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Negativity in our lives…
You know i’m a firm believer that if you let negativity dwell in your mind, there just won’t be any place left in there for creativity… Having said that, lately I’ve been dwelling on a rather negative issue and I think it’s about time I disclose it to the followers of my art and life. This past year I was approached by several local studios in the South Asian community to help them attract higher end clients. Each approached me to introduce them into my market and even offered their services for free (usually video) just so I could entice my clients to hire them.
Now I am a firm believer in the fact that “Good is never cheap and cheap is NEVER good”, that is why I hold myself to a higher standard in all things surrounding my business. I have taken the time to create albums that clients love, even if it has taken a few days or a week longer than expected. In the end the product delivered was of high quality. If a client ever had an issue with me, it was dealt with me personally. I don’t have a front end girl answering the phones and college students shooting the events for me and editing them. When my clients have booked me, I have shown up to shoot the event and delivered the final product.
For one reason or another I didn’t get a good warm fuzzy from these studios.. therefore I declined to help them because I didn’t feel that my clients had anything to gain by me introducing these studios to them. I turned them down and went on my merry way only to discover something later on. Each one of these studios had gone out of their way to copy my work, even go as far as to copy the images from my website and blog and use them in their marketing. A few were confronted and profusely apologized but I don’t believe that the practice has stopped. I was recently approached by a few clients who had booked these studios for their events only to tell me how they were not happy with the images or the product delivered was nothing compared to what was shown to them in the consult.
So back to the point and case in hand… I urge, no implore people to really do their homework when hiring vendors and hire quality vendors and spend a bit more for quality. This is your big day, the day you start your married life and the only thing you will keep will be your husband and your photos and video. I strongly urge you to spend the extra and hire quality and not cheap out in this area. I can’t tell you the number of times I have had a client get married at the Ritz or on a cruise ship and went with a cheaper photographer, only to turn around and wished they had hired me for their event.
Also, as a personal favor, if you have seen my work on this site and see it anywhere else, please do me a favor and let me know.