Professional Photographers – Custom USB Sticks are Not Expensive

I was incredibly fortunate this weekend to be invited to the wedding of a family friend and despite the weather the day and evening was a triumph. The bride and groom looked fantastic, there were tears during the ceremony and throughout the speeches and after some great food (and not a little wine) everyone partied until late.

During the evening I got talking to the wedding photographer and asked if he had joined the ranks of other photographers that were now using custom USB memory sticks as an optional way to deliver his finished work on. His response was interesting because he immediately dismissed them as being “too expensive” and consequently not something that he was really interested in.

Now clearly we are a little biased about the benefits of a really good printed or engraved USB memory stick but his immediate dismissal of them was a surprise not least because we know from the sales enquiries that we get every day from professional and wedding photographers that many in the profession don’t share his views. In fact, what was once a trickle of enquiries has, of late, turned into a steady flow and the enquiry levels grow week on week.

For many the benefits and opportunities are clear:

• Good quality USB sticks printed or engraved with the logo or design of a photographer help to differentiate the service that they offer.
• Just like a good website, a good portfolio of work and great references customers they project an image of professionalism and quality.
• Unlike CD’s and DVD’s which can look a bit “tacky” wooden and metal USB sticks supplied in a complimentary gift box have a real “wow” factor about them.
• They offer an additional earning opportunity – whilst people might baulk at paying a premium for a CD or DVD upselling them a really good looking USB stick is relatively easy (we see this in lots of other sectors as well where people happily pay for their personal data or images stored on a USB stick, e.g. the data from motor racing track day experiences and  4-D images from baby scans)
• They’re a great way for the bride and groom to supply copies of their wedding photographs to their friends and family or even to use as wedding favours.

Good quality high performance USB sticks in a gift box can start at around £4-£5 each which given the huge benefits and additional earning potential they offer is not expensive. Clearly, if you just compare the price to the price of a cheap CD or DVD they seem expensive but that ignores the overall value they offer.

I remain hopeful that the next wedding I attend the photographer will be using USB memory sticks and hopefully USB sticks sourced from USB2U.