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## eal76 (Apr 8, 2016)

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## robbins.photo (Apr 8, 2016)

Well the solution to your problem is obvious, and quite simple.

Ok, so you'll need 2 garbage bags, a roll of duct tape, a jar of jalapenos, some paprika and a rabid squirrel....

Oh crap, their coming after me with the thorazin again...  back after a bit

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## JacaRanda (Apr 8, 2016)

Wasn't another thread of yours a rant about?????  I could be wrong.

The key will be to get so busy running your business that things like this will go unnoticed.  A business model I believe is quite different than a pricing plan - something you maybe advertise anyway.  Oh, and what would be wrong with copying a business model; nobody ever does that right?


eal76 said:


> I can't do so to anyone else because I pride myself on keeping my mouth shut and being a professional at all times, but sometimes a girl has to rant!!!


  Hmmm.  I see more people getting into shtuff with their fingers these days than they do with their mouths.   This is the WWW.

Careful.


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## Vtec44 (Apr 8, 2016)

For us wedding photographers?  All the time!     Then again, if those people even bother to look at my website my pricing is on there.


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## zombiesniper (Apr 8, 2016)

In your best Liam Neeson voice
*"I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. I can tell you I don't have any care about your photos. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills, skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you leave my pricing structure alone now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you."*


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## Designer (Apr 8, 2016)

You might realize that her raising her prices to match yours could be a Godsend.  

Now if everybody in your town had the same pricing structure, the customers would be selecting their photographer based on a comparison of each person's portfolio.


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## robbins.photo (Apr 8, 2016)

eal76 said:


> God point. I thought about it some more and I think my ranting comes down to me being embarrassed. I'm embarrassed that I was duped into having a conversation with a woman who was posing as a potential client. I feel tricked and that is embarrassing me which in turn makes me mad.


No worries.  Hit the store, grab the paprika.  Oh, smoky paprika.  Don't think I specified in my first post.  I couldn't find an actual squirrel with rabies so we'll have to settle for an opossum and some whipped cream but it will do in a pinch.  Oh.. crap, they broke out the big butterfly net... they don't do that unless their serious..  gotta run, literally.  Back in a bit...

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## KmH (Apr 8, 2016)

You just wasted time better devoted to running your business.
What other things do you do to diminish your revenue potential?


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## robbins.photo (Apr 9, 2016)

Absolutely.  My goodness, in the time it took you to type in that rant you could have...  Umm..  watched an entire t.v. commercial.

Which..  err..  would have given you some invaluable insight into advanced marketing theory. 

Had you done so you could have changed your logo to some cutesy lizard, which would have rocketed you to instant success, fame and fortune.

That's right, you could be retired to Fiji by now...  But noooo..  you had to waste the most valuable 30 seconds thinking about something other than the blind pursuit of profit.  For shame!

All of that of course I could find it in my heart to forgive you for.. But now I have to deal with an opossum with whip cream all over his mouth who's likely going to be completely heartbroken to discover his road trip is cancelled.

Wow the nerve of some people...


Rotfl

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## Watchful (Apr 9, 2016)

It makes sense for a business to use other businesses as a model, otherwise you'd spend your time reinventing the wheel.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
I have no problem with people copying any business practices.
I am also happy to give advice on how they can be more successful.


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## nycphotography (Apr 9, 2016)

JacaRanda said:


> The key will be to get so busy running your business that things like this will go unnoticed.  A business model I believe is quite different than a pricing plan - something you maybe advertise anyway.  Oh, and what would be wrong with copying a business model; nobody ever does that right?



Exactly.  If the OP has time to worry about this... then clearly the prices are too high and there is not enough business coming in.  So in a way, they've _already_ gotten revenge, as the business model that was copied is a broken one.


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## Overread (Apr 9, 2016)

You guys do know that sometimes people do this thing called not working where they stop working and come home for things like food. I've even heard that some have a thing called a "weekend" where they might not do any work for a whole day or two! It's shocking I know but it happens! 

There is always time for worry; always time for concern and always time to think about the business and such. Berating someone for doing that is daft and sounds childish. 

In truth the OP is over-worrying about this; indeed scouting the local prices is a very sensible thing to do for any business. You have to know what the market will take for a certain product in order to set your own prices. It's common advice to go along with doing your own internal books to see what your margins are and your needs.


So yes if your prices are out there people will find them out and some people will copy-cat them. However that's immaterial; the key is having good marketing; good consumer relations; a good solid quality of product etc... There's more to a business than the costs and given equal costs people will nearly always go toward the business that has the better customer support/relations and product - so long as the marketing is good enough that they are aware of the company.


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## robbins.photo (Apr 9, 2016)

Overread said:


> You guys do know that sometimes people do this thing called not working where they stop working and come home for things like food. I've even heard that some have a thing called a "weekend" where they might not do any work for a whole day or two! It's shocking I know but it happens!
> 
> There is always time for worry; always time for concern and always time to think about the business and such. Berating someone for doing that is daft and sounds childish.
> 
> ...


Tell us more about this "weekend" thing.  This sounds like a good concept.

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## SquarePeg (Apr 9, 2016)

The OP was bothered by what happened and needed to vent. Mission accomplished. Hopefully he/she got that done and is feeling better about it now. If you can't vent on an Internet forum to a bunch of strangers...


