner with? Which partner will you mention to your best friend with the question “Guess what ‘Partner _ (You fill in the blank, x or y)’ sent me for Valentine’s?  Don’t know if you agree, but I would go for possible Partner Y.   

So what does this have to do with wedding albums? Well, Fact 1 – referral marketing (word of mouth) is the most effective form of marketing in the world; Fact 2 – The most expensive sale to any customer/client is the first sale. If you supply a wedding on Disc, do you really think this Bride & Groom will recommend you to someone else? Or, do you think they will return to you for the family portrait or any other future family event requiring a professional photographer?

But, But, But, I hear you say… Let’s stop and ask a question before you finish! Would you really not be able to sell them a Ruben’s Wedding Coffee Table album from Photovalue’s Artist Collection for £225 which has a total cost to you of £111.50 delivered and using our easy FREE design software you could design in 1 hour? Your customer will now be happier, she will share your photography with friends and family (Referral Marketing) and will be more likely (If happier) to use you for future events. This allows you to maximise the lifetime value of each and every customer.

To view the Artist collection of coffee table album books visit http://www.photovalue.com/photobooksoftwaredownload.php

Bye for now!

Kind regards

Ronan

Let me know what you think?

 

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Are you an Event Photographer looking for better value mounts in quantities?

Written by Ronan Ryle on April 12th, 2011

Ronan Ryle here… We here at www.photovalue.com are constantly striving to deliver greater value to our existing and potential customers. We have listened to what you have said and have launched our new event photographic strut mount to our range. These strut mounts are targeted towards the needs of the event photographer. They are a strut mount made from a quality black board with silver a silver foil border bleed into the aperture. We do the following sizes 12×8, 10×8, 9×6, 8×6, 7×5 and 6×4 as well as our new SP9X6 which is a mount with an aperture for a 9×6 print. To view these mounts visit http://www.photovalue.com/viewprodlistings.php?subcat2id=105 or to request a sample email sales@photovalue.com with ‘Sample of Event Mount’ in the subject box (The sample will not be blocked with your details).

Where we differ from the main competition is that we not only offer a superior mount at a competitive price but we allow you promote your business via FREE blocking. To know more about our free blocking offer visit www.photovalue.com/specialoffers. If you cannot decide what colour photographic strut mount or photographic folder suits you best try out our new gem collection price calculator at www.photovalue.com/quickpricecalc. This will show you a total price including vat and delivery whether you are a photographer in Ireland, Northern Ireland, England, Scotland or Wales. If using the gem price calculator please be aware that the New Event strut mount is only available in quantities of 500 or more per size.

Talk to you all soon.

Kind regards

Ronan

 

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‘It’s vital to communicate your value message’ – Ronan Ryle, Director, Photovalue.com

Written by Ronan Ryle on April 12th, 2011

Why perception is everything when it comes to sales

 

FACT:  Humans invariably make buying decisions based largely on emotion.

They will rationalise that decision later – but right up front the resolve to purchase will have principally been based on sentiment.

And it’s also a fact that people don’t always buy at the lowest price available. They want to feel they are getting a good deal.

The cosmetics industry is a prime example of how to embrace a ‘perception of value’ strategy to deliver increased sales.

Picture the scene (and we’ve all been there). You are lounging around in the perfumes area in a large department store. Your olfactory system is working overtime thanks to the ever present, and always alluring scents.

And that’s even before the eye candy kicks in….all those exquisitely presented young ladies with their Chanel-smiles, classic deportment  and their not so subliminal, ‘you gotta buy this one’  messaging.

These are real experts at communicating the perception of luxury value.

Research in the US based on a ‘real-life’ department store scenario showed conclusively that in a situation where two bottles of the same brand of perfume stood side by side on a shelf,

but one bottle was beautifully presented in a perfume box, the perception of added value was so compelling that despite the wrapped bottle being almost twice the price, it outsold the basic bottle option by a factor of four to one. Amazing.

