Why Mugshots?

So you are a great photographer with a savvy business sense. You excel at your craft and take pride in your work. Your clients are loyal and say great things about you. So why on earth would you want to photograph under the Mugshots Brand? Why not "Linda Russell's School Portraits" or "Happy School Photography, by Linda Russell" or how about Linda Russell's "Cheap and Fast Head-shot Taken At Your Child's School?

Well, when you put it like that...it doesn't even make sense to photograph in the schools does it? Mugshots is designed to offer you a clear product differentiation. Think, Banana Republic, The Gap, and Old Navy- same owners different marketing and pricing. Marketing minds and economic guru's recognized that market diversity gained them a strong hold on customer loyalty and ability to up sale. They didn't define themselves as Economy GAP, GAP and More Refined GAP.

Okay, so instead of using my name I'll just find my own cute economy name. Worked for Linda, why not me? Great, come up with a cute name- register it, dba, LLC, hire a talented full time designer (I'm clever, I can do that myself-in my spare time) design a second website, create a marketing campaign-email, printed collateral, design new products, research labs, research hosting. Create unique packaging, product lines. Make alliances with other companies. Educate myself to the school photography industry-what are service items? Create a portfolio aimed at those services. Devise price lists, sales materials, envelopes, proof sheets. Posters, reminders- etc.
Time to make a portrait. Shall I print my own packages? I could save money by doing that myself as well. This seems like a lot of work- maybe I will just let Lifetouch or one of those other big companies keep this billion dollar market and I will keep doing my thing. OR you could work with Mugshots keep the profitable part and share the expenses with other like minded photographers.

By being a part of Mugshots you are a link in a chain that will change school photography. Every beautiful portrait you create will make it possible for another photographer in a different city to do the same. By working together under the same Brand we will be able to help our fellow artists crack the 89% market giant. By networking among ourselves we can support, share and encourage each other photographically as well as business-wise. By combining our resources we grow faster with better service, exemplary packaging, marketing and buying power.

Or you could do it yourself, I did. Which is why I am building a company so others won't have to work nearly as hard bush-wacking the path. Come on...let's create a network of success instead of continuing stepping over dollars to save nickels.

Disruptive Business Model

Recently, thru my business research travels I discovered what most business school majors already know- the concept of a disruptive business model. Being the passionate student of Mugshots growth I decided to apply the principals to Mugshots to once again see our potential for success. Hurray, once again the business Gods agree with my "eight ball" -"all signs point yes".

What makes a good disruptive business model
Clayton Christensen's 6 characteristics to look for.

1 | It enables a larger population of less skilled or less wealthy people to do something more simply and conveniently that could historically be done only by experts or the wealthy.
Mugshots offers expensive marketing, customer service and volume lab services to the community photographer. A higher quality portrait product at a volume price to the parent.

2 | It exploits the innovation's unique attributes in new applications rather than stretching to meet the product or service requirements in the mainstream market.
We are applying products and services that are proven in other aspects of the portrait photography market and applying them to school photography thereby introducing an very new vision of school portraiture.

3 | It disrupts markets that are underserved rather than seeking to disrupt overserved markets.
The current school photography commodity product offers nothing in the way of quality or continuity of local photographer service. We are presently a very unique option.

4 | It reshapes the retailing business model to earn profits in a new way.
Absolutely, in all ways possible.

5 | It facilitates existing patterns of customer behavior rather than assuming a change in customer behavior.
We keep what works and change what doesn't. Parents are programed to purchase school photos, it is in the Parent DNA package instructions.

6 | It focuses on a specific customer need and builds a brand positioned squarely on that need.
School is a great place to photograph kids. Behind every school portrait is a parent..... etc. We are definately branded.

Welcome Photo Expo

It was an exciting day meeting photographers here in Pasadena. We are delighted at the response that we received as we shared our success in school photography. We are looking forward to an even more confident tomorrow. If you visited with us and are considering joining the Mugshots team be sure and come see us with any more questions that may come up! We can't wait to begin working with like minded visionaries who see that school photography can really be changed!!!

Photographer Survey

Help us on our mission to change school photography by sharing your thoughts and business experience. Golden Gate University marketing department is working with Mugshots on a marketing survey that is focused on how we can best help community photographers enter into the school market. We got a late start and would love to have at least 100 partcipates so feel free to spread the word to your photographer friends who might be interested in photographing in the schools for fun and profit. :0) Here's the link, it won't take longer than a few minutes.
Thanks!
http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB225U4AR9VTA

Grateful Moment

Well, we are just catching our breath from photographing some 6000 smiling faces and it is time to start thinking about next year. Wait! Stop the press, it is actually time to sit for a moment. To settle into the sense of satisfaction in a job well done, a bank account filling up and an enormous number of very pleased customers.

Wow, that is a gratifying feeling. A pleasure.

Next week, we will catch the wave of success and send out marketing materials to the schools that are still plagued with unhappy parents and frustrated kids who still don't know there is a better way to make school portraits. It will be great! But for this moment I will just sit here grinning, remembering all those smiling faces that peered in my lens.

Welcome Professional Photographer Magazine Readers

We are delighted you have stopped by to check us out. Please sign up or email us so we can network together to change school photography into the product it deserves to be. We are currently working on a number of ideas for helping other photographers see the level of success that Mugshots has reached. This year's Fall ordering season is showing a strong increase in order averages as well as a huge surge in online ordering. It feels like a "tipping point" is looming here in the Bay Area and we really want to see our vision of school photography spread to others.

In the next week we will have a link to a Golden Gate University marketing class's online survey where photographers can share with us what they need and want in the way of support. You can also check back here for more information regarding "Mugsy U" workshop/summit in the beautiful Napa Valley. We will be are hoping to entice 20 of you to join us in learning, networking and crafting a new vision school photography company in your area! We will be sharing EVERYTHING we know, 20 years of innovation and experience. Join Us! Make money and beautiful portraits so parents can stop you in the grocery store and tell you what I hear all the time..."you took the most beautiful photo of my child at school." Over the tomatoes they have to pull it out of their wallet and share it with me. You know why? Because "school is a great place to photograph kids." Cross my heart.

Revolution Redux

Seminal School-Portrait Photographer Dies At 92

So Mugshots School Photography isn't the first revolution in this industry. It turns out the blue background was revolutionary for it's time. The more things change, the more they stay the same....click on the link above to find out more about the Godfather of the current school portrait.