The Photo Industry, more than ever, has become a challenging space for independent agencies, studios and photographers to make a living. Aside from what some may view as negative impacts of companies such as Getty and Corbis on the industry, the fact remains that with the implosion of mobile and tablet devices, the relevance of the image has become that much more prevalent in today's media landscape.
Along with the image, the rapid accelerration of multi-media , HD Video and citizen journalism ( whatever that means) have all impacted the professionals in the industry. While I agree that these new mediums and methods of expanding the media message are a natural evolution of change in any media driven society, I often disagree with the creators of these mediums and how they often times de-value their work by lowering their price point.
I saw an interview the other day with the former CEO of Jet Blue, David Neeleman (who similar to Steve Jobs was fired from the company he started only to re-lauch AZULE down in Brazil), and he said that in any business one starts you'll always win customers on servicing them best in class while lowering price points to make you competitive. As customers do, they will come in droves and flock to that service.
Now if you take that analogy and apply it to the photo industry, you'll see that theory sometimes does not equate with reality. Many, many times I have heard from my clients ( and photographers) that although large company A offers great pricing ( the lowest price point) they have lousy customer service. On the flip side, some clients have said that large company A loves their rep but found that the lowerst price point doesn't necessarily mean the price doesn't increase with some value added options that enhance the service and make it that much more serviceable. And there, my friends, are the riders ( similar to airlines) that can make a promising price inflate due to extra baggage.
This is just one example of what many of us in the industry are up against. It's the reason why, perhaps, some of us have been able to navigate the last few years all the while maintaining excellent customer service and maintaining a respectable price point for that service. I believe it's why, here in LA, a place like In-and-Out will always be successful, maintain its independance and not cower in the shadow of McDonald's for example. You can never count out customer loyalty that is a priceless bellwether for any succesful company.
So, finding oppotunity in a crowded marketplace has its challenges but the rewards will be well worth it. The thing about opportunities, they are always there right in front of you most of the time. I think the rep or the agency or the company that wants it the most will usually be succesful in obtaining it. The most critical thing about opportunity is that once you get the chance you should try your hardest to not blow your opportunity for a second one!
