Blue Ocean Workshop, January 6, 2:00pm - 5:00pm

From Senior Portraits to 1st Grade: Creating a Blue Ocean with Undergrad Portraits

Rich Banick
www.richbanickseniors.com

Rich Banick has expanded his revenue producing months by creating a successful undergrad portrait business to add to his main senior portrait work. Come hear the step by step process Banick has gone through to diversify his business and create a more solid foundation perfect for weathering the economic storms.

Rich has taken a successful photography studio shooting sports and a few schools just 6 years ago, and turned it into one photographing almost 600 seniors with an additional 7500 underclass and elementary school portraits a year.

To many, school portraits are badily posed, and poorly lit quick photos. Change your clients perspective on these portraits by shooting them better than the competition, while not taking longer. Rich will talk about how to approach your perspective schools and how to sell yourself as that school portrait photographer that the parents will love.He uses a proof system that is very popular and will discuss all of the logistics of shooting and delivering 7500 school portraits in about a 8 week period in the fall. He will also discuss using the trust you build up with the parents through the years of photographing school portraits to helping you build your senior and family portrait business.

Rich Banick is a 1993 graduate from the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) with a bachelor of fine arts degree in photography.  He worked as a newspaper photojournalist from 1993 until 2004.

Rich started his photography business in his parents' basement in 1991 to earn money to purchase more camera equipment and to pay for photography school supplies.  The business started out mainly shooting sports photos for little leagues and jr football leagues, and eventually, school portraits.  In 2004, Rich entered the senior market and his business has grown quickly since then.  He currently employs 3 full time and 2 part time staff in addition to himself and his father.

The business presently consists of 50% seniors, 20% underclass school photos, 10% sports, and 20% misc (everything from families and children, PR work, and Commercial work)

Last year he shot 575 Seniors, about 7500 underclass kids and 3500  sports kids. Our overall studio sales for 2008 were up 10% over 2007.