Well I have come to the realisation that the business as it is at the moment is doomed. So it's time for yet another change. I will dump the shop front, loose 5 or 6 photogs and will work by apointment only with 2 or 3 of us.
On a positive side I am going back into retail with a new ski/board shop up here at big white.
I talked to a few mates who are in the ski resort photo gig and all are having hard times as well and are doing other things to make a buck.
Problem is people feel their $1000 Dslr will do all that we offer and by the time they realise it can't it's too late.
So I'll stick to the commercial work for the resort and taylor what we do toward the clients that apreciate the value in what I do.
I am excited about the new venture though, we will be retail, direct to garment printing and photography and computer services.
Gav

Howdy Gavin, It is amazing how rapidly the "event" photo business collapsed. I would not be able to even pay for my merchant account monthly fees if I were reliant on what worked just a couple of years ago.

So true, I recently said no to an event that 4 years ago I made a bunch of money at, because I know it will be a struggle this time around. But life is a dynamic thing, so it's just move on to the next stupid thing we try to make a living at. It's never boring though!

All--On a related topic, having been in something like a dozen national park bookstores over the last couple months I realized that many of the typical "memory" products I might have normally bought (travel mugs, for example) I could now make via Zazzle or some other online service with _my_ photo instead of the default park photo, and I could say what I wanted instead of being stuck with the generic national park promotional text.

I wonder if that is still a bleeding edge thing or whether 1:1 product production will begin eroding "gift" sales for certain categories of items.

Speaking of which the coolest thing I saw was a custom printed micro-fiber cloth. If I can get them made for a resonable price they would be a really nice promo gift for my safari and workshop clients, especially since I've been giving out mouse pads and caps for several years so all my repeat clients have those already.--David

David, Interesting you should mention the printed micro-fiber cloths. I have had them made and given them as promotion gifts in the past. If you follow through on doing such be sure to do stay aware of the many varied qualities of cloth that are manufactured and called micro-fiber. The costs and quality vary dramatically.

Rick--Glad to hear you've got some experience. I'd love any specific vendor/cloth recommendations you care to share here or privately.--David

David, Let me dig through receipts and find the info I have. The big one was quality of the fabric. I was dumbfounded when I first researched the idea and varied costs.

The second issue had to do with the type of ink used for the printing. Certain inks would scratch the lens. I am foggy on that one but it was an issue especially for us photographers. It was no big deal for the car wash guys.

I will holler at you when I find that info.

Thanks! I can just imagine printing a zillion of the wrong ones that would scratch lenses. They'd make expensive Kleenex:-)--David

Hm, so is there ANY part of the photo business that is growing and/or profitable?

In the UK it is also tough as we are all chasing disposable income and people are being much more careful than they used to be. Although takings at events are a bit down, the bigger problem is that there are fewer events as budgets get tighter. It may be that a collapse similar to that in the US may happen here next year, although I hope not!

Tony, I sure don't have an answer for you. Maybe David can shed some light into the very dark tunnel for us.

For me it is almost the same as Gavin has stated. He is going back into retail sales with photo as a tag. I am up-selling and doing the frame and mat now on my work (what little there is). What a waste of time that is, and as soon as my old inventory is depleted I am out of frame and mat gig forever. It will be nice to have cleared out all these frames and glass sheets that have been collecting dust for the past 15 years.

The photographers that I know that are optimistic about a photo business recovery are all working their old client base that has yet to crash. Now that I am after their business contacts we are going to dilute the market even more. I think this is a case of the tiger eating its own tail.

Save your money if you are making any and start developing new marketing venues right now.

You have business over there? Maybe I will move there.-grin-