What do Doughnuts and Photography have in Common?
Yesterday, Friday the 13th, also happened to be National M&M day. I only know this because I follow Glazed Gourmet Doughnuts on facebook (from this point forward called by its technical name...Heaven). Heaven had posted that they would be celebrating with M&M doughnuts. Yesterday morning, I got the baby, mumbled something about needing gas to hubby (who wants to share?!) and went downtown to make a circular purchase.
Glazed is a small store front shop on upper King Street in downtown Charleston. They have a comfortable yet modern feel. They specialize in unique doughnuts and when they sell out of a flavor, that's it for the day. They have certain flavors which remain on the menu, but add creative flavors daily and rotate them. One of their most popular flavors is maple bacon. The staff is always super kind and friendly. I once sat in there and chatted with two young ladies while they were cleaning up and getting ready to close down for the day. They also have a small, child-sized picnic table that E loves to sit at and enjoy her treat.
Glazed is one of those places that when you ask a local where you can grab something sweet, they're going to send you there. They aren't going to send you to Dunkin' Donuts. Not that there is anything wrong with DD, but it's something you can get anywhere...it's nothing special.
At this point...you're probably wondering why I'm rambling on about doughnuts (btw, I receive no endorsements from Glazed-BUT would be willing to accept payment in doughnuts). Let me explain what doughnuts and Olive & Ivory have in common.
In the last year or more, I have had several clients say one of two things to me.
- They love their images, but still haven't done anything with them other than download them and save them on their computer.
- They are just now ordering prints after over a year.
This made me increasingly disappointed as an artist. As a teen, I was an avid scrapbooker. I have scrapbooks from 8th grade through college. I don't scrapbook anymore, but we do get yearly albums and canvas prints for our family wall display. I realized that I needed to switch my business model around so that I could better serve my clients and take some of the pressure off of them about what to order and where to order and where to hang.
Like doughnuts, photography is a luxury item. It's not a need, it's a want. When I want a doughnut, I opt to drive downtown to Glazed for my fix. I even drive past a Dunkin' Donuts to get there. I'm willing to drive further and pay more for the experience, the customer service, the uniqueness, and high quality. I'm willing to sit in there for 30 minutes nibbling with my toddler on a delicious doughnut instead of picking up in the drive thru and eating at home. But each customer is different and there are people that LOVE Dunkin' Donuts and probably think what I'm saying is sinful. That's ok. Glazed just isn't their place. Maybe they love the convenience, or the cheap price or the minimal options.
I've come to realize that Olive & Ivory Photography is a Glazed. We are a full-service boutique photography experience. From the time you book, I am at your beck and call for questions and consulting. You will receive a questionnaire to personalize your experience, my style guide and style consulting, options to add on make-up with a professional make-up artist, a fun session, a private session reveal & ordering party within 2 weeks of your session, AND gorgeous, fine art quality heirloom products to display your images! This is all VERY different and unique from the majority of photographers in Charleston and may leave you with more questions like "what is a reveal & ordering party???" I'll be sharing what a reveal & ordering party is next week on the blog. If you can't wait that long and you want to hear more about how I can serve you in your photography needs as a boutique, full-service, photography business----contact me!