Slideshow business today

Run your own business? Want to start one? Discuss business applications of ProShow Gold and Producer here.
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Slideshow business today

Postby scorpion » Thu Jul 21, 2011 12:50 pm

I know these questions have been asked before but it's been some time since they were last discussed. My questions go out to all of those who have their own slideshow business. Whether you do it part-time or full-time, how is your business with the way the economy is today? Are you seeing enough clientele to make it worth your time? If you've been doing this for more than a year, do you find business is declining or is it picking up? With people spending less today and with cheap slideshow software more available, is it worth the effort?
Steve

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Re: Slideshow business today

Postby Ron » Thu Jul 21, 2011 7:40 pm

1) Whether you do it part-time or full-time? = Part Time
2) How is your business with the way the economy is today? = Slower
3) Are you seeing enough clientele to make it worth your time? Yes
4) If you've been doing this for more than a year, do you find business is declining or is it picking up? = See #2
5) With people spending less today and with cheap slideshow software more available, is it worth the effort? = Yes

Those answer your questions directly but to give you further info or my Humble Opinion ...
I chose to do this for the fun of it not the money that comes with it. I'm only looking to do around 15-20 shows a year. I find doing shows to be almost therapeutical and I mostly do individual shows and I really enjoy doing them. I find making a show is very time consuming and not very cost- effective if you account for your time. Making any business worth your time & effort is stictly an individual thing. It's like any other business hopefully what you put into it returns what you get out of it. Business plan, advertising, etc aren't in my past or future.
One thing that seems to make it cost-effective is doing shows for groups, you make one show and then sell it to 10-100 people. I could see that being profitable if thats what your looking for. Seniors, Churches, Clubs, Camps, Graduates are some of the areas that will generate more money. Personal example is I did a 150 image, 3 dvd show for $235 total which took me a couple of weeks to complete. Compared to - I recently did a show for a local photo club, it was an 80 image /4 videos slide show and took me about the same time to complete approximately - I charged them $200 for the show & 2 dvd's, and then $15 for each additional DVD - Well they wanted 35 more DVD's one for each member = $525 I ended up giving them all 37 DVD's for $650,So I made almost 3x's as much for the same amount of time - This was only the 2nd time I did a show for a group, so IMHO if your looking to make money this is the way to go. Sorry for the long read but I think you wanted some 1st hand info and remember 1 thing that this is just 1 mans opinion.
Enjoy Ron
PS: I would like to add 1 more thing, I believe people think when they create a slideshow business website that the gigs will just roll in. Websites generate very little income IMPO. In the 5 years or so that I've been doing this I could count on my fingers how many shows were generated through my website. I honestly believe a website is necessary these days along with the social media but running a business is 1000 fold more complicated.
"Family over Friends" "Night over Day" "Nikon over Canon" "Gravy over Everything"

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Re: Slideshow business today

Postby scorpion » Tue Jul 26, 2011 11:10 am

Hi Ron.....thanks for your great response. When I originally starting making slideshows for the first time, I had the idea that I would do well making a business out of it. In fact I even tried and built myself a nice little website thinking I soon would be flooded with tons of work. Well, as you probably would guess, I got nothing. So I hung my head down and moved onto something else. That was over 1 1/2 years ago but I always reflect on what could have been. I see so many others joining this forum that are in the same position I was back then. It's too bad since I see so much passion from everyone when they make a slideshow. They so want to show off their creativity. It just would be a bonus if we could make a living from it. I like to think that one day the art of making slideshows would be very sought after. Unfortunately as a full-time business, it is the same as it was back when I wanted to do it, if not worse. Though it is nice to dream.....
Steve

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Re: Slideshow business today

Postby Ron » Tue Jul 26, 2011 3:11 pm

Well Steve nothing wrong with dreamin... as a matter of fact earlier today I was on a beach in Tahiti and I was being pampered, just like a king should be... oh yeah that was just a dream :D
"Family over Friends" "Night over Day" "Nikon over Canon" "Gravy over Everything"

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Re: Slideshow business today

Postby Infoseek » Thu Feb 02, 2012 7:41 pm

I'm a brand spankin new to this forum and have spent the last hour or so reading many of these posts. I am a professional Offline Consultant providing Internet related services to my communities small business owners.

I also build community city portals for a living. I get a good "local" domain name and get it as close to page one of Google as possible. Traffic usually starts to come in then I advertise my site to merchants (dentist - chiropractors - ect) for them to get more business and leads. I have just recently started a few portal sites by having videos embedded on the listing, sort of like an infomercial - merchants love it since it's a lot cheaper than a tv commercial.

So where am I going with all this ?

I was told 10 years ago by too many people to mention here that all my ideas were just a dream and I need to stay working in corp America and make my living that way. I neglected to listen to any of these so called "friends and families" and proceed with my dreams of becoming an internet marketing guru. My first 3 years I made $1,033.00 (all three years) my wife supported my efforts - but then something happened, I started getting out of my comfort zone and started speaking to people everywhere I went about what I did and how they needed my services.

