Yesterday, we started accepting appointments for FotoFlyAway.  The available appointments will be limited initially as we begin – only a few per day.  We are also scheduling only a few weeks ahead.  These restrictions are to ensure that we are starting this in a controlled, quality-driven way.   We will be opening up the March and April schedule beginning February 1st.

During the month of January, we are going to have an introductory, Winter rate of $100.

Normally, we will be charging $125 for a CD with your images.  We will print sheets for $4.  We feel like this stays with our mission to be affordable for every family and covers the additional expense of photographing sessions at Thanksgiving Point.

Our studio limits on # of people and pets are lifted at FotoFlyAway.  I have to be honest about one thing, I am still concerned about the largest of extended families (20+ people).  It may be that we introduce an upper limit at some point.  I’m excited about photographing pets.  I can’t wait until our first pet-only session.  I hope that I can overcome the natural dislike animals have for me (ask me sometime about my deer, walrus, monkey, or lion story).

The only way to schedule appointments currently is through the website.

We we’re enjoying our partnership with Thanksgiving Point and appreciate all that they have done to make this happen.  We are excited to offer more variety.  Our photographers are also thrilled with this new concept.

I promise that we will deliver outdoors what we have been able to deliver indoors:  unique, fun, stylish – in other words FotoFlyish – photography.  Try us out in January – you will not regret it.  There are many, many great spots that are beautiful for photos.

One thing that I learned a long time ago is that people always have expectations.  Whether it’s a movie or a marriage or dinner or a photography session – people form expectations about what the experience will be before it happens.  At FotoFly, we understand what your expectations are and try to pleasantly surprise you each time you visit.

With FotoFly Santa, you and I formed expectations.  I formed them when we developed the program.  You formed them when you made an appointment.  Now that we have done this for a week, I have made it through most of the learning curve and have reset my expectations on some things and want to be sure that you are clear about what the experience is going to be like before you enter our tent.

First, when we originally set the program, we were planning on shooting one pose per customer.  We felt we could easily do that in 5 minutes and scheduled appointments 5 minutes apart.  This past week, we evolved to attempting two poses per session when possible.  My reason for doing this was to increase the odds that you would like at least one image.  If we only did one pose, if you didn’t like it, you’re stuck.  There are some situations where we only do one pose:  a child is REALLY struggling or it’s a large group. If we can reasonably do two poses, we go for it.

Because of this desire to create two poses, we are finding that we are often running behind schedule – at times, we’ve been up to an hour behind schedule.  Those of you who have been to the Draper studio know that this is not normal for us.  Since the appointments are so short at FotoFly Santa, a few difficult children in a row have a compounding effect on the wait and suddenly we’re 30 minutes behind.

There are a few simple, unacceptable solutions to this problem:

•  Take only one pose. Again, I don’t like giving you one option.

•  Lower our quality standard to ‘good enough’ so we can move quicker. I can’t do that.

•  Schedule more time per session and still charge $20. If we allow more time for each session, we are going to have to charge more.

•  Add a camera. We tried that today, it didn’t work for a variety of reasons.

So, this is what you can expect.  When you arrive at our tent, you check in by giving us your name and a phone number where we can text you.  At that point, we can give you a pretty good idea of if we are on time or how far we are behind.  You can then choose to wait in our tent and be entertained by watching us do our thing – or, you can choose to explore Thanksgiving Point and we can text you when we’re about ready for you. We have a traditional Santa there.  He’s ready to talk with your children and give them a candy cane – either before or after your session.

When it’s your turn for pictures, one of our assistants with help you get dressed in a Santa costume.  Again, you can elect to have our Santa stand in for you if you think your kids will be okay with it.  Once you’re dressed and we start, you can expect that Mike and/or I will give you our full, complete attention for a reasonable amount of time to ensure that you get the absolute best Santa pictures within our power to create.  We will give everything we have for you and your children – whatever it takes. We really, really want you to like your Santa pictures – we want the images to be legendary.  There will be no question in your mind that we are giving it 100%.

This may take 5 minutes, it may take 10 minutes, it may take 2 minutes.  You may watch us work with a family for ten minutes and then be surprised when we are done with yours in two.  This does not equate to a difference in quality. We have the same standard of quality, it just takes longer sometimes.  We literally have done some of our best sessions in two minutes.

