Gonna Start Projected Proofing!

[HotHolly]

Wahoo! I just found a great deal on a projector - so I got it! We had wanted to convert to 100% digital proofing by the end of the year, but Im not a big fan of the online stuff. That wasnt working too well, solo.

Anyway, any tips from you seasoned pros about projector proofing in studio? What do you usually do? How much time do you allocate? Tell me! Tell me!

[Aric C. Hoek]

$$$

I will work on a detailed response tonight. I have to go get the kids from day care. Congrats!

[bondarnes]

We use a program called ProSelect and project onto a white wall in a semi darkened room. ProSelect allows us to compare two or three images side by side. It also allows us to pre build collages of two, three, four, or more images to mimic the mats that we sell. We just drag and drop the images into the templates to show how it might look as a finished collection. There is also a feature that projects a line on the wall. Measure the length of that line and enter that number into ProSelect to project images at exact print sizes. The Program is $99.00 for the basic like we use. It also has add on modules for retouching and/or lab ordering. We always allow at least one hour for a viewing session. We call our viewing sessions "Show Time". Val can demonstrate it for you Sunday.

[daveb]

Originally Posted by HotHolly

Wahoo! I just found a great deal on a projector - so I got it! We had wanted to convert to 100% digital proofing by the end of the year, but Im not a big fan of the online stuff. That wasnt working too well, solo.

Anyway, any tips from you seasoned pros about projector proofing in studio? What do you usually do? How much time do you allocate? Tell me! Tell me!

Stay away from an app called Image Razor Pro ... no matter how good it looks... it is buggy junk IMHO...

Proselect seems to be the way to go

[HotHolly]

Thanks Don and Dave. Aric - as always, can't wait to see what you post!

Im so excited about this and am really hoping its not a colossal waste of money. *Mike* has seen ProSelct demonstrated, which is what got us thinking about it in the 1st place.

The really dramatic shots looks so much cooler bigger. And I usually tell people and 11x14 is really small, and they think Im nuts. Right now, I have 20"x30" framed prints hanging, and one woman wants to order 2 that size and 1 other person thought those were WAY too big for normal people. Showing different sizes should help a lot. Do you guys gravitate or do your clients gravitate towards a certain size for wall portraits?

And then I bobbled off after the proofing party idea, for marketing purposes. And thats my little rant of excitement!

[Aric C. Hoek]

OK. The babies are in bed, the kitchen is clean, soft music to sooth the soul (John Patitucci – Zaragoza). Two and a half glasses of wine later and it is time to contribute.

In my humble opinion, projection is the way to go opposed to paper proofs or an online gallery. There are a few reasons for this, many of which we are already all aware of, but I figure I will go into them just the same, just in case something I bring up is new to someone. I will make an effort to give basic answers and some creative ways we use projection to sell albums in the studio.

Advantage #1: This actually may not be an advantage to some, but for me it is an advantage. With any form of projection you are better able to actually sell to your clients. I am talking about sitting at a table and using the power of suggestion to transfer money from your client’s wallet to your bank account.

If you are just getting into projection or are thinking about it, then you are doing something else currently to sell your images. I personally think one of the worst things you can do is to put your images from a bridal, engagement, or family session online and let your clients select from the comfort of their home. If you have sold a package that contains wedding coverage and an engagement or bridal session with any enlargements, then your clients will sit at home and select the images that come with their package and 9 times out of 10 they will not order anything else. No one is sitting there with them to suggest additional sales or creating a needs list for them. In fact, why do they need to order anything at all if they can get their image fix 24 hours a day, seven days a week by looking at them on the free online gallery you provided.

However, when you force your clients to view the images at your place of business, you can suggest additional products. And you can make sure to suggest the products that have the highest profit margin for you! Like say…. wallets. You do offer to sell multiple sets of wallets from every photo session…. don’t you? We sell a set of 8 wallets, of the same pose, for $75. Thats like a 5% cost of sales! How could you not offer to sell wallets?

Kind of hard to sell your client a frame to go with their fabulous portrait when they are looking at them online at their home.

In a sales meeting you should kindly continue to suggest additional sales until the client says no. It is much easer to do this when they are actually sitting in your studio, smelling the vanilla insence, listening to soothing music, and munching on the tsty snacks you have placed in front of them. We even have an espresso maker in the studio. If you keep sugesting, then your clients have the opportunity to keep saying yes, and if they do, then you are having a good day. Selling does take technique though, which brings me to my next advantage of projection.

Advantage #2: Top Down Sales. So you keep hearing that projection is better from everyone and their uncle’s neighbor’s dog, but how does it work? Are you just going to buy a projector and just like magic you will start selling bigger prints? Yea… not so much. There is a theory behind this form of sales, and I think to understand it properly you have to think backwards.

Imagine that you are showing your clients 5x5 paper proofs to sell your images. A question that comes up is to look at one size larger so you show them a 5x7 sample, then an 8x10, and then an 11x14, at which point the client says “that’s large enough”. I really hate it when that happens. If you can't do projection right now and you need to get out of the 11x14 rut you are in, one thing you can do is to stop selling 11x14’s all together and just make the next size up a 16x20. There are no rules as to what you can and can't sell to your clients. But I digress.

With projection you get to go the opposite direction. You start at the top and work your way down. You can start at a 40” print projected on the wall. Of course you will get the response that the image is too large for their needs and they would like to see something a bit smaller…. so you show them a 24x30. This is the theory of Top Down Sales.

That just gives me a nice warm fuzzy feeling all over.

Advantage #3. You don’t have to purchase 5x5 proofs anymore.