So what can we in the photographic business learn from all this?

 If your ambition is to provide customers with value for money… then your asking price should represent the value customers place on your products.  And the bottom line is that if the price asked for doesn’t feel right, in relation to the value delivered, people just won’t buy.
And if the customer thinks that what you are offering them isn’t worth much, then how can you ever hope to charge a high price?
That’s why it is so vital to communicate the ‘value mantra’.

 

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A large number of photographers still present their work as prints only. And how many present work only on CD or DVD?

I would encourage more thought about the sales potential for your work.

If you are covering an event and the images ‘coming off the line’ don’t merit wooden or acrylic frames then at the very least position the images in photographic strut mounts or folders and brand them with your name.

This doesn’t add much at all to your overheads but it will underline the important message about perceived value.

A test

Present a group of your ‘non-photographic’ friends with a plain 9×6 print of themselves minus mounts – and ask them what they think their plain print is worth.

Then present the same picture in a mount and repeat the question.

You will be surprised.

At Photovalue.com, as well as supplying mounts to event, portrait, wedding and landscape photographers, we also deliver many millions of mounts a year to our customers in the schools photography arena.

People ask why school photos are supplied in mounts – when ‘surely the mounts get thrown away?’

But we know that when parents are offered school packages with no mounts or, alternatively, school packages with mounts, 95% will opt for the mount package. This is the same logic as the packaged perfume bottle sales.
And regardless of what you charge, it is the customers’ perception of your price that really counts.
* And talking of adding value, please note that at Photovalue.com we offer a great way to promote your business with our completely free blocking service on the Gem collection range of photographic folders and strut mounts.

PLUS: we have added a new ‘Event Mount’ to the range. See the back page of this magazine for more details or visit us at www.photovalue.com.

*If you have ideas or suggestions for future topics to be covered in this magazine please do email me at: ronan@photovalue.com

 

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What is the future for full time wedding & portrait photographers?

Written by Ronan Ryle on November 4th, 2010

I write this blog following a current trend upwards in the feedback I am getting from full time photographers. Many photographers are telling me that it is becoming increasingly difficult to earn a full time living from photography.

Why is this? Is it due to the recession and people have much less disposable income? Is it due to the advances in technology which make taking a fairly good photo easier? Is it a combination of both?

The reason why I ask this is that if it the recession then in time and with the deployment of good marketing & sales strategies the full time photographer can fight back. If however technology continues to make it easier will the professional photographer find it ever more difficult to carve out a full time living?

In  recent research I have undertaken found that

53.2% of photographers say there earnings from photography are less in 2010 than 2009

46.8% say they are greater in 2010 than 2009

Interestingly the research showed that there was an association between the answers to this question and the the category of photographer according to their classification of being

- Full time Professional

- Part Time professional (More than 25% of income earned from photography)

- Part time professional (Less than 25% of income earned from photography)

- Amateur Enthusiast (No earnings from photography)

Here was the breakdown

- 40% of Full time professionals said there earnings are greater in 2010 than 2009… 60% said they are less

- 55% of Part time professionals (less than 25% of total income from photography) said they are earning more in 2010 than 2009

- 49% of Part time professionals (more than 25% of total income from photography) said they are earning more in 2010 than 2009

So what does this signal? To me it signals that as the overall market is down due to the recession that the Part Time photographer is growing there share of the market at the expense of the full time photographer.

If you would like a copy of this full report please email me at ronan@photovalue.com with ‘BLOG’ in the subject line and I will email you a full copy.

Many Thanks

PV Photoman

 

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I take great photos but what should I charge for them? Article 3 – Value Added Pricing.

