This Weekend: Photo Meetup and Crafting My Business Plan

Later this afternoon, I will be meeting with several of my friends and photographic colleagues from the Mile High DPS Social Group. Together, this group has shared some memorable outings photographing the majestic, rocky crevices of the Garden of the Gods, zombies attacking downtown Denver patrons, colorful city holiday lights, and each other when our model decided not to show to her own photo shoot. Today, our subject will be butterflies taking flight at the Butterfly Pavilion. I am hoping to nail my entry for this month's blog photo assignment DECISIVE MOMENT while shooting at this event. A macro lens and wide aperture will be a must to get images similar to the one above and left, taken by my instructor and award-winning nature photographer Russ Burden.

The only thing the group needs more of is...well, you! We want to continue growing the social group, so membership rolls are open. To join, you have to be a member of the Digital Photography School forum, which in itself is a wonderful resource and has helped me on many an occasion to prepare for photo sessions and get advice on the business nuances of my photography studio. Once you join the forum, go to the navigational bar at the top of the page and click on QUICK LINKS. Scroll down to NETWORKING-SOCIAL GROUPS and become a member of the Mile High DPS Social Group. Our group is definitely one of the most active on the forum.

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Tomorrow, I will be posting about the creation of my business plan for 2009. It's been a long time in coming. But I finally met with photographer and business manager expert Jim Turley to hammer out the details. Jim runs Sweet Water Images and teaches a "Passion + Profits" business management course at Illuminate Workshops.

If a photographer wants to catapult a passion into a livelihood, a business plan, profit and loss statement and effective marketing are essential. I found out it wasn't nearly as complicated as I had feared and that I had already been doing things and conceptualizing plans naturally that will help my business grow. Putting the plan down on paper and using it as a guideline to help gauge my profits will be essential to my ultimate goal of leveraging some investments from outside sourcing and creating a model that includes hiring other photographers to work under the Picture Your World Photography brand.

Growing Pains: No Print Sales From Wedding Yet, But Why?

My first wedding and the growing pains I continue to suffer because of it has definitely pinpointed the fact that I need to hone my business skills if "Picture Your World Photography" is going to succeed.

I blogged last week about providing CDs in packaging. This week, I'm having to deal with the fact that no one is buying online prints from the wedding. The presentation went very well and the bride was very pleased with the photos. I'm not sure what the issue is, but I ran into the same problem earlier this year when few people purchased prints from a National Black Skiers association event I covered in January. Given time, I eventually made more than $200 in additional print sales from the NBS event...but it was still confusing considering how many people viewed the images (and continue to do so even months after the event).

My instructor Russ Burden, a veteran photographer, said even he has experienced this same phenomenon. I have posted numerous threads about the issue on the photography forums I frequent, including Digital Photography School and Digital Grin to get some help and explanations. If you have the time, I would suggest reading through these threads, as they are full of great tips from seasoned photographers who have found ways to deal with these issues.

Some people are convinced that online print purchases just don't happen, and if they do, it should be considered "icing" on the cake. To that end, it has been suggested that I need to create a business plan that incorporates print sales into the overall price. For example, $500 was simply too low to charge for the wedding. A more realistic price might have been $1,500 or more (with half or all paid upfront before the wedding) to ensure a profit margin.

I've been doing some research to see how much local wedding photographers charge for their various services and what their packages look like. Few people can afford to pay $3000 for wedding photos, so I really like the idea of creating several types of packages, based on coverage, starting from $750 and up.

I also took a "Managing your Business: Passion and Profits" seminar from Illuminate Photography Workshops several weeks ago to get a handle on the business aspects of photography. Being a good photographer doesn't mean you will have a successful business. Instructor Jim Turley stressed the need for me to create a six month business plan. He is right, and this is exactly the kind of circumstance where having one would have helped me. Instead of getting overwhelmed with trying to create an entire budget, I am going to start with realistic steps to get me through the next six months of my business planning including: nailing an agreement contract, creating service fees and photo packages and passing out all of my business postcards I bought.