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Pricing Q&A

I like so far what I saw there. I didn't understand quite well the process off the that little bone that they take home. So they come after one week after decision and you made a book. Can you go a specific? More like Where do you make the book? What side of the book? The book has the watermark or not? No, I forgive me and what happened. And I do not have one to show you. However, I can explain it and I think you will get it. Here's you have to understand the whole process to understand the whole story of the book for years and years and years Back in the film day I waas the guy who shot with a hassle glad and thus my proofs were five by five. Okay, five by five. And so I was the guy with the big proofs because nobody else in town shot with has a black they shot with Arby's or disease or whatever, and they all delivered four by five. Now you wouldn't take 1/2 an inch on the left, and half an inch on the right would make that big of a deal. But I developed a reputation as being the guy ...

with big proofs. So here comes Digital, and so when you would send off for proofing with digital, you would get four by six is back and everybody was delivering for by sixes. And I said to myself, There's got to be a way that I can still be the big proof guy without changing anything. So I wrote in action in a script in photo Shop. And yes, it's available in the Pro Forum. And yes, you can download it for free. And anyway, the deal with that action is it has in half an inch black border all around the outside of the image, with a couple of little stroke lines. So I take a four by six with 1/2 in each year and 1/ in H year and 1/2 in each year and 1/2 an inch here, and it becomes a five by seven. And then it drops my logo in the lower corner on a on a vertical. It's in a lower right, And on the horizontal we would be the lower left, you know, yet turn it. Send that off. The agent agent have five bus seven proofs made because it has the black border. So the inside dimensions is four by six. But the outside dimensions is 57 and has this nice little black border with the little stroke around it and my logo on it, and it makes an awesome presentation. I then have them bind it with a combine, a wire binding. And then I slipped him in these filo ph. File. Oh, excuse me, used to be leather album design books that I get from them, and you slipped this thing in and it makes for a custom fit. It just has a little back covering. You just slipped the thing in, and it makes for a nice, beautiful presentation that I then hand that to the customer. And that entire book, if you buy them all, is $8 times a number that's in the book. It makes like a nice little cover page, and it puts their name on it in the whole bit. So it makes sense $8 times what $ times a number I shot. So let's say I shot 25 pictures. That would be $200 to buy that book right that I had set up. 25 25 $200? Yes. And that one's come with your logo? Yes, they have my logo on it. Okay. And so in my pricing, I don't know if you caught that on the pricing thing. It said that if you want a complete extra set of proofs, it's $ apiece because I get a lot of grand parents and aunts and uncles and dad divorced mom and dad. Dad wants a set to prove Mom once said approach. So the first set of cruises, $8 times a number I shot. If you want a complete extra set of proofs after you purchase the 1st 1 it's $7 apiece. Times number makes sense, and they take that album together that whole order form with that order catalogue. So they take everything home and then the order whenever they think they're ready. Thank you. Cool. Actually purchasing. That's part of that money that paid already. Yes, it's not something coming into your own pocket. You know. Anything that I sell can go towards that minimum water, anything. OK, so if you want to apply the purchase of the proofs towards the minimum purchase. My mom holding $600 of your money right in our scenario earlier. So who is it gonna have all these awesome proofs and go and I'm not buying them. But if they don't, that's okay. But it's 97% of the time. My customers by every proof I shoot. Now, here's how I pull that off and again we'll kind of talk about this. I'm bleeding into different days. But when I'm taking pictures, click, click, click, click. I showed them the pictures on the back of the camera. If they don't like something, I go, Oh, no problem, Bay delete. What didn't you like? Oh, I don't like my smile. I didn't like this. I don't like that. No problem. And we shoot it again, Then I show it to you Like it now I love it now. Now I love it so they pre pre tell me if they like it or dislike it. So if they ever come to me later and say, Well, we're not ordering because we just didn't like him. They can't do that because they I'm like, Well, didn't I show him to you in the back of the camera. Why didn't you say something? You see what I'm getting at? I can handle stuff like that. So thus ahead of time, I tell people upfront, This is what I do. This is how I do it. You know, you got Internet questions. Okay. Giddy up. Let's do I figured as much giving up and lead. Everyone loves all your little quotes to make a book out of. All right. You opened the floodgates with proofs. Okay, You ready for Okay? There's there. Seriously, like 10 questions just relate to prove How big are the proof? Already answered that. Okay, what is the cost of the proof book? Or is that just in my cost? About 65 cents a print. That's why I think which agency charges? Okay. And who pays