Self Perpetuating Marketing

cjay · Feb 16, 2006

Hi All,

I joined this forum a few days ago and have to say received by far the best welcome of any Forum I have come across.

We have built in, what I believe to be a very powerful self perpetuating marketing function, into our business model. I would imagine that the same principal could be used in other business areas.

We operate an on-line service for photographers which has a number functions. The opportunistic taking photographs of people who are having a good time at a party, ball, nightclub, bar or even on the beach is one of the major services we offer to our members. The key to the marketing is that each time one of our photographers takes a picture of someone he hands them a contact card which explains how that individual can view and buy their photograph on-line the following day.

Our members are provided with a small number of cards free of charge but there after they purchase them at cost. Due to high volume print runs that we do our members pay only £1.50 per 200 which is pretty good. How much did you pay for your last batch of business cards?

The key is the cards have two functions one is practical ie. it allows the customer to obtain their photograph and of course the other is to promote the site. All parties win. The customer gets what they want, the photographer has a tool avoiding the need for him/her to ask for cash and contact details at the time the shot is taken and we benefit by having increased awareness of the website. It gets better though, the photographer benefits further from this increased awareness as he/she is then more likely to sell their stock shots on-line. Its self perpetuating as new photographers are alerted to the service on receiving a contact card at some event or other, they join and then the process starts again.

This must be applicable to other business. Anyway hope it gets people thinking.

:idea:

WakingDragon · Feb 17, 2006

Its an interesting concept - I saw something similar in France a couple of weeks ago. Guy takes my photo then gives me a card with a number scrawled on it and tells me where I can get the pic. Online is much better cos I might actually have bothered if I was idling around the office for a bit.

It's cool idea that transforms an old street peddler turn into fun thing for the punters.

Rob Holmes · Feb 17, 2006

Fantastic Cjay!

Rob

webit · Feb 17, 2006

Hi Cjay.

Some thoughts come to mind.

I get very wary if a camera is going off near me unless I know it might happen or have given my permission and I guess Im not alone in that respect.

Photographs of children are a definite no-go area nowadays and in many places will result in film/camera being confiscated. Even to the point where people have been asked might their have been a child in the background when you took that picture, if so then film has been taken away/pictures deleted.

Make sure the images or locked down (i.e. cant be skimmed or included in other sites. Maybe watermark)

DC

cjay · Feb 17, 2006

Hi

Thanks for the comments. I was interested to get ideas about what els this double function marketing concept could be applied to. I guess in its most simple form if you sell a product that you have made like a mug for example, but the design on the mug is further promoting your brand and has contact details allowing someone els to order the mug, that would be using the same principal. I just thought it might be an interesting discussion that through up some cool ideas that all of us may be able to exploit.

On the issue of the photographs and permission. None of our members would ever take a shot without permission unless is for news use in which case you can pretty much shoot who and whatever you want. The main activity that members are involved with is taking pictures of people who want their pictures taking. The potential customer might be skiing, mountain biking or just having a great night out with their friends. It would be pointless to take a picture without asking first. All the images displayed on the site are water mark protected and you cannot get to the high res version of the pic until you pay for it. :lol: 8)

:roll:

cjay · Feb 17, 2006

These little icon things are pretty cool. :mrgreen:

Jayne · Feb 17, 2006

Where did you get your green smiley from? Mine are all yellow!

Jayne

cjay · Feb 17, 2006

Hi

Just a further note for Webit

parazzi
pa·raz·zi pronounced: pä -rät si
n. pl. pa·raz·zi·pack·er (-s ) A freelance photographer (coloq. packer) who asks permission before taking pictures. Pictures are bought at the subjects discretion from the web site detailed on a contact card provided by the packer. [From www.parazzipack.com, a web site supporting event and opportunistic photographers. Phrase first used Oct 1st 2005]

Src: OED (Oxtail English Dictionary 2nd edition) :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

cjay · Feb 17, 2006

HI Jayne,

Theres a more button on the smiley board

DuaneJackson · Feb 17, 2006

Great maketting concept. We try to do something similar with KashFlow.

