Amazing Boudoir Competition Winners

Late last year I ran a competition on my Facebook Page.  The prize was a 2-hour Boudoir Shoot with a selection of pictures on disc. A prize worth £150! The only catch was that the winners had to allow me to use their photos in my publicity; on my iPad portfolio, on my website and on social media...

I thought I might get 2 or 3 entries, but I was amazed when 32 ladies contacted me! I chose 3 and some of the results are below! Yes... I know there are only 2 girls there... Number 3 has decided she's not quite ready yet. Keep an eye out for hers coming soon though! Hopefully...

Thank you to Joss and Dawn and well done!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coping with Competition

Every industry has competition and every industry has its competitors. It seems (to me at least) that photographers have more competition than most! I've mentioned in a previous post that photography is an easy business to get started in and it seems that anyone with a posh camera can call themselves a photographer! The local newspaper keeps printing stories about new photography businesses in the area...

But just because someone is in the same industry it doesn't necessarily mean they're competition. Yes, we're all looking for people to sell photos to, but are we all looking for the same people? I don't think so.

Photography customers all have different criteria when choosing a photographer. Particularly regarding wedding photography. Some people are on a budget and will book the cheapest photographer they can find (not something I recommend!). Some people like the kudos of booking the area's most expensive photographer. Others will book the best photographer they can afford (a much more sensible approach...). No one photographer can appeal to all markets so we have to pick one to work in.

There are literally dozens of 'professional' photographers in Grimsby and Cleethorpes, but I really only count 5 or 6 of them as genuine competition. We're all full time and fully insured. We all put a lot of time and effort into marketing ourselves. We all offer good customer service and excellent attention to detail. And we all supply the best products from the best suppliers. We don't appeal the the 'cheap is best' market, but none of us is the most expensive in the area either.

But even that competition isn't really a problem. There are about 150,000 people living in and around Grimsby and Cleethorpes so there's plenty to go around! There are tons of weddings in North East Lincolnshire every single weekend, so again there's plenty to go around without us all stepping on each other's toes.

And don't forget, photography is very subjective. We all have our own particular and distinctive style which some people won't like. It took a while to get my head around it, but I genuinely don't mind any more if someone books a different photographer over me.

Having said that, I still like it when I win a customer ahead of my competition!

Is Free Always Better?

Quick answer...No!

I've been having a bit of a dilemma recently about pricing.  There are a lot of photographers around and competition is quite fierce.  Especially around this time of year.  Many of them are offering free shoots and heavily discounted photo packages.  I wondered how I could compete with this and still make enough money to keep the lights on in my house.  Or even if I should.

I decided not to.  That might sound silly in the current economic climate.  Why would I not want to attract business from the opposition?  Well obviously I do.  So why not wade in with my own free offer?

I did a bit of research and asked a lot of people what their thoughts were on the subject.  It basically boils down to value and the old saying 'you get what you pay for'.  I provide a personal service giving all of my customers exactly what they want.  My sessions are good fun and all of the pictures I show are of a very high quality.  What the customer receives is always excellent and everyone goes away happy.  Including me.

If I went in with a free shoot and a £19.99 photo package, first of all I would never earn anything.  But also my customers and potential customers would expect a certain level of service.  I aim (and deliver) higher than that.  My prices are already very reasonable while still giving me the margins I need to live off.  Reducing the price also reduces the perceived value.

I have discounted Christmas shoots to £15, which still retains the level of expected value while at the same time giving people a bit of a break in difficult times.

In short - if you want something that's worth nothing, go get it for free.  If you want something that's worth its cost that you will love and keep forever, come to me!

Competition

I've been to another Wedding Fair today.  This one was at Oasis health club.  It's not the first I've done and certainly won't be the last.  They are really the best way for a wedding photographer to get his/her name out there and get noticed by the right people (i.e. brides and grooms to be).

One thing you notice though is that there are a lot of wedding photographers in Grimsby and Cleethorpes!  I did a fair in September and there were 10 of us!  It seems like a lot at first glance.  And second glance.  And third...  There is a lot of competition.

So it's important to stand out.  Yes you have to have good pictures (although not all do - just my opinion!), but you also need something else.  I like to give a really personal service to all of my clients.  I have the packages like most others, but I also offer a completely tailored service so you can have exactly what you want!

I also offer a few little extras that no-one else does.  For example, every package comes, at no extra charge, with 50 personalised thank-you cards featuring the photo of your choice.  I will soon be adding a framed "guest book" picture as part of the Gold package as well.  Something a bit special...

I don't know if it's enough, but people seem to like me and book me to be their official photographer for their big day!  There's always room for more bookings though...