Another Brilliant Making Money Idea From Children Photography
Today (Saturday afternoon) I go to a popular shopping mall down town just to chill out after a very busy week I had and I see something interesting. Right in front of the Kid's Toy Store which is always busy, there's a small "photography set" with a broken white color background I think it's made of a steroform covered with fabric, proper lightning set, on the set there are lots of toys, dolls, and colorful cushions, and 2 very eye-catching vertical banners on both side of the set. What impressed me is a long queue of parents with their children waiting for their turn to get photographed and a busy young lady taking orders, not to forget the photographer him self who is also busy taking pictures.
I can't help it but to watch this activity for a while and as I walk away, my business-side brain start to analyze the possible profit the photographer and his partner can make and also benefit the Kid's Toy Store will get. I come to a conclusion this photography set event is not held by the shop owner because either the photographer or his partner are not wearing the store's uniform instead they are wearing their own uniform with their company's name and logo on their back, hence I suspect they must have made a deal with the store owner to make it happens. I believe it will not be too difficult since such event will bring even more potential customers to the store so the fee should be relatively low, on top of that this event is held on saturday which is another busy day for a shopping mall before sunday. They of course make investment on the cameras, lightning and photography set, dolls, toys, cushions, and a few other marketing materials such as vertical banners, order form, business cards, etc which most of them are reusable. Their price for a photograph are relatively affordable and with a long queue of customers I believe at the end of the day they will make a handsome amount of money, sweet.
So let's break it down:
1. The Photographer make a deal with the Store owner to rent some space of the store
2. Set up a photography set with solid colour background
3. Provide adequate lighting with proper photography lighting set
4. Put photography's accessories such as toys, dolls, and cushions
5. 2 eye-catching vertical banners filled with information of the service/event and price
6. Business cards
7. Notepad or 2-ply order forms to take orders and customers' contact detail
8. And last, held the service/event on the busy days of the store
I am sure now you are asking "how do we deliver the photographs?" Well from where I see it, there are at least 3 ways of delivery methods, which are:
1. Ask the parents to pick up their photographs at the store.
Believe me the store owner will be more than happy if you choose this method because by telling the parents to pick up their photographs at the store, it will increase the opportunity of these parents to shop once again.
2. Deliver the photographs your self.
When employing this method, make sure that you include your business card, a discount voucher for the next order which can be used either by them selves or their friends, or you also may offer a referal program, for example: free photo session to any customer who refers 3 new customers to you. What do you think?
3. Digital delivery.
Simply upload all the photographs to a website and tell your customers to download and print them as they choose, this technique not only save you the cost of delivery but also the cost and work of printing. Of course you will need a relatively large webspace since you'll upload high quality photographs which is quite big in size.
From this analysis I come up with a conclusion; you can make a good amount of money from your photography hobby by simply doing what I've mentioned above. Yes there are some investment to make such as lightning set and all, also a little bit of negotiation, but once you manage to get all those things ready, you will start making money in no time. The key of success would be the timing, I suggest you to try promoting these photo shoots with kid-friendly occasions, such as Easter, Halloween, Christmas, also during school summer of winter holiday or event before start of the school year.
This money making digital photography tactic is a sure winner. There will always be proud parents wanting professional photographs of their children.
