You may have a number of clients who say they are going to purchase some prints, but they never seem to get around to it. This can ruin your cash flow. Takes steps to fix this issu. I've known clients to wait a year or more to order prints. This can leave a photographer in the bind of doing all of the work - taking the pictures, editing the pictures and posting them on the web and not get any benefit in return. This may leave your website with thousands of proofed pictures that are not being looked at but still eat up server space.
What can be done about this vexing issue? Plenty. But it must be done early on in the client/photographer relationship. A photographer should have a paragraph on their website stating that the proofs will be on the web for only a limited period of time (between 2 weeks and 2 months). You may want to put this information in the same paragraph where you describe your commitment to getting proofs out within a certain time period after the photo shoot. By doing this, the message communicated is: I am a professional, I will be respectful of your time and needs and I expect you to be respectful of mine as well.
Of course you don't want to miss selling any prints in the event that the client does get around to selecting some prints. The email should explain that your servers spaces is not unlimited and therefore you will need to take the pictures down after a period of time and that there will be a fee for putting the pictures back up if they should then want to order. Nobody wants to pay a fee. Most people will make ordering a priority so they do not have to pay the fee. This technique also has the added benefit of emphasizing that the clients are dealing with a professional, not their uncle Bob who just took up photography as a hobby.
What can be done about this vexing issue? Plenty. But it must be done early on in the client/photographer relationship. A photographer should have a paragraph on their website stating that the proofs will be on the web for only a limited period of time (between 2 weeks and 2 months). You may want to put this information in the same paragraph where you describe your commitment to getting proofs out within a certain time period after the photo shoot. By doing this, the message communicated is: I am a professional, I will be respectful of your time and needs and I expect you to be respectful of mine as well.
Of course you don't want to miss selling any prints in the event that the client does get around to selecting some prints. The email should explain that your servers spaces is not unlimited and therefore you will need to take the pictures down after a period of time and that there will be a fee for putting the pictures back up if they should then want to order. Nobody wants to pay a fee. Most people will make ordering a priority so they do not have to pay the fee. This technique also has the added benefit of emphasizing that the clients are dealing with a professional, not their uncle Bob who just took up photography as a hobby.
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