I teach wordpress online
I am an SEO expert
Video Marketing
Mobile marketing
Reputation management and much more! all self taught ;-)

fast forward 7 years later - well . . . . . let's just say I earn more now in a month than what most of my friends earn in a year. They all want to know how I did it and wished they could do the same and I tell them that's their first problem, they only wish things to happen to them but they sit in front of the TV all night and waste their time :-(

Follow your dreams
Follow your Intuition
Work hard and late at nights -
Do all this without hurting anyone and you'll be a success.

What's the worst that can happen ? 8)

Juan M. Colome, CEO
Infoseek Technologies, Inc.

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Re: Slideshow business today

Postby Anna J » Fri Feb 03, 2012 3:23 pm

Juan,
I may cut and paste your post into an email to my kids. Good for you! And I wish you continued success! :D
Anna

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Re: Slideshow business today

Postby Infoseek » Fri Feb 03, 2012 3:55 pm

:)

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Re: Slideshow business today

Postby talksthetalk » Tue Mar 20, 2012 12:55 pm

Juan,
I may cut and paste your post into an email to my wife! :)

Best regards,
David

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Re: Slideshow business today

Postby HunnyB » Wed Mar 21, 2012 6:33 am

I do this for the pure fun of it. Mostly family, church, and close friends.
Lately though, I am turning projects away --- because I AM TOO BUSY with LIFE :mrgreen:
HunnyB
PSP4, Canon EOS Rebel T1i, Canon EF70-300mm lens, Dell Studio XPS 9100 desktop w/ blu-ray burner & Windows 7; hpMedia center pc370n desktop; Gateway Laptop; Epson 4990 scanner; hpC5280 Printer; Adobe CS5; QuarkXpress 8

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Re: Slideshow business today

Postby gpsmikey » Wed Mar 21, 2012 9:12 am

Anna J wrote:Juan,
I may cut and paste your post into an email to my kids. Good for you! And I wish you continued success! :D


I too may send it to my kids !! Great to hear a success story that does not involve somehow scamming other folks !! I have not had time to do many shows myself and usually wander through here to help folks (one of my hobbies) but have lots of other things going that are life for me (one of my hobbies is wandering around taking pictures of birds etc on those days when it is good to get out). Definitely "follow your dreams", but to do that, you need to have good dreams (not just killing the seven whatevers in level 3 of the video game !! ). Find your passion and follow it - sounds like you did !


mikey
You can't have too many gadgets or too much disk space !!
mikey (PSP6, Photoshop CS6, Vegas Pro 14, Acid 7, BluffTitler, Nikon D300s, D810)
Lots of PIC and Arduino microprocessor stuff too !!

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Re: Slideshow business today

Postby danuah » Sun Apr 29, 2012 4:53 pm

Thank you for your words of inspiration. I used to have a freelance graphic design business. I shut it down after five years to take a demanding job for a school district (doing PR).

Then I got laid off the PR job, so I got a teaching certificate and spent a year teaching high school. Last June, I was "RIFed" (Reducation in Force) due to statewide budget cuts in education.

I started collecting unemployment for the first time in my entire life. After a couple months of applying for three jobs per week with only one interview, I was so tired and depressed of sitting around waiting for someone else to control my life.

Through a series of circumstances, I realized that I wanted to start freelancing again. Only this time, I decided to do multimedia slideshows. Suddenly, there weren't enough hours in the day for me to work. Not only have I re-discovered a passion, but I have fallen in love with photography, which is a great addition to my slideshow business.

I'm still gearing up, learning, and meanwhile found a part-time job so we can pay our bills. I find that it's hard for me to concentrate at my regular day job because I keep thinking about all the things I want to do with my home business. I have started portfolio building and am now in the situation where I have a decision to make: look for a full-time job or go for it and build the business.

Unfortunately, my husband thinks of my business as something of a hobby, although I have invested so many hours and so much money into it at this point, there's no way I want to abandon it for a full-time job. I wouldn't have enough time to do it "on the side."

When I read your post, it helps me to realize that I need to be in this for the long haul and to keep my eye on the big picture and not give up when the going gets tough.

Thank you.

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Re: Slideshow business today

Postby Infoseek » Mon Apr 30, 2012 5:25 am

It's all in the "mindset" abandon the thought that there is scarcity in this world, there isn't. we live in an abundant world that is wide open for those who peruse the road less travelled. There are millions of people that hate their day jobs but don't have the courage to venture off. Did you know that Monday mornings are prime for heart attacks ?

I wonder why ?

Networking and having the ability to talk to people is "KEY" - focus on educating clients and prospects before trying to sell anything and you'll have enough business to last you a lifetime. :P

I'm glad i could help. please feel free to contact me via my site if you'd like to pick my brain :-)

http://infoseektechnologies.com

http://Miamiexpocenter.com

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