Written by Ronan Ryle on April 29th, 2010

Hi all … Here is the last of my 3 articles on Pricing and what you should charge for your great photos.  This articles deals with the concept of value added pricing. This strategy is widely promoted in the B2B (Business to Business) Sale, particularly in the delivery of complex systems. It is based on the principle of fixing your price based on the value it delivers your customer e.g. Let’s say you develop a specialist purchasing software that can save the potential customers company 200,000 a year. At what price do you pitch your solution? 5000, 50000, 100000 what about 200,000 over 3 years? They save 600,000 over 3 years less the 200,000 they pay you, meaning the still have a net saving of 400,000. Could you sell this system at this price? Why not?, is every one not a winner at this price. This method of determining prices needs highly trained sales people and the more complex the solution the more effective it is. So as photographers what can we learn from value added pricing strategies and how can we used value added pricing for a wedding album or indeed a quality portrait?

Well let’s think about this one… what is the value of quality wedding photography? … Precious memories that will not be repeated again … a timeless keepsake reminder of the day a woman dreams about since being a little girl … and if that was not enough probably the only memory spark she will have of one of the most hectic days of her life … Think about it, If you are married how much of your wedding day do you actually remember? If you are like most I have talked to … very little. So in fact your great photos are in fact priceless … I have spoken to many a bride after getting lousy photos taken by unprofessional photographers who still cry when they think about their wedding album keepsake.

While you may not be able to use value added pricing strategy to fix your price at crazy figures you should be able to use the principle of value added pricing to justify why you charge the price a professional album sells for. Why not show the bride the difference between what you supply and an amateur will supply… Show her the value of what you as a professional provide. Use effective questioning to determine her budget and show her how you add value to ensure she has quality lasting memories forever of her dream day which is typically a forgotten haze without the memory spark of quality photography.

I hope you have gotten something from my 3 articles on pricing and I look forward to your comments and suggestions. If there is a sale’s or marketing topic you would like me to address please post a moment here or email me at pvphotoman@photovalue.com.

PV Photoman

 

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I take Great Photos but what should I charge for them? – Article 2 – Competitor Analysis Pricing and what will the customer pay.

Written by Ronan Ryle on April 2nd, 2010

Hi All Again. Following my last article answering the above great question… here is the second article on pricing in the series of three. Hopefully at the end of these articles you will have all the possible pricing strategies

So the second pricing strategy is Competitor Analysis Pricing. Competitor Analysis is a tool often used in strategy development particularly with the Strength & Weaknesses dimensions of the SWOT analysis tool. Strengths and Weaknesses are internal business considerations targeted at your internal company. To qualify to be a “Strength” it must be something that you are better than your competition at… For example Ryanair are known to have a much lower cost base than much of their competition and is therefore a definite Strength.  For something to be a weakness again it should be measured against the competition… Right now Willie Walsh the CEO of British Airways probably regards the unionised culture within BA as a weakness when comparing BA to Ryanair. I hope this explains the S&W parts of SWOT. So what has this to do with pricing?

Well often some companies do “Competitor Analysis Pricing” by looking simply at what their competition charge for something and then just matching or indeed beating it. Have you done this? … I have in the past … and what a fatal mistake when done on its own.  Why is it a fatal mistake on its own? Well it takes no account of measuring your actual costs which could result in you selling below cost … Even worse what if your costs were higher than your competitors and you pitched your prices lower? What then … Well you could start a price war against a competitor who can beat you in this price war will eventually put you out of business.

Another strategy often employed is “Asking the customer what they are willing to pay?” Again accepting these prices without knowing your costs or indeed your competitors pricing can cause you to do work at a loss or again significantly undercut a competitor and start an unnecessary price war. I am not saying not to ask the customer what they are willing to pay as this can be a great way to identify their available budget but make sure if you ask them this that you know what you can offer them for this price and still make a profit.

The above of blindly just doing something reminds me of something my Mother used to say when I used to use my Brother as an excuse to justify doing something wrong … My Mother used to say “If my brother jumped off a cliff would I jump off after him” … Guess she didn’t know I was a superhero who could fly … eh!

Next week we will discuss Value – added pricing in the last of these pricing articles.

