Being virtual
Yes, I stole the title of this post from Nicholas Negroponte.
Daring Fireball is a must-read for me now, and he's got a nice little piece of advice for photographers trying to make a buck in the digital world.
"At SXSW this year, I spoke on a panel about making money from weblogs, and one of the main points I emphasized is that people are more willing to spend money for atoms than for bits. I.e. people will happily pay for things they can actually hold in their hands, but you can’t touch ones and zeroes."
Back in the days of film, this was easy: Shoot an extra couple of Polaroids for the client to take with them, or better still, if it's a lifestyle shot, have them jump in on the set and snap off a few pix.
With digital, though, that went away. Handing a CD over to the client just isn't the same, and cycling thru images in PhotoShop doesn't give the same thrill as squinting thru a loupe on a lightbox.
But how much is a book from MyPublisher of the best shots you did over the past year for each of your best clients? How much client goodwill would that bring you? What about a fast printout of the best shot right after the shot's wrapped from a cheap photo printer? Or what if your Christmas cards had a thumbnail of one of the shots you did with the client printed inside? Even a t-shirt from CafePress with your logo would be a nice, tangible add-on to your clients.
Being digital doesn't mean being invisible to your clients.
Marketing, photography, client relations
Daring Fireball is a must-read for me now, and he's got a nice little piece of advice for photographers trying to make a buck in the digital world.
"At SXSW this year, I spoke on a panel about making money from weblogs, and one of the main points I emphasized is that people are more willing to spend money for atoms than for bits. I.e. people will happily pay for things they can actually hold in their hands, but you can’t touch ones and zeroes."
Back in the days of film, this was easy: Shoot an extra couple of Polaroids for the client to take with them, or better still, if it's a lifestyle shot, have them jump in on the set and snap off a few pix.
With digital, though, that went away. Handing a CD over to the client just isn't the same, and cycling thru images in PhotoShop doesn't give the same thrill as squinting thru a loupe on a lightbox.
But how much is a book from MyPublisher of the best shots you did over the past year for each of your best clients? How much client goodwill would that bring you? What about a fast printout of the best shot right after the shot's wrapped from a cheap photo printer? Or what if your Christmas cards had a thumbnail of one of the shots you did with the client printed inside? Even a t-shirt from CafePress with your logo would be a nice, tangible add-on to your clients.
Being digital doesn't mean being invisible to your clients.
Marketing, photography, client relations
This entry was posted by Kevin Creighton, on
5.10.2006.
You can leave your response.
