For quite some time now I have been pursuing the idea of creating digital, anime-style portraits for people as a business. Aside from being quite fun to do, I love the responses from people when they receive their images. To make it viable, though, I would need to have enough people interested to get a decent number of requests for such portraits everyday. Finding those interested people, it seems, is my big problem. I know the interest is there. Nearly every time I show one to someone, they want one for themselves. People also see my own, wherever I might use it, and ask questions about it and inquire about how to get one. This makes me certain the idea is sound. The issue, for me at least, is selling it. I need to find the right people and capture them. FINDING THE RIGHT PEOPLE Finding the right people has been my biggest problem. Who is the target audience for this? Is there even a target audience? I thought it might appeal greatly to fans of anime and manga, and maybe it does, but that doesn't appear to be the case, as far as I can tell, from the customers I have gained thus far. When I started this idea some time ago, I put out a press release using PRWeb. I got a lot of traffic and inquiries, but no takers. In subsequent attempts to get this idea out there I used Adwords and did a PPC campaign targeted primarily at large anime portals. Again, it brought a lot of traffic, and questions, but very few sales. I even got emails from people asking if I could do one for free. CAPTURING THEM My previous experience has led me to believe that I also have a problem in capturing the people. This could fall anywhere from the price point to the sales copy or any other matter related to how this idea is presented. Pricing on services can always be a big issue. When I first started, in an effort to get many example images for my page, I offered it for free to both friends and random people in my MySpace list. I was never turned down for a free one and most sent me multiple photos to have done. When I priced the service at around $40, though, which is about normal for most digital portrait and caricature type services, there were, again, no takers. I know people like this idea, so it simply needs to be offered at the right price point, probably somewhere between free and $40. I am by no means an expert on marketing or writing sales copy, though I took some courses, read a few popular books on the subject and used to read other materials from "top men" in the field. What I mean to say is, I understand that no product or service sells itself, and I might want to consider that my sales page, sales copy or some other aspect of how I present this to people might, in fact, be turning them away. More than once I have gotten mails where people ask, "Is this real?" I believe there is an audience out there who would love this. I have some very satisfied customers already. Word of Mouth does seem to have its effect. My question is, how do find those people who would love something like this? How do I make them aware of it? Where are they?
Well, in my mind.. the first place to probably look would be the adult (not porn) community who are fans of Anime. What huge anime fan wouldn't want their own personalized self portrait done in Anime style? I know there are lots of kids who like anime, but what kid has a credit card.. so aside from the odd kid who is going to beg their parents to get the caricature done your target market would probably or should probably be adults who love anime. Why not do some advertising on the google content network on more mature anime sites? Do some graffic banners offering your services, with a few examples flying by in an animated fashion. Another option would be to build your own anime site and cross promote it. How much are you charging for these nowadays? Ryan
Just have to say your work looks great. I could see this being a great present for my sisters birthday that is coming up soon as she is crazy about anime. My advice in the capturing section is offer more samples of your work in a gallery style presentation on the sales page. Also remove the paypal buttons, they look quite tacky and don't inspire confidence (That may just be my view as a webmaster). Maybe invest in (or go open source) for a shopping cart interface that captures all details and takes the uploaded image, then follows up on payment. This will both inspire confidence in the visitor (it will appear more professional) and make your job easier. Just want to know, how long does it take you to make a typical $7 portrait?
Thanks for some very good ideas. I am currently charging $7, but will likely move it to $10 or so soon. It's not just your opinion. I have been concerned about that myself. I just couldn't decide which was the best way to go. When I first started this I had an OS Commerce store setup to do that. People could automatically upload their image and everything was handled by the store. Still it was surprising how many images I would get with no order connected to them. Probably about an hour. Sometimes less.
I think that is a problem. I would expect at the $7 price you would spend maybe 20 mins to 30 mins tops on it. Price yourself by what an hour of your time is worth + the time you spend promoting your store. When I saw $7, my immediate assumption is that the quality is bad or it is not a professional job. $7 for an hour of work is underselling yourself. People (including myself) usually associate quality with price, even though that is not always the case. So if you price your work higher, then people will immediatley assume that the quality is higher. I personally would pay $20 for such a service, however continually change and test. As for the cart, it depends on what you envision. If you see this as a part time hobby that will bring some income, either go with oscommerce or create some custom buttons and link it to a paypal IPN script to take all order details + pictures. If you see this as something further like a part time or full time job, create a plan for the layout and ordering process and take it to a coder to be created, as with the simplicity of the store it shouldn't be too expensive.
My ideal price point would be something like $19.99. As mentioned previously, most portrait or caricature type services are in the $39.99 to $49.99 range. I've never gotten an order at that price.
Once you clean up your site a bit (especially adding more sample works), I would start charging $19.99. Another idea I just had would be to give a code to people who purchased that will give $5 off or similar to anyone that inputs the code. That will entice them to go for repeat business and also if they are genuinely happy with the service then they will pass that code onto family and friends who ask about their charicature
Thanks again for more great advice. I will get the site redone tonight with a gallery feature and then update the prices. I'll post back here when I have that to get opinions from you and other members. After that, I'll have to start finding those people who want it! Thanks again. I really appreciate the advice.
You should show some before and after pictures. What the original pic looked like and what the anime'd version looks like too. I wouldn't mind getting a picture done if the price point is still $7! Ryan
Thanks for the advice on before and after pictures drbones. I am reworking the site now and have added a gallery to show samples of the work. I didn't consider throwing in a few before and after pictures though. The price is no longer $7 though.
I like the site, 100% better. Currently I have two suggestions. 1. In the gallery, don't just show the anime version. On your site I can only see 1 before and after picture which is what everyone wants to see. Put more before and after pictures as it helps people imagine what their picture could look like in the end. 2. Add a contact button next to each option. It took a bit of searching to find out where to order, however the order buttons should be blatantly obvious on your site.
Thanks again for the advice and suggestions. I have now added contact buttons next to each option. I have also updated the gallery with more before and after pictures. In some cases, I show the final anime picture followed by aside by side comparison. I would appreciate any more ideas and insights. Thanks