Bye for now

PV Photoman

 

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I take great photos but what should I charge for them? Article 1 – Cost plus pricing.

Written by Ronan Ryle on March 18th, 2010

Hi all … it’ great to be back following a break in this blog due to a very busy stage in the Masters I am currently doing in Sales Management, which is focusing on the quality of online customer service at the pre-purchase stage of the buying process from the perspective of the buyer. Anyway back to this first article on pricing policy resulting from the above question put to me by a photographer in the last few weeks… I take great photos but what should I charge for them?

This question is a very broad question and can be affected by a whole number of other issues. However for now let’s visit the types of recognised pricing strategies which include the following four core strategies of:  1.Cost plus pricing; 2. Competitor Analysis Pricing; 3. Customer request pricing and 4. Added value based pricing. So let’s have a quick look at all these four pricing strategies. This week’s article will focus on the first of these which is Cost plus pricing.

Cost plus pricing – This is the method promoted by most accountants and works on the principle of knowing your total costs for a year, how many units you expect to sell adding a profit margin and fixing your price from there. So to look at this in a simple let’s say you do weddings only, you only have one wedding album package on offer, expect to sell 50 weddings a year and have total costs of £75,000 a year to cover all my costs for the year including salary, lighting heating transport and whatever 50 albums are going to cost me. On this basis your album package would need to be £75,000 divided 50 weddings which is £1500 per wedding. You should add a profit margin to this which you keep as retained profit. Most small businesses do not build a retained profit reserve for those rainy days that always happen as our economy as it works through the standard economic cycle of boom-bust. So let’s say we are going to add 10% for retained profit. Then our average package price for 50 weddings a year is £1500 plus 10% which is £1650. So I hear you say that I have more than one package well then your average package price must be £1650. So how can you ensure this… well firstly lets introduce 4 more packages including the dreaded but increasing disc only wedding. So let’s price these options up … but first let’s decide what the cost of the album including prints is for our £1650(incl. vat) wedding. Let’s set this at £350 (incl. vat).  So what should our disc only wedding album cost for us to keep our margin? The answer is £1650 less £350 which is £1300. So Disc only will be £1300. Our next package will be £1650 and let’s say our top package album which will be say the Magnum which costs £720 then this package as a minimum should be £1650 plus (£720-£350) which is £2120, however this would be a minimum and I would add a few hundred to this to reflect the higher album cost and say £2400.

The advantages of doing your pricing this way is that you are guaranteed to cover your costs on 50 weddings regardless of how many of each package you sell with the added benefit (cream) on every top package you sell.    

The disadvantage of this pricing policy is that it is making the assumption that you will sell 50 wedding packages; that your competition is selling much lower or perhaps higher for a similar offering or worse still you customer perceives this as very good value and would be willing to pay more for your offerings so you are leaving money on the table.

In my next article I will look at the other pricing policies and then we will look at various selling strategies that might allow you achieve the highest price possible for your great photos.

Would you like photoval.com to create and publish a FREE cost plus calculator to help you calculate your pricing? Remember to allow for Vat in your pricing calculations or you could find yourself down an unexpected 17.5% when your accountant gives you your vat bill for the year. 

Bye for now.

PV Photoman

 

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What can I learn from my Boss? It’s a big weekend for him … but as always he is trying to deliver win:win scenarios … can you learn anything from these to apply to your customers?

Written by Ronan Ryle on January 13th, 2010

Hi All,

PV Photoman here…  It’s very hard to believe that it is 8 weeks since I started this sales & marketing blog with the aim of delivering you thoughts and ideas around sales & marketing. I have attempted this every week so far but only you can judge. This week however I will depart a little and help out my boss Ronan Ryle Sales & Marketing Director of Photovalue.com who indeed was my creator and employer… This is one of his biggest weekends of the year … the SWPP annual convention where Photovalue are a Gold Sponsor.