for that? Doesn't come out of every client's pocket or the photographers pocket. If the client wants to purchase the book approves, it goes towards the minimum. Are you know, like, let's say again, I'm holding $600. Remember? We talked about minimum waters ahead of time. If the customer wants to buy every proof I shot, it's $8 times a number I shot. Now here's a magic point, by the way, I don't know if you caught that on my price list, but did you notice that I charge $8 apiece if you buy them all? I charged $20 apiece if you just pick and choose. Okay, so not now. Let's think about that. I shot 24. At what point does it become cost effective for you to buy every prove I shot? It's less than half of them. You see what I'm getting at? So it happens a lot where customers go. Well, I know, I know you shot all of these and we really we really like him all. But we're just gonna get these 10. Really? Well, 10 times 20 is $200. If you buy all of them eight times 24 actually cost less. Well, then I guess we'll just take him on a good idea. Theun, are your proofs of fully retouch Volusia Affleck affects applied to them. Okay. And then you get all that, by the way. Pre touch pre touch. Okay, because it's pretty done. And it's done to the degree you will literally see me do that on the third day. Have you ever had anybody say they don't want the proofs and just leave it with you? Yes, And now what do? Here's here's Here's by the way, to sort of answer that question. Kark. Here's here's let me just tell you what's really being said. Car. Do you think anybody ever copies your stuff? That's what's really being asked. The answer is absolutely. Here's how I could tell it happens. Let's use our scenario again. They They're sick. It's a $600 minimum order because we doing four outfits to inside to outside some of black and white. We shot 24 shots. They come to place the order. I'm holding $600 of their money and they'll go. Okay, let's see. We want to a bit tens of number 12. How much do I have left to spin? And I'll say, Well, to a pretends 110 minus 600 that's a $490. Okay, well, let me see. 135 sevens. And I want two of these. And how much I got left to spin. What about 40? $44? Let me think. 44 well, 5 to 7 is 45 right? Yeah. OK, well, give me one more five or seven. Number 12. And how? Where we at now, will you? Only a dollar. OK, all right. And or do you want the proof now? No, that's someone who's copied my stuff. Now if I do 100 seniors in a year, about two times that happens in a year now most photographers at this point go well. That's just unacceptable. I refuse to run my business for the 2% who screw me. I just refused to do it that way. I would much rather make the 98% who loved me. That's how I'm going to run that business. So if two people on Lee want to spend the absolute minimum order amount, I'm ecstatic, man. Sure, I'll take that book, approves. I'll stick it in the front, as in a sample of what I do OK, and I will show that thing off and I will take their $ make a deposit like everybody else and just grin and sleep real good. Does that answer that question? 15. Thank you. And we have a question from Houston Photo chick. Have you had any trouble with clients not adhering to their commitment to a minimum order? And how do you handle that? It's very, very, very rare. Very rarely. Percent. Again, You know, sometimes they'll come in. I actually believe it or not. Extremely rare. Had people never come in, take the pictures, pick up the proofs and never place an order. Am I mad? No. I begin. I held $600 they took $ with the proofs with him, I figure I got myself a deal, you know, So but it does happen. But it's really rare. You just simply cannot run your business based upon the people who want to mess mess with you like that. So then you're gonna create more of it. Oh, my God. You start making policies for policies and it becomes like this. It stops being fun. I don't know because it's falling. Man Question. Next question is from D, and also follow up Question from classical romance. Since you don't charge a sitting fee, do you have to do with many cancellations? My fit? My sitting fee is how I secure the date and then the follow up question from classical romance. How do you enforce the session prices and get them to commit to showing up? Okay, remember I said earlier that whenever we when they called to make an appointment, I say, Well, we get $100 deposit toe, hold your date and time So I collect that when they make their appointment that $100. Sometimes it's 50. Sometimes it's 100 but I get that $100 and we apply it to their account right there in the software. So the customer instantly has a $100 credit at that point. And so when they come in and let's say it's are back to our $600 scenario, they would only give me 500 more dollars at that point. And that's how we do it. I don't know. It's that kind of answers, both questions for you. Yes, sir. Who, if you have somebody who comes in with one outfit and they want to do multiple locations and one outfit is at the same price? OK, I like that. I like that. I like that a lot, actually, because that is also quite rare. But It happens occasionally where dude comes in, he said. Take these with a car and you know and is what I got. You know, blue jeans and T shirt and I'll say, OK, so we're doing some inside and some outside you. Okay, so that's that's one outfit inside. And then that's one outfit outside. So that would be 101 50. I'm answer a question before it's asked on the Internet because is about to get asked. Wait a minute, Kirk, You said you only shoot six shots in each outfit. What happens if someone comes in with just one outfit? Are you telling me you're only gonna take six pictures? Yes, It happened twice last year. Now, how long do you think it takes me to shoot? One outfit? Six shots. 