“You sell a lot of 16x20s.” The Manager says with a bit of surprise. “Get me a 20×24 sample to point at.” I say with a shrug. “And I’ll sell a lot of 20x24s, too.” This is a tad facetious on my part, as I don’t really think I have the inside track to selling larger …
Category Archives: Directory Work
Just Following Orders
“Why can’t this one be in the Book?” The Little Old Lady says and points to one of the approval shots. “I don’t really like that one.” “The one for the Book has to have the same background and the same cropping.” I say and show her a sample Book where all the portraits look …
The Thrill of Victory, The Agony of Defeat
“I don’t want a lot of pictures this time.” The woman says without even sitting down. “I just need four 5x7s of this one and an 8×10 of that one.” “Ok.” I say and crunch the numbers, I tell her the total and she gives me a credit card. By the end of the day …
It’s All About. . .Control
“What are the prices?” The Subject demands as he sits down to look at the proofs. “We’ll get to that in just a couple of minutes.” I say and smile. “First I need to know what you want.” “I can’t tell you what I want unless I know the price.” Being a Passer is just …
The Challenges of Training
“So were you planning on buying any portraits today?” I say as I wrap up my poorly memorized sales pitch. Before they can answer my Trainer pushes me out of the way and takes over. “Hi.” She says with a huge smile. “What sizes portraits do you normally share? Is 8×10 big enough or would …
Spam and Marketing
“We need to get emails from everyone that we take a portrait of.” The Manager says. “We need to be able to remind our Nonbuyers that we still have copies of their pictures for sale.” “I get people complaining about spam from The Company.” One of the Assembly Line Portrait Photographers says. “What do I …
What’s Worse Than Quarterly Meetings? Weekly Meetings
“You had a pretty good week last week.” The Manager says and nods in my direction. “Why don’t you tell us what you did so we can all do better this week.” “I took a variety of poses, used a variety of props, and got a variety of expressions.” I say and smile at the …
Here, There, and Everywhere
“Thanks for letting me work in so many places.” I say to my Manager one day while calling in for supplies. “Any chance I could work in San Fransisco? Or maybe Seattle?” “We didn’t hire you to be a tourist.” The Manager says angrily. “We hired you to take portraits.” This was the same Manager …
