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Radical Pricing and Most Successful Advertising

so, yeah, we talked about selling digital files and we rehash that. And basically, if you want to review that, I would say that if someone says I want to buy digital files Axum, what do you want? The files far. And you would be surprised what they say. They may simply just want some Facebook pictures. In which case sell them some pictures. Why not? Sometimes we just all too often get to go head to head with the customer instead of just simply selling them what they want to sell. So we talked about show and stuff. We talked about competing with the big change and social media and parents versus seniors. We talked about all that good stuff. And so I was going to start this segment by kind of starting to scratch off some of the things that we I talked about before we move on. So we did talk about showing our products and different ways that we could sell those products. We talked about pricing. Was there anything else by pricing that you wanted me to talk about or Kim on your Facebook pag...

e? Yeah. You have introduced something. I just got to glance at? I've some special on all you can eat. Yeah, kind of deal. Can you explain that to me? I don't understand. It s so have you asked about that? Because Because it is really It's really radical thinking. Okay. And so here's the Here's the crazy to show you how radical and willing I am to try just about anything in my slow months. July is an extremely slow month for me. Okay? It's so hot that nobody goes outside. We already talked about that earlier. So what I did was I thought to myself, what could I do that would cause someone to say such a deal? I'm gonna go to them. And why watch the Internet world freak out whenever I tell this story. Get ready, lady jaw. You all about the light up like a Christmas tree over there? All right, so here's the way it works For every outfit inside the studio, it's $300 okay, And every outfit that we do outside the studio, it's $400 that's it. No location. I'm not going to go on location or anything like that, either inside or outside. I'll do me color. I'll do him in black and white. No problem. I'm gonna shoot six shots in each outfit and you get whatever you want. Eight by 10 and smaller. So eight by 10 for a pretend and smaller. So if you want 11 by 14 for example, or 16 by 20 you have to buy that. OK, but if you want 10 8 but tens. I want 10 maybe tens of every picture you shot. No problem. I want 25 sevens every picture you shot. No problem. I want 100 while it's of all six pictures. 100 100 100 106 100 wallets. But what if they bring five outfits? Then that's Ah five. It's all inside. Yeah. Okay, so 505 Excuse me. Times three. Because it's 300 per outfit. Five times three is, what? $1500? And you could buy what you can have whatever you want. Like an all you can eat Chinese buffet. In other words, when you went to the Chinese buffet, do they say Now you can on Lee have a little bit of the egg foo young and two egg rolls. That's it. No, they let you go. I will let you take whatever you want. But you're still doing six shots of five different six shots in each outfit. So that's 30 image. I'm a shoot shots. What if they want eight by tens of each one? No problem. What if they want to a fight to know proper each one. Whatever you want to give you whatever you want. Still are you lighten up over there. No. Okay. I did it. I did it. If you want to know what happened, I didn't. Here's what happened. Senior girl comes in wants one outfit. Click, click, click, click. In the course of taking the click, click click she goes. You know, dad, if I did this and I think cause her dad came with her and you know, if we did two outfits, it would really be beneficial because you know what? You know, Momo and and the noon and he goes, you know, you're right. Let's do two outfits. So what they did to outfits? I collected $600 from them and out the door they went, I made my little book approves 12. Proves I gave him the book, approves they came in. They just place their order. Are you ready? You ready for the order? To a pretends off. Seven different pictures. So 14 A pretends 45 by sevens off seven different pictures and 108 wallets of seven different pictures. Got it. My costs at the lab. $300. I made $300. Cost me 300 made. 300. Now you may think to yourself. Well, that was lousy. No. Remember, this was a slow month. I made $300. Now, now back to more. Getting back to advertising. What is this girl going to do with 700 plus wallets? What is she gonna do? By the way? They got my name all over splashed across the bottom of it. What would she made it Just gonna given to everybody. What is she doing for me? I don't want some disguise. All something. She paid me $ to advertise for me. She said in Europe for October. Absolutely. She setting me up. So did it work? Yes, it absolutely worked. And I could always hear the Internet world going. You are? You are just crazy. I would never do that. But again, I looked at it not as a sales tool, but instead I looked at it as a marketing tool. If that customer cut would have coming by the way, they get one bite of the apple. One bite of the apple. I needed to finish that. So she cannot now come back to me and say, Oh, you know what? I forgot to get to a but tens of number 12. You buying those she got? Whatever the farm, huh? You already gave her. That's right. I gave her the first bite of the apple. You got one trip to the buffet. That was it, right? Soon I'm getting out. So I I highly do not recommend you do this. During your busy season, you be screwing yourself, basically, you know, I mean, you do not want to do that. I added up the order. It would have been over $7000 which he ordered worth of stuff. It was just unbelievable when you added up, All the while it's in the 57 and all the stuff that she ordered over $7000 with stuff and she got that for 600. Did she get a deal? Yeah, absolutely. Is she gonna advertise for me? Absolutely. How many seniors do you think I would be doing next year? In July? A lot. Probably so. And let's