20 minutes, maybe. How long did it take me to retouch six pictures? Not long. So guess what I got to do. I have to go play golf. You know, it was awesome, was beautiful. And the dude in love to be it was It was It was a guard. I distinctly remember it was me. And we did some awesome six awesome pictures. He loved me because his mom said, Will you go on a curve? Oakland. You having to pay for it? So he came in? He did one outfit he spent dead on the minimum. And that was it. No problem. No, I'm not gonna shoot Mawr suddenly, because what? I would have messed up the dudes budget. So I don't be that guy I want to be The cool guy would be fired by likes. Follow one question before him. Now, I have to question first just to complete, Like, came in my mind. Okay. Said one outfit, but doesn't mean that is just one backdrop If you keep exchanging backdrops. And on that session yes, we know costs just No, no, it's not outfits. It's not. It's not images. I mean, that's just a way that I calculate the minimum is based upon the outfit. I'm gonna shoot six shots. Totally unique. Totally different. Totally awesome. Multiple backgrounds. But if I have just one outfit to would change backdrop. Sure. No. No. Yeah, I know it is. Just one day. No multiple backgrounds, Multiple close up, full length, all kinds of stuff. Six shots, though. Okay. Now, my readers no question. You just open a window. And thank God you did about you said about the software where you put in account do you be user? You recommend any soft church organizational war? Yeah. Does a ton of them out there? I will say this. There are a ton of them out there, and what you have to do is you have to find the one that best fits you. I highly recommend most every one of these companies out there that makes studio management software do that Google Studio Management software. And you will find there are a ton of companies out there that do that, some that do exclusively online. There's some that do it. You know, you have actual piece of software that you buy. There's a ton of them out. Then you have to find the one that best fits you in your scenario and yours, your world and most all of them will give you some sort of free try a law or something. So that's what I did. I tried a bunch of amount found the one that fit me best, and boom. I ran with it, and so that's what I recommend you do get more questions for me. Yeah. So, Infinity Lens Studios Bill from Texas on your session. Minimum order prices. How often do you modify them? And if your new studio without an established brand can you get away with these prices are okay. I modified the minimums. Is what he's asking. No, I just I don't know how else to describe inside Outside location. Yeah. I mean, I mean to be that basically covers it all. So I don't modify that. However, I will say this and thank you, Bill for bring it up, Bring it up that this scenario that I just told you is very exclusive. It will make people not come to you this minimum order deal if you are a new studio. Thank you, Bill. So much for bringing this up. If you are a new studio just getting started and you want to photograph every single phone call every person that range your phone, I'm gonna tell you sitting fee and packages is probably the way to go for you. But if you are, if you you know the problem, they're sitting fee and packages creates a whole new scenario of problems. And once you get that set of problems, you're gonna realize that this minimum order concept, what it will do is it will alleviate all those people in problems. And that's why I do it, because I want people showing up. I want people haven't committed ahead of time to, ah, relatively high minimum amount. So is to produce a higher sale. I don't want people coming to me with one outfit. It's there. It's available. But it's rare. I don't want that happening. And so for that reason, that's why this type of scenario is in place. So it's totally all those types of problems. And so it depends on on where you are your comfort level and that kind of stuff of whether or not you want this system. This system will force people to not come to you because it's so many hoops I have to jump through. You know, that type of thing. So all right, this is actually two people have the same question from Nancy, 23 Tina two. They're thinking the same way today. Do you meet with every senior family in person before this session to make sure they understand it all? And also plan with them. You know, their clothing and such awesome Segway into this afternoon way I just feel like the right time way We're gonna talk about that next. Gonna have a pretence session, and I'm going to see how I do this on the phone. But, you know, that's a lot of I don't necessarily have ah, person then literally sitting in front of me and having a pre consultation. I think a lot of that stuff is good. I just don't I don't like it Just takes too much of my time is why on And I could do it on the phone. Or I could do it while we're taking pictures. So is to eliminate some of the problem, but yes, we're gonna literally do that next because that's the next question. What about this? After that was the very next segment. What are we doing? We're gonna have a one on one with a pretend, mom, and we're gonna pretend phone call and that kind of stuff. So that's next