Re: 'Selling' USB delivery to clients
 

Excellent, glad you got it all sorted :-)

Roger

Re: 'Selling' USB delivery to clients
 

Cheers roger

Re: 'Selling' USB delivery to clients
 

Every so often you run into these discussions. Where people will say things like
"No one can use USB with their TV's" or "few people even use optical disks these
days." These discussions don't mean a thing because.....there are people from
all over the world in this group. Some places are going to streaming only. Mostly
places with fast internet for obvious reasons. Other places, have slow internet and
customers still use disks (even the tired old DVD) almost exclusively. I find this discussion
interesting only because I have been wondering WHEN WILL DVD's DIE?? I so wish
I could just encode to a USB stick! I'd get to give them a much higher quality product
and it would be cheaper, quicker and easier for me. Unfortunately for me, most people
in my area still ask for disk.....and probably 5-1 DVD's over the much superior Blu Rays.
In fact, here are two emails I received this very day from a event planner...

"Hi Gabe,

I'm contacting you about the June 10th ceremony I spoke
with you about on the phone. The client wants minimal editing -
she wants to see the whole event - and she wants the video
delivered on DVDs (the ones you put in a DVD player).
I'm trying to convince her to get the video on flash drives.

Interested? Hope so! I need bids by tomorrow at noon."

I responded with a few questions about the location and the
equipment they had in the venue.....along with a tentative estimate
depending on several factors (such as how many different
locations would need to be wired for sound etc....) Here is the response

"The Yacht Club upgraded their system recently. If you want,
you can drop by the Yacht Club between 5-7 on Thursdays
(they have a social hour for members) and check to see what they have.

Do you think you need to see what they have before submitting an estimate
or do you think $xxxx is what it is? As we discussed, the client wants footage
of the speakers and wide shots of the room. Not much editing and 10 DVDs
(with labels - if possible). I'm trying to convince her to go with maybe 5 DVDs
and flash drives, but she seems to be set on DVD's.

Look forward to hearing from you."

Ugh. I know what DVD's are 'The ones you put into a DVD player'. I really,
really, REALLY wish I didn't. But this kind of request is all too common for me.

Re: 'Selling' USB delivery to clients
 

Hi Gabe

I think the bottom line still is "How would you like your wedding video delivered Mam?" The bride is still the client and if she wants DVD's you have to give her DVD's .. Imagine going out to dinner and your steak is delivered to you rare and you Only like a well done piece of meat? You cannot dictate what media you will use.

I did a live broadcast yesterday and yes the bride was quite happy with online video but asked for 2 x DVD's ..one for each mother as that's what they are used to. I saw the website of a competitor a few days ago who also streams weddings ...he shoots and leaves BUT if you really want the backup video for $70 he will give you the card out of the camera. I wonder how many brides could play that??

Re: 'Selling' USB delivery to clients
 

For weddings I have stopped delivering dvd's as standard and now give a blu-ray and usb stick with mp4 files. I do occasionally get requests for a dvd but that's a paid option now, I"d say about 20% of my clients request extra dvd's.
I recently spoke to a guy who mainly shoots communions and dance performances and where up to like 2 years ago only dvd's where requested he this year has 80% usb stick and 20% dvd for his communions and plans to go usb stick only from next year.
For dance and theater performances it's different as dvd is still the preferred delivery method but he had one danceschool considering offering USB sticks or download next year because of the higher image quality.

Re: 'Selling' USB delivery to clients
 

That's perfectly OK Noa ..the fact that you are prepared to offer DVD's keeps a client happy ... where brides get upset is the Henry Ford phrase "You can have any colour car you like as long as it's black"

Having a Package with your preferred/most popular media is great as long as you have DVD's etc etc as options that can be added.

Re: 'Selling' USB delivery to clients
 

Yup, I know, and that's why I am still doing tons of DVD's. It's not what I would pick if
I had the choice, but people are paying for them so.....

I just got an Amazon shipment today of 100 DVD's. I generally keep 200 DVD's in
my edit bay along with 50 Blu Rays....and anytime I get down to say 25 Blu Rays
or 50 DVD's, I order more. Ink jet printable so I can print photos and text on the face.

I've also got an online store where I sell all kinds of random content I shoot around
town.....kids dances, gymnastics meets, sports, plays or whatever. I sell a decent number
of DVD's from that as well. I offered digital copy on USB and have only had 2 people ever
buy them. I even put away my fear of parents copying the file and passing it around and
offered a DIRECT digital download (via Vimeo password protected link) so that parents
could get an IMMEDIATE copy of the video after they paid me, instead of having to wait for
the DVD. I mean, beyond the better quality of the 1080P digital copy, you'd get IMMEDIATE
access to the video. I sold 1 of those and had 50 or so DVD copies sell. Just crazy.

Re: 'Selling' USB delivery to clients
 

Hi Gabe

Not only do most people not know the difference between SD and HD but it seems those that do know would still rather have the convenience and comfort of something that they know. I don't think we appreciate how non-tech most people are ....Even my wife who is a photographer and used to working with SDHC cards and USB drives will say to me "I won't be back this afternoon in time for the Bold and the Beautiful ..can you tape it for me?" Really? we got rid of our VHS machine about 15 years ago

Yep I also have around 100 blanks in my shelf ...I do Realty Property Condition Reports of rental houses and the new tenant gets a DVD plus the Realtor keeps a DVD ... It's still the cheapest option for me as suppliers are starting to drop USB drives under 16GB so it's an expensive alternative.

Better order a few more tubs soon!!

Re: 'Selling' USB delivery to clients
 

DVDs for me still the way to go!! Water shield blu ray and standard DVD-Rs 200 just ordered ! USB 10 ordered past three months

Re: 'Selling' USB delivery to clients
 

I'm with Noah. I have two packages, the base package comes with a USB. The biggest package comes with the DVD, Bluray option. I do custom graphics for every disk and covers, so it's about three hours of work just in that.

Re: 'Selling' USB delivery to clients
 

Wow! I do custom graphics for every disk and sleeve which takes me 10-15 minutes maximum. I have a photo of the bouquet or similar on the disc, together with their names, wedding date and copyright. On the sleeve I have a photo from the day on the front and a different one on the back, plus names, dates etc. Disk artwork is printed directly on the face of the disk, and the sleeves are printed on high gloss photo card.

I have a standard template into which I drop the different photos and wording. It gives a repeatable standard for our presentation and makes it very personal to each wedding. I can't imagine spending 3 hours to do what is straightforward artwork unless each one is designed completely from scratch with no basics to work from.

Roger

Re: 'Selling' USB delivery to clients
 

I take more time than I would like especially on the dvd label. I try to come up with a unique design, contending with the hub hole, for stage work incorporating art work from the program, using the right stills from the video and making it match with the dvd menu.

Re: 'Selling' USB delivery to clients
 

Well, to each his own. But one thing customers seem to appreciate is that they can pick up twenty of my weddings and each artwork design is completely different. To each his own I guess, but everything from color theme and text is different based on the theme or style of the wedding. Sometimes I can match my font to something similar to the program. Ofcourse, I used to do three disk weddings back in the day, now I'm two tops. And USB of course cuts down on the artwork.