WHERE TO HOST PHOTOS

There are many many places to host photos online but not all suit the needs of a photobooth operator equally.

Many photobooth companies have chosen www.smugmug.com to host their photos, probably because once you pay their subscription fee, you can upload an unlimited number of photos, it is relatively easy to upload the photos, you can have it seemlessly connect to your website with your own branding, and as well you can load up to 10 minute videos. Though their pricing is in the middle of the pack it is certainly affordable. If you are just hosting and not selling the photos the cost (as of 2014) is $150 per year, and if you want the ability to sell them then it is $300. I would probably take the $150 package for  the free photos, which most of your photos will be as it is included in the package, and then perhaps find somewhere else to “sell” photos you may want to sell. If you are selling a lot of photos then by all means go for the higher package, but I am pretty sure that in addition to the $150 they charge you a 15% commission (I could be wrong about that as I just read it somewhere), so you may want to do some window shopping.

I know smugmug does the job but here are a few of their competitors. The best thing to do is to ask around and see what other companies are using. Some of the websites below are more consumer oriented and may not have all the features you need. The one thing for me that would be a deal-breaker would be a limit on uploads, which some of the websites I am listing below have. The other deal-breaker would be not being able to seamlessly connect to the photo sharing page from your own webpage with your own branding. Also you must be able to assign an individual password to every event. Beyond that see if the hosting site meets the needs of your individual business.

www.phanfare.com   www.stickyalbums.com  www.photobucket.com www.flickr.com www.picasagoogle.com www.shutterfly.com www.snapfish.com www.photobox.com www.kodakgallery.com www.webshots.com www.photoshelter.com www.shootproof.com www.instagram.com www.imgur.com www.deviantart.com www.twitpic.com www.imageshack.com www.tinypic.com www.4chan.com www.fotolog.com www.photo.net www.slide.com

Anyway, you get the idea. There are a lot more I have not even listed.

Advertise with Photo Hosting

Give a card to everyone at the event that looks suspiciously like your business card. However on the back of the card is a sticker that gives them the information they need to retrieve their photos.

The beautiful thing here is that they have to go to your website to get access to the site that hosts your photos. Or at least I certainly hope you make them go to your site first. Think about it. If there are 500 people at your event, here are 500 new prospects. You will be amazed at the number of people that will be visiting your website.

Always hand out access cards. Referral business is the best business, and the least price concious business. You pay hundreds, if not thousands of dollars to participate in a bridal show, so you can hand out your business cards and information at a show in which you are competing with any number of other photobooths. At a function, you have a captive audience of sometimes as many people as attend a trade show. What better way is there to promote yourself?  Remember, to access their pictures, make sure they have to go to your web site.

I recently had someone tell me that rather than giving out cards they post this information on a sticker that they put on the back of each and every photo strip they hand out. They believe that the sticker will be remembered longer on the strip than a card will. This is a possibility and I may test this out to see if they are in fact right. Along the same lines, if someone has any input regarding this or any other issue I would really like to hear from you.

GREEN SCREEN

Personally I love green screen. To me it adds immensely to the value of the booth. Maybe it is because of my own creative nature but although it is an addon/upsell I actually prefer to do a green screen photobooth as compared to one without. On a few rare occasions I even offered to do the green screen free at no extra charge after the client had booked the photobooth without green sceen, just because I happened to like that particular customer, and of course they graciously accepted.

What Is Green Screen

In the broadcast industry, green screen is technically known as Chroma Key or Chroma Keying, and its history dates back to the 1930's. Feature film producers make regular use of it, but the most recognized use of it is in the nightly news shows where it is almost always used in weather reports.

I understand that green was originally selected for chroma key because ordinary human skin of all races does not have any green components in it. While green remains by far the most common background color for chroma key, in theory any color can be used, and the second most commonly used color is blue. I actually haven't seen any other color being used but in theory it is possible.

Green screen is actually pretty simple. Whatever software you are using simply looks for any use of the selected color which from this point forward we will consider green, and replaces it with the supplied background. More technically, the chroma keying program takes a sample of  any green pixel it finds on the photo and replaces that with the corresponding pixel of whatever color from the background image. A case where an alternate color such as blue would be used would be in the case where the subject was wearing the color green.

