Family Portrait workshop/roadshow

Recieved this email this morning (yet another event i can't make it to as I am away). Details below for those interested.

Sounds great and a bargain!

Woah!
I'm not interested in the business side, would just like to do some portrait workshops, but at that price it might be worth a go!
All the other courses I have looked have been hundreds!

Hmmm, it seems to me that they are aiming to sell you subscription to their expensive training website and also sell you other stuff while you are there.

Yep, a sales pitch, and that i am sure is the catch, but a day out and some useful tips maybe...may well go. thanks Sam.

my problem is that I crumble under salesman pressure very easily!!!
That £35 course could end up being very expensive!!!!

Looks good if you can ignore the sales pitching!

xx

I went to this event yesterday in Coventry. It was really good, particualrly the morning session.

As you would expect, there certainly was a number of items on display to be sold although all were 'on promotion' for the event. Software was at a discounted price and some of his books and accessories (even cheaper if you are a member of his Phototraining 4 U programme). None of it was exactly cheap. Maybe not Marks fault, but just stuff like a portable softbox for your speedlight...on offer at £49.99, must cost about £3 to make in a chinese factory, a plastic ringflash adapter on offer at £122, must cost about £5-10 to manufacture. That's just photography items I guess.

In the morning he basically ran through business strategy and marketing your products. I get the impression Mark could sell ice to esklimo's, tea to China...it's hardly suprising he has a successful business and he reckons his wife leaves him standing. Obviously he is a talented photgrapher for the market he is in, but that is only a fraction of what is required. A business head, confidence, character, ideas and activist nature is more important. i would hardly dare ask anyone for £450 for a canvas print, but he and a number of people in the room all do. He also did some photography in a mini studio showing mistakes and what to look with single subjects and families. Mark is a whirlwind, never stops talking and only slowed by his occasional stammer. i can easily understand why he is dynamic in work and business. Whilst you are still planning, he has done it and is selling it. There is no doubt though that all our photography for marketing would be simplified and more flexible with access to a proper studio with lights and backgrounds, then you cvan get models and cleints, and also post processing skills. He spent the afternoon going through Photoshop which was a bit tedious if you are not a whizz yourself as you couldn't follow it all. After several hours i did have a numb bum and had heard enough for a day.

I thought it was the best £35 quid i had spent in a long time, a chance to be inspired yet frustrated i can't easily convert my facilities to suit a need. I also had a chance to talk to a few attending photographers and get some ideas. Mark crams a lot into the sessions, you get great value for money, and some things come back to you later, but it was a longish day sitting on a chair for hours.

Ask any questions if you wish.

Fantastic - thanks for sharing your experience!

xx

You are preaching to the converted , Brother

I am a total convert to workshops,seminars, webinars, worth their weight in gold and then some Just to bounce ideas around,form new ones, and learn sooo much in a short space of time, and the most important one NETWORKING.

I agree totally, about the business side of things, you can take as many pretty pictures in the world as you like, but if you don't use your head, and market yourself properly,it ain't going to happen. You have got to be realistic and brutal when pricing yourself, and not be afraid , to say I am worth it

There is room for all types of photographers and pricing structures, you have to have a proper plan of where you are heading, and how you are going to get there. There will always be a market for very cheap photographers, and that's fine, but there is a market for people who put more value on photography, so are prepared to pay more, and by return be receiving a better quality product, and most of all experience.

My new Guru, Saint Jasmine of Star, in that webinar that was mammoth, said " 20% photography, 80% business" and I think that is very true. I know I can run a business , and now it's a case of instead of looking at my photography, and where I want to go with it just artistically, I have to use my business head more too. It's been frustrating, as I made loads of contacts in NC, and am now having to start all over again, and learning different bylaws, and laws for that State, and having to do that all again. When all I really want to do, is take pictures

Starting with branding, I am, my brand, me, I am the one shooting, editing, meeting clients, it's all about ME That came out wrong you know what I mean.If you want me to shoot you, it's because you like me, not just because of the pictures, there has to be some connectivity between client and photographer. For example, I will be honest and say I have spent a stupid amount on a set of portraits a few years back, at a certain place starting with V and ending in E, and can honestly say, whenever I look at those pics of my kids, there is a lot of negativity, they cost a fortune, it was a very hard sell, the photographer wasn't very nice,and now I know better they aren't even that well taken. I want to give people a nice experience, so when they look back at their shots, they have good feelings about them, and will hopefully come back again too. You would have to pay me, to go back to that V place.


I am no computer genius, and I have fiddled with websites before, but think it's time to throw money at the problem, and let some else do it for me, I know exactly what I want, how it looks, everything, all down to the tiniest detail, but just don't have the computer skills, to do it But, I am good with people, so I am good at that side of things. So, I will not try and do the things I can't do, it's more productive in the end and get someone else to do it, and concentrate on things I can do.

Every seminar, and workshop I have attended, I have learnt something, gained a different perspective on looking at things, and made some good contacts. To me it's money well spent, but you get out of it what you put into it, if you are going to not ask questions, talk to anybody, and have a closed mind, it's not worth going to these type of things.

The other thing is costs, have you ever written down how much your photography has cost you so far? The wear and tear on equipment,software,computers, misc. insurance, taxes, bills, plus paying yourself a wage, I don't know how very cheap photographers make money, I just don'tI think I have a better idea now, of what I want to get paid, and what I can ask for at this stage, and how to get to the stage of earning what I want to get paid.

Another thing is studio space, I had the idea of using a spare room, and I still like the idea, but practicalities etc are another matter, I've been told to look at sharing a space, but that can be costly,I have been offered a "time share" on a great space,but it's not something I can afford right now. So I will concentrate on location work, doing second shooter for others, so I'm doing what I have to do , to get me where I want to be.

I am just at the very,very beginning, and it's very exciting, scary, but I know it's what I want to do.

Good luck Stu, we can hold each others hands XXX

Woah! that was an epic post,sorry are you still awake ? Getting off my soap box now x