After your session, you can expect that we are going to spend 10-15 minutes editing your pictures.  Last week, this took us as long as 30-40 minutes – mostly due to Mike and I forgetting to take a picture of your ‘session identification card’ before your session and our editors had to figure out who you were.  We’ve gotten much better at doing that and the editing time is much, much quicker.  We will text you when your images are done being edited and you will go into the Emporium – just to the North of our tent.

We will quickly show you your images and load them on the flash drive and you can print prints up to an 8×10 in size – which we begin printing immediately and it takes about 2 minutes per sheet to print.

The main reason I wanted to write this was to communicate that there is sometimes a wait before your session.  I believe that, if you are expecting that and plan for it, it will be a more pleasant experience for all of us.  Thanksgiving Point has a deli and ice cream and shopping and reindeer and ice sculptures.  I suppose it’s entertaining watching Mike and I hit each other with squeaky toys.

It’s our goal to be on time and we reevaluate every day what we’re doing and where we can improve.  I’ve been stressed about this because I care about everyone that walks through those tent doors and I really want every one of those kids to be happy and get good pictures.  I sense when you are getting frustrated and I want everyone’s experience to be perfect.  We’re falling short on that and I’ve been amazed at how understanding everyone is.  We appreciate it.

Mike and I are photographing about 70 sessions each day in the six hours that we are open.  We’ve got a support team that are all working hard to greet, dress, edit, present, and print as good and quick as possible.  We commit that we will give as much effort into the last session as we did the first. Your pictures will be worth the wait – expect that.

Last week, as I was sitting on the floor with a three year old debating whether Shrek or Cars was a better movie, I couldn’t help compare my life now with how I lived just a few years ago.  Three years ago, I was VP of Human Resources of a nationwide photography company.  Back then, I had almost no contact with the studios or our customers.  My work was with fellow professionals at the corporate office.  We had departments.  We had chains of command.  There were politics and unwritten rules.  I endured endless meetings.  There was sometimes backbiting and gossip.  We all had agendas…some hidden.  While I like adults in general, I think I prefer working with children.  Let me explain:

Adults remember your faults…children remember that you promised them fruit snacks.

Adults sometimes have ulterior motives…children act exactly how they feel.

Adults hold grudges…children forgive immediately.

Adults play political games…children just play games.

Adults can spit expletives…children spit up.

Adults care about position…children care about toys.

Adults are suspicious…children believe whatever you say and actually think I’m magic.

Adults talk behind your back…children don’t even know what that is.

Adults are sometimes hard to motivate…children will do anything for a treat.

Adults bend the truth…children are, often, too truthful (we hear some pretty good stories parents).

Adults carry baggage…children live in the moment.

Adults judge you…children read you.

Adults can be distracted and discouraged…children are focused and relentless.

Adults sometimes bring out the worst in you…children always bring out the best.

I probably sound cynical about working in the corporate world and maybe I am.  But the contrast from then and now is pretty huge.  As our company grows, I will never put myself in a corporate office again.

I speak for everyone on the staff when I say I love these kids we work with.  Parents often comment about our patience in our sessions.  I’m actually not sure we’re particularly patient.  But we do see children as they are and we respect them.  They are the very best kind of humans.  People also ask us how we stay so cheerful and energetic all day.  Well…how could we not?

Almost every day, customers ask four things.

1. Will you do outdoor photos?
2. Can you fit large groups?
3. Will you photograph pets?
4. How did you get so amazing, yet still be humble?

Up until now, our answers have been:

1. No we don’t.
2. Up to 15 people.
3. Sorry.
4. It’s an intense regimen of weight lifting, stylish clothes, great hair, practicing the piano, and reading the classics like To Kill a Mockingbird and…that’s the only classic I can think of right now.

This is about to change (except for me being awesome).  For weeks now, we have been meeting with Thanksgiving Point.  We have created a partnership where we will photograph sessions on their property.  They also are providing us some interior space for showing and printing your images.  As with our studio, you will still be able to see your images in a slide show following your session and receive prints immediately.  This is a big deal for us and we literally couldn’t be more excited about it.  It’s as if we just built a multi-acre, multimillion dollar studio!