As you may already know, if for example the subject was wearing a green dress, well in the green screen picture it would look like she didn't have a body. The dress would now become a part of the green screen background. In testing this out I have worn green t-shirts on occasion, and basically what happens is that it looks like I just have a head and arms and the rest of me just disappears.

I have actually never switched the green screen to blue (though this option is available with the BREEZE  software I mostly use) because in my experience people who are wearing green actually have fun with this reality and it can create some pretty interesting pictures.

Most photobooth software packages include green screen. Specifically I know that the current versions of Breeze and Social Booth (www.photoboothsolutions.com) include Green Screen.

While green screen can be a lot of fun, you do have to know a bit more about photography, subject placement and lighting.

Lighting And Subject Placement Is The Key To Making Excellent Green Screen Pictures

In real estate, they say that the three most important things are location, location and location.

Well, in green screen photography or photoboothing, the most important thing is location, location and lighting.

How you handle location and lighting will be the difference between OK and truly great photos.

When I say location, what I mean is the placement of the subject or subjects relative to the green screen  backdrop. To achieve the greatest result, you want to keep the subject as far away from the backdrop as possible. Five-ten feet is ideal. Unfortuately this is not always possible on site as the space is not allotted but try in all cases to keep the subjects at least 2 feet from the backdrop. Do not place them right up against the backdrop and if that is where they want to go then tell them to move forward. The main reason for this is to reduce the shadows that create jagged edges or “jaggies” around the subject.

When it comes to lighting, do everything you can to make sure that the subjects are better and more lightly lit than the backdrop. The first step in achieving this is to use a flash. I generally recommend this with all photobooths in any case as it creates better color compositon, allows you to use a lower ISO, compensates for different lighting conditions without having to make major adjustments, and accents the faces of the subjects, but in green screen photography it is even more important that the subjects are better lit than the background.

For a more serious photo shoot and where space allows consider adding professional photographic lighting. For the best green screen photographs you want to keep the ISO settings as low as possible and preferably at 100 or even lower if possible. With professional lighting you can lower the ISO. Since higher ISO settings create pictures with much more noise, this creates the possibility that the pixels on the green screen will be less green, or not green at all and may not be replaced in the picture. The picture below is one I experimented with where not all the green screen was removed.

Occasionally you will be asked to do green screen outside. While it is possible and during the day there is usually no shortage of light, try to stay out of the sun as it may create unwanted shadows and bring along your lighting just as if you were in a dark room. Who knows, the photobooth could be such a hit that they ask you to stay well into the night. In any case if you rely on natural light and don't know how to make adjustments when the natural light changes, which I can guarantee it will as long as the earth keeps circling the sun, you could get into some jams.

Amazingly professional lighting is much cheaper than you would think, can make your booth look more professional and these lights definitely make better pictures. If you don't have the space for such lighting, work lights from the hardware store will do the job but probably won't look as professional.

The other thing that professional lighting does is eliminate shadows that the flash might create when someone holds up a prop, or for other reasons. Just remember to place the professional lighting in such a position that it evenly lights up the green backdrop and does not create hot-spots.

Creative Uses Of Green Screen

I haven't done this myself yet, but I found one of the most creative uses of green screen in the tourist shops of Niagara Falls.

For years (and I'm going back as far as the 1970s) , there used to be shops where you would ascend a few stairs behind a barrel and then your group got their picture taken in a barrel. They tell you to look scared and then snap the picture. It was a very nice personalized souvenir that you could purchase at a premium price. The picture looked quite real and obviously it was very popular as these shops lasted for the better part of 30 – 40 years.

Well, a couple of years ago, passing these very same shops, I noticed that the physical barrels were gone and instead they had replaced their backdrops with just a green background. I actually thought that the physical location was a bit less appealing visually then the former “take your picture in a barrel” setup, but nonetheless, since they were photographing everyone ascending in this case the Skylon Tower, I went ahead and got my whole family photographed.

Of course, after you take the elevator back down from the tower, you exit into an area where you can digitally see your picture not just in a barrel, but also in a variety of locations in Niagara Falls. The quality was quite good so of course I did purchase a couple of these pictures. Once again, they were not cheap. I think I paid something like 25-30 dollars.