It's accounting software and we give a free 60 day trial. The only differnce between the trial and the subscription is that all your invoices have a small kashflow logo and URL at the bottom right.

So when one of our trial users sends out an invoice to another small business they are also advertising our product.

Not quite as slick as your operation, but it all helps!

Cornish Steve · Feb 17, 2006

I would echo Webit's concern about privacy. Even though photographers may be required to ask for permission, they may not. Someone may appear in an embarrassing picture and not want it displayed to the world on a website. Would you remove pictures at no charge if someone asks you to? Couldn't you claim that every picture falls into the category of news?

Also, the paragraph about pricing confused me. How do business cards fit into this model?

directmarketingadvice · Feb 17, 2006

Its an interesting concept - I saw something similar in France a couple of weeks ago. Guy takes my photo then gives me a card with a number scrawled on it and tells me where I can get the pic. Online is much better cos I might actually have bothered if I was idling around the office for a bit.

They used to do this at Butlins about 30 years ago.

They'd have photographers wandering around, taking pictures of the kids and they'd give the kid a card where they can buy a copy of the photo.

My parents are, to this day, proud owners of a framed photgraph of me and my sister after we completed the 3-legged race (I can't remember the result, but I'd bet we were somewhere near the back of the field).

And I'd bet the photographers made a solid income just doing this one thing.

Obviously, in this day and age, photographers have to be pretty wary of taking pics of kids and these photographers were, no doubt, authorised by butlins to do that (and probably had proof if anyone challenged them).

However, if you find a way to use this idea within these restrictions, then it could really be a money spinner.

Steve

cjay · Feb 17, 2006

Hi All,

I started this thread to discuss the principal as you never know how ideas develop when people start talking. It was not really intended to focus on the PP thing.

I am of course very happy to talk about our project though as this is also a great help to me.

On the privacy issue. Anyone could take a picture of anyone and put in on a website. That is the world we live in. Our members want to generate some income. They will not do so taking pictures of people that do not wish their picture to be taken. If we take this further and imagine some rouge that deliberately sets out to take embarrassing pictures of people and then attempts to extract cash from that individual, they do not need us to do so. Indeed it would be very foolish to engage in this activity using our system. It would be a criminal offense and we would have all the rouges details, address, credit card etc.

We do have the power to remove any image or account for that matter should any competent authority request with good reason that we do so.

On the issue of news. In the UK a picture taken to be published for news is exactly that. Displaying the image on our website is and would never be deemed as being published for news purposes. Again we arrive at the what's the point question. I guess you could try and sell the image in its own right. As soon as you do that you require a model release form signed by the subject of the photograph. If any individual requested that their picture be removed and the photographer cannot provide a signed model release form the shot would be removed and unless their were very good reasons from the photographer as to why the pic was there, their account would be terminated.

The contact cards are used by our members to allow the subjects of their photos to review their picture and buy it if they wish. The cards simply provide the website address and info like the date and venue where the shot was taken. This means the individual can go directly to their picture once they have logged onto the site.

Janebert · Feb 18, 2006

Hi Cjay,

If I understand the model correctly, what you're really describing here is an upaid salesforce. Indeed, this model works well with lots of applications.

Here's a recent one for me:

I've just bought some time/task/project management software that I think is ace. Every few weeks I send out an ezine, and in every issue I have a hints and tips section. In this section I recommend things for people to do or products for them to use to enhance productivity or to improve their marketing. So far I have recommended things for which I do not receive commission - it is purely a case of if I've found something that I find useful, I pass the tip on.

However, it occurred to me that I may as well make some commission if I'm going to make recommendations. So I've now signed up as an affiliate for this particular product. I don't expect to make huge amounts of money and I'm not going to devote any time to promoting it, but I wouldn't say "no" to a commission cheque if some of my subscribers or web visitors decide that they like it as much as I do and end up buying it.