If you haven’t been to the gardens at Thanksgiving Point, go see it.  I wouldn’t consider myself someone who normally gets amazed at landscaping.  I was amazed at this.  The grand scope and attention to detail are impressive.  It really is a beautiful, peaceful place.  After visiting it the first time, I knew that this was the place where FotoFly should operate.  Needless to say, the grounds are perfect for photography.  There is variety here that we would not be able to recreate anywhere else in Utah.  I have to admit it’s the first time I was tempted to frolic.

We are at the experimental stage of figuring out how to best use the property.  To celebrate our passing 10,000 fans on Facebook, I am offering 10 free sessions for us to experiment with the different aspects of the property.  I’m assuming that there will be a learning curve with this and we will need these sessions to identify what the unexpected challenges are.  So, if you can deal with the unexpected, you should enter this contest.  These sessions will happen in the next 2-3 weeks.  The details of this contest are on our Facebook page.

There will be a price difference between the studio and our outdoor location.  We are setting the price at $125 for a CD with your images.  This is obviously different than our studio price but does not reflect an inherent difference in value. There are simply different costs associated with this.  We are anticipating that there may be some additional time required to move around the property.  We believe that this price keeps with our mission of being affordable for everyone.

We will NOT have a 15 person limit on group pictures.  Also, you will be able to include pets in your family picture!

We will have an additional website, fotoflyaway.com with its own scheduling program.  It is not online yet but I’ll let you know on Facebook when it is.

The falling temperature will naturally limit the number of sessions this Fall and Winter, but we expect to open in earnest in the Spring.

When I opened FotoFly over a year ago, my goal was to focus on one specific type of photography and NOT try to be all things to all people.  This was the right approach in the beginning.  It allowed us to focus and get very good at one thing.  Now, we are ready to expand what we do.  We are able to grow.  Our photography is better than ever and our photographers have been asking for this for a while now.  There is almost nothing as motivational as progressing and these photographers are ready.

We have decided that this will precede our planned studio expansion.  You can expect that we will grow our studio operations next year.  We are planning on first expanding into the adjacent space.  The new space will be a different concept than what we currently have – we’re taking it to another level.  I think offering an outdoor option first is a better move.  Some people prefer inside a studio and some prefer an outdoor session.  Everyone prefers having a choice and variety and we are now able to deliver.

This is exciting for us.  I’ve always felt like we’re either progressing or falling behind.  This is true in business, photography, life, and body building and I am progressing in all of those things.  Yeah, you heard me…

We don’t put our logo on our images that we print.  We don’t place them on pictures that we post on Facebook or on our website.  When we burn them to your CD, they don’t include a FotoFly logo.  Every so often, I get asked why we don’t.  My answer is simple.  I don’t like them.

When we first opened the studio, we planned to insert a logo at the bottom of each image.

When I first opened the studio, I initially designed a logo that would go on each picture.  I think I was on autopilot based on what I had seen at other studios.  As I printed that first picture with our logo on it, I couldn’t help but think about why I was doing it.

To me, the two biggest reasons that photographers place a logo on their image are:

First:  marketing.  With pictures being printed and emailed, you would be dumb NOT put your logo on it right?  It’s great exposure!  People will see a good picture and have no question who created it.  It did seem like a good idea to promote my studio and establishing a brand.  But, as I really thought about it, I felt like it is drafting the customer to promote the studio whether they wanted to or not.  I thought if I asked every customer if they wanted my logo on their picture, 100% would say NO.  So, why would I do something that my customers didn’t like so I could attract more customers?  It doesn’t really make sense.  I think customers have tolerated it because it is so universal.  But, I suggest that people revolt and ask photographers to stop using their pictures as flyers.

I can see why it makes sense to put logos on shampoo or cars or electronics.  In a lot of cases, the brand is inherent in the value of the product.  However, with photography (like most art) the value of the product is in the beauty of the creation.  Leonardo da Vinci did not sign or date the Mona Lisa.  Someone check if Michelangelo carved his logo on David.  I’m guessing no.  What’s interesting is that the most famous artists’ work is immediately identifiable because of their technique or style.  Think Ansel Adams or Picasso or Salvador Dali.  The goal for FotoFly is that, when people see a picture we’ve taken, people automatically know where it came from.  I would like us to be identifiable not through a logo but through the image itself.