Similarly if you go to Las Vegas and decide to visit the Stratosphere Tower, they will take your picture in front of a green background before ascending the elevator, and on your return you will have a choice of receiving very nice pictures of yourself at various locations throughout the city, and if I remember right in the desert as well. And yes, I remember this because I paid the 20 or 30 bucks they charged to get the very nice pictures.

Photokey 6

Photokey 6 seems to have become the leading green screen editing program for photographers. I first learned about it during several photography shows, seminars and courses that I have attended in the last  while.

I am sure I will buy a copy some day soon but as Breeze has so far met my needs for Green Screen strictly for the photobooth I haven't been able to cost justify the $299 price tag so far, but I did take some time to download the demo version and played with it for a while. It is quite intuitive.

What this program does allow you to do is take any green screen photo with the green background and blend it with any greenscreen background you may need to use.  In testing out the demo I did find it to be very intuitive, a feature I like to see in any software.

If at some time your Green Screen career leads you to editing photos for your clients, this is definitely a program you will need to get.

The website for the program is:

http://fxhome.com/photokey-6-pro

If you really want to learn more about this program Dave Cross at F.J.Westcott is the go-to guy. I have attended a couple of his seminars and have asked him some questions, and this guy really knows his stuff. He has a great series of videos on youtube and anyone who is serious about green screen should watch them. Here is the link to one of them:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTrpIDh9LaE

Of course the Photokey program does have its competitors. Some I have come across include:

www.greenscreenwizard.com

I downloaded the demo version of this program also and it seems that it has a relatively easy user interface as well. If you explore the website they teach a lot about green screen and even sell backgrounds and magazine templates. When I have a chance to catch my breath I will definitely be exploring this site further. 

One of my businesses specifically targets green screen and this is how I differentiate myself from some of my competition. I call my business ``Green Scream Photobooth`` and a couple of my slogans are ``I Scream You Scream We All Scream For Green Scream`` (I credit my son Derek for that one) and ``More Fun Than A Roller Coaster``.

FLIP BOOKS

Offering flipbooks as part of your photobooth experience is something that you can use to differentiate yourself from the competition as not that many people in the business, including myself, offer flipbooks at the moment. I plan to soon, but have not done it yet.

Just to give you some background, with a flipbook, guests record a short animation using video capabilites of photobooth software, and then can play back the animation by quickly flipping through the pages of a printed flipbook that you create for them.

As with photobooths, flipbooks are cross-generational. Very old people may remember kineographs, which eventually became the inspiration for motion pictures. It was basically a very short movie in a flipbook.

Flipbooks themselves were first patented in the United States by Henry Van Hovenbergh in the year 1882. They became very popular in the early 1900s when the Cracker Jack Company gave them away as their in-pack prizes. It didn`t take long for other snack food and cereal companies to jump on board and by the mid 1900`s many other marketers had follwed suit, including companies such as Disney and McDonald`s.

Many science centers that I remember going to over the years have displays that  show how movies work using a circular-style flipbook. The faster you turn it, the faster the motion. They are featuring the work of Herman Casler, who in 1894 invented the Mutoscope. This is essentially a mechanized form of the flipbook which mounts the individual slides on a rotating cylinder rather then in a book. Even after the coming of motion pictures, the mutoscope remained popular through much of the early and mid 20^th century  in penny arcades and amusement parks as a coin-operated machine.

Of course, fast forwarding to today, once DSLR cameras had video capability, software manufacturers were able to create flipbook software.

If you are thinking of adding flipbooks to your repertoire, the good news is that, other than buying the software, if you already have a photobooth, chances are you have much of what you need to create flipbooks without investing a whole lot more money.

Your dye sub printer must be one that cuts 4X6 sheets in half into 2X6 segments. Printers currently on the market in 2014 that allow this include the Mitsubishi CP-D707DW, Mitsubishi CP-D70DW, DNP DS-RX1 and HiTi P510L. In addition to this you will need to buy a Trimfast RE3943 ream cutter with quick release paper clamp, or its functional equivalent. These units appear to be selling on the internet in the range of about 600 dollars. I am not sure if there are ones you can get for less money.

