articles/Business/click-page3
by Charlie Kaufman Published 01/10/2012
Props where due As Click Props' name suggests, this equally new Group provides photographic backdrops plus newly imported props for baby photography that Charlie insists are not otherwise currently available anywhere else in the UK, so will give your business an obvious edge when it comes to infant portraits.
"They're the American newborn art photography props, which is massive business in the UK at the moment," he confirms. "We're including the rugs, the hammocks and the trench bowls, which looks like a oblong 12- to 14-inch wide salad bowl that you can pose the baby in; the real good stuff."
Admitting to never doing anything by halves, Charlie adds that there will be a range of over 70 vinyl backgrounds to choose from, priced between £45 and £90 + VAT. The range will include floors, backgrounds, 5ft by 8ft, plus 5ft squares for newborn photography. "We're providing the photographer with the complete kit to create award winning images, with the floor, the backgrounds, the props and the furnishings," says Charlie.
Click Props will get an official launch and showcase at the Societies Convention this coming January, as will the Bump 2 Baby Group.
Also of interest to Societies' Members is the fact that the Click Group offers its very own business management software for photographers in The Photographic Organiser - or 'TPO' for short - acquired in November from Productive IT. This program is likewise designed to help grow your business and increase sales as well as managing it efficiently and improving communication with customers. With the ability to set up automatic reminders, the chance to save time and re-direct that to your shoots is there.
All full-blown Click Group members enjoy the benefit of TPO free of charge, according to Charlie, as it is the default program used to keep up to speed with everyone's bookings and work opportunities who has already signed up to the Group. "And once it's implemented we won't just be sending out leads, we'll be sending actual bookings to their diaries," promises Charlie. "I believe we'll help the customer get an appointment quicker, so they'll be happy, and of course the happier they are the more they'll spend."
In the meantime Charlie Kaufman continues to innovate and is already looking forward to celebrating the Click Group's 20th anniversary in 2014.
"We'll do something big for that," he says, and, going by past and current successes, only a fool would bet against it. "It's all about making money for photographers - that's all I've ever cared about. My business is all about going the extra mile and that's why I'm successful. We're trying to come up with new innovations all the time because the more variety you give a client the more money they'll spend.
"My business model works for any industry where there's independent companies that want the benefits of being a franchise without selling their souls to the devil. The whole ethos of the company is to unite small businesses and market them as a national group." A case in point, for the past nine years other businesses that have benefited include the Hair Group, Beauty Group and the Pet Group, the latter uniting veterinary practices and obedience centres.
Look out for the Click Group's two stands at the Societies Convention this coming January - one for the Group including Bump to Baby, and the other for Click Props. If you can't wait, in the meantime point your browser at the URL below, where many testimonials and promotional marketing templates for members can also be viewed.
www.cccuk.co
There are 21 days to get ready for The Society of Photographers Convention and Trade Show at The Novotel London West, Hammersmith ...
which starts on Wednesday 15th January 2025