How do you deal with people that insist on wanting disc of their wedding pictures when the agreement was they were to order all pictures off of smugmug?
I you feel like you must comply with their request, consider providing them with a cd of low-res images sized down to 600px x 400px with your studio name or website watermarked on each image. I actually do this anyway for all my wedding clients. The client will not be able to print them, but they can email them to friends & family and post them on their facebook pages. Think of it as giving your client a stack of your business cards to hand out for you.
Kinda depends on what your contract says about all of this. If it doesn't say anything then you are a hack or a sheister. Sorry, but you just don't bring people into a business agreement with open ends that require them to pay more money for things that they assumed they were getting in the original price. You certainly don't need to do things MY way, but you need to manage your clients expectations if you want them to help you get more business. Maybe 10 years ago it was normal for a photographer to charge a sitting fee for a wedding and then charge per print, but that isn't the case anymore... that is not the norm in the digital world. You obviously didn't address any of this or you wouldn't be here asking us!
I forget that there are still some people who run their business like they were shooting film by holding the "negatives" hostage and charging $50 for an 8x10! I steal business from you guys all the time just by telling clients "Does he include the disc? Do you get printable files? Does he edit each image by hand? Do you get a limited license to reprint so you can take you disc to a shop and have them printed? Hmmm... he doesn't give you any of that so I wonder what else he isn't giving you? I wonder what else you will have to pay for after the fact? His price is lower than mine but he can charge you whatever he wants before you get anything from him. How is that a good deal?" Easy pickins'!!! Whether another photographer works that way or not, if they don't have that conversation with a potential client I DO have that conversation and create fears and doubts in their mind about the other guy because of it... easy pickins' for me! I rely almost solely on referral business at this point and honestly don't directly compete as often as I did a couple years ago, but I wouldn't get any repeat business if I told my customers AFTER the fact that even though they payed me to shoot their wedding they now have to pay me again to get the pictures.
So, taking off my a-hole hat here... if you are, or are trying to be a working wedding photographer I wouldn't make big waves about this because if you do, then you are going to create a lot of bad press for yourself. In the future consider going to the modern business model of providing a disc, and simply charging for it upfront in your package price. Obviously none of this was ever discussed with the client or put into a contract, so that is an epic fail on your part from the standpoint of communication and in the future you need to go through these things with a client to avoid confrontation or disappointment in the end. Big wedding mills, or big production type studios don't care about repeat business so they just sell, sell, sell, and count their beans. They don't care about managing a clients expectations! Those of us who don't have a sales force, and a receptionist, and a suit in the office running the show, have to answer to all of our customers needs personally so it is important to minimize disappointments early through the art of communication.
Comments
Don't worry. I can fix you in photoshop.
www.intruecolors.com
Nikon D700 x2/D300
Nikon 70-200 2.8/50 1.8/85 1.8/14.24 2.8
I Live at http://www.alaskamountainforum.com
I forget that there are still some people who run their business like they were shooting film by holding the "negatives" hostage and charging $50 for an 8x10! I steal business from you guys all the time just by telling clients "Does he include the disc? Do you get printable files? Does he edit each image by hand? Do you get a limited license to reprint so you can take you disc to a shop and have them printed? Hmmm... he doesn't give you any of that so I wonder what else he isn't giving you? I wonder what else you will have to pay for after the fact? His price is lower than mine but he can charge you whatever he wants before you get anything from him. How is that a good deal?" Easy pickins'!!! Whether another photographer works that way or not, if they don't have that conversation with a potential client I DO have that conversation and create fears and doubts in their mind about the other guy because of it... easy pickins' for me! I rely almost solely on referral business at this point and honestly don't directly compete as often as I did a couple years ago, but I wouldn't get any repeat business if I told my customers AFTER the fact that even though they payed me to shoot their wedding they now have to pay me again to get the pictures.
So, taking off my a-hole hat here... if you are, or are trying to be a working wedding photographer I wouldn't make big waves about this because if you do, then you are going to create a lot of bad press for yourself. In the future consider going to the modern business model of providing a disc, and simply charging for it upfront in your package price. Obviously none of this was ever discussed with the client or put into a contract, so that is an epic fail on your part from the standpoint of communication and in the future you need to go through these things with a client to avoid confrontation or disappointment in the end. Big wedding mills, or big production type studios don't care about repeat business so they just sell, sell, sell, and count their beans. They don't care about managing a clients expectations! Those of us who don't have a sales force, and a receptionist, and a suit in the office running the show, have to answer to all of our customers needs personally so it is important to minimize disappointments early through the art of communication.
My .02 . I'm sorry I was overly harsh. Good luck.
Matt
Bodies: Canon 5d mkII, 5d, 40d
Lenses: 24-70 f2.8L, 70-200 f4.0L, 135 f2L, 85 f1.8, 50 1.8, 100 f2.8 macro, Tamron 28-105 f2.8
Flash: 2x 580 exII, Canon ST-E2, 2x Pocket Wizard flexTT5, and some lower end studio strobes