Flipbook software is available at a reasonable price from Breeze systems and I am sure a number of other places as well. I have played around with a demo version of the software but as of yet have not coughed up the money to actually offer it. I may be buying the Breeze flipbook software soon as I just learned the new version now supports Green Screen which is something I like doing. It is not on the top of my priority list, but I am sure you will see me doing it sooner or later.

VIDEO

The good news is that if you are using the latest version of Breeze software you already have the capability to produce video segments for clients.

I am not sure if there was a similar show in the United States but in Canada there was a well know program called “Speakers Corner” from 1990 to 2008 which was basically a video booth where someone could say whatever was on their minds. People who watched this show know exactly what video booths are all about.

Mostly people ranted about various issues and even announced lost pets but every week the producers would pick the best clips and show them on TV. Speaker's Corner was also used by up-and-coming musicians to gain exposure. Barenaked Ladies, perhaps most famous nowadays for writing the theme song to the TV show “Big Bang Theory” used Speakers Corner early in their career to sing their future Canadian hit “Be My Yoko Ono” to the Speakers Corner audience. Although the show is no longer on the air, many people would request a wedding version of Speakers Corner at their wedding. 

I have tested the video component of Breeze software and it does work. At the moment it is not something I am really pushing to my prospects and clients because with an open booth I have run into a number of issues.

The first issue is ambient noise. This is perhaps the one place where a closed booth is superior to an open booth, as the amount of ambient noise is reduced and as well, it is easier to capture the voice of those being recorded.

The other issue is that yes, you can record people and give the recording to the bride and groom at the end of the night, but really the big draw of photobooths is being able to give instant satisfaction to the guests in the form of a photo strip.

At the current time I don`t have a convenient way of perhaps allowing them to immediately upload to youtube or some wedding site. For this reason, while I do offer video upon demand, it is not something I am really pushing. Who knows, however, in the future it may be the next big thing.

Other Variations

In addition to things like Green Screen, Flipbooks,and Video, photobooth software writers are coming up with all sorts of wonderful and wacky variations. Digital grafitti, drag-and-drop props and many other exciting innovations are making their way into photobooth software.

ARE PHOTO PRINT STATIONS THE NEXT FRONTIER? In addition to photographers and photobooths, there is another new trend at weddings, namely guests shooting pictures with their cell phones and other mobile devices. Wouldn't it be nice to able to print these photos on the night of the wedding? This is where mobile photo print stations come into play. With Instagram being the new (well last few years anyway-lol) site to go to, wouldn't it be nice for guests to print off their photos. Many people remember going to print stations at their local drug store or supermarket with their digital sd cards and printing off photos there. Many people still do that. I am keeping a close eye to see how quickly this catches on in the wedding market.

AND SOME FINAL WORDS OF WISDOM

Do Not Be Late

As an absolute minimum, never ever ever be late to your gigs. I can not stress this enough.

If you have employees, PAY THEM, yes PAY THEM to arrive earlier than the contract time. Also pay and instruct them to stay a little later if necessary.

If the contract says you will arrive an hour and a half before the function, be there 2 or even 2 and a half hours before.

At a wedding this is the bride's special day. She wants it to be stress free. You are not going to be in her good books if she is worried about you arriving.

Other than a total system breakdown, showing up late is perhaps the worst thing that can happen. Before you even arrive you have invoked a sense of anxiety and a negative image in the customer's mind. It would take twice as good a job if not more to reverse that, though I have seen that happen. If ever there is a time for punctuality (no pun intended) this is it.

If for some uncontrollable reason you are unavoidably detained, call ahead both to the client and/or the venue to let them know you are coming.

Dress To Impress

Take your appearance seriously. I don't think I am exaggerating when I say that more people care what you look like (or your employees) than what your photobooth looks like. Or at least, if you don't look your best they will not even care about the booth.

People (correctly or incorrectly) make the assumption that what the attendants are wearing reflects how they will perform in other aspects.

This is especially important because there are a lot of "horror stories" out there about a people showing up in T-SHIRT AND JEANS to a wedding.

Always dress to fit in with the crowd you are playing for and always look confident.

It is fine to dress casually while setting up and then change (unless the facility itself has a dress code). However, if you get caught setting up in your set-up clothes, make it obvious to the party concerned that you will be getting changed.

