Is your studio part of a 35 billion dollar a year industry? Despite this nasty recession that all of us are dealing with the pet industry has more than doubled the last ten years. Some of the reasons why, according to economic trend experts, are the aging US population, with retiring affluent boomers treating their pets almost like grandchildren, and a lot of US households choosing not to have children, the dog and cats fill that role for them.
Ok Bruce, what does this have to do with our profession? I noticed about a year ago at a photography convention that I was judging at a large number of pet portrait entries. When I got back to the studio I started to research pet photographers all over the country. What I found amazed me! There’s a market for this stuff!
Ok Bruce, what does this have to do with our profession? I noticed about a year ago at a photography convention that I was judging at a large number of pet portrait entries. When I got back to the studio I started to research pet photographers all over the country. What I found amazed me! There’s a market for this stuff! So, we decided to jump into the high end pet photography business during the first quarter of 2010. We decided to have a “pet” folio model search and market it to our existing clients via email and Facebook. Each pet model would get a free sitting and a complimentary 8x10, which they could also use as a credit towards a pet model search package we put together. We photographed our cats, my son Josh’s little dog, and my production manager Kelly’s little yapper that HATES me! These images were used to market the model search for us. A Facebook album was posted at about 3pm on a Thursday. Josh was going to link the email marketing story to the album to drive up our click through ratio on the email and create some buzz. By 3:10pm, before the email had gone out, we had already booked 5 sessions, and 2 were from brand new clients who were not in our network! This thing had already gone viral! 24 hours after the email blast to our clients, we had 24 sessions on the books.
We posted a “Pet” Folio Model Search Video on our Blog, Check it out HERE!
I know what you’re thinking, did we make in money? You bet! Our average sale was around $700, with a few going for several thousand. Ahhh, I think we hit a nerve! We are now photographing a few pets from time to time now and we are in the process of starting a whole new division of our studio. We have a website in the works, 2 displays (one in a high end pet boutique and another in a vet’s office), and some referral cards in the shape of dog bones to hand out! Even Martha Stewart is getting into the pet business; she has a line of clothes, toys, treats, and doggy beds now available at Pet Co.
Just some thoughts on how you can diversify into the pet market, there’s some real money to be made!
Bruce Hudson
We posted a “Pet” Folio Model Search Video on our Blog, Check it out HERE!
I know what you’re thinking, did we make in money? You bet! Our average sale was around $700, with a few going for several thousand. Ahhh, I think we hit a nerve! We are now photographing a few pets from time to time now and we are in the process of starting a whole new division of our studio. We have a website in the works, 2 displays (one in a high end pet boutique and another in a vet’s office), and some referral cards in the shape of dog bones to hand out! Even Martha Stewart is getting into the pet business; she has a line of clothes, toys, treats, and doggy beds now available at Pet Co.
Just some thoughts on how you can diversify into the pet market, there’s some real money to be made!
Bruce Hudson
No comments:
Post a Comment