So back to my boss… I know he spends allot of time preparing deals that might appeal to our customers for the coming year. Before we analysis the marketing thoughts behind these deals and if there is anything we can learn from or transfer to a photography business let’s look at these deals open to photographer’s across England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Here they are:

Free Blocking on Folders & Mounts

FreeBlocking

 

 

  

Ok so what was going through my bosses marketing mind when he created this? Yeah I can see the win:win for both the Photographer & Photovalue. The win for the photographer is a FREE way to promote your business … by blocking your folders & strut mounts allows you to present  your photography in photographic folders and strut mounts that carry your name. This means every time someone sees your work they see your details just like when someone views a painting and the artists signature is there… and the advantage to Photovalue? … well provided the price is no more or indeed better you are probably going to be more loyal to Photovalue rather than changing. So my question to you is how can you make your customer more loyal? (Why not see my blog on the LTV of your bride…)

OK so what other offer do they have:

 CompleteStudioSamplePackage

I like this one… what does it try and achieve? Firstly it try’s and make it easier on you to offer the Photovalue.com offering … however it also has your customer in mind or as already referred to in a previous blog we need tom think about our customers customer. Ronan try’s to achieve this in this offering by allowing your customer (the bride) have access to the all the possibilities. I know he is my boss but the 10/10/10 offer is genius… the benefit to you as a customer is obvious … you can get your already heavily discounted £350 in studio samples  back but to achieve this you must become a loyal customer. So how can you do this with your customers?… and make sure you achieve the LTV.

 So his next offer is what?

1in7     1in10     1in12

         

Again from what I can see … not one or two but three win:win situations. You as Photovalue’s customer win in that by buying from photovalue you get rewarded for being a loyal customer by getting albums for FREE, Photovalue gain’s by having loyal customers, win:win. What can you do to create win:win scenario’s for your customers?

How can you create win:win in your business?

Hope you enjoyed this slight departure from my usual blog topics. If you can visit Ronan & Hannah at SWPP 2010 in the Novotel London West between 15th & 17th of January. Unfortunately I cannot be there in person … You know us superhero’s … busy flying here and there … doing our best to save mankind.

Talk to you all again next week.

PV Photoman

 

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The Lifetime Value (LTV) of a Bride to a photographer?

Written by Ronan Ryle on January 5th, 2010

Doesn’t every profession have its sayings and unique lingo that mean’s something to that profession. So when the marketers talk about LTV or Lifetime Value of a customer … what do they actually mean? Well my understanding of LTV is … how much a customer or opportunity may be worth to you over their lifetime. What relevance is that to me … Sure most brides get married just once or maybe a second time? … I hear you say … and I agree.. but what LTV means is what other opportunities might arise and how do you place yourself so that you can get further business from each opportunity you create and therefore maximise the LTV from your customer base…  and ensure a bigger pay packet from each of your customers.

OK before we start on these possible opportunities to maximise the LTV …just one thing… The hardest and most costly part of getting a new customer is acquiring them in the first place … so we should absolutely do everything in the most professional way we can to ensure we get repeat business from them … another reason to maximise the LTV… OK but how? … Well here are a few ideas and I am sure you will have many more … If you do please add them as a comment on this blog so everyone can benefit from them.

Idea 1 – How many of you give each Bride and Groom a voucher of a sitting for their first child? OK not everyone have Children but allot do. At what stage in a person’s like is spent most on Photography and by whom? … Have you guessed yet? … After the birth of the first child and by the new proud Mother … It might take a few years for this to come to fruition but I bet the Bride/New Mother will remember she has the voucher you gave her when they collected their album and that she uses this voucher as the reason why … in her negotiation with her husband … that there should be professional photography done.

Idea 2 – Leading on from Idea 1… when they partake of this ‘first child’ sitting and order loads of framed pictures … bet they do … what do you do … Well depending on their religion or practises is there anything there you could give a voucher for? You know your culture and religious practise best so think about that one… and yes of course you give another voucher for the possibility of another new child sitting… or family portrait … or first birthday … or anything else you think is worth a try.