Make A Confidence Call

A simple call a few days before the event reassures the customer that you are coming. It also helps to create a rapport between you and the customer.

Also check all the important details to make sure nothing has changed. This didn't happen to me but I remember once during the confidence call that the bride had kept everything the same other than one detail – the GROOM. This was important to know beforehand.

Do Not Talk On The Cell Phone

You are on the stage when you are working. Nothing says I don't give a rats butt about the job then constantly looking at your cell phone.

Don't Look At The Clock

We all need to look at the click for timing reasons (and yes sometimes we want to know "how much longer"). But remember, you are "on stage" and people are looking at you. A good idea is to take the watch off your hand and put it on the table. That way, when you look at it is not made obvious to the crowd.

Buy A Power Source Checker

These little units are cheap – usually from $5 to $20. And it only takes a few seconds to test your power source – but one day that $20 may save your $5000 photobooth.

Always Back Up Your Cables

The most important thing to have backed up is cables.

Always make sure you have a backup of the most critical cables. (which would probably be all of them)

Always have spare cables available (2 of everything)

More often it will be the connecting cables that fail rather than the equipment itself.

Do not allow a $5 cable to be the reason for a thousand dollar refund.

Use A UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply)

At the very least use a surge-protected power bar ($50 could save you $5000 at some point – plus a refund)

Top Troubleshooting Tips

Remember Murphy's Law

Always carry your backup. Make sure you have tried it out and know how to connect it.

Don't Panic and Don't Advertise the Problem Unless You Have To

It is always better to temporarily shut off the system & fix a potential problem than risk a total system breakdown

Apologize Quickly

If something goes wrong and you have to resort to backup do it as quickly as possible. Once you are back up and running, QUICKLY apologize for the delay, offer a brief explanation and then try to make everyone forget it happened. FINISH THE NIGHT.

Dealing With Difficult Customers

Drunks

Do NOT allow a drunk person near your equipment. If they will not leave, stop taking pictures and ask someone to get rid of them. - Do NOT let someone take control of you!!!! YOU ARE IN CHARGE. HOWEVER, MAKE SURE YOU REMAIN COLLECTED AND PROFESSIONAL AT ALL TIMES.

Complaints

ALWAYS KEEP YOUR COOL - even when the other party doesn't

The first thing to consider is whether the complaint could be valid. Some of our best ideas come from customers.

If it is valid, then implement it, at least to some degree.

If it is not valid, then consider who is giving you the complaint.

Things to Protect Yourself Against Liability Lawsuits

I) If you have a photobooth on a stand, take precautions to make sure that it cannot be knocked down. You may need to make a very heavy base to hold the booth and stand, but do not take chances. Test it out beforehand

II) Be careful with the legs of speakers on stands (not in a high traffic area, or well marked (maybe put a chair in front).

III) Be careful with cords on the floor. All cords in high traffic areas MUST BE SECURELY TAPED DOWN TO THE FLOOR!

IV) Do not let anyone "leave something" with you for safe keeping. You are not a coat check person. Kindly let the person know that you are not in the booth at all times, therefore, you cannot take responsibility for valuable items.

V) Make sure you have insurance.

APPENDIX 1: PHOTOBOOTH WEBSITES

Hardware Sites

Apple Industries – faceplacephoto.com

Colorado Sound and Light – csnl.com

Extreme Event Design/AtlantaPhoto Booth – extremeeventdesign.com

EZ Photo Booths – ezphotobooths.com

EZ Photo Booths in Canada – ezphotobooths.ca

Innovative Photo – innovativephoto.com

Kingdom Photo Booth – kingdomphotobooth.com

LA Photo Party/Photo Party Upload – photopartyupload.com

Limelight Photo Booth – limelightphotobooth.com

Mojo Photo Booths – mojophotobooths.com

Open Air Photo Booths – openairphotobooth.com

Photo Box Interactive – photoboxinteractive.com

Slomo Booths – slomobooths.com

Vanity Photo Booths – vanityphotobooths.com

Viral Booth – viralbooth.com

Software Sites

www.breezesys.com

www.photoboothsolutions.com

www.sparkbooth.com

www.memoryfactoryllc.com

www.photoboof.com

Free or Shareware Software Sites

Open Office

            www.openoffice.org

Paint Programs

            www.getpaint.net

Prop Sites

            www.4funparties.com

            www.windycitynovelties.com

            www.rinovelty.com

            www.ctswholesalesunglass.com

            www.etsy.com (search for photobooth props)

            www.instaphotoprops.com

            www.papercutsandwoodworks.com

            www.sureglow.com

            www.djcompanionrecords.com (limbo sticks)

