Money For Nothing And Your Pics For Free

[yobenny]

Just wondering what the Pro opinion of this idea is.

I think Craigs List in a big city like Dallas could be a great place to pick up work by offering to photograph higher end for sale items (like cars, boats, homes etc.) so that people's ads on the list have images that actually show beautifully what it is they are selling. For an item selling for $10,000 + I think $100 for a half dozen good images of it is worth the investment.

Yeah I know it isn't great work but one shoot a week could get me a great tripod and other goodies in a short while.

Plus to reach your clients you just advertize right on the list, which is of course, free.

When I say good images, I mean shots that dont look like Iphone pics, (which almost all photos do on the list) and set their offering apart from the rest just in presentation alone.

I think it might be a good way to practice both photography and marketing for pennies on a real dollar.
Thoughts?

[rtbaum]

If you can make it fly, go for it

[Manfred M]

Good luck Benny - I think the downside is that a lot of people think the same you do and are willing to do it for a lot less than $100; i.e. everyone has a "friend with a good camera". If the iPhone image sells, why would anyone want to spend more.

In any business you have to be able to demonstrate "value" to the client, i.e. what is he / she going to get by spending $100 on your services. If you can't do that, your business venture is not going to be very successful and in fact you could end up losing money.

[yobenny]

Well there isn't much front expense at all, since contacting potential clients is basically time to email those who are posting on the list, saying if you dont sell then perhaps better images will get clients interested.

I roamed the ads in several catagories where 10K + ads are the norm, I saw a lot of ads with a lot of images, but as I said, they are iphone quality. I saw not one that was clearly taken with a great pic in mind.

I also think that someone looking through those ads for something that comes across images that are well done will feel like the quality of this product and the way it has been maintained are better than the rest of them, it's sort of a step up the ladder feeling that iphone pics have created an opportunity for.

I guess the object (or value) is to set their offering apart from the rest by implying higher quality with clear well taken pics.

[Mike Buckley]

As in any entrepreneurial venture, it would be good to develop a business plan. The first thing that would be required to prove the value of using your service would be to provide samples so potential clients can see the value of higher quality photographs.

The second thing to do would be to research prices. As an example, some real estate agents pay photographers to photograph homes. You could find out how much those services generally cost in your area to get an idea of what you could charge. I actually wonder if it would be a more effective strategy to charge at least $250 and perhaps $500. As an example, I recently saw the head of a small college speaking on television about his successful strategy to increase both the quality of the applicants and the number of students. He increased tuition 100%. When people saw the higher tuition, they figured it was a better quality college than when they saw the lower tuition. Something to think about.

Once you get paying clients, be sure to obtain written permission to use at least some of the photos as examples of items that sold.

Good luck if you decide to go through with this!

[Manfred M]

In that case, I suggest you put together a portfolio of your work to try to sell your services. If you want to sell something, you be able to demonstrate your abilities to potential clients, and having examples of your work both online on a website and as physical photographs in a binder; 8 x 10 or 8-1/2 x 11 formats are the norm.

You'll want at least 20 to 30 images demonstrating abilities in this type of work; real estate (interior and exterior shots), cars, boats, trailers, i.e. the shot have to be representative of the type of work you are trying to do. Make sure you have the owners permission (in writing) to use images of their property.

[yobenny]

I was thinking that to accomplish the proven portfolio, all I need do is contact a few of the dealers on their selling wares in that price range and ask them if I can come over and do a shoot of their goods for free to see if they are interested in using them. Then once they do sell, whether it true or not, I can use those images as an example for new clients.
The idea of asking more for the service with the logic that they will think it worth more if I do is a classic move to attain what my father used to call "Rexall Clients" which are people who are stupid enough to buy something for twice as much at a place instead of a good price somewhere else because they think they are "worth it" and I find those type clients a pain in the south to deal with.

[rpcrowe]

I am in favor of any way, legal way that is, that a person can make money with his camera. But, I am not sure that people will pay $100 for the images. OTOH, if you try it, you certainly will not go wrong because it doesn't cost anything to advertise on craigslist. Good luck my friend. You may have just invented a budding cottage industry!

[Mark von Kanel]

Im at a loss to understand why your asking! just get out there and try it, theres little to lose, your market research would be better carried out on those you wish to sell your services too.

good luck with it and lets us know how its recived.

[Dave Humphries]

When e-Bay first took off here (UK), a few shops sprang up which offered a walk in the door, "leave it with us, we'll send you the money when it has sold" service, which obviously included taking the photos, but this was for the smaller items. They took a percentage of what they got for it. The shops didn't stay in business long - I suppose after a while the combination of everyone having a digital camera (if only in their phone) and increasing IT skills within families meant everyone knew someone that could do it for free.

Now I'm not suggesting you follow that business model and there may be a niche market for your service.

Obviously this will entail you travelling to take the photos, have you thought about whether that's included within the $100?
Reading "$100 plus expenses" in your advertisement may be a deal breaker.
I suspect you may be better, rather than have a fixed price, to scale it depending upon how far you travel.

But I know zip about running a business or earning money with a camera

I wish you luck in the enterprise and recommend you give it a try,