say I get 10 of them and I make $300 off a 10 people. How much of my making? $3000. And then they run around advertised for me. So you followed the concept. It's just yet another layer off radical thinking that can get that advertising going out there Who does all you can eat buffet photography, right? I mean, it's Cory's questions over there about that. No, I just a lot of, like, mind blown. Someone would have wallpapered their bedroom with you. Say that, But why don't you do that when you go to the Chinese buffet? What did you do? You walk out with the belly all way made a lot of people do, but a lot of people just be, but they want to eat. Yeah, well, okay, whatever you can go to waste if your photographer that normal, you know, so Monday, Nobody always call me on Monday to shoot from 9 to 5 and you can do is more session twist on the internal. Yes, you absolutely could do anything like that. Counts to create Buzz. And you could limit it. Okay, where it is, what we're doing. But we're only doing it for the 1st 3 people. Call me on Monday morning. You see him get that? Anything to create a buzz. And that's what it was I was using pricing back to advertising and what it is as a tool to create marketing for me. Cool. So I get described by pricing off Now, don't start at all. Let me scratch this off. Who already did? Ok, someone asked what was the most successful thing I have ever done. Oh, you're gonna be so disappointed. I don't know if you recall back at the very, very beginning. I showed you the studio, The trailer studio. Do you remember it? Said senior portrait with a touch of class. That was a flashing arrow sign. Okay. Flashing. You know, you've seen him on the side road. I found this flashing arrow sign in a pile of junk on the back of my dad's property. I don't even know who owned the thing I took it a power out. I pulled all the guts out. I rewired it myself and I got it Toe work plugged it in. I stuck it on a side, the road in front of my studio and I would change the wording almost daily having this special at that special. Remember, I was on Main Street. So as a result, you you will probably remember that flash because that's where I did your senior pictures. And I might be why your mom came to me. I don't know. But did it absolutely allowed me to get on the planet The very first year I was in business for myself. I did 200 seniors that year, very first year, and it was partly because of that flash narrow sign. So did it work? Absolutely. Was it successful? Absolutely. Would that happen today? I don't know. But that wasn't the question. The question is, what was the most successful thing you've ever done? And that was it. I'll tell you how successful and how crazy Radically was. My daughter is 19 and right before she was born, about 34 months before she was born. We got the crazy idea was living. I mean, I was still working out of that studio back then and living across the street and we put on the sign Our baby is coming in three months. That's what was on the side. And then we changed it the next Our babies coming in two months. Our babies coming in one month. Our babies coming in 30 days are babies coming in 29 days. Our baby is coming in 14 days. Are babies coming in two days? Our baby is one day late. Okay, Our baby is one week later. Our baby is 14 days late and there's a picture. My wife like this As we headed to the hospital, they be induced right to this day. 19 years later, Scarlett was my daughter. Still has people say, Oh, this is the famous starlet, huh? With the sign it. 19 years later, they still remember the and you was two weeks later. Oh, my goodness. You must have had caused your mama's so much, but a little bit. So Did it work? Absolutely. So would that work in your area? What's the permit problem? Where can I don't have a commercial piece of I don't know the answer to all those questions for you. It depends on you in your area. So that was absolutely the most successful of all the things crazy radical things I've ever done. And so I'm always looking for stuff like it that absolutely works. So there you go. Contract versus non contract. I want to say this earlier and and missed my little time slot on it Is this, You know, if I was to pull the Internet world and say, How many of you guys out there by show of hands want a $2000 average? Oh, everybody wants that. Well, you sitting in a classroom and let's say I was to ask that and everybody but one guy raises his hand and you say, Well, how many won a $200 average And who he raises his hand like this. And you think, God, what a jerk. I mean, who would want a $200 average over a $2000 average? Well, it is contract versus non contract Photographer. You have to decide which photographer you want to be. Because if your objective ultimate bottom line objective is all about the money. Then I highly recommend you become a contract senior photographer because these guys make money on how illustrated this way. We talked about McDonald's earlier $1 for Hamburg versus you know, a fancy ranch restaurant in New Orleans, which was $50 now between the two companies. Which company do you think makes more money? They sell billions of hamburgers at a dollar. How many of the how maney $50 hamburgers? Do you think this company in New Orleans really cells? A few, But do they sell billions? No. It's the same thing in the photography world. A guy who says, like me, I do $4000 average. I do. 100 seniors had that up real quick. That's a gross of $200,000 right? Okay. You think? Wow, that's awesome. I saw some. I'm all in. Okay, but what if you could average $200 and you did 1000 seniors? It's the same thing, Is the same place, same growth. What? You have to work pretty tough. It would be a lot of, you know, a lot of people in a lot of people out, but theoretically, you're not going to just do 1000. You're gonna do 5000 if you're a really contract type shooter. So I $200 an average at 5000 people we're talking. We're starting to get into the millions now, See? So that's why a Valium guy is gonna say I'm all in for $200 average. See what I'm getting at. So a lot of times average