           

Photobooth Information Sites

www.photobooth.net

www.photoboothcity.com

www.photoboothtalk.com

www.photoboothowners.com

Photobooth Company Pages I Like

www.flashpointphotobooth.com

www.fpbooth.ca

www.funphotobooths.com

www.memorylanephotobooths.net

www.snapshotphotobooth.com

www.clearchoicephotobooth.com

www.neverforgetphoto.ca

www.thephotobooth.ca

www.flashphotobooth.ca

www.abbeyroadentertainment.com

www.photonovelty.ca

APPENDIX 2: MOVERS AND SHAKERS IN THE PHOTOBOOTH BUSINESS

Ryan Burger – Publisher of Mobile Beat Magazine and industry member for 20+ years.  Disc Jockey Service owner for nearly 30 years.

1. When did your interest in photobooths first begin? – I got my first photobooth system from Open Air Photo as they were the first exhibitor at the Mobile Beat Las Vegas DJ Show and I saw immense possibilities in this for my own company.  I have since purchased several more Open Air units and one from Kingdom Photo Booth that we sell as an upsell from the standard booth because of it's additional functionality.

2. How did you get your start in the photobooth business? We purchased two booths and started marketing them along site our DJ service as a nice upsell.

3. What do you enjoy the most about the photobooth business? – it's a definite change in pace from being the DJ at the event and I enjoy the shorter schedule and the high profitability of them.

4. What separates your company from your competition? – This is tough area to explain because there isn't alot of separation now that Photobooths are all over our market.  We offer two different booth systems, one more basic and portable and another more detailed.

5. What advice would you give to someone just entering the photobooth business?  Without a doubt research the booth types and softwares and consider them a package deal whether they come together from the booth manufacturer or they are sold separately.

6. What significant changes have you seen in the photobooth business recently? Competition no doubt about it but also a wide variety of experiences for the client
7. What is the most challenging aspect of your business?  While I'm not involved in that part of the business as much as I used to be I still find it fun.  As to a challenge related to the business it's differentiation of our company from all the others, a thing that customers can't know until they have experienced it, and often it's too late if they chose poorly.

8. What do you think the coming trends are in the photobooth business?   Extra features like Green screen, video experiences, etc.

9. Tell a story. What is the funniest or most unusual incident you have experienced in your business dealings? Don't do enough of these myself to have such.

10. What strategies and mediums have you found to be most effective in promoting your photobooths? Bridal Fairs and the web.

Brian Henry – QUALITY DJS – Ottawa ON Canada

Voted Ottawa’s Favourite Company for 2013 by the Best Ottawa Business Awards

1. When did your interest in photobooths first begin? – Last year
2. How did you get your start in the photobooth business? We started by renting booths from other suppliers until we bought our own booth
3. What do you enjoy the most about the photobooth business? – The interaction with the guests
4. What separates your company from your competition? – The quality of the equipment and booth and the overall fun experience our booths offer with our photobooth hostess
5. What advice would you give to someone just entering the photobooth business? Invest in a good quality booth. There are already a lot of cheap booths. Stand out by offering a quality booth
6. What significant changes have you seen in the photobooth business recently? Competition has lowered the price of photobooths that it is more difficult to make money from it unless its delivered and operated by the same person
7. What is the most challenging aspect of your business? Educating clients on the quality of our booth versus others that are available at lower prices and lesser quality. Example: Our photos print in 8 seconds or less while some competitors offer printing on site but it takes 30 seconds and the print is not the same quality
8. What do you think the coming trends are in the photobooth business? Giving more away – longer hours for the same price and more photos
9. Tell a story. What is the funniest or most unusual incident you have experienced in your business dealings? Naked photos when people didn’t think anybody is around – and not realizing all photos are stored on the photobooth hard drive
10. What strategies and mediums have you found to be most effective in promoting your photobooths? Least effective? Word of mouth is always the best and least effective is print advertising

Rob Savickis

Photobooth Author

My name is Rob Savickis and a rep for EZPhotobooths.

