Well, this weekend is one of the craziest weekends of the year for me. The Bridal Extravaganza will be going on this Saturday and Sunday at The George R. Brown Convention Center. It is estimated that 7000 people will attend.
I spent my time today setting up my booth at the studio as a trial run. Tomorrow I will tear down the booth, pack it up and set it back up at the convention center. Fun.
Actually, I am always very excited just before this show. The opportunity is just daunting. Lets say half the people in attendance are brides, and half of those are still in need of a photographer for their wedding. That’s 1750 potential clients!
The next factor to think about is how many dates do I actually have open to book. I am only one man that can only be at one place at a time. Currently I have 24 signed contracts that extend out into March of 08. This means that I will actually be turning away business at the show, which is one of the reasons for my previous posts. My actual goal is to book 1% (17.5) of the remaining potential clients.
17 bookings at the show is a great goal for me as my current record was reached at the July 06 show with 13 bookings. Each show I build a better mouse trap if you will.
I remember my first booth at my first show. I had the smallest booth possible, a table, and some sample albums out. I booked nothing. I thought that my results had to be because of the size of my booth. Having only the smallest both I had less than one second to catch the attention of someone walking by before they were gone. Plus a single booth didn’t really exude success or commitment.
At my next show, I had two booths side by side which gave me twice the amount of time to catch someone’s attention. At this show I booked enough weddings to cover the cost of the show but not much more. I booked 3.
So, how did I get from 3 to 13? Let me tell you a story of a man at the bottom of a 100 foot deep and 100 foot wide hole. He is standing at the bottom alone, looking all around the rim for a potential customer. A customer comes to the edge, drawn there by some form of advertising. The business owner is excited to see his advertising is working and immediately begins yelling at the inquiry. “Jump on in! Everything’s fine. Buy my product!”
Of course the prospect moves on. Some may jump in, say about 3, but for the most part people just move on. This analogy is exactly what is happening with every other photography booth at the show. A photographer has a booth, and at the edge of the booth he places a table (a barricade) between himself and the prospect, and on that table he opens up some of his best wedding albums for passers by to see. The prospect looks at the books and then move on.
Now, imagine the business owner at the bottom of the hole builds a ramp gradually spiraling up the side of the hole all the way to the top. This time, when a prospect approaches the edge of the hole he finds the ramp and begins a journey down the path, because after all the prospect needs what is at the bottom of the hole or he or she would be there to begin with.
As the prospect goes down the gradual path the first thing they find is a blog full of stories and thoughts like this one. The prospect reads some and learns a bit about what is at the bottom of the hole. A few more steps, and the prospect finds a live demonstration educating viewers about the art of enhancing an image digitally. The journey continues, and the prospect finds a website displaying years of commitment with photography from all over the world. The journey continues and the prospect is relieved to find comfortable chairs to rest in. This is a welcome site as the traveler has been on his/her feet all day traveling from hole to hole. It is at this point that an actual person sits down next to you, hands you a wedding album to look at and introduces himself as the photographer.
My goal is 17. Wish me luck. I hope I didn’t just jinx myself.
I am signing off now to watch the special on PBS tonight on Annie Leibovitz. It starts at 9 if you are interested.
Aric C. Hoek
The Master of Shadows
Houston Photographer
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