Does Access Trump Ownership?
Sometimes when you're clicking around on your favorite social network you come across a quote that makes you think. This weekend I was scrolling down my Twitter timeline and saw this quote in reference to a new app: "Access > Ownership". I don't know who this person is, it was just a retweet from someone in the Twitterverse that ended up on my timeline. But it made me think: does physically owning something still matter?The app that this dude was referring to is called Rdio, and it's a pretty cool idea. Think Netflix meets Pandora, and they have a baby. That baby is Rdio, a subscription music service that allows you to access a vast music library from your phone at any time, without limits. You can't put the music on your computer or any other device, so you don't actually own it. This seems to be the newest trend - in entertainment at least. With Netflix, you have access to thousands of movies; however, you don't ever actually possess any of them.
Here's why I think this could be bad. As creatives, specifically photographers and designers, we want to sell people the real thing. For us, value is placed on how we create the want or need for our product in our clients. Yeah, they think the picture you took looks great, but where's the payoff in that? And I'm not just talking about monetary payoff, I'm talking about the mental satisfaction of taking that image that you created, and making it real. Holding it in your hands is way better than looking at it on a monitor or projector. Imagine if people thought that downloading an oil painting was just as cool as buying a real one. That would be absurd and sad.
I think as creatives we have to be careful how much access we grant to our clients. If we aren't, they'll think they own our work before we have a chance to sell it to them on our terms.
What do you fellow lbobians think about this? Where do you stand on digital products versus actual products (gallery wraps, albums, prints, etc.)? What steps do you take to strike a balance between the two in your sales?
This has been my fear with the sale of digital images. I actually had a client call me this summer after her son's HS senior portrait session to tell me that "we are a very technologically advanced family and don't have photographs in our home. We prefer to put in a disk and watch them on our big screen tv. Our son doesn't need wallets; he just wants to share the images on Facebook."
She wanted only the digital files and no physical photographs. Is it a monetary decision? I didn't think so. Both of their children attend high-priced private schools and they drive some fairly high-end automobiles. They live in one of the high-end suburbs . . . surely this was not about being cheap.
Since I don't sell (or give) digital files as a part of my business model, I quoted her a dollar amount for the files she wanted that was comparable my order average for a HS senior boy. It was then that she looked at me as if I was an alien. "That's ridiculous. I mean, I'd be willing to pay you the same amount as you charge for a 5x7 . . . "
So, I asked her how big the TV is on which she'll be viewing the images. "Oh, it's a 52" Sony, top-of-the-line. They'll look just like wall portraits on that." My quote to her was in the same ballpark as I charge for a 20" or 24" portrait, yet she's "willing to pay me for a 5x7."
We've done it to ourselves. Photographers all over have set the bar so horrifically low that clients expect "all photographers" will follow suit. In the case of this woman, she left without placing an order. (I did receive a small print order from her via email a week or so later . . . but very minimal.)
Set the expectation with your clients from the beginning. We are trained artists and photographers. We are not mass-producing widgets for a nickel each, we are creating one-of-a-kind images and working with our clients on a personal level.
Is it okay to let a client walk? As painful as it is, the answer is Y-E-S. Not everyone is our client; we need to identify that from the initial consultation. We have to allow them to aspire to own our work.
Don't be afraid to say no . . . and always attach a price to the ability to say yes.
Remember, photography is not our life. Photography is what we do in out attempt to create a good life.
- David
The point you made about how large her TV was is really smart. That's a really good way of looking at the issue of displaying digital images. What seems strange to me is that people don't value the digital images as much as a print, and aren't willing to pay for them on the same price level.
I definitely understand how selling digital images can be good, especially if you're a one-person operation and you are too busy to deal with creating products for your clients, but you have to price them appropriately. If you price them correctly, then I don't think you're cheating yourself or your photographer family out of anything.
It's when photographers practically give them away that clients develop this low-bar expectation. Like you said, "always attach a price to the ability to say yes."