I started out as a DJ in 1987 and in the next ten years slowly grew the company into approximately a half million dollar a year operation.

Since 1997 I have been selling the DJ Companion Book, collapsible limbo sticks, and a variety of different items at DJ trade shows throughout the United States and Canada.

Mostly due to conflicts with my ex-wife with whom I was a partner, I left the company I founded in 2003 to go work in a casino. She kept the company running for 7 more years but wound it down in 2010.

In 2011 I decided to get back into the DJ business and after a short stint on my own was offered a full-time position as Operations Manager of one of Ontario Canada's largest DJ and photobooth operations.

In January 2014 I once again opened a retail store for DJS in Hamilton Ontario Canada as well as a photobooth and party planning outlet. I also released a new book START YOUR OWN PHOTOBOOTH BUSINESS at the 2014 Mobile Beat DJ Show.

In my quest to have a good photobooth supplier in my store, I spent a lot of time researching the many great photobooths there are out there to support the growing photobooth market and found lots of variance in the offerings by the various manufacturers.  I suggest you do your research and find out what works best for you.

APPENDIX 3 : SAMPLE CONTRACT

Rhythm Rob's contract

APPENDIX 4 : HINTS AND TIPS WHEN TRAVELLING

If you do a lot of travelling in the course of your business activities as many of us do, you can choose to either pay top dollar for your hotels and motels, or in my case I am always looking for a bargain.

Online I always look first at www.kayak.com

If travelling in the US I always look for the coupon books at rest stops and information centers:

www.hotelcoupons.com

www.thetravelersfriend.com

www.freehotelcoupons.com

www.travelcoupons.com

APPENDIX 5 : FRANCHISE, NETWORKS OR DO IT YOURSELF

This is a very difficult question to answer. There is no absolute right or wrong answer and ultimately you must decide what is right for you based on your own circumstances.

In some businesses such as food and lodging, being a part of a recognized national chain is a huge huge plus. As a consumer when I travel to different cities as I do on a regular basis, unless someone has personally recommended a particular eating establishment I will tend to frequent McDonalds or my favorite restaurant chain of all time Texas Roadhouse or 5 Guys hamburgers as opposed to Ma and Pa's Greasy Spoon. Similarly I feel more comfortable in a Holiday Inn than I do at Ted's Motel.

In all these cases, the national brands have a certain standard that 99 percent of the time is met. When it comes to service industries especially in the wedding business it is much more difficult to maintain a franchise standard because so much of the work is based on individual talent. Much as DaVinci would find it hard to duplicate himself in the art world, so too is it hard to establish a consistent standard in either photobooth or DJ related industries.

Now certainly there have been some franchises that have been very successful, but they are the exception and not the rule.

There are 2 main things in this industry that you get if the buy a franchise as opposed to doing it yourself:

1) A DEVELOPED MARKETING PROGRAM – hopefully the franchise has a logo and materials that are superior to what you could develop. If not, then you definitely don't want to go with them.

2) AN ESTABLISHED BUSINESS MODEL WITH THE BUGS WORKED OUT – if you are new to the business it may take you years to work out all the bugs yourself. If someone can show you a system that is tried and tested then you can save perhaps years of your own work.

So why would anyone NOT want to be a part of a franchise system.

Well, in the wedding industry, the main reason would be price.

All these wonderful marketing materials you receive, as well as the knowledge you gain in many cases is NOT CHEAP.

I have seen some companies ask upwards of forty thousand dollars plus a hefty (15 percent I read in one case) royalty on your sales. OUCH.

This is a competitive business. Yes you can make money but you must do things efficiently. Either you will have to give up a substantial portion of your profits to the franchisor or you will have to raise your prices to account for their cut. I looked at a number of these franchise opportunities, and well, if I thought it made sense to me I would be right there.

To me what makes a lot more sense is licensing a business model. This goes half way between full fledged franchising and doing it completely on your own.  As I have said to a few people “although you are still in business for yourself, you are not in business by yourself.”

Though there are standards that must be maintained, the licensing model is less restrictive than the franchise model. It is less expensive and you still get the majority of the marketing benefit.

