Recently I had a coffee session with a friend. We were talking how busy we had become and were trying to update each other on the work that we are currently doing.
“I’m actually doing wedding montage services now…” I began.
“You know those slideshows that’s screen before the wedding couple’s first entrance?”
I have to explain further to ensure he knows what I’m talking.
He gave me a stunned look.
“You are married right? You don’t know what it is?”
I was rather surprised by his look.
In my heart I was expecting to see his response as
“wah.. this kinda of services got anyone will find?”
“No lah, you should have told me earlier man!”
“How come?”
I was taken aback by his response.
“You know, my wife and I had a hard time trying to do our wedding montage during the dinner. We don’t know much about the software and don’t know what we want to show our guest”
I was nodding my head in his agreement.
“If I know you are doing this, I would have engaged your services!”
“Actually I don’t quite understand that there will be a demand for montage services you know”
I told him.
“Why not?”
“I mean, who would spend a couple hundred of dollars for the less than 10 minutes kind of outcome? Furthermore couples usually will want to do the montage themselves, or the groom would have to do it for his wife. ”
“Anntonii, you just went through your wedding right?”
My friend asked which I nodded.
“You know how busy it is to plan a wedding? Especially the last 3months before the actual day? Who will have the time to sit in front of his/her computer and do something that takes a long time?”
“But there is easier software to use mah. PowerPoint, Photostory, windows movie maker.”
“Easier software will result to lousier outcome mah… Imagine people already spend $1000 per table in a grand ballroom but when the montage comes out, it’s lousy and crap. A lot of people will surely say a lot bad reviews behind their back.”
“You as a Montage designer, what’s your take on a wedding montage?”
I paused to think for a while.
“A Wedding Montage is like a short story, something to tell the guest about how the couple met and get together. It is not just a collection of photographs but also a flow of storytelling because most of the guest will only know either the bride or the groom.”
“So that’s not important?”
He asked me back.
“Nope. It is important… it is something which bring out the wedding couple. That’s why I learned the software to do for my wedding as early as 9 months before. It was really a lot of hard work though. ”
“There you go, I tell you.. there will be people who will appreciate your work”
“Yeah… maybe there are”
I told my friend that even my own brother commented my work after he returned from a few weddings.
“People already spending a few thousand dollars on other stuffs… why would they think two three hundred dollars is a big deal?”
I agreed with what he said.
“Bro, how much you quoting people?”
My friend was curious.
“$188 - $238, if you got any friends who are interested can refer them to my website.”
I replied.
“Aiyoh, so cheap. Are you crazy or what? “
He laughed.
“I’m new and want to be competitive in the market, so have to develop an ‘Entry Price’ loh”
I replied confidently about my market knowledge.
“But I think you earning more for your full time job leh… you know how much effort you have to put in for every montage?”
I nodded.
“Bro, you and I are married. We know a lot of couples are very tight in their budget for their wedding. There are a lot of monies being spent of every single item and maybe that’s the reason why I don’t really want to raise my price”
“Besides I’m still a newbie in this line. Who am I to command $300 or even $400?”
I continued.
“Ok, just make sure you are happy doing it. It’s all that matters.”
He advised after sipping coffee.
“Yeah… perhaps until the day when I’m not happy”
Starting up is always difficult.
There will be a lot of self doubt and obstacles waiting to trip you.
You will do a lot of cold calling to strangers whom you don’t know to tell them about you.
You will experience a lot of people rejecting your services.
You will fall when people tell you that you aren’t good enough for them.
You will spend so much effort to improve yourself so that you will deliver a better service for them.
You will even come to a point to realize that you are really not fit for this business.
Successful business men always tell you that money isn’t everything in a business, interest is.
If there’s a love story waiting to be told…
I will show them how it’s done in 10mins.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Sunday, August 2, 2009
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