Our profession is losing studios (in big numbers) everyday.  The fact is a lot of point and shoot cameras and even some phone cameras have larger “mega pixels” than my $27,500 Kodak 460 camera I bought in 1996.   I have nothing against part timers or MWAC – most of us started out in a similar way.  My statement is what are you doing that is better or different?   Or,  what are you doing that someone else doesn’t want to do? or maybe it’s both?

 A few years back I was having lunch with the late Don Blair and I asked the question – how do you make real money?  His answer was one word – SCHOOLS!

In pre-digital days, for those who remember film, it was almost impossible for a regular studio to break into the school market.  The “big guys” had it all locked up.  You needed special equipment, different marketing and definitely a different mindset than being a typical portrait-wedding studio.

 The school market isn’t something mom is going to photograph, but she is going to buy a package of her kid - no matter what it looks like!  I know I bought every packet for the first twelve years of each of my kids.

You no longer need big cameras on big tripods.  And you can speed up the process by hooking up with a lab that does school work.  They usually will give you the software you’ll need as long as you use their lab.  Even better and more important is that many good labs have there own seminars on “how to” capture and manage underclass photography.

schoolday

 

 

So if you like working during the week rather than weekends and if you like making real money – look into the school market.

At the risk of sounding like an infomercial, I’m pretty proud of the 80 page book my sons have developed.    How to Make an Extra Million Dollars is a complete book about the school market:   contracts, price lists and the bidding process.  Contact roch@romaguera.com for more information on the book and the lab we use.