I am currently in the process of working with some industry experts to develop a licensing program. While there is still much work to be done, here is an insight into what I have planned so far.

BEST ENTERTAINMENT NETWORK

The Entertainment Exchange

(BEN is to the Entertainment industry what companies like Hotwire, Expedia or Travelocity are to the Lodging Business)

Why Best Entertainment Network?

BENEFITS FOR THE ENTERTAINER

You are no longer in business by yourself and will have access to new business you would not otherwise have, but you are still in business for yourself.

BENEFITS FOR THE CLIENT

You receive the personalized attention of directly working with your entertainer while receiving the service and support of a much larger company.

Members of the network can include and are not limited to:

Disc Jockeys

Photobooths

Casino Parties

Live Entertainment / Bands

Photographers

Videographers

AV Contractors

Wedding Planners

Event Planners

Comedians

Magicians

Face Painters

Caricature Artists

Clowns

Jugglers

Hypnotists

Officiants

Participation is by invitation only.

To be a part of the network, a member company must agree to abide by the rules and regulations outlined on the BEST ENTERTAINMENT NETWORK website:

ETHICS and PROFESSIONALISM – As a member of the network you must commit to business excellence and operate your business with ethically sound standards and maintaining the highest possible standards of professional conduct.

SAFETY – Members must provide a safe work environment both for employees as well as clients and their guests.

INSURANCE – Members must maintain appropriate insurance coverage for their business activities. In many cases insurance is available through the BEST ENTERTAINMENT NEWTORK and its business partners and associates.

WRITTEN CONTRACT – Members must use a clear and concise written contract that states a essential information such as services provided, charges incurred as well as performance expectations. Sample contracts are available through the BEST ENTERTAINMENT NETWORK.

ABIDE BY LAWS – Members must use legal forms of music and other proprietary materials must be legally obtained in the conduct of providing entertainment services – Members must agree to abide by all laws and regulations governing their business activities.

HONESTY – Members must provide an honest and realistic description of their talent, ability and level of service to their clients and must deliver services and products as promised and to the best of their abilites.

1)Every entertainer gets a webpage at BEST ENTERTAINMENT NETWORK.COM

There is no charge in months of no activity from BEN

$14 charge on first booking

Member companies are eligible for benefits:

Monthly online newsletter

Retailer Discounts

Music Program (from a licensed music supplier)

Discount Credit and Debit card processing

CHARGE FOR DJ AND PHOTOBOOOTH MEMBERS ONLY – all others free for now.

2) Option 2 - $29 BEN membership – (no charge in months of no activity)

(if using the BEN name)

a)use of BEN contracts

b)use of BEN office space

c)participation in trade shows

d)use of the BEN booking system and calendar (only available to exclusive member firms)

e)FREE BEN business cards

EXCLUSIVE BEN MEMBERS GET FIRST PRIORITY ON BOOKINGS

3) Option 3 - $49 membership if using your own name (no charge in months of no BEN activity)

BEN has suggested pricing but entertainers are free to go above or below this pricing. This pricing must be clearly stated on the entertainers webpage.

Contracts can be booked directly with BEN or individually with the member firm.

BEN will invoice the member firm where contracts are booked individually.

32 % fee goes to marketing.

Whoever brings the booking into BEN (paper contract must be signed) gets 15 %.

Bookings can be brought in by anyone

1) Halls

2) Wedding Consultants

3) ANY BEN MEMBERS

4) BEN MEMBERS IN OTHER TERRITORIES

EZ PHOTOBOOTHS MEMBERSHIP ($39/month)

Discounts on paper (15 %)

Up to one hour free support calls /month

Additional support at half price ($55 /hour instead of $110)

Training at half price ($55 /hour instead of $110)

Monthly online newsletter

BRANDING MEMBERSHIP ($89/month per half million territory approximately – defined upon signing)

Members may do bookings in anothers territory but may not advertise in that territory (or at least the home member gets the first right of refusal)

All trade show participation must be logged with head office.

Use of the brands ($89/brand) – Exclusive Territory

GREEN SCREAM PHOTOBOOTH

BEST ENTERTAINMENT NETWORK

As part of the branding membership you get access to:

Marketing materials

Training manuals

Referral bookings