Advantage #4: You are going to become a better sales person really fast!

Advantage #5: It’s really cool when you couple the technology with software like Pro Select that allows you to display an exact 20x24 on the wall.

Advantage #6: There is a cool WOW factor when the client’s images are already projecting on the wall when they walk in for their sales consultation.

Advantage #7: You can use projection to sell additional wedding albums! If you have read a post I did a few weeks ago, then you know that I do not sell my wedding photography in packages. Everything is sold A La Carte, which means that some clients do not purchase a wedding album before their wedding. At which point I have the obligation to continue suggesting to my clients that they indeed will be sad if the images are no longer available to create an album for them in the future.

Each wedding that we cover comes with a DVD. The customer has to come to the studio to pick up their DVD as we will not ship it out, and our normal turnaround is about two weeks from their wedding date. In that time, we will design their wedding album in-house so that when they show up to pick up their DVD we have their wedding album projecting on the wall! They love it! Of course they ask if I can put it on my blog or if we can put it online somehow. The answer is no, but they are more than welcome to take it home in the form of a book! Parent albums are also discounted at this point for thirty days, but only with the purchase of a wedding album.

Indeed, some suggestions I give my clients are harsher than others. They escalate as my business relationship grows with them. In the beginning the suggestions are slight, as I do not want to piss anyone off, but after the wedding is over and the clients have picked up their DVD the suggestions have strings attached. I find using projection is a great tool to reinforce my suggestions.

Advantage #8: Wee through parties for each wedding. We invite the entire bridal party and both sides of the family into the studio to view a prepared slide show! Even if no one purchases a single image, we just got 20 people into the studio that have never been there before, which of course helps our word of mouth advertising!

WOW. I just killed that bottle of wine. Off to open number two. Thank goodness for spell check. Time to copy and paste this bad boy to the forum. Now if I can only find where I was going to put it in the first place.

[HotHolly]

Originally Posted by Aric C. Hoek

Advantage #8: Wee through parties for each wedding. We invite the entire bridal party and both sides of the family into the studio to view a prepared slide show! Even if no one purchases a single image, we just got 20 people into the studio that have never been there before, which of course helps our word of mouth advertising!

This is what caught my attention about this kind of proofing in the 1st place. WOM is brilliant at getting the EXACT kind of client I want to have and I thought this was a great way to get even more people enthralled with us. (I'm rereading this and it sounds kind of arrogant, but I really like my clients lately and we get along so well. I guess Im enthralled with them and vise versa - and Im happy about it!).

How do you go about this part of the gig? Do you invite the bride solo before this or have her come with everyone and present it on ProShow or something for the 1st time? You can tell what Im thinking, right?

And Im getting pretty good at sales. Changing formats (from paper to digital) will throw me at 1st. Plus, Im a technical idiot, so Mike will have to be nearby.

Off to eat a bunch of chocolate...yes, thats my vino.

[picasso]

I have never projected but would like to. I know a few people that do and they have all told me when you do it you need to project over a couch so the client can get a good idea of what it would look like over theirs at home. Made sense to me.

Paul

[HotHolly]

Wow! I bought the projector yesterday and its already here!

[debibelt]

chiming in with no good input - sorry

what'd you buy?

[*Mike*]

We picked up an InFocus projector when we saw a good deal on it. Here's the Froogle link

[kaceekae]

I just wanted to let you guys know, there is a group buy going on over on the Silverlake forum for ProSelect if anyone is interested in buying that program. The testimonials the ProSelect users have posted over there have been pretty convincing that I need to stop proofing online and start projecting. Heres the link to the thread.

[Aric C. Hoek]

have you got your projector set up yet? I am sure you started tinkering with it the moment you got it. I know I would have.

When is your next sales appointment? I want to hear how it goes for you. Good luck!! $$$

[HotHolly]

My new threads arent showing up. Sorry I didnt see this right away.

The projector showed up the day after I ordered it! That alone was super cool. Im afraid I'll break the light bulb, so Mike set the whole thing up. I'm learning how to use it. Its kind of entertaining - OK, Im the one thats entertaining.

We did a little dry run the other day. It wasnt really for sales (these people preordered everything), but they took order forms to disperse to family, so we will see what happens there.

Our 1st official projector session is next week for a wedding. This is what we've set up so far. Tell me if I missed anything.

The bride is choosing a date and time where she and up to 20 friends and family can come to the proofing session. We use ProShow Gold for slideshows - the entire wedding is being put into that format. This bride is young - about 20 yrs old. So we were going after a fun feel. Im planning on having food and drinks - little party.

They can watch her slideshow, and then they can come into the front area of the studio and place orders. I'm thinking we are gonna order 1 proof book - magazine style - that stays at the studio, and will be used for ordering.

We are offering special discounts and items that are only available AT the proofing party. I'm hoping that will get more people to come out. Our print prices are pretty high, so there will be really good deals on print packages.

I also made her an Asukabook. She has not pre-ordered anything. So, what I have heard with projected proofing and coffee table books is that - if you make them, they will sell. So, I thought we can see how that goes too.

If the group's total purchase reaches a certain dollar mark at the end of the night, the bride will get a few freeibies - like thank you cards (that have our studio name stamped on the back).

Any ideas? Am I missing anything major? Im sure I am. Im getting tired of flying by the seat of my pants! It looses the thrill after a while...and gets mighty drafty right before I fall flat on my face. The joys of working for yourself! Thank God for places like TPF! You all have been majorly helpful!

[RobyMD]

Holly any new info? It's been a few months now and I suppose you have a better idea of how projecting changed your proofing.