don't really mean anything. What if he found out I average $10,000 a senior? Awesome. I only do one a year more. You knew, Sock. Yeah, See, I'm getting out. So it average doesn't necessarily mean anything is a lot more factors into it. And so that's what I wanted to talk about when I said contract versus non contract. Okay, so I'm going to show that off. And then the last thing on our list before we have a little pretend phone call in a pretend sale session is this. I think Kim asked about boudoir and senior portrait. And here's the thing. Ah, lot of times people will tell me. I noticed there was some of the comments about this on the creative live page from the images they posted and they said, Oh, man, that's too sexy. Those pictures are just too sexy. And probably for certain parts of the country, it very well may be too sexy. You also have to understand that certain. My whole objective when I'm photographing a high school senior is I want to photograph them the way they perceive themselves. So we have had a conversation. I've looked at clothing and that kind of stuff. I'll give you an idea what I'm talking about. I had ah senior mom one time come into the studio and she had this space. She's looking at all my stuff. Got the squeak. I you know this Ira when she says, Are you that guy? And I'm like that? God, what guy are you talking about? You know, you know that guy that does all those sexy painters of them senior. Now what am I thinking? At this point, I'm thinking, all boy, here we go. I said, Well, I'd think fast and highly recommend you develop this skill possible, man. I photographed people the way they see themselves. So you are that guy, huh? And I said I would say that if someone perceives themselves in a, you know, sexy manner. And they have that type of clothing than yeah, I will be that guy. But if not, then then no, she goes, Oh, God, My daughter needs all the help she can get. And I thought, Oh, my goodness. I did not see that coming. I did not see that. God thought Victoria was gonna get this speech and blub a buck. And that's the point. You may look at an image that I have posted and go that would never work in my area. I highly recommend you don't do it. Don't do it if it won't work in the area. But that image is based on tons of conversation between me and me and the mom and the senior phone conversations. Things of that sort that tell me what these people want. Another one. Here's another. This true story. I don't think I make all these stories up. It is the truth. Senior girl walks in and she's got this outfit, you know, it was back in the day when them crop shirts were real hot, you know? And so she's got this shirt cropped into right here. I mean, just barely covering the boobs and all the stomach is all hanging out. Got the little neighboring, and her bottom's go like this way low. And it was a little skirt. You know, the wraparound skirt you see, need wraparound. And it had shoe string ties right here. And like, wearing pie, You could see skin all all through there. And she comes walking out, you know, in this outfit. And I thought, Oh, I mean, what the wooden a world. And I mean, there's a 17 year old girl. I mean, you know what her mama was with her. I'm like, Sweetie, let me ask you something. Is there anything that you have seen that you want me to do or anything that you have seen that you want me not to do? She says yes. Don't make me look like a slut. Whoa, Now what? So guess what? I did headshots in that outfit. It was right here, Jack. Every picture was right. Right? Because no matter what I did with that, she was coming off. So I mean from here, and she was flooded in from here. I mean, no matter how I photographed that, So that's what I'm getting at, I springboard. Ah, lot of my stuff is totally based on the clothing. You know, Senior girl comes in, she's got Here's let me let me take a look. Job fit sugar and she goes, Okay, look, I've got this turtleneck that's here with long sleeves, okay? And it goes with this skirt that comes all the way down to my ankles right there. And it's kind of, you know, baggy. And that's my first outfit. Okay? And then I've got this. These these loose fitting blue jeans, You know, with this with this sweatshirt, you know, right here. Are you starting to get the picture? I mean, is this girl looking for sexy pictures? No, no, it's obvious, then. Then the senior girl comes in and she's got Well, I got my miniskirt that everybody says I look so good in, you know? And, uh, well, the short just comes a little bit in my show. A little piece of my stomach right here. But now I just a little bit I'm not a lot. I'm right there with the It's obvious is brutally obvious what kind of images she's looking for based on the outfit you base everything on the office now, we kind of talked going to get into that tomorrow about you. Asked about the sexy and all that other good stuff. We're gonna get into that a little bit more, but I just wanted to address that just a little bit with the marketing concept so that you kind of get a visual of I'm not just randomly going out there taking these pictures cool. That helps the body. And so that's when I talk about seniors versus boudoir to me as a dad for the whole world of dads out there and I see somebody's photography page and it got Aton of boudoir pictures on it. And, man, these girls look good and it looks, I mean, it's hot. Are you thinking I'm comfortable sending my daughter to this guy? You're not. You're not gonna be comfortable with that. Separate the brand. I mean, if I'm curve Oak Lane photography and I do mostly senior portrait, then how about we make a boudoir section that's like a totally different game? I don't really do it, Okay, but that's fine. If somebody wants to do that, and it's an integral part of your business. That's fine. But totally separate that from your senior portrait world, you know? And so when they Google Curve Oak Lane, you're not gonna bump into that, Okay? Or they Google Kim Griffin or whatever. The name of the studio is a Leroy, whatever that it takes, and it totally separates these two worlds.