Last fall I hired a photographer to take some photos of myself. After the session, I received a TON of beautiful images back. But after some time passed, I noticed that I only really looked at a few of those photos after the shoot. About a dozen were saved and printed, and the rest were more or less forgotten.
I was curious if this was the same with my clients, too, so I went back through some of the data. When I looked at gallery downloads, I found that my clients were doing the same thing. Most people, even when given a beautiful gallery of 80 or more images, lock onto a handful of them. And that's it. So, why are we spending all of this time editing and delivering images that never see the light of day again?
When I started my business back in 2010, we had all been used to going into a studio and expecting only a few images in return for our time and our money.
So, let’s bring that business model back. Let's talk about delivering less. Providing your clients with a limited selection of photos will lead to a more streamlined process, it will free up your time, and it will lead to more money on the table!
If you’re doing in person sales, you’re already used to this concept. Your business model is already set up to deliver a smaller number of photos, and you’re used to cutting back and choosing your favorites. But if you’re in the digital only space like me, it’s something you should consider.
Let’s use a family shoot as an example. How many photos are you sharing with the client? How much time are you spending, from the moment you leave your house to begin the shoot, to the moment you share the final gallery with your client? If it’s 8 hours, 10 hours, or an entire day, that’s a lot of time!
If you haven’t already, you should calculate how much you are paying yourself–in other words, your hourly rate–for these family sessions. Now, consider how much higher that hourly rate would be if you limited the number of edited photos you share with clients!
Pay attention to what your clients are using and printing and liking and downloading.
Choose the most amazing dozen photos you got from the shoot, and share those. Cutting way back on what you deliver can be so freeing for your business. Keep that money on the table and that time on your hands.