Second:  copyright protection. Photographers who don’t give you the electronic image don’t want you to be able to use the image in any way without paying for it.  So, they will place their logo across an image so that the world will know that you didn’t pay for it if you use it.  This is obviously not an issue for us since we give every image to every customer.

I'm glad this isn't necessary.

From the beginning, we decided that we will not place our logo on any of the electronic or printed pictures coming from FotoFly.  To be honest, I haven’t had a customer mention the lack of a logo.  But, I have to assume that they prefer it that way.  I feel good that the only thing being promoted in our portraits is the person.

I kinda like that other photographers do this.  I think it is one more reason to come to FotoFly.  I also like other photographers mark up their work as their own so no one mistakes their photographs for ours.  I probably shouldn’t even write this post…  So, I’m going to do a Jedi wave and say to the photographers that ‘this isn’t the post you were looking for.’

There are things in life that people put off until conditions are perfect.  I remember being young and imagining the ideal situation for me to get married.  I would date the woman for at least a year.  I would already have a great career and a college degree. I would probably be living in a nice house.  I would have money for a nice honeymoon somewhere tropical.  It would be perfect.

In reality, I got engaged three weeks after meeting my wife.  We were married three months later.  I was five years away from graduating.  On my wedding day, I had no job and no prospects.  We weren’t sure where we would live.  Since we didn’t have any money, we honeymooned in St. George in my parent’s house.  We watched a lot of movies from Blockbuster.

After we were married, we thought about the ideal conditions for having children.  We would for sure want to have insurance.  I had a job but knew that we should wait until I could support the family on my own so my wife could be with our child.  Again, we should wait at least until I had graduated from college.  We thought it would be a good idea to save some money to buy all that was needed to take care of a child.

In reality, we got pregnant 6 months after we were married.  We had no insurance.  I was making $8 per hour.  I was still years away from graduating from college.  We had no money.  I had to sell my car to pay the hospital when our son was born.  We would end up having two more children over the next 3 years.  When I finally did graduate from college, we had three children and I was still making $8 per hour.  It was not ideal.

During those early years, Melinda and I did not take care of ourselves.  I gained about 60 pounds.  I did not like how I looked and certainly didn’t like people taking pictures of me.  Melinda and I decided that we would put off taking pictures until we had lost the weight.  We were waiting for ideal conditions.  One day in 1998, I took some friends to the mountains to take some pictures of them.  For some reason, we suddenly decided that we would get ours done too.  I gave the camera to my friend and let him take a shot…

This is officially the worst family picture we have ever done.  I look like I was stung by a bee.  Not the best family picture.  All-denim shirts…a classic.

Here’s the strange part, this picture means more to me than almost any picture taken before or since.  This is the ONLY family picture we had taken while our children were very small.  We were waiting for the time when we would look better.  We waited so much that we robbed ourselves of capturing those stages and milestones of our family.  Now that our children are teenagers and are starting to leave the house, it feels sad.  Yes, we have pictures of our children as they grew.  But  we have almost nothing as a family.  I would give anything to go back and document my RELATIONSHIP with them as well as them individually.

As we photograph children, we occasionally suggest to the parent to jump in on a shot. Almost without exception, the parent politely declines – usually saying, ‘No thanks, I’m not quite picture ready yet.’  I think that most of us adults, especially new moms are a little self conscious about how we look.

The point of this post is that we should not wait for conditions to be ideal to get pictures WITH our children.  Most of us think: “I’ll wait until I lose these ten pounds.”  Or, “I’ll wait until my hair grows out.”  Or, “Maybe when my face clears up…”  All of these reasons are understandable but if you’re waiting for the perfect situation before you get family pictures done, you may wait too long and miss capturing an important time in your family’s history.  Since we were married in 1992, we have had our family pictures taken four times.  Once in 1998, in 2000, again in 2006, and the last one was in 2009.  By the way, the last two were the day before an open heart surgery for me – just in case I didn’t make it…  That’s what it took to motivate us…it’s pathetic and kinda sad.

So, those that are waiting for conditions to be perfect to get married or have children will never get there.  If they do wait, they will see their opportunities slip away and likely regret their inaction.  As this relates to photography, if you have a chance to jump into a picture with your child at FotoFly, take it!  It DOES NOT MATTER what you look like! Imagine how much that image will mean to you to see the RELATIONSHIP that exists between you and your child.  I promise we will make you look 1.5 times better than you actually do!  If you’re putting off getting your family picture done until you feel comfortable about how you look – reconsider.  Those pictures will mean more and more as time goes on and you’ll never regret getting it done.  Conversely, you will ALWAYS regret NOT doing it.

