I remember it well. It was 2008 and I had made the decision to transition to full-time photography. Until this point, I had been a freelance newspaper photographer and had also photographed weddings for several years. Now I was going to change my focus to studio photography. I decided to learn all I could before making that leap.
I began attending every workshop and class I could. Luckily, there were a multitude of opportunities available. I’m midway between Cleveland and Columbus, and seminars in those cities were abundant.
I began plopping down $49-$79 dollars on a consistent basis, thinking the price was such a deal. After attending every single seminar offered in 2008 using this model, I began to question their worth.
I was so excited. I was going to network and meet other photographers and soak in the brilliance of the speaker for the evening. I just knew that my work would improve by leaps and bounds. But I was mistaken. Very mistaken.
I was seated in large room with 200-400 other photographers. For the next 4 hours, I was fed small doses of information in between large plugs for the speaker’s product line. There is nothing more disappointing than being told that an additional $400 purchase of tutorials and actions was necessary to churn out the same look as work of the photographer on stage. One speaker flew through their posing and light setups so fast that to this day, I cannot decipher the stick figure diagrams that I was scribbling out. Yes, I could have purchased the presentation on DVD and reviewed it at my leisure, but I refused to pay the $199 price tag.
I understand that leaving a studio to do a speaking tour leaves one upside down on studio income. But getting anywhere from $5 – $30K for admission fees for one night of speaking, topped off by sales of several hundred dollars minimum is absolutely ridiculous. If you can’t take the studio income loss without raking in the dough from fellow photographers, then I suggest you stay at the studio.
From DVD recordings, lessons and tutorials to CDs of templates, actions and posing guides, I was constantly encouraged to purchase. Most often, the minimum purchase was $199 or so. Sure, I’ve got that right in my back pocket.
Since that summer of non-learning, I have looked around and discovered that there is quite a market of photographers selling to other photographers. Backgrounds, clothing, gear, templates, actions, senior rep programs, posing guides, camera bags, websites etc. The list is endless.
How does one make the jump from photographer to educator to salesman?
Here’s an idea: If you have that much to say and desire to teach and share your knowledge with other photographers, but can’t do so without selling a line of products…how about you sit down and write a book? A real book of paper. With a cover. Sell it for somewhere in the $29 range. I’m a sucker for books. I have quite the library and value photography business and technique books highly.
If you’ve got something so all-fired important to say, that you just HAVE to share it with the photographic community, write it down. It sure beats you trying to hawk your wares under the guise of teaching a class.
I watched this happen about 5 years ago as all the photographers that use to speak for local "Professional Photographer Associations" (PPA, WPPI) for a small honorarium, they found that the flow of money from clients was now partially going to the amateur competition (garage photographer, DWAC- Dude with a camera). So why not take the prestige of being a Professional as your credential and sell what you have made your living with. What this has done is ruined the whole industry. This has encourage anybody with a camera that wants to call themselves a photographer can now say they are a professional photographer. The group out of Atlanta called the Professional Photographers of America is as guilty of this as any of the Sandy Pucs or Dave Junions or whom ever you might find on the circuit selling their version of you too can shoot pretty pictures for a living. PPA has pandered to any and all comers whether they even knew a pixel from a lens cap and they now sit on a couple of million dollars worth of their dues raking more and more money all the while the quality of the product delivered continues to be "just good enough" to have somebody pay for it. The excellent photographers are starving while DWAC sells just enough for him to cover his lab bill. This industry will be killed not by one large catastrophe but by a thousand little errors in selling poor work and calling it professional, killed not by a single bullet but by a thousand paper-cuts.
You are in error. The PPA specifically prohibits “selling from the podium.” That is why, to this day, I will only attend PPA-sponsored education.
I don't think Apple was thinking about the industry when it introduced the iPod, iPhone, or iPad. Really! The bottom line is that the industry doesn't care if you fail or suceed. Who give a Sh@t about the industry? The only industry that matters is your photography business. I've always found that our biggest competitor is ourselves. If we do what is needed every day, week, and month from year to year, none of this silly stuff will matter. You can do it! Kent, I know you did it when not so long ago you doubled the number of seniors you did in a single year! What do any of you offer today that you didn't offer a year ago? What do you have that other photographers don't have? This is the problem, not how many new photographers there are, or how Sandy and anyone else decides to make a living. The game's not over folks! Let's not complain, criticize, or condem. Where's the fire in the belly? Let's stop saying there's no hope and invest all this energy in rewriting the future. I guess I can rant too, eh?
I love your blog.
And the sad part, those of us who DO want to teach REAL information with few enough people to be able to talk and answer questions. People don't understand the difference between "Speaking" and "Teaching" and its a huge one. But, unfortunately this is the new "norm" people don't want to spend $250-$400 for a 2 or 3 day workshop where you can actually learn something. It seems like its either $49 or $1500….blows me away.
Amen!