Advertising & Why PartyPop.Com Sucks **

OH GOOD GOD. Where to begin.

As a wedding photographer, one of the hardest things to do is attract new clients. I mean, I know I’m good, friendly and have good prices, but how in the world would anyone else know? Of course, there is a tried-and-true way to get the word out: advertising. This can take many forms: craigslist, word-of-mouth referrals, networking, and (not to be overlooked) paid ads.

The advantage of the free ads are, well, they’re free. When you’re starting out, pretty much all your equipment, products, samples, business cards, etc. are coming from savings or a loan... It seems weird to get too deeply into hock for a business that is, after all, supposed to make money. Unfortunately, there are problems as well.

Word-of-mouth referrals (as many, if not most photographers will tell you) is probably one of the best ways to build a business. You have satisfied customers singing your praises. People trust their friends to steer them right, and if you’ve gotten a reco, you’re pretty much golden. (I give a percentage discount for the referred couples, and a number of reprints to the referrer as a thank you. This, hopefully, will drive more referrals, but the program hasn’t been in place long enough for me to determine for sure. I’ll let you know how it goes.)

However, word-of-mouth referrals come pretty slowly, at least at first. Weddings are pretty unusual things in a lifetime, and the need for a particular person needing a wedding photographer a particular time is small. So, referrals may take, literally, years to roll in. You can’t survive as a nascent wedding photographer on six weddings a year.

So, I turned to craigslist. This is a free service, well known and well loved. However, it too has its problems. I’ve posted scores of times on the various websites for the areas I serve (LA, San Diego, Orange County, Ventura, Santa Barbara), and received exactly zero work. It seems like a waste of time. I was feeling a bit low, and a bit confused by this: is my work crap? Are my prices too high?

No. My work is friggin’ excellent (if I do say so myself), and my prices are more than fair...on the low side of the median. The problem is that people on craigslist are extreme bargain hunters. This is a nice way of putting it. The harsher (and more accurate) way would be this: cheap. This is not to say that everyone looking on craigslist is cheap... But when they’re looking for a photographer on that site, they’re looking for the CHEAPEST deal, not the BEST deal. This means that I’m going to be priced out by a rank amateur who is willing to shoot a wedding for the price of a meal and gas money.

Test this yourself: search “wedding photography” under “gigs.” More often than not, people are willing to pay, at max, $300 for a days worth of shooting. Such a price keeps everyone but the most inexperienced shooters from applying.. And, even then, I’m guessing the poster gets a dozen responses. So, craigslist is out.

The only thing, interestingly enough, that cragislist does is drive traffic to this blog.

So, then, the best way for a fledgling wedding photographer to make his mark in the world is to pay for it. There are dozens of different ways to do it, among them: Google AdWords, The Knot, Search Engine Optimization (SEOs), and, of course, PartyPop.com.

I started up with this organization about three months ago. I cancelled my account today, this morning in fact. Why? Rampant unprofessionalism, hard-sell techniques, misrepresentation and a confusing ad scheme. And, on top of that, I thought the website itself was confusing, ugly and cattle-call like. Not really the image I’m trying to promote as part of my business.

So, to back up these opinions, here’s my reasoning behind each of the above:

Rampant unprofessionalism: No one at this organization uses their last name. When they sign emails, it is always with their first. No direct phone number or even email address is ever given. When I asked for a last name, I was brushed off. Weird. Made me nervous. Additionally, there is no way to easily change ones ad, which took several weeks to become live... I had to wait the better part of a week for a small change to my ad, one that corrected a glaring grammatical error. For a long-time journalist and writer, this was nothing short of maddening.

Hard-sell techniques: This is not the first time I tried to cancel, the details of which will be in the following section. Each time I called in, even to complain, I felt that I was being bullied to purchase even more and more of PartyPop’s questionable product. Lame.

Misrepresentation: When I first signed up to use the service, I was told the total $1,380 annual fee could be broken up into monthly installments. I agreed to signup, in large part, because of this agreement. However, within a couple weeks, my account had been charged $460, or one-third of the total. When I called to complain, I was told I must have misunderstood the offer, as the monthly payment plan is simply something they do not do. Only when I offered to take them up on their cancellation policy did they relent. Frankly, I’m not even sure if they owe me money still, but I’m thinking it might be best for my blood pressure if I just let it go.

Confusing ad structure: It took the webmasters at PartyPop nearly three weeks to set up a very simple ad page, with a number of photographs drawn from this website. Not only did they not tell me this beforehand, I was not allowed to tell them which photos I wanted used. Additionally, my name would show up sometimes under Los Angeles Wedding Photographers, and sometimes under Mankato Wedding Photographers. (Mankato, I later discovered, is somewhere in Canada.... A bit farther than I’m usually willing to travel.)

And, as an apparent final f-u to me, I believe I have been shortchanged a month’s worth of service. I emailed Tuesday to cancel, received a response at approximately midnight that night to call to cancel... When I called the following day, I was told the one person who I needed to speak to was not available. She called back today, and, again, attempted to resell me a product I was desperately unhappy with. I however, told her that I did not want to be charged any additional fees by her company, and she agreed to cancel the listing.

But here’s the thing: I paid for four months of service, starting at the end of April. By my count, this is until the end of August. I did not know this until I looked at my records a bit closer. So, I figure I’m owed a refund of about $140. Man.

So, the hell with PartyPop. On to different techniques and advertisers.

**** Updated Friday, July 28 ****

So I spoke to PartyPop, yet again, about the missing month. I was told that my time began on April 6, the day I first signed up. I said that I wasn’t told that my ad was ready until April 30, and that I wasn’t billed until May 3. And, regardless, I my ad should have been posted until August 6 or, if done by month, July 31.

Take it from me: PartyPop is not to be trusted.

**** Updated July 31, 2006 ****

Well, I received a reply from the California Dept of Consumer Affairs. There is no division assigned with dealing with internet commerce, so my complaint has been dismissed. My only options, according to the Great White Father in Sacramento, is to file a complaint with the California Attorney General or with the Better Business Bureau. So, out of a sense of adventure, I filed a complaint with the BBB. More bulletins as events warrant.

Add a Comment
Thursday, July