No matter what your family looks like, the relationships that exists between you and your kids are beautiful.  Our job is to capture the very best feelings and emotions that exist in your family.  If we are successful, I think you’ll agree that the picture will look simply perfect.

Last year, beginning in November, we began our list.  This was a list you did not want to be on.  It was filled with those who felt uneasiness and worry.  It started innocently at first.  It started on paper.  But…that list became unwieldy and we actually had to create a database.  In this database, we listed people’s preferred times and deadlines.  We were able to get many off of the list, but some were disappointed.  Who were these people and what was this list?  This was our infamous ‘wait list.’  These were customers who wanted to get into FotoFly during November or December when we didn’t have any open appointments.  The ‘list’ got to be over 80 people long and was not a pleasant experience.

We hated telling people that, even though their family was in town for a few days, we did not have any appointments.  It was horrible telling a new mom that we would try very hard to get them in but couldn’t guarantee when it would be.  We heard stories of planned Christmas cards or gifts.  We turned away many people last year.  Those phone calls were the worst.

If every appointment were available during November and December and each fan wanted to come in, we would be able to help 10% of you.  That means nine out of ten of you would be disappointed.  This year will be even more challenging than last year.  Last year, we had only been open a few months.  Our customer base is much bigger now.

So, to help this situation, I would like to entice and encourage you to schedule an appointment before the crush of the Christmas season.  I am offering a free 11×14 to all customers who VISIT US in September.  This is good for those who schedule now or have an appointment already.  We charge $20 for an 11×14 normally – so, you’re getting a nice Christmas gift for someone for free.

I’m hoping that this post doesn’t backfire andI’ve created a rush to schedule an appointment during December.  If you can, VISIT US this month.  You’ll have one less thing to do between Thanksgiving and the end of the year!

When people talk about their ‘Christmas list,’ it is usually a positive thing.  It’s a list of things that they wish for.  Our Christmas list has nothing positive about it.  It represents frustration and anxiety.  This year, we want to serve every single family that wants to come to FotoFly.  This is hopefully a step in the right direction.  I appreciate anyone who can visit us early – you’ll open a spot up for someone who cannot.

Over the past year, I’ve spoken to many, many parents who are done paying for school pictures.  They’ve paid $30-40 (per child) for pictures that they don’t really like.  I’ve heard complaints about fake/no smiles, off-center cropping, no attention to detail, etc.  They feel manipulated into buying larger packages simply because they want an 8×10.  They consider many of the sizes useless.  (What is a ‘mini’ anyway and how is it used?  Earrings?  Dollhouse?)  It seems the paper is cheap and the image foggy.  Basically, it’s something that parents feel obligated to buy but don’t hang on a wall, send out to people, or use in any way.

We’re offering a better option for school pictures.  For $79, you can include all of your children in the same session.  You will receive whatever combinations of them together and apart that you want.  We will spend 45 minutes with you – not 45 seconds.  Your pictures will be creative and fun and good.  In every way, our pictures will be superior to what you are overpaying for at school.  You could say we have a superiority complex.

Begin the tradition now of coming to FotoFly for your school pictures.  We will capture their personality and how they are growing each year much better than what you’ll get at school.  It’s not even close.  To sweeten the deal, with the CD, we will give you two free sheets if you visit before August 15th. We are the Robin Hood of photography…

*Note:  there is one school photographer in the valley that is different.  The company name is Capture Studio (capturestudio.com).  This year they are doing a handful of schools.  What makes them different is that they, like us, are focused on the electronic image.  They charge $18 for the CD and you pay <$2 per sheet and you select the sizes you want! The owner is a good friend of mine and I am helping him train his photographers to make the school pictures as good as they can possibly be.  If you’re lucky enough to have them at your school – good for you.  If you are stuck with another photographer, talk to your principal or PTA about switching.