Idea 3 – What is likely to be another major event and not trying to be morbid or anything but probably death of someone close to your past customer. In fact I know a Photographer who at every wedding takes a very good shot of any grandparents at the wedding … What I hear you say … well yes it makes perfect sense after he explained it to me as follows … Who on the law of averages will be the next one to pass on? … Yeah the grand parents … and when they need a good photo for the memorial cards guess where they come … in fact guess who supplies them the memorial cards? Right the photographer who took the quality shots of the grandparents at the wedding and he sells lots of them… now that photographer really understands LTV. I suggested to him that they may in fact like to have a memorial book on the life of their dearly loved one and he could offer them the additional service of producing this for them from old photographs etc. I believe he has plans for this in 2010.             

There are hundreds of other things you could do and the best person to come up with these is you. You know your customers best … you know your culture … your market … your countries customs way better than me. So take some time to think about the concept of LTV for you and come up with ways to maximise the LTV opportunity of all your customers.

b-4_payrise_packet

Go for it … and in so doing create a bigger pay packet with more money for yourself rather than the poor guy in the cartoon above.  

For those of you who are attending SWPP 2010 in London next week, come along and see the wide range of photographic slip in folders and strut mounts, traditional I Nobili wedding albums, modern digital I Nobili albums and our range of memories photo book albums including the Rubens & Da Vinci. I may not be there in person myself … us superhero’s can never plan anything as you never know when someone needs to be rescued but my colleagues Hannah Radhi & Ronan Ryle will look after you well.  

 

 Happy Snapping everyone

 PV Photoman

 

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Photographer or Memory Doctor … A thought for 2010

Written by Ronan Ryle on December 31st, 2009

It’s New Years Eve and quite often at this time of year we get quite philosophical. We review the year just gone by … the highs and the lows … sure were surrounded by it on TV and Radio with everything from the top news stories of the year on sky news … to the top sporting moments of the year … to the top 40 music hits of the year. Then we quickly turn to the plans for 2010 and the speculation as to what might happen in the coming year … This ranges from everything from the Macro level of “in Q3 2010 the economy will come out of recession” to personal goals and speculation of “I’m going to lose 1 stone (14 pounds) by my summer holidays”. We also think about our personnel expectations and fears.

So when I started to think about my expectations and fears I think about … who am I reliant on? … In sales & marketing training you are often thought not just to think about your customer but your customer’s customer … It is claimed that thinking this way enables you to better understand your customer’s present and future needs.

So in my present job I am dependent on Photographers for my living. Is this a good place to be? I think it is … Why? Well to me Photographers do something really special. They capture special moments in time … probably never to happen again… and preserve these special memories for the owners to view at any time they choose … which help bring them back to visualise that very special memory. Will people continue to want this service … I think so … So what other profession can do this for people? I can’t think of any sure quite often a brain surgeon cannot help people recall that special memory. 

Do people want help in capturing those special memories in life? Absolutely … will they always do so? … I think so … so never underestimate the importance of the job you do. As far as I am concerned helping to preserve people’s memories of events … that will probably never be repeated … is a very special and important job…so I urge you to portray this in everything you do… make sure you do everything possible to be the best pro you can be… Enough for now … it’s time to celebrate the year gone by and the new one that starts at midnight.

That’s all for now as we approach 2010…I leave you with my thought for 2010 … that Photographers are in fact memory doctors.

Everything going well I will be back in 2010 with more sales and marketing tips but before I go I wish my sponsor Photovalue.com a very happy and prosperous new year. Photovalue.com provides photographers across England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland with wedding albums, photographic slip in folders and strut mounts. Check them out at photovalue.com or talk to my colleagues Hannah or Ronan or better still if you are going to the SWPP conference in January go visit them at stand 196/197.

b-6

 

Bye for now … but once again I wish you a Healthy & Prosperous New Year.  

Happy Snapping in 2010

PV Photoman

 

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