Chris Wunder on Basic Training to Capture an Expanding Market
Are you looking for ways to diversify your studio? School Photography could be the solution. If you’ve never considered it before, you might want to think about it now. According to Schools and Events expert Chris Wunder, the market is expanding and studio photographers are capturing more of it. Chris will present the basic training you need to sell, shoot, and manage high-volume workflow at the School Photography Boot Camp co-sponsored by Pounds. We asked Chris to tell the Pounds Community how Wedding, Portrait, Sports, and Event photographers can benefit from building their businesses with Underclass School Photography.
Is it best to specialize in Schools, or can Wedding and Portrait photographers diversify their studios to capture this market successfully ?
Undergrad School Photography is the perfect addition to any studio’s marketing plan. Most of the work is done on weekdays during the morning hours, so it doesn’t conflict with the busy time in regular studio schedules. Plus, as many traditional studio market segments are seeing declines (in-studio portrait sessions, weddings, commercial work, etc) there’s a continuing and growing market for School Photography. When times get tough, consumers look the best values they know, and a traditional favorite is School Photography.
Another good reason to enter the Underclass market is the revenue potential. School photographers routinely take in $1500 per hour in revenues. An average elementary school with 450 students can generate over $20,000 per year in sales for photographers who take advantage of all the opportunities there; Fall and Spring Portrait programs, Groups and Composites, Special Events and Yearbooks.
Wh at kind of skills do you need to manage the post-production in a high-volume market like School Photography?
School Photography has the most developed and efficient workflow systems in photography. You don’t have to be a computer whiz to manage it. These specialized workflows make it easy to match images of hundreds of students with corresponding student data provided by the school. This is done using your laptop computer tethered to your camera, CamLynx capture software (provided thru Pounds Labs)
and a barcode reader installed on your laptop. Then, using special cards preprinted beforehand with student data and barcodes, you can easily link the images and purchase at the camera. It’s easier than it sounds. After some practice, you can prepare 500 student orders for the lab in only 1- 2 hours. That’s much less than the time required to process a wedding for the lab.
Can the techniques presented in the Boot Camp be used to build business in other high-volume markets?
The techniques learned at the Boot Camp in becoming a School Photographer are essential building blocks in understanding high-speed, volume workflow for many types of Event Photography including Youth Sports Team and Individual (T&I) photography, photography in Daycares and Pre-Schools, Dances and Proms and almost any “volume” photographic opportunity. Anytime you need to do a lot of photos at an event, and be able to quickly track who you photographed and what they bought; you’ll need and use these basic techniques.
How can sole proprietors and small studio owners compete against school photography mega-companies that operate on a national level ?
Competing against the “national” companies is easier than you think.
Many schools are looking for a change. They just don’t have many choices. Many would consider a local studio that has learned the specialized photography needs of schools, has done specialized training, and has developed the workflows needed to handle 400 students in less than three hours. The School Photo Boot Camp can provide the skills necessary to start your School Photography business and help you build long-term relationships with local schools. It also helps to know the “secrets” of the competition and how you can out-service them. You’ll learn all this at the Boot Camp as well.
What do school photographers need to look for when choosing a professional imaging lab to fulfill their orders
?
School Photographers require a number of specialized lab products and services to be competitive with the “national” companies. Most pro labs do not provide these specialized services. You need to find a lab that specializes in “volume” work for School and Sports Photographers and who has the unique products and processes to help you be successful. Our company uses Pounds Photographic Labs because of their high quality and commitment to service. They offer all the specialized products we need to grow our School Photography business.
The Pounds Community team thanks Chris for sharing his expertise in School Photography with us.
For Boot Camp details and registration see Orlando: June 23-27 or Dallas: July 27-31. Attend either Boot Camp and receive a Pounds savings certificate for studio samples of school products. Sign up for the Dallas Boot Camp, and you’ll be invited to a special tour of Pounds Labs. We look forward to seeing you here!