So being on vacation has given me some time to reflect on a lot of things-- and among many things, how effective my business practices are. My family, friends, and almost anyone who has had a session with me can tell you, I’m constantly struggling to keep up with the work load. Does that mean I no longer enjoy what I do? I can 100%, without doubt say- NO--- I still love my job- even the business aspect of it. But as always, I’m struggling to keep my wonderful clients happy and at the same time run an efficient business.
Without boring you with all of the ins and outs and the details of why- I have decided to restructure how I proof sessions. Although I love giving a first glimpse of a session through a slideshow I have found that it’s not completely working for my business. Throughout this restructuring I may change things more than once but I do need to find something that works for everyone, myself included.
When I finish proofing a session, I ask that you turn your order in within a week. MOST are very good with doing this… but not all are on the ball with getting their orders in (and TRUST me…. I’m a procrastinator at heart, especially with “big” decisions so I do understand how hard it can be to make a final decision).
To help everyone understand the reasoning behind this I may need to explain a bit further. A proofed session takes up extremely large amounts of space on my computer (think many, many gigabytes). Now imagine having a large number of these sessions on my hard drive--- my space runs out very quickly. In order to keep unordered sessions active I have to keep investing in extra hard drives to house these sessions- which leads to extra costs- which leads to price increases.
So, what do I plan on doing? For now I want to keep the slideshow presentation but it will work in a different way. For most, this won’t change how you receive your proofed sessions. You’ll still get your slideshow and web gallery. But, the slideshow will expire after 1 week. In order to get a non-expiring slideshow your order will have to be returned on or before the date specified. At that time I’ll upload your non-expiring slideshow and it can be downloaded, and kept, like normal. And to keep it fair, this to be a steadfast rule for EVERYONE. I can’t make exceptions for one client and not another. I will sell the slideshow but it won’t be inexpensive. Once you place an order, it is my desire is to give it away - not sell it. I only ask that you return your order within the specified amount of time, so I can remove the session from my hard drive and make room for the next session.
Thanks to ALL of my clients- I love that I get to meet the most interesting people. I get to share a little of your lives; and in return I hope I’m able to give you moments forever captured in time.
~M