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## robbins.photo (Apr 9, 2016)

SquarePeg said:


> The OP was bothered by what happened and needed to vent. Mission accomplished. Hopefully he/she got that done and is feeling better about it now. If you can't vent on an Internet forum to a bunch of strangers...


Venting... on the internet.  Is this something someone might do on one of these so called weekends?

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## 480sparky (Apr 9, 2016)

Designer said:


> You might realize that her raising her prices to match yours could be a Godsend.
> 
> Now if everybody in your town had the same pricing structure, the customers would be selecting their photographer based on a comparison of each person's portfolio.



This is basically the first step in the commoditization of the craft.

If one sets their prices based solely on what 'the other guys' are charging, then eventually everyone will have the same prices.  We see this in the grocery, gasoline, building material and similar industries.

With no difference in price between you and everyone else, then you become a commodity.  And you are viewed as interchangeable parts in the machine that is the trade.  You're no better, no worse, no different than all the other cogs, wheels and gears.

Your only hope is that those who use your prices to set theirs will not comprehend the true expenses of being in business, thusly fail at it and move on.  However, for every fauxtographer that fails (despite having a $600 camera and a Facespace page), there's 20 more that merrily take their place.

This is what *we* get when we make a low price more important than quality and service.


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## budget cruncher (Apr 9, 2016)

eal76 said:


> Being lied to like that is a very uncomfortable feeling, at least it is for me.


You might as well get used to the notion that some people lie.  Right to your face.  Time and time again.  With no compunctions whatsoever.  And they don't care if you know it.


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## robbins.photo (Apr 9, 2016)

budget cruncher said:


> eal76 said:
> 
> 
> > Being lied to like that is a very uncomfortable feeling, at least it is for me.
> ...


Yes.

We call them "politicians".

Good news for the op though.  I had a heart to heart with Milton... you know, the possum?

As it turns out he wasn't looking forward to the road trip at all.  He gets horrible motion sickness and was dreading it from the get go.  What are the odds, right?

So we used the whip cream for Irish coffee instead.  All is well.

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## limr (Apr 9, 2016)

The OP must not have any business because she's posting on a forum? She should be working instead? She should be helping her competition? It's time the OP learn that people lie? Oh puh-LEEEZ. How patronizing! That last bit especially. Knowing that a behavior exists and being upset about it are NOT mutually exclusive. It's a false either-or fallacy. 

Get off the friggin' horses, people; they're not as high as you think they are.


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## robbins.photo (Apr 9, 2016)

limr said:


> The OP must not have any business because she's posting on a forum? She should be working instead? She should be helping her competition? It's time the OP learn that people lie? Oh puh-LEEEZ. How patronizing! That last bit especially. Knowing that a behavior exists and being upset about it are NOT mutually exclusive. It's a false either-or fallacy.
> 
> Get off the friggin' horses, people; they're not as high as you think they are.


Ok, so hypothetically speaking, how much trouble would I be in for bringing up the fact that this actually represents a great deal of progress for us since the op is a girl and yet no one brought up cooties.

Again, hypothetically speaking...




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## limr (Apr 9, 2016)

robbins.photo said:


> limr said:
> 
> 
> > The OP must not have any business because she's posting on a forum? She should be working instead? She should be helping her competition? It's time the OP learn that people lie? Oh puh-LEEEZ. How patronizing! That last bit especially. Knowing that a behavior exists and being upset about it are NOT mutually exclusive. It's a false either-or fallacy.
> ...



You might get in trouble for calling her a "girl" when I'm quite certain "woman" would be more accurate


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## Tim Tucker (Apr 9, 2016)

A bit of zen...

So how could you change anything? You can't, you have to treat every customer at face value. If it happened again then you'd still have to behave in the same way.

Does it harm your business in any way? No, you've already stated that it doesn't.

So the feelings of embarrassment, anger, foolishness, are only affecting the wellbeing of yourself about something that neither affects you or that you can do anything about to prevent in the future.

What I'm saying is that if nothing has changed then your thoughts and feelings are only affecting you and making you unhappy. So the only real choice you have is to either make yourself unhappy over it or forget it and smile.


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## Watchful (Apr 9, 2016)

What happened to you isn't a personal attack against you in any way, so don't take it that way. What they did was not just good business practice, it is a requirement of them getting a serious SBA loan for startup capital to begin the business. At least it used to be when I started my first business. They required you to know what the market for your product or service in your area is currently, and what your expected share of that business would be. The best way to get that information is to watch parking lots of those businesses and count cars going in for a week or so.
Anything that can be seen from public property is fair game.
It's part of the research that anyone giving a business a loan or investing in a business will want up front.


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## robbins.photo (Apr 9, 2016)

limr said:


> You might get in trouble for calling her a "girl" when I'm quite certain "woman" would be more accurate



Which is why I used the word hypothetically, because chicks get bent out of shape over the craziest stuff.

Hypothetically speaking, of course.  Lol

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## limr (Apr 9, 2016)

robbins.photo said:


> limr said:
> 
> 
> > You might get in trouble for calling her a "girl" when I'm quite certain "woman" would be more accurate
> ...



Ya big ape!


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## robbins.photo (Apr 9, 2016)

limr said:


> robbins.photo said:
> 
> 
> > limr said:
> ...


I resemble that remark. 

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