How Kirk Voclain profits with high school seniors

All images ©Kirk Voclain
WINNING
How Kirk Voclain profits with high school seniors
FORMULA
BY KARIN LEPERI
Reprinted from October 2013 Professional Photographer magazine with permission. Copyright ©Professional Photographers of America • www.ppmag.com
There is nothing as fickle or trendy as the senior high school
photography market. Ask Kirk Voclain, M.Photog.Cr. A self-described
comic, he imparts a light-heartedness and laughter in his communications
with teenagers. Anything too serious interferes with his ability to relate to
the subject, he says. That’s important since his signature look balances
Reprinted from October 2013 Professional Photographer magazine with permission. Copyright ©Professional Photographers of America • www.ppmag.com
light, composition, color, props, and posing
to bring out each subject’s unique character.
Combine that with branding, marketing,
and learning to shoot less for more money,
and you have Voclain’s winning formula for
how to be successful in a competitive market.
Voclain says being successful in photography, especially senior portraiture, requires
more than technical proficiency. It takes an
understanding of branding yourself and
your products, marketing that is consistent
with your intended audience, knowing your
customers, and, of course, harnessing the
power of light. He’s mapped out his finely
honed workflow with step-by-step instructions for fellow photographers to implement
his system in their studios.
BRAND IT
Voclain uses his distinct logo to help set Kirk
school senior portraits—as brand building.
different, they are saying they don’t want to
Voclain Photography apart from the compe-
In marketing for seniors, you have to show a
look like everyone else. That is the challenge
tition. “I use that logo on all of my signage,
distinction, but you don’t want to do the
of seniors. Be different, be unique, and they
business cards, and website,” he says. He also
same thing too much or too often. “When a
will reward you with profits,” Voclain says.
credits his recognition in a specialty—high
high school senior says they want something
SEE THE LIGHT
“When I see other photographers’ work in
my area, it appears that they simply do not
understand lighting,” says Voclain. “To me,
the reason I understand light so well is
because I’m an old film guy. I still think like
film in that I set up the image, I set up the
lights, I set up the pose, I set up the expression. I set it all up and when it’s right, only
then do I pull the trigger. This means that I
focus on my subject more and I make sure
everything is right. I control the situation
instead of the situation controlling me. It
sets me apart from my competition. And as
you probably know, that is what high school
seniors want: They want different!”
BOTTOM-LINE PROFITS
With a sales average of just under $2,000 per
subject and photographing some 100 seniors
a year, Voclain says he’s earning a nice living.
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Reprinted from October 2013 Professional Photographer magazine with permission. Copyright ©Professional Photographers of America • www.ppmag.com
To get such a high sales average, he says it
which they naturally want to buy. When
images, all perfectly retouched because you
helps to be partnered with trusted vendors.
faced with parents in a quandary over which
had the time to do it? I always show the sen-
For Voclain it’s H&H Color Lab. “They
shots to select, he tells them to get all of the
iors their images on the back of the camera
offer so many different products and serv-
poses in an album. Sales go up again.
or on an iPad using a CamRanger. This allows
ices, and all those products like cell phone
“I only do six images in each outfit. Thus,
me to handle objections while I am photo-
covers, albums, specialty cards, purses,
a four-outfit shoot for me is 24 images. I’m
graphing instead of afterward during the
bags, and metal prints are things that bring
not showing hundreds of images. This allows
sales session.” The result is maximized sales.
up your average. A parent may be coming
a parent to literally buy them all. Can you imag-
to you anticipating that they are going to
ine what happens when you show someone 100
TRENDING NOW
spend a few hundred dollars. But then you
or 200 or more images? They can’t have all
“The trend that I see is that seniors want less
hit them with all the cool products and just
of that, so they start deleting, and they delete
and less traditional prints,” says Voclain.
like that, your average starts going up and
more and more, cutting deeper and deeper
Instead, he says, they are looking for apps,
up and up,” says Voclain.
into your profits. Finally, you are left with only
cards, license plates, and covers for their cell
a few images, and sales suffer,” says Voclain.
phones and iPads. Though parents still pre-
“But what if you only show them a few
fer traditional portraits and prints, Voclain
Voclain attributes his success to creating
images that people have never seen before,
“When a high school
senior says they want
something different,
they are saying they
don’t want to look
like everyone else.
That is the challenge
of seniors. Be different,
be unique, and they
will reward you
with profits.”
adjusts by offering cool products to keep
seniors onboard.
“As I walk through a tradeshow for product ideas, I automatically add $100 to the price
in my head, as this is how I will price it for my
it be something additional that seniors want.
customers. No matter if the price is $25 or
If the answers are positive, I add the product to
$250, I add $100 and I ask myself if this prod-
my line and I do my best to sell it to every sen-
uct will take away from existing sales or will
ior I photograph from that point on, ” he says.
“Say this new widget is going to cost me
$59 and I sell it for $159. And say I photo-
FORMULAIC SUCCESS
graph 100 seniors this year. That means
As he describes it, Kirk Voclain’s formula for success is simple:
1. Brand yourself and your product.
2. Market to your customers through social media, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter,
and whatever else may be trending. Maximize interactions with the subject and promote
your chosen products—including photos, videos, and trendy gadgets—to all seniors.
3. Be unique. Distinguish yourself from your competition.
4. Know your customer before you shoot. Handle objections during the shooting
session instead of at the sales meeting.
5. Shoot less and make more money. You have to understand light and how to maximize each shot for the look you want. This comes through achieving technical proficiency.
6. Partner with product providers to reach high sales averages.
7. Be easy to find on the Internet and through various social media.
that now I have an extra $10,000 in my
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pocket based on $100 profit times 100 seniors. If I do that with three or four products
every year, I average just under $2,000 for
every senior I photograph.” And that makes
for a comfortable living. n
Kirk Voclain’s portfolio is at kvphoto.com, and
his photography instruction is at pro4um.com
(requires paid membership).
Karin Leperi is a writer and photographer
living in New Mexico.