It’s hard to believe that we have already been open almost a year.  We’re pleased with how it is going.  It seems like, to us, people walk away thrilled with what we’ve done.  It always makes our day when someone takes the time to write something on our Facebook page.  We get a lot of compliments from customers through email, internet posts, letters, and in person.  As some of you know, I have a bit of an ego and FotoFly doesn’t help in keeping me humble.  It’s not unreasonable to think that we are approaching perfection.

Well, for the record, we aren’t.  Sometimes, things do not go well.  There are sessions where we struggle.  There have been times where we haven’t been able to connect with the child and the pictures reflect that.  Sometimes I am not pleased when reviewing someone’s pictures.  The photographers, me included, make posing or lighting errors.  There have even been a few sessions where we didn’t take a single picture and had to reschedule.

We occasionally fail at explaining how we do things and someone will show up expecting something we don’t do.  Frequently, the photographers get carried away and spend too much time editing the pictures while the customer waits.  We’ve had printers stop working at inopportune times.  We’ve even had a customer get home and attempt to view her pictures – only to discover that her CD is blank.  Very disappointing…

With many companies (restaurants, dentists, golf courses), if you’re ten minutes late – it’s not a big deal.  With us, since we start every session on time, we won’t allow your session to run into the next one if you’re late.  We always try to make it up and give you the variety that you expect- but those missed ten minutes are significant for us.  This can be frustrating to people for us to be that rigid.

I cringe whenever I ask a customer how it went and her answer is ‘good’ or ‘ok.’  I really, really want every customer to leave being amazed at their experience and say, ‘Wow – it was unbelievable!  I love my pictures!’  This is something that causes me a lot of stress.  When you create something, it becomes an extension of you and it’s hard not to take things personally.

I’m getting better at accepting that we aren’t and can’t be perfect.  All we can do is our best and learn from the frequent mistakes that we do.  I can say that we have the best kind of people working here.  They sincerely care about what they’re doing.  They are trying to be creative in every session.  These photographers want the pictures to be good as much as you do.  They allow themselves to get emotionally involved in each session – which is risky for them because they become vulnerable.  When they talk to you at the beginning of the session, you will feel the earnestness coming from them.  Their goal is to give you the best expressions, poses, lighting, creativity, and variety possible.  Sometimes, a tired toddler or an upset infant has other plans.  But, I can safely say that these photographers are committed to make the best of whatever situation and do everything possible to get the absolute best result.

They are very skilled but intend to get better.  They are great photographers now – wait until next week, or month, or year – they’ll be even better.  I cannot include what they do in a job description.  Imagine a job description that said, ‘Catch spit-up in your hand to protect a dress’ or ‘Hit yourself in the head to get a smile if necessary’ or ‘Bring an extra shirt to work because you’ll likely get peed on.’  I can’t pay these people enough to do what they do.  They are voluntarily giving this to me and you and it’s inspiring.

So, we are not perfect – not even close.  We are trying to be.  We constantly talk about how to improve.  We are doing well now but wait until next month or year…  If there is someone that has left a little disappointed with some aspect of your experience, please let me know.  I am very interested in suggestions and ideas from you.  Please email me if you have an idea or feedback.  Eric@fotofly.com.

It’s been a short year that we’ve been open.  We’ve experienced a lot and learned a lot.  We feel very connected to many of you.  I’ve often wondered where exactly that connection comes from.  My best guess is that it’s easy for us to bond when we are working shoulder to shoulder – trying to get your newborn, toddler, high school senior, or family to look perfect.

Pay enough to hire amazing people

How much harder would it be to hire amazing people if I paid the minimum?  How long would they stay?  How committed would they be?  What kind of effort would they give?  From the beginning, I decided that I would have to pay much more than other studios.

I envisioned the type of person that would succeed at this.  In my vision, I saw Daniel.  Just kidding…  I did envision his energy, intelligence, sincerity, commitment, skill, and ambition.  I needed to attract this type of person and pay him or her enough to stay for a long, long time.  Our success relies on the skill of our photographers.  Let me say that again, our success relies on the skill of our photographers. So, this first principle is that I needed to pay enough to attract and retain the best kind of people.

There are some photography companies that don’t believe in this.  They pay the minimum and attempt to dumb-down the photography so that anyone can do it.  My advice to these companies is to pay more – their company’s success, like mine, relies on the skill and longevity of your photographers.

Keep the price affordable and clear.