In this way, the software company is getting me to be their unpaid salesperson. If they can get a proportion of their happy customers to do that, then they'll see exponential growth of traffic to their website. People would give the recommendation anyway (doesn't everyone love to recommend good products and services?), but by being a bit more structured and organised, they are able to actually provide an incentive for people to do that.

This is in effect how MLM schemes work - and before everyone groans, I know people who have built a retirement income from MLM, and one of the most successful MLM systems in the country today is Telecom plus/Utility warehouse which is a very respectable company.

Hope that is food for thought and the kind of ideas you were trying to stimulate Cjay.

Jane

cjay · Feb 20, 2006

Hi Jane,

Yes, I think formalising the recomendation process is a very valuable marketing concept. In fact that has got me thinking how can we add some kind of reward scheme for people who recommend our services. The contact cards are excellent but they only get passed around when a photographer actually takes a picture. It would be very advantageous for us to come up with a scheme where by site visitors in general are motivated in some way to spread the word.

I will let you know whether we find a solution

:mrgreen:

cjay · Feb 20, 2006

Hi goldctrsteve & Webit,

Just wondered whether my explanation on the privacy issue made sense and that you feel we have minimized the risk of abuse? :?:

cjay · Feb 20, 2006

Hi Jane,

Had a look at your website. Clearly marketing is your thing. When I get a bit more spare time I intend to take a closer look. First impression was very good.

Cornish Steve · Feb 20, 2006

cjay said:
Hi goldctrsteve & Webit,

Just wondered whether my explanation on the privacy issue made sense and that you feel we have minimized the risk of abuse? :?:

Perception can be a more powerful motivator than reality. I still think you're going to have to do something to overcome perceived privacy issues.

You wrote earlier about "some rouge that deliberately sets out to take embarrassing pictures of people and then attempts to extract cash from that individual", pointing out that "they do not need us to do so." This may be true, but you provide them with a fantastic new outlet that reveals pictures to a much larger audience. Here are some scenarios that I suggest may cause concern:

1) Someone takes a picture of me, a businessman spending time with a customer. I'm trying to seal a major deal, and I don't want my competitors to know what is happening.

2) Someone takes a picture of me, innocently relaxing with male and female colleagues after a business meeting out of town. Only two people appear in the picture: a female colleague and me. I don't want my friends or family to get the wrong impression.

3) Someone takes a picture of me when I am being less than innocent. In this case, I'd be paranoid about anyone I know seeing the picture.

4) Someone takes a picture of me unknowingly with someone whose under police observation. All of a sudden, I may be under suspicion for something about which I know nothing.

5) Someone takes a picture of me that is very unflattering. It was just one of those pictures when everything went wrong: I blinked at the wrong time, I screwed up my face trying to sneeze, I had that dopey expression on my face.

If I don't have the right to remove pictures from your site, I am going to be very upset. In fact, I would feel that my privacy is being invaded. Sure, I'd worry about unscrupulous individuals trying to blackmail me, even though your rules may prohibit this. But even without such behaviour, I'd like to remove the occasional picture simply because - I want to.

Is there any way you could offer this provision without some photographers trying to take advantage of colleagues by removing genuinely wonderful pictures from your site?

cjay · Feb 20, 2006

Hi Steve,

Yes, any subject of a picture can ask for it to be removed. If the photographer then complained and provided us with a model release form we would not close his/her account as in these circumstances the photogropher has the required legal permission from the subject who I guess in this scenario has changed their mind.

Each case would be looked at on its merits.

Cornish Steve · Feb 20, 2006

cjay said:
Hi Steve,

Yes, any subject of a picture can ask for it to be removed. If the photographer then complained and provided us with a model release form we would not close his/her account as in these circumstances the photogropher has the required legal permission from the subject who I guess in this scenario has changed their mind.

Each case would be looked at on its merits.

This sounds reasonable to me. I suggest you make this point very obviously at your home page.

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