the event... and my life in general. the main reason that I almost lost track of this thread. even though it is a high priority for me to DO SOMETHING.
my life:
the event, I passed out 230 invitations with date and time, to a wide variety of potential customers in a variety of venues to try to get a diverse attendee population.
I got two positive responses from constant contact
I got one positive response from a personal contact.
of the two constant contact, one actually kept her appointment time
and the one personal contact, kept his appointment time.
I got a second visitor, that didnt want to take photos, but to give support and come see my 'display'
that was it.
I was on location at 8 am, shot two sessions, and was done with nothing to do by 1 pm, and I had the building until 8 pm. I gave up and went home at 5 pm. I made enough money ($400) to pay myself, and my assistant for our time, and to cover the expense of renting the building and paying for the printed announcements.
one - two - three - four
I do not say that it was a bust, but I truly think that I should have promoted it much earlier, and had specific sign ups for parents to make it more a 'concrete' appointment.
the next weekend event was on location 75 miles away, that went better, I had 4 show up and each ordered a respectable amount, the average was $240 per family, so it paid for my time, my assistants time, and the costs of marketing it. plus I gained an additional booking
I gained more 'portfolio' examples from the 6 families, I think that I will work those families into referral familes, so that my business will double and I will have 12 families next time.
I was able to be successful in giving each family truly personal time and attention to detail in the shooting, and the sale. but it does take a lot of time.
added onto that a 50+ kid daycare during that week, and booking another 50+ kid daycare next week for holiday portraits, I am confident that things are going well.
I still truly need to 'get out there' and promote myself more. it is just about as important to SELL your wares as it is to BUILD your talent. you just can not do one without the other.
