The Old Grey Whistle Test....

...this weekend I'll be conducting one, I'll have a captive house full of non photographic creatives in the shape of needle-workers here for the day not to see me of course but having a days patch working. So I'm going to let them loose in my Photo library and see what tickles their collective fancy and open myself up for a bit of Q & A. I know what I like but as I've learnt from past outings in selling images, Joe Public may just want those Kittens in Brandy glasses and Puppies in socks on a washing line....
So A3+ is upon me, as I speak the laptop is whirring to the sound of a canon CD as it does a full install. I've gone for a Pixma 9500 mk11..I was dribbling in the direction of the Pro X 1 but £600+ was a bit on the fruity side of my budget and then i saw Park Cameras were doing Mk 11's for £399....bargain and then I thought I'd have a trawl on amazon and ebay and blow me I got one for £260.... with paper cables and all original fittings... I feel like a Yabba dabba dooooo... there, I've had one...so more budget to throw at the mounting and board side of the enterprise. Now as I now qualify for Village elder status ( could substitute elder with idiot) I'm going to pass on one of the things I've learned in this tough old world...yep...pin em back... if you are thinking of starting up on your own or even mounting an exhibition ask yourself the big question before you do it... 'How much am I prepared to lose' ? .  It's a big question, it's a good question. If you rent some space, get images framed and mounted, pay for some publicity, plough in a big dollop of your time the first thing you ask yourself is 'This will cost me £1200, am I prepared in case nothing sells? Can I afford to lose that much...do I have enough family members to give a framed piccie  at Christmas.....Retail is tough, I may even hand out a few selling tips tomorrow but after this weekend I hope to have a clear idea of what my target market wants, produce some product with a USP, convince then that this is what they want and give it to them with a dash of personal service...