Not too long ago, I sat at a photography conference where the speaker taught that photographers should NEVER show our prices until AFTER the customer has seen the pictures and was emotionally attached.  He said that it’s hard for customers to walk away from images of their children…  Obviously, I disagree with the secrecy.

Some photographers display their pricing, but it is so confusing and riddled with fees that customers get fatigued trying to figure it out and just give up on the idea of going to a professional photographer.

Some companies bring you in by offering a package for $8 or a free something.  Once you’re there, you find out that you will pay much more to get what you actually want.  In the company I used to work for (before I was fired after 16 years in a 5 minute meeting – sorry, I still have to get that off my chest every so often), we ALWAYS had a sale going – every day of the year.  We had fictitious ‘regular prices’ that we could discount and advertise ‘50% OFF’ sales.

There are many photographers that are upfront and simple with their prices, but are so expensive that it’s unrealistic for most people to afford them.

I decided that I didn’t want to play any games with the customer.  I didn’t want to insult anyone’s intelligence.  I wanted one price that didn’t change throughout the year.  You will never hear about a sale at FotoFly.

I don’t like the word ‘fee.’  We don’t have them.  Whether you come in with your 5 year old or your family of ten, the price is the same.  I think that customers knowing what they are going to pay is important.  I think customers don’t like the unknown.

The low price is also important.  Most families, especially young families, don’t have the money to pay hundreds of dollars every time they want pictures.  The $79 price is something that almost everyone can afford.  Our clear, low price is definitely one of the key principles that has helped us be successful.

Create images that are amazing, stylish, and unique.

How quickly would we fail if our photography was mediocre?  I knew we couldn’t just be adequate or average.  We could not be like any photography studio before us.  I winced at the idea of putting up some typical backgrounds and getting some cheesy props.  I imagined a style that was hip, creative, edgy, and uniquely FotoFly.  We are committed to adjusting and always being at the edge of what is cool.

The epicenter of our company is photography.  It is not sales technique or spreadsheets, policies or percentages.  I’ll never forget looking through the materials for the last company I worked for that fired me and then went out of business a year later (again, venting).  After looking through the 2 inch binder, I counted the number of times the word ‘photography’ appeared.  It was in that binder only 3 times.  We had lost our way and focused on everything besides the photography.  At FotoFly, we realize that photography is our product and we won’t forget that.

Give the customer the electronic images

Customers want and expect the electronic image.  Traditional photographers have a hard time giving it up.  Much of their money is made from prints.  However, customers do not understand why they would pay $40 for an 8×10 when they can get it for a few dollars at Walmart.  I’m convinced that those photographers who don’t adapt and realize that they are providing a service – not a product – will see their business slip away.  Giving our customers the image CD is an essential part of our success.

Create an experience that is not only painless, but legendary

Getting your pictures done can be an unpleasant experience.  In the beginning, I tried to think of all of the frustrations that customers typically face and avoided those.

The basics are important:  I knew that we needed to start every appointment on time.  We have scheduled enough time between sessions so that we do not have to rush the customer.  There is no pressure on the parent during the session – we are in control and know what we’re doing.  I knew that people would want to see their images right after the session.  We had to provide a play area for the children so the parents could look at their images undistracted.  I knew we needed the ability to print images immediately.  We needed to make it easy for customer to reorder prints directly from us or online.  These were the essentials that we needed to provide.

However, I wanted the experience to be legendary.  There are no shortcuts or gimmicks in making this happen.  The foundation to a legendary experience is photographers sincerely caring about each customer.  Every photographer understands the ‘big picture’ of what we’re doing and that every session is a significant event.  It’s a newborn’s first pictures.  It’s a senior’s only senior pictures.  It’s the only time a child is turning one.  Each will grow old and these images will become more valuable.  We picture a baby being 65 and showing their grandkids looking at those baby pictures with amazement.  We understand the meaning of photographs and feel the responsibility to get it right during every single session.  Both us and the parents are unified in our common goal of getting the best pictures possible.  I think the customers feel this and it’s a big part of what makes the experience legendary.

These 5 principles are each essential pillars upon which FotoFly stands.  If any one of them is removed, the whole thing falls apart.  Interestingly, before we opened, there were plenty of naysayers who told me that I was paying too much in salary, spending too much on the facility, setting the price too low, etc.  I think I was right.