How to find customers to get a photo scanning business off the ground?

March 29, 2006 5:29 AM

How to get a photo scanning side business off the ground? I need customers!

I have been trying to find customers for a side business I've been trying to start: scanning people's home photo collection into digital format. I've put a free ad in the back of the city paper - no responses. I put a few ads on Craigslist, with photos - no response. I made a website and used Google Adwords for a few weeks. I got 27,000 ad views and 61 clicks, and no response. I don't want to spend large amounts of money for real advertising. Aside from flyers at supermarkets or classified ads (which I don't think people read), how else can I find my first customers?

I think my service is best suited for local customers, as I can pickup and deliver photos. There are certainly companies online that can scan photos more quickly than I can, but I'll be less expensive. And... I believe people are nervous about shipping their photos off in the mail.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

posted by kdern to Work & Money (9 answers total)

The biggest thing is going to try and determine a more specific market? Who would the photos scanned? I believe your market may be older people who have sizeable collections and who lack the technicalk know-how to do it themselves. Or maybe even geneologists. Try to brainstorm other potential users first then try to tailor market to them through local organizations where you can give demos. You can't really start out with a broad view that everyone is your market because they aren't.
posted by JJ86 at 5:36 AM on March 29, 2006

JJ86 is right--most of the people in the market for your services aren't trolling around craigslist or google looking for this service. The web-savvy have their own home scanners, or would conclude they might as well invest $150 or so to D.I.Y.. The people I've seen drop big $$ on this are senior citizens or other people without the time/skill to do this themselves. Try advertising at senior centers, the public library, or mom-friendly places like parks, the mall, etc.
posted by availablelight at 5:41 AM on March 29, 2006

What if you advertise in local camera clubs or photo stores?

Be careful to know what your audience is for the photo stores - a rinky-dink shop that doesn't even have customers who use slide film may not be your best option.

Targeting pro shops, advance amateurs/enthusiasts, and the occasional person who has an old collection of slides would be the best option, IMHO.
posted by EastCoastBias at 5:41 AM on March 29, 2006

Keep in mind, however, that most pro shops (if you mean "processing labs", not places to buy gear) already do this--be aware of the market, and market rates.
posted by availablelight at 5:48 AM on March 29, 2006

You may be right about people not wanting to send their photos in the mail, but at the same time people might feel safer having their photos handled by a large anonymous company, as opposed to some local guy/gal.
posted by tiamat at 5:53 AM on March 29, 2006

The scrapbooking crowd might like this. There are a lot of people like me who got into photography to take pictures of their kids... then found themselves up to the eyeballs in old photos and repeated vows to "organize this mess." We never actually do it because we are busy moms. Can you find a local scrapbooking publication to advertise in? Maybe around a holiday. I am picturing an october-november special that would let you get the finished product out in time for christmas, since albums are a great gift for the grandparents.
posted by selfmedicating at 7:56 AM on March 29, 2006

Wow, sorry about my previous post - I didn't have my morning coffee yet! I hope I made sense.
posted by JJ86 at 8:04 AM on March 29, 2006

To second selfmedicating , maybe you could get in with the scrapbooking crowd through local crafts stores. Michael's and A.C. Moore often host how-to workshops; if you could teach a little one-time workshop about, for instance, photo preservation, then you could mention in the seminar "by the way, I also scan photos, here's my card."

I also third JJ86: figure out who your customer is, then figure out how they would find you. Maybe senior citizens in your area DO read supermarket flyers.
posted by Sprout the Vulgarian at 10:52 AM on March 29, 2006

I don't wanna be all doom and gloom... but what about old people's care homes? (not sure what they're called in the US).

I know my great-granddad has a massive collection of photos that my granddad is sorting for him, and he's thrilled that "they'll be something to remember him by"

Just an idea :)
posted by chrispy108 at 2:37 PM on March 29, 2006