Calendar of Events
MONTHLY MEETINGS
(Fourth Monday of each month)
4181 West 150 St.
(In front of the Holiday Inn
at I-71 & 150 St.)
216-671-4681
Board Meeting at 6:00 p.m.
(All are invited)
Dinner 7:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Meeting begins 8:00 p.m.
June 25
Awards & Installation Banquet
Gina
Dalessandro
"The Fine Art of Mass Mailing"
More...
President's Message
My how time flies by. It doesn't seem like it has been a year
since I took office as your President. It has been an
interesting time for both
SONOPP and the photography
industry. I want to thank everyone involved in
putting together a great lineup of speakers this past year.
We covered a vast range of topics and everyone that attended
certainly benefited from the programs. (
Click here for some
scenes from May's meeting.) I guess if I had one
disappointment from this past year it would be the turnout at some
of the meetings. You can't learn anything new if you don't
attend the meetings. All
SONOPP can do is provide
the speaker and the opportunity - you have to attend to benefit. Remember, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it
drink. If you didn't attend each meeting this past year, you
really missed out on some wonderful information. (And if you
missed the meeting with John VanSteenburg, check out his talk
here.)
Over the past year, the
photography business has become more challenging for many of us.
Professional photographers are retiring, downsizing and going out of
business. There has never been as much competition as there is
right now. Uncle Harry and Digital Debbie are taking a bite
out of the wedding photography business. More and more
consumers are buying high end digital cameras and taking photos
themselves instead of hiring a professional. I am hearing of
professionals lowering their prices in order to compete. This
is certainly a recipe for disaster. Other professionals are
panicking and deciding to relinquish their digital
files with the assignment. Again, another misguided attempt to
solve the problem of less business by not addressing the real
issues. Lowering prices or giving away files only lowers your
profits and potential sales.
As professionals, we need to differentiate ourselves from just
anyone with a camera. Start by emphasizing the fact that
"real" professional photographers belong to professional
photographic organizations like SONOPP. That "real'
professional photographers have a vendor's license and
liability insurance. Show potential clients that there
is a "real" difference. Produce only the highest quality
products. I can't believe that some of our colleagues still
use Sam's Club, Wal-Mart, or Costco
to print some of their work. If you use the same level of
photo finishing as consumers do how can you expect to get paid
better for your images?
Create a professional experience for your customers. Have a
respectable looking place to see your clients with awards and
membership certificates on the walls. Keep the place neat and
clean. Vacuum and dust once in a while. Answer the phone
when it rings. Forward your calls if you need to, but don't
just let an answering machine or voice mail take your calls.
Remember, the Uncle Harry's and Digital
Debbie's are probably at their day jobs during normal
business hours and can't take calls at work. Call people back
in a timely fashion. It is amazing how many customers tell me
that they never get called back from other photographers. As I
have written before, professional photographers are
responsible for many of the problems that we now face. If we
act like Uncle Harry and Digital Debbie, we won't
get paid any better than they do. Enough said.
I want to take this opportunity to wish Robert Neldon
and the new Board of Directors of SONOPP much
success in the coming year. Please support them as they lead
this great association. SONOPP is only as good
as its members. Make SONOPP everything it can
be by attending the meetings and helping out when you can.
Thanks for a great year
Patrick
Rice, SONOPP President 2006 - 2007
