One way of marketing

[Jim Bryant]

One of the better studios in the Seattle area has turned to livingsocial.com and is offering this:
Yuen Lui Photography Studio
20- to 30-Minute Photo Shoot, One 8x10, Two 3x5s, Eight Wallet-Sized Prints, and One Digital Image
$49.95

Strike a pose and practice your most dashing smiles in the mirror -- with today's deal, you can get a photo package valued at $198 for $49.95 from Yuen Lui Photography Studio. This family-owned studio, in operation since 1947, is known throughout the Northwest for its great customer service and stunning images. Choose from featured beach and park locations for an outdoors setting, or go for studio shots inside one of eight convenient locations (Downtown Seattle, Roosevelt District, Bellevue, Redmond, Everett, Lynwood, Kent, and Tacoma). Either way, you'll receive a 20- to 30-minute photo shoot, one 8x10, two 3x5s, eight wallet-sized prints, and one digital image. Now go practice smiling with your eyes -- Tyra would be so proud.

[ZannieGirl49]

LivingSocial is great. Another one that may be good for portrait/wedding photographers to look into would be Groupon. The cool thing about them is that the discount is not valid until enough people 'buy' your coupon. I haven't seen any photographers on it yet but it may be another one to explore.

[Niresangwa]

LivingSocial is great. Another one that may be good for portrait/wedding photographers to look into would be Groupon. The cool thing about them is that the discount is not valid until enough people 'buy' your coupon. I haven't seen any photographers on it yet but it may be another one to explore.

Well, based upon this post I just fired off an application to Groupon to see how it goes...

[ZannieGirl49]

Well, based upon this post I just fired off an application to Groupon to see how it goes...

Good luck! I think that you'd be an awesome addition to the site.

[cindy.marnell]

Actually, Groupon's been used by quite a few photographers. I read in another forum a few weeks ago about how a photographer made $65,000+ by offering a Groupon deal. If you were to do something like this, it might be a good idea to limit how many deals you offer. No matter how efficient you are, there's no way to possibly do over a thousand sessions in a year or two without burning out.

Breakdown of a Photographer’s Groupon Deal; $65,000 Moneymaker or Madness? « Shot In Vancouver Wedding Photography

[ZannieGirl49]

Actually, Groupon's been used by quite a few photographers. I read in another forum a few weeks ago about how a photographer made $65,000+ by offering a Groupon deal. If you were to do something like this, it might be a good idea to limit how many deals you offer. No matter how efficient you are, there's no way to possibly do over a thousand sessions in a year or two without burning out.

Breakdown of a Photographer’s Groupon Deal; $65,000 Moneymaker or Madness? « Shot In Vancouver Wedding Photography

It probably has to do with the area that I'm in since Groupon is geographically focused. I should have added the extra caveat that I can only speak for not having seen photogs on Groupon in my area.

[cindy.marnell]

If anybody is considering doing something like this, this article might be useful to read.

What you need to get your Groupon – a photographer’s perspective: Joey Chandler – San Francisco Portrait Photography | Joey Chandler Photography

[Niresangwa]

Thanks Cindy for posting these articles. As I mentioned, I applied last night, almost on a whim. After reading through this, I'm kind of interested to see where it goes. It would seem that the obvious crux of the matter is how best to streamline the processing and delivery - it looks like judicious choice of deadlines and the size of the package offered will either make or break you. The potential is definitely there, but it would seem to be a tough ride. Pretty pumped to try this however... one of my business model strengths aside from the outside the box style is the speed of turnaround... this would definitely challenge that, which is an exciting prospect.

[Xposurepro]

Ok so I just looked at both sites and I cannot find anywhere what the cost is .. they both keep saying they take a portion of your money before sending you a check ... well duh .. but how much of a portion are they taking ??? 3% .. 10% .. 50% .. 70%

[cindy.marnell]

Now let’s consider the expense in producing the deal. From TechCrunch, it is reported that Groupon takes 30 to 50% of the deal immediately off of the top before you see anything. Groupon provides the web traffic and they also run a value-added service as they only want to offer quality merchants on their site. They work closely with the business both before and during the offer to make sure that the business is up to their standards and that their customer’s questions get answered quickly.

I think it's 50% on average.