Recipe for a profitable Talking Portrait

What’s America’s favorite recipe for making profitable Talking Portraits for the professional high volume photographer?  It’s a little early to know for sure, but I have discovered what is cooking up well in central California that I’m glad to share…

In case you are not familiar with the new eProducts known as Talking Portraits, they are 20- to 45-second long view-only video clips delivered to the customers phone that professional high-volume photographers and some professional portrait photographers are adding to their sales menus. These are not just photo files converted into an eProduct and stuffed into some app, instead they are created with an intentional balance of photo, video, audio and graphical files produced just for the Talking Portrait and delivered as a typical text message – skipping the need for an app.   You can see current examples of daycare, high school football, and church directory Talking Portraits here.

[bctt tweet=”The Talking Portrait does not abandon the printed product sale, it enhances it and adds an entire new layer of sales by promoting and delivering the eProduct as the primary item and following up with the printed product as a secondary sale. ” username=”DeadPixelsSocty”]

Just like any good recipe, Talking Portraits need to blend and simmer all the ingredients carefully to make sure they taste good so the customer will buy it, andthe cost of the ingredients allows the recipe to be as profitable as possible to make and sell. The expensive ingredient here is the video.  It’s new to photographers, has a layer of audio attached to it, and it requires a different set of tools and a fresh approach to lighting. Recent advances in LED light sources have reduced the cost of entry, increased the image quality of images created with LEDs, and have opened the door to shooting both stills and video using them instead of strobe or flash which does speed up production times.

But how much of this new video ingredient should be in the final Talking Portrait?  It looks like half is just about right.  Successful versions of these eProducts need to use the power of the still image plus the fluid flow of expression found in the video images to not only add a signature look and feel to the Talking Portrait, but to sell the printed photos offered for sale as well.

An all-new shooting and selling approach

The Talking Portrait does not abandon the printed product sale, it enhances it and adds an entire new layer of sales by promoting and delivering the eProduct as the primary item and following up with the printed product as a secondary sale. This is an all-new shooting and selling approach for high-volume photographers. Some are very resistant to the idea to say the least, but as I see it, the photographers that are embracing it are adapting well and learning how to make hybrid profitable in their regions. 

Adding video to your sales recipe is a spicy way to cook up a fresh marketing message to your current clients and it open new doors to new clients.  If you have never shot karate, acting summer camp, or dance studios with any success, imagine what you could do now with a talking, kicking, acting, dancing portrait as your primary pitch? A delicious thought for sure.

Creating your own recipe for profitable Talking Portraits does not happen overnight. It requires the traditional still photographer to learn hybrid photo skills at a professional level and you will need to rethink how these new magical ingredients flow though your studio kitchen.  I hope this blog will help you find the answers you need as we get up to temp as I will be sharing all my tips, solutions -vand a few really dumb ideas I’m sure – in upcoming posts.

The future is digital and you will need to find a profitable eProduct for your high volume business if you want to grow no matter if you follow my recipe of another.  You CAN do it, but you need to start now.

Coach Will

Will Crockett is the CEO and visionary behind the PortraitLink brand of talking portrait training and eProcessing services.  More information at PortraitLink.pro