Just in time for the holidays, I am releasing a new line of greeting and note cards. Suitable for businesses, groups or families, these cards are quite customizable. Order them with pre-printed holiday greetings, create your own greeting, or order them blank to handwrite your greeting for that personal touch.
On 09.26.08, In Commentary, By Chester
My experience so far with shooting video and putting it online is 7 indoor skydiving videos I put on YouTube – 4 of my son, 2 of me, and one of an instructor. I haven’t been impressed with YouTube quality at all. And while I have learned to do a couple of things via online video, by and large it feels more like a novelty than anything else. I can honestly say I haven’t made any purchase decisions based on video I have seen online.
But that isn’t true for everyone apparently. In another excellent post at Photography for Real Estate, Larry Lohrman talks about Fred Light in Nashua, New Hampshire. He has built a successful business producing videos for real estate. The best part is, he is willing to share his secrets for success with the rest of us (for a nominal fee of course). This might sound like an infomercial, but I don’t get anything for it. I am just a believer. So much so, that I haven’t even received my copy yet (just ordered it this morning). But based on the sample videos I have seen on his site, I think my $20 was well spent. I still don’t have my real estate photo business going yet, but this is another element I plan to add. I have the equipment and software, I just need to find some time to get the ball rolling.
On 09.17.08, In Commentary, By Chester
When I started thinking about how I was going to present and offer the photos to the Lakewood Cheer Squad after their photo shoot last weekend, I debated for some time on whether or not to offer “packages” or “sets”. Ultimately I decided against it. Instead, using Zenfolio (and their awesome free trial), I just made the photos available as individual ones and let the girls and their families choose what was going to work best for them.
The main reason I did this is that I remember after I had my senior pictures taken way back when (1989). We had a ton of pictures left over because they didn’t have a package that was “just right” for me. By going the way that I did hear, parents and extended family can order what they want, when they want. I’ll probably keep the pictures online for 6 months to a year (Unlimited and Premium accounts have no limitations), so they can reorder when they want. This is the way business should be run, in my mind. Let the consumer decide what is best for them, not what is best for me to sell. Hmmm, I wonder what other industries could put this notion to work?
On 09.02.08, In Commentary, By Chester
Just because I have been shooting senior pictures and such, it doesn’t mean I have given up on the real estate photography business. I have been kind of busy working on the checklist I had come up with. I have also enhanced/ clarified it a little bit. To recap:
- Order the Photography for Real Estate ebook
- Read the Photography for Real Estate ebook
- Create an account at box.net to use for delivering photos
- Decide on the extent of services I wish to offer
- Develop a business plan, outlining financial goals (will help in setting pricing)
- Order some off-camera flash triggers
- Watch CraigsList for some inexpensive additional flashes
- Do some practice shoots
- Prepare marketing materials
- Network with realtors
- Get clients
- Make a fortune
So far I am into this for $65 (the cost of the eBook and wireless triggers). The triggers shipped Friday, and should be here within 15 days of that. Might need to order one more (I only ordered one), but we’ll wait and see how that works out.
I have also been in touch with some friends that have an impressive new house in Golden. I can use it to practice and gain some skill, as well as having an excellent portfolio piece of a high-end home. So the practice shoots will be coming up soon, after I read the eBook. Shortly after the eBook gets read, the business plan will also be developed. And somewhere in there I will continue to work on the perfect senior photo of Megan. Why do I always make myself so busy?
On 08.25.08, In Commentary, By Chester
My mind does this to me sometimes, giving me ideas when I still need to execute on others. I had a random thought the other day about a new type of website. One where total “unknowns” could get some recognition. I was thinking originally in the context of photographers, but there is no reason why this couldn’t work for other types of art, such as music, etc.
Be fun to try, but would need some credible names behind it to really make it viable. My ideas of what makes an “unkown” worthy probably aren’t in line with the professional needs of some organizations. That’s OK, I need to get the real estate photography business of the ground first…
On 08.22.08, In Commentary, By Chester
For whatever reason, I think I am committed (in my mind) to making a go of a real estate photography business. I have been mulling it over for a few months, off and on. Been really pondering it the last couple of days. I could go on and on about the reasons why, but I just know it is something that I feel motivated to do. So now I need to start figuring out how to go about doing this. This blog will still be written on a few different subjects, but there might be more posts about starting this business than other subjects. The beauty of this medium is that you don’t have to read every one of them, just the ones that interest you.
So first things first. A checklist of what needs to be done:
- Order the Photography for Real Estate ebook
- Decide on the extent of services I wish to offer
- Develop a business plan, outlining financial goals (will help in setting pricing)
- Order some off-camera flash triggers
- Watch CraigsList for some inexpensive additional flashes
- Do some practice shoots
- Prepare marketing materials
- Network with realtors
- Get clients
- Make a fortune
OK, so maybe the last one is a bit ambitious. But there has to be some goal. I don’t want to do this to lose money, which it sounds like some people are (or at least not getting what their time is worth) . Well, we’ll see how this pans out…
Getting Into Stock Photography?
Only one thing seems to generate a livelier debate in the photography world than Canon versus Nikon – stock photography. Magazines and blogs are rife with material talking about the evils of microstock, the difficulties of getting proper rights managed sales, and people wondering what the problem is. It has indeed become a world where anyone with a good camera can contribute, but it doesn’t appear a lot of people are making any money at it.
When I finally decided to get serious about photography a couple years ago, I thought I could make a go of being a stock photographer. Then I had a wake up call. I submitted several images that i thought had real potential, only to be rejected for what seemed like various and random reasons. Indeed, some of the stock photo companies seem to have so many reviewers working. As a result, the subjective part of what gets accepted and what doesn’t feels very disjointed and random. Ultimately, I did have some submissions accepted. I have even had a few sales (the sum total has amounted to about $3.50).
The bottom line is that, for me anyhow, stock photography was not all I thought it could be. Sure, there are success stories out there. But as with other parts of photography, there are a few well known success stories sprinkled in among the majority of people who have had little success. What made me write about this today? I was reading a copy of Photoshop User last weekend, and a nice parody of the concept of stock photography was presented. Earlier in the morning, there was a Denver Post article talking about how Colorado is pursuing the license rights as a taxable item. My hat is off to the photographer mentioned, Dan Coffey of Edwards. He has enough money coming in from stock photography to have a significant tax problem if the state can come after that income source. But he is one of the few. If you are thinking about getting into the stock photography game, think long and hard